A Critique of Atheism: A Case Against God Part 1

George Smith’s introduction begins by asking the philosophically heavy question: Does a god exist (ix)? Smith asserts that the answer to this question is one that has led to a substantial amount of literature. The “vast majority have answered the question with a resounding ‘Yes’ ” (ix)!  Smith proceeds to warn his readers that this book presents a minority viewpoint. His honesty becomes apparent when he notes that this is not a sympathetic analysis, and neither is it a critique of “religion” per se, but a critique of “the belief in god, especially as manifested in Christianity”(ix).

There are a few points to make from the start about George Smith’s introduction. The first is the boldness of the author in attempting to present a case against “a god” (later we will discover his reasoning behind his use of “god” without the common capital letter usage). It is not everyday where the creature rises to confront his supposed “Creator” in a logical fashion. After all, it is a “case against God,” and a case against something requires a patterned and reasonable rationale for disbelieving it, which most say is to be believed. Secondly, it is a minority viewpoint. Minority viewpoints are an anomaly, because in one sense most of that which is considered majority today grew out of a minority at one point, but in the most obvious sense most of what is minority tends to be minority for a reason – it is still undeveloped and poorly propagated. They come from the pen of those whose nature or experience led them to feel comfortable being in a minority rather than the overwhelming nature of its opponent. Further, there is something very appealing about a minority position and that is, it attracts those who are discontent with the majority position. A third observation is his straightforward note that this is a critique of Christianity. Since it is not a critique of Islam’s god or Hindus’ gods, the reviewer will not have to spend time analyzing the inadequacies of other gods, but rather on an exclusive commitment to critiquing Dr. Smith’s presentation of the “god” of Christianity.

Since this is a detailed analysis of this introduction and there is no time constraint, the following articles will engage in many of the thoughts presented. Atheism at its very conception begins with a common assumption: there is no god. At the very heart of their critique is the Christian faith. In fact, only in the last four to six years has there been any significant interest in another religion, Islam. This interest of course emerges from the objective and forceful nature of Islam. Atheism at large cannot understand conviction (the conviction that infidels must die as Islam teaches), because they have none (apart from the conviction that they do not believe in god). In contrast, the primary presupposition of these articles–which may span from now to an unknown date in the future– is the conviction that the God of creation is not the god of Islam or of any other religion, but the God of the Scriptures, particularly the Trinitarian Christian God. As observed previously, there is an inherent hatred for that which is “Christian” in atheism. To most of them Chrsitianity is tolerable as long as it is not about to impose something on anyone else. At the point it does, then Christianity must be destroyed at all costs, their rights must be abolