{"id":923,"date":"2017-08-14T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T10:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/?p=923"},"modified":"2017-08-14T12:38:17","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T10:38:17","slug":"an-examination-of-atheisms-truth-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/an-examination-of-atheisms-truth-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"An examination of atheism\u2019s truth claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Robin Schumacher<\/span><\/a>
\n1\/2\/12<\/p>\n

Definition of Atheism<\/h3>\n

Atheism is a faith\/worldview that denies the existence of any supernatural deity. The Oxford English Dictionary provides the following definition: \u201cTo believe nothing of a designing Principle or Mind, nor any Cause, Measure, or Rule of things, but Chance . . . is to be a perfect atheist.\u201d
\nBroken down, A <\/em>(no) and theism<\/em> (god) simply means \u201cno god.\u201d Although the word itself and its meaning is certainly straightforward, there are a wide range of philosophical complications and issues that must be addressed and clarifications that need to be made where atheism is concerned.<\/p>\n

The Problem of „Atheism” as a Definition<\/h3>\n

The first and foremost problem that arises from the word \u201catheist\u201d is the type of truth claim being made. Dr. Mortimer Adler describes the difficulty in this manner: \u201cAn affirmative existential proposition can be proved, but a negative existential proposition–one that denies the existence of some thing–cannot be proved.\u201d
\nWhen a negative existential truth claim is put forward, the one making the claim has shot himself not in the foot but in the head. Unless the person can be in all places of the entire universe at the same time, he has no way of confirming that whatever he claims does not exist, in fact, does not exist. This is a conundrum the atheist finds him\/herself in.
\nRecognizing their predicament, atheists like Richard Dawkins counter such an argument by saying that while they cannot prove a flying spaghetti monster does not exist, it is highly improbable such a thing actually exists, so the wiser intellectual position to hold is one that says such a thing does not exist.
\nHowever, such an argument commits two errors. First, comparing God with a flying spaghetti monster commits the logical error of faulty analogy. Second, just because something is improbable does not rule out its existence. For example, all scientists admit that humanity\u2019s very existence is inordinately improbable. Scientific scholars acknowledge that it is against all mathematical odds that all of the universe\u2019s cosmic constants and biological mechanisms necessary for life would come to be. Yet they have, and humanity does exist.
\nThe question is not whether the existence of God is improbable, but rather is there logical, reasonable evidence that moves one toward a conclusion that God exists?<\/p>\n

God „Probably” Does not Exist?<\/h3>\n

Atheists answer that question negatively, so the next move they make is to say that God \u201cprobably\u201d does not exist. A recent example of this stance has been the advertorial bus signs that have appeared in various countries the past few years stating: \u201cGod probably does not exist.\u201d
\nThis claim, however, is flawed for two reasons. First, it is not the way human beings live many other areas of life they consider important. Few would eat a meal labeled \u201cProbably not poison\u201d and less would board a plane marked \u201cProbably safe to fly.\u201d
\nSecondly, it ignores the fact that the seriousness of a truth claim dictates the amount of evidence necessary to support it. The atheist truth claim carries with it enormous, irreparable and eternal consequences if it is wrong. That being the case, it is intellectually and morally incumbent upon the atheist to produce weighty and overriding evidence to support his\/her position, but they provide nothing to substantiate their limp assertion that God \u201cprobably\u201d does not exist.
\nAtheism simply cannot meet the test for evidence for the seriousness of the truth claim it makes. Instead, using a supposed argument from silence, the atheist and those whom he convinces of his position slide into death with their fingers crossed hoping they do not face the unpleasant reality that eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong.<\/p>\n

Science and the Existence of God<\/h3>\n

Some atheists recognize the gravity of this situation; and therefore when pressed for evidence, they take a stand that can be boiled down to \u201cScience has disproven God.\u201d However, there are several reasons that show this claim to be both enormously brittle and not well thought out. But first, to understand the rationale behind the position, a little history is necessary.
\nAfter the events of 9\/11, a branch of atheism–militant atheism (sometimes referred to as hatetheism)–aggressively rose up and demanded that society must get rid of all religion. Rather than focusing on religious extremists who use religion to justify violent and murderous actions, the militant atheists lumped all peoples of faith into the same basic bucket and labeled religion, as a whole, dangerous.
\nBut the question facing the militant atheists was, \u201cHow will we get rid of religion?\u201d The apparent agreement was to use science as its bedrock and tool to replace the need for religion. This tactic is nothing new and was the same position put forward by Thomas Huxley in the 1800\u2019s when he sought to install scientists as the new priests for humankind. This \u201cfaith\u201d in science is not science at all but scientism, which says that science and science alone is the singular way to discover truth.<\/p>\n

