I’m an Atheist!
When I invited a friend to come and join us at an Open Supper in our home he replied,
“Thank you for the invitation, but I won’t come because I am an atheist.”
I replied,
“That is an interesting answer as, if you don’t mind my saying so, it suggests two things, firstly that you have investigated the evidence for God thoroughly, and secondly that, as a convinced person you can persuade others by your arguments. However in my experience most who call themselves atheists have not done this in any depth”
To this he said,
“That is probably true for me.”
I did not add that there may be others reason he claims to be an atheist - it may mean he has been put of some who claim to be religious or it may mean that, under the umbrella of atheism, he allows himself to think and behave in any way he wants, so long as it is to his advantage.
There are many who claim to have a religion, whether Christian, Islam, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever but who live as practical atheists. Religious thoughts can save nobody before God, he is too mighty and holy for us so our attempts to please him are doomed to fail. Humanism is a bizarre faith in that it denies a creator but accepts those noble principles that only a creator can have put in everyone. Primordial soup cannot give us principles.
Most who call themselves atheists will admit that they have not studied the evidence in detail. It would be interesting to hear answers to the following arguments;
The Order and Design in the Universe
The Laws of Nature
The universe and science works according to basic laws. There is order and symmetry and the logic of mathematics can be seen everywhere. The atheist Richard Dawkins says that he cannot see this:
“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” Richard Dawkins, ‘River Out of Eden’ (1995)
‘Pitiless indifference’ should result in chaos, not the highly structured, intelligible laws we actually see. The atheist argument appears to be:
‘If the universe looks designed, and you have decided beforehand there is no designer, you are forced to call the design an ‘illusion,’ regardless of how complex it is.’
People talk of the ‘Laws of Nature’ but nature or science cannot make laws, a mind has to do that. Science works according to the rules. They would therefore be better called ‘the Laws of God’.
If our world developed as an accident, chaotically, out of ‘primordial soup’, why do we believe that logic and rationality are valid. That is a belief that cannot be proved yet we rely on it. This belief is somehow inborn in us all. It is strange that atheists try to use rationality to kill the concept of god when that rationality can only come from a creator.
Mathematics are not a human invention. The laws of maths controlled the universe well before man appeared on earth. If maths were just a human invention, it shouldn't be able to predict things we haven't seen yet, such Black Holes or particles, decades before they are observed. The universe ‘obeys’ maths, which implies an underlying rational structure. Which suggests a rational creator.
The origin of these ‘laws’ is very significant. While science explains how the laws work, it cannot explain why those laws exist instead of others, or even why there is "something rather than nothing." A 'Law' implies a ‘Mind,’ or ‘Lawgiver’ as laws are essentially mathematical or logical descriptions, which are products of consciousness. In the same way ‘logic’ or ‘reason’ requires a mind. - there has to be a creator and a receiver.
Most people when looking at a new born baby will admit that it is a miraculous creation that we could never create however many atoms and quarks were are given to play with.
b. On the "Fine-Tuning" (The Anthropic Principle)
This is the argument that the vast majority of the constants of physics (like gravity) are precisely right to allow for life on earth is very significant. If these were slightly different, life would be impossible.
The atheist, Victor Stenger, in his book ‘The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning’, has recognised this and this was his answer:
"The fine-tuning of the universe is not an argument for a designer, but a prerequisite for our existence. We are here because the conditions were right; if they weren't, we wouldn't be here to notice.”
Philosopher John Leslie has used the ‘Firing Squad’ analogy to counter this: If you are standing before fifty expert marksmen and they all fire and miss, you don't say, ‘Well, obviously they missed, otherwise I wouldn't be here to think about it.’ You ask, ‘Why did they all miss?’ Theists argue that the fact of our existence requires an explanation for the staggering improbability of the conditions.
2. Love
The classic theme for popular music has always been ‘love’. The timeless folk-pop classic ‘What the World Needs Now Is Love’ by Jackie DeShannon argues that the only thing truly missing in the world is love. There are thousands of songs that repeat this theme. We all know that life is more than matter and energy. The most wonderful experiences we can have come from loving relationships with family and friends.
There have been political leaders who have been the antithesis of love, who consider that their rule is more important than people. Consider the atrocities undertaken under Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and the like. However after such regimes fall, and they always do, there is nearly always an outcry against such unloving behaviour. The only rational way to explain why love is so important to us is that it is something built into our makeup by our creator.
In the Roman world, love and fairness were not universal. Slaves could be treated like cattle and disposed of in any way he wanted at their owners whim. Children counted for little, an unwanted baby could be killed without any blame, Women were owned firstly by their parents and then by their husbands. The concept that ‘God so loved the world’ was utterly strange. No religious group in the Roman world emphasised the importance of love. Jesus has changed all this, he not only taught them about ‘The Good Samaritan’ but gave himself for the benefit of others..
It was out of his love for people that he was willing to die a horrendous death. Such love was facing Roman and religious injustice. In the end God’s love triumphed over hatred and injustice.
3. Meaning
The vast majority of people report that they feel their lives have meaning or that life, in a general sense, is meaningful. Most consider that life has a purpose. However it is very hard to derive this sense if mankind somehow developed accidentally our of primordial soup and that there is no creator who has put these characteristics into us.
4. Morality
The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement stemmed from Christian ethics. When Martin Luther King was being held in a Birmingham jail he wrote a remarkable letter to the clergymen of Alabama who were opposing his stance. He insists that the basis for morality is the nature of God and nothing less.
“How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.”
“There is a law above the law of the great state of Alabama. And according to that law segregation is evil. For racism is evil. For all human beings are created in the image of God. And justice is defined by the character of God. You know that and I know that.”
