Category: Atheism

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What Evidence?

Fr. Longenecker poses a dilemma to the commonly asked atheistic question:

The most frequently asked question by atheists who come to this blog is “What evidence do you have for the existence of God?” My reply is always to ask what sort of evidence they require, but not one of them has ever given me a straight answer. My question is an honest one. What sort of evidence would someone be looking for if they wanted evidence for God? I ask this because there are many things in life that we know exist, or whose existence we accept without question for which there is evidence, but the evidence is not of a scientific nature. I’m thinking of Love, Beauty and Truth for example. These virtues are very real, and the evidence for them is solid, but someone who wished to ‘prove’ their existence to a doubter would be hard pressed.

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Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist

A post by Melinda Penner in 2005 reminded me of the great responsibility pastors have to project and express a biblical view of life and the world. According to a 2005 study:

Most religious youth couldn’t coherently express their beliefs and how it is different from other faiths. Their view of God is “something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist” who solves their problems. And the most troubling finding is that religious teens don’t believe there are theological objective truths; effectively they are pluralists.

What is the cause of such naivete? The Church has certainly failed to educate their youth when their youth were only little babes (Psalm 22:9). Undoubtedly there is a parental blame in the picture. Parents need to equip early on. They need to fulfill their duties (Ephesians 6). At the same time, what is the modern Church offering their youth? Pizza parties? Pep talks about modern movie trivia?

The Church is losing her youth, though her youth may still be attending the Church. It won’t be long before they become Church corpses–offering little to nothing to the life and sanctification of the Church body–or completely abandon the pews and run to Richard Dawkins for nurture.

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The Death of Christopher Hitchens and Kim Jong Il

Bill Maher tweeted most accurately that this was a bad weekend for atheism. Atheism lost two radically different voices. Radical in that one was an atheist determined to eradicate and brutalize his own people and the other seeking to challenge the Christian claim through ideas. One murdered, the other intellectualized.

But at the end, assuming they had no change of heart, both will suffer the same end (John 3:36). While there is no sympathy for the death of the North Korean dictator, many–even Christians–are grieving over Christopher Hitchens. The reason they grieve–rightly to a certain extent–is that everyone of us at some point had hope that Christopher would see the decay of his body as a sign of the decay of his soul.

Kim Jong Il boasted in his power, while Christopher boasted of his intellect. These are two different sides of atheism, but both representative of atheism nevertheless.

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Resurrection as Proof

Douglas Wilson interacted with Christopher Hitches on a number of occasion leading ultimately to this documentary. Over at this blog in 2009 he spent some time adding to his interactions. Here is an example:

Christopher said somewhere that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. This is quite true, but Christopher misses the point of it. He thinks the resurrection is the extraordinary claim, when actually it is the extraordinary proof. You should not listen to a man who claims to be God (the extraordinary claim) unless He does something like come back from the dead. The resurrection is God’s declaration that Jesus is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and when we preach the resurrection, as we are charged to do, we are preaching the proof, not something that needs to be proven. God adds to the proof by anointing all such faithful preaching with His power, testifying to the testimony. It is the power of the Spirit that will convert the world by this means.

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No King In Israel?

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The irony of this is that Yahweh was king in Israel, but the people did not acknowledge Yahweh as king, rather they did that which was right in their own eyes. In many ways, this is the philosophy of certain atheists, who affirm that believing in God would necessitate a certain way of life, and that means  their immorality would be condemned. In the same manner, the people of Israel did not want to acknowledge Yahweh as king; they did not want their evil deeds questioned. The story of Ruth reveals the impossibility of living an independent/unaccounted for life. Yahweh’s kingship demands loyalty or ultimate loss. Ruth’s story is the story that God will always perpetuate His Kingship; and this kingship is given to His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

 

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Anthony Flew Dies at 87

Jamin Hubner writes:

Anthony Flew died at age 87 on April 8. He was a hardcore atheist until 2004, when he said that he was a generic theist, probably due to design arguments. When asked by Gary Habermas if he is open to the idea of God actually revealing himself, he said “Yes. I am open to it, but not enthusiastic about potential revelation from God.” (I doubt God is enthusiastic about Flew’s unenthusiastism.) Flew is but one of many examples of the failure of classical Christian apologetics, which tries to convince the unbeliever bit by bit, piece by piece, to give up their suppression of truth and slowly accept their Triune Creator.

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Why I Believe in God! A Biographical Introduction to the Christian Faith, Part 2 of 2

Later Schooling

In my later years my Christian faith was maturing. I was strong, and not even Screwtape’s tactics could bring me down. I was tempted, yes, but I was preserved by God’s grace.

My college days in the late 90’s were filled with enthusiasm. I had no doubt about the existence of the biblical God. My doubts had to do with the details of certain theological assumptions I held for years, but now were being shattered. You see, Christianity is a big tent within a short creed.[1] We disagree quite a bit with one another, but we all affirm the same essentials. One of our early fathers taught us that in essentials, unity, in non-essentials, charity. I try to keep this in mind.