Problems with Scientism<\/h3>\n

While science has indeed delivered many great gifts to humankind, the hopes atheism has for scientism replacing religion are ill-founded. First, scientism is self-refuting. The statement \u201cwe should only believe what can be scientifically proven\u201d cannot be scientifically proven (because it is a philosophical statement), and so based on its own criteria it should be rejected.
\nSecond, it ignores other much-respected and used methods for obtaining knowledge. For example, the legal\/forensic\/historical method of discovering truth is used every day and is very well-respected. The legal method does not ignore testimony or facts because they are not empirically reproducible or testable. By a process of elimination and corroboration, the legal method allows history and testimony to speak for itself until a verdict is reached beyond a reasonable doubt and the balance of probability is achieved.
\nThird, scientism has proven disastrous from a moral perspective. Militant atheism asserts that if religion can be banished, then humankind will have peace and harmony. But even a cursory look backwards at history since the Enlightenment says otherwise. Instead of resulting in peace, the Enlightenment ushered in one secular bloody revolution after another that climaxed in the twentieth century–producing the largest mass grave in history. Ironically, one of atheism\u2019s chief heralds–Nietzsche–predicted (correctly) that because he and others had supposedly killed God in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century would be the bloodiest ever.
\nLastly, rather pointing away from a transcendent Creator, advances in science have–more than ever–confirmed the existence of a theistic God. The death of the steady state theory and the current understanding that the universe as we know it exploded out of nothing into existence, the incredible fine tuning of the universe for human life, the confirmation of specified complexity like DNA that in a single strand contains digital information equivalent to 600,000 pages of intelligence and is mathematically identical to a language all act as pointers to an intelligent source that is behind it all.
\nIn truth, atheism\u2019s position on science commits the logical fallacy of the false dilemma. Atheism demands that a person choose between science and God when in fact no such division needs to occur. Such a requirement can be likened to a person being forced to choose between (1) the laws of internal combustion and (2) Henry Ford–as to why a car exists. The fact is the two choices are not contradictory but complementary. The atheist misses the important difference between agency (Henry Ford) and mechanism (internal combustion). In the same way, God is the intelligent agency and efficient cause behind everything with His natural laws and mechanisms carrying out His intentions to produce His desired-end result.
\nIn the end, the atheist cannot rely on science to disprove the existence of a transcendent Creator and is forced into the admission that atheism itself is not a fact but instead a belief system that relies on faith. The real clash is not between science and religion but between the atheistic\/naturalistic and the theistic worldviews.<\/p>\n

Atheism and Faith<\/h3>\n

This being the case, the atheistic worldview must address two fatal mistakes it makes regarding the concept of faith: (1) that faith is only a religious concept; (2) that faith means believing in something where there is no evidence. Neither is true.
\nIn terms of the first point, some honest atheists will admit that atheism is a worldview and faith. One example is atheistic scientist George Klein who wrote: \u201cI am an atheist. My attitude is not based on science, but rather on faith . . . The absence of a Creator, the non-existence of God is my childhood faith, my adult belief, unshakable and holy.\u201d
\nAs to faith being defined as a belief that lacks evidence, nothing could be further from the truth. Science has faith in logic, mathematics, natural laws, and the intelligibility of the universe and believes all such things are firm and will never change. People also act on faith every day from meals they eat in restaurants, medicine they take from doctors, and marriages they participate in with their spouse.
\nIn the Bible\u2019s New Testament, the word pistis<\/em> is used for \u201cfaith.\u201d It is a noun that comes from the verb peitho<\/em>, which means \u201cto be persuaded.\u201d The best lexicons (e.g., BDAG) show the meaning of pistis<\/em> to be: \u201ca state of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted”; \u201ctrust, confidence\u201d; \u201cthat which evokes trust\u201d; \u201creliability, fidelity pertaining to being worthy of belief or trust.\u201d In other words, the idea that faith means blind belief in the face of opposing evidence is foreign in Scripture.<\/p>\n

The Commonality of Faith<\/h3>\n

In conclusion, both atheism and theism make statements on faith that concern ultimate reality. Both must refer back to something that is eternal because each recognizes that everything that exists depends upon and owes its existence ultimately to something other than itself.
\nTo the atheist, that ultimate reality is an eternal universe where only physical matter exists. Atheism\u2019s struggle is to explain how the universe is eternal when all scientific discovery shows it had a beginning, and how–since an effect always resembles its cause in essence—an impersonal, non-conscious, meaningless, purposeless, and amoral universe accidentally created personal, conscious, moral beings who are obsessed with meaning and purpose.
\nThe theist has no such problem because he holds that a personal, conscious, purposeful, intelligent, moral, eternal God created beings in His likeness and established the universe and its laws to govern their existence.
\nFar from atheism, which one of its chief spokesmen–Jean Paul Sartre–described as, \u201cA long, hard, cruel business,\u201d the Bible says that God created a meaningful and rewarding existence where, \u201cThe heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard\u201d (Psalm 19:1\u20133<\/a>).
\nIn the end, Dr. John Lennox makes the choices between atheism and theism clear: \u201cThere are not many options–essentially just two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Robin Schumacher 1\/2\/12 Definition of Atheism Atheism is a faith\/worldview that denies the existence of any supernatural deity. The Oxford English Dictionary provides the following definition: \u201cTo believe nothing of a designing Principle or Mind, nor any Cause, Measure,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1056],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teksty-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beniuk.gr5.pl\/apologetyka2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}