The only way there can be moral absolutes is if there is some mind outside the human mind that has created it and defined what is right and wrong.
There have been some, such as Nietzsche, who have argued that traditional morality had become stagnant and that a truly liberated individual - the Übermensch - could create their own values rather than following the ‘herd’. Significantly both Hitler and Stalin saw themselves in this role. It was they who decided what is best for their society and this was their justification for the extermination of Jews, Romanies and other ‘undesirables’. Even such men will be subject to a higher judgment as well as the judgment of history.
5. Jesus
The arguments used above are largely subjective or philosophical but are none the less valid. Jesus stands as another strong argument for the reality of God. The four records of the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all major on the question ‘Who is Jesus’? This extraordinary person performed amazing impossible miracles, the dead were raised and chronically sick healed. Even his enemies admitted he was doing these miracles. His teaching was so profound, he stressed that God sees what is going on in out hearts and that outward religion is no protection from the judgment of God that is to come. He fulfilled the 330 prophecies about the Messiah who would be a Jew, a direct descendant of King David, who would be born in Bethlehem, would be crucified as the ultimate sacrifice for sin and would then rise from death. There were many witnesses to all this. This is what he said about himself:
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.” John 6:35
“If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37-38
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“I and the Father are one.” John 10:30
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
His closest disciples became convinced that Jesus’ claims about himself were true and committed their lives to telling the world that this Jesus is God’s Chosen King, the Messiah, who had come to be sacrificed and so carry the sins of the world and then rose again. Reject God and you have to be able to explain away Jesus. Many sceptics who have investigated the evidence have had to change their minds.The books by the sceptics Simon Greenleaf, Frank Morrison, Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel are all very convincing as it was the evidence about Jesus that convinced them too.
Any person who has a preconceived belief that there is no God will automatically deny what Jesus taught about himself and the origin of the values that are in all people.
A leap of faith?
We know the sort of world we live in. There is much dishonesty, gossip, pride and selfishness. It is as if this is one bank of a river where we rule. On the other side is an ideal world where God rules. There people care for each other and have ideals that they live by. It is as if the people there have a different spirit in them.
Across the river that separates these two worldviews are stepping stones. Each stone represents the different types of evidence that can safely lead people across the river.
How did nothing transform into something?
How did intelligent life come from inanimate matter?
The laws and constants of science strongly suggest that a brilliant mind was behind the formation of this universe.
It is very hard to explain how the irreducibly complex biochemical mechanisms seen in nature can have developed without a continuing designer at work.
It is difficult to conceive how the detailed DNA code that distinguishes an ape from a human could have been programmed without a mind being involved.
The plethora of remarkable physical features that enable man to live on this planet, the so-called ‘Anthropic Principle’, cannot be readily explained. Statistically a planet suitable for human life is so improbable as to be impossible.
We have instinctive values that appear to be real. Where do they originate from?
There is evil in this world.
The 330 Old Testament prophecies about the Future Messiah are remarkable. His family background is there, his birth in Bethlehem, his death by crucifixion, his character and much more are all pre-recorded there.
The evidence for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is overwhelming.
Jesus’ miracles and essential features of his life are recorded not only by his disciples but also by opponents.
The humble loving character of Jesus combined with his awesome authority is astounding in itself. His nature draws people to him as no other leader ever has.
The disciples really were convinced about him. So much so that they committed their lives to telling the world about Jesus. Would they have done this if they weren’t convinced – would they have died for a lie?
The early church spread at great speed in spite of opposition from governments. Something must have been behind this.
Commitment to Jesus does have very beneficial effects in people’s lives. People become more altruistic and kinder. How many other creeds have changed peoples’ lives for the better? Atheism certainly doesn’t. What other creeds have resulted in a strong desire to educate and mission hospitals. The search for truth is only encouraged by those who know they have found the truth. The concern for the sick and unloved comes from an understanding that Christ has done this for us.
I have personal needs. How can my guilt be assuaged? How can I find a purpose that is meaningful even when I am dying?
Fear of death is real. The prospect of judgement of wrong doers after death is welcomed but how will I escape such a judgment?
It is possible to get this far across the stepping stones and baulk at making a commitment to God as revealed in Christ. Some would like to stay vacillating on the stepping stones but life moves on. The current of life will eventually remove us from any quest for understanding and life.
When people complain,
‘I cannot make such a leap of faith, I cannot move on from the stepping stones into a commitment to Christ.’
To think like that is to misunderstand the big picture. The real leap of faith is to leap back to the godless selfish world they come from. To make such a giant leap is irrational, to return to that world should be associated with answers to all the evidence of the stepping stones. Together the case for Christ is overwhelming. It is only a small step of faith, based on strong evidence, to move off the stepping stones and accept Jesus Christ and become one of God’s family. These arguments have been expanded in my book ‘Stepping Stones’
Why do so many want to stay in a godless world when the alternative is so attractive and rational? Do they want more light? Jesus said ‘I am the light of the world’. An honest investigation of Jesus can do no harm and may lead to a deeply satisfying life, based on truth.
The Bible is clear,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Are these claims a lie or are they the very words of God? Why is Jesus so attractive? How can all the evidence of the stepping stones be explained away?
It is as if people are blinded for some reason, blinded both to th significance of the evidence and the importance of the decision. The apostle Paul astutely concluded:
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4
Who is going to be the judge? Am I to judge the Almighty God or will we each be judged by the same Almighty God. Jesus warns us that our decision will not only control how we live now but will also be the basis for our eternal fate.
BVP