Objections Raised

I have no doubt by now that you have all sorts of questions. You are probably asking: “Where are the arguments for the existence of God?” Well, one of my seminary professors taught me that those arguments have their place, but they are secondary to the main purpose of apologetic discourse.  I am not opposed to having these discussions, but “obviously I cannot enter into a discussion of all the facts and all the reasons urged against belief in God. There are those who have made the Old Testament, as there are those who have made the New Testament, their life-long study. It is their works you must read for a detailed refutation of points of Biblical criticism. Others have specialized in physics and biology. To them I must refer you for a discussion of the many points connected with such matters as evolution.”[2]

My position, however, is that even if you heard certain proof that some force did exist, you would still not call it the God of the Bible. Think of Anthony Flew. Christians are thrilled that he has abandoned his staunch atheism and now believes in a higher power. Do not misunderstand me; I am thrilled that he is no longer an atheist in the proper sense of the term.  But what good is it to take the first step, if there are an infinite amount of steps to God? That gap can only be filled in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity. He comes to earth, so He may raise you to the heavens.

It is true that some Christians will say that they will assume for the moment that God does not exist. They say this, in order to reach common ground with you, the atheist.  But I have no intention to compromise my belief in God or to assume, even for a second that He does not exist.  We do not share the same epistemology. I begin with God and you do not! My position is made clear in the words of Cornelius Van Til:

We really think you have colored glasses on your nose when you talk about chickens and cows, as well as when you talk about the life hereafter.Without such a God, without the God of the Bible, the God of authority, the God who is self-contained and therefore incomprehensible to men, there would be no reason in anything. No human being can explain in the sense of seeing through all things, but only he who believes in God has the right to hold that there is an explanation at all.[3]

Why do I believe in God?– because He is the Revealer of true life. And He has revealed Himself to me in my infancy. His Word is true and it cannot be broken. In one sense, “I could not help believing in God — in the God of Christianity — in the God of the whole Bible!”[4]

As I mentioned in the beginning, I am certain that this will not satisfy you, but at least now you know that for me it is reasonable to believe in God. You may consider all my statements “circular meanderings of a hopeless authoritarian. Well, my meanderings have, to be sure, been circular; they have made everything turn on God. So now I shall leave you with Him, and with His mercy.”[5]

[1] The Apostle’s Creed is a great summary of catholic Christianity.

[2] Van Til, Why I believe in God.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

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Why I Believe in God! A Biographical Introduction to the Christian Faith, Part 1 of 2

Let me begin by making a few observations:

First, I know full well that atheists listening to this are not prone to changing their convictions and embracing the God of Scriptures.

Second, the Bible tells us that God is the one who draws men unto himself (John 6:44).

Third, what I present as a case for believing in God is my own testimony to the grace of God.

Finally, I have not heard all arguments against the existence of God, and even if I had (an impossibility) I would still not be persuaded to believe otherwise.

The genesis of this short introduction came after my reading of Van Til’s classic article Why I Believe in God. It is in that tradition of reasoning and apologetic that I find myself situated. I will also quote from him and follow his model of presentation, which began in childhood and concluded in his adulthood.

Infant Faith[1]

I had the distinct joy of being born into a Christian family. God was gracious to place me in such a home (Acts 17:26). It was there where my father, who happened to be a minister, trained me in righteousness. He was imperfect, as all fathers are, but the gospel was proclaimed daily in my  life. “I was conditioned to believe in God,” as Van Til would say. God was a part of my day to day and part of my Lord’s Day. I worshiped as a child and continued to worship as a young boy. Yes, Christian religious training was poured down my throat, whether my parents understood what they were doing or not. The nurture they provided (Ephesians 6) was sufficient to establish a foundation for later years.

Early Schooling

I was born in Brazil. I was born in a part of the country that was struck by poverty. Poverty was all around me. It is possible that an atheist may raise the question, “Where is your God now amidst all this poverty?” My answer is that He was right in the midst of it. You see, God does not reserve His presence only for the rich and prosperous. Where the poor sinner is, God is there also.

My early schooling was in the public educational system of northeastern Brazil. It was devoid of distinctly biblical education, though there was a lot more liberty to speak of religious things, in light of Brazil’s large Roman Catholic population.[2] However, religious observations were scattered in a sea of mysticism and nominal Christianity. Yet, my joy was full. When I played soccer after school, I knew God existed. I never doubted for a moment. When school was over and I came home on Wednesday nights, I knew that it was time for prayer meeting. What did we do? We prayed  fervently. We prayed without much order, but we prayed. It reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 8: “26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”[3] Continue reading “Why I Believe in God! A Biographical Introduction to the Christian Faith, Part 1 of 2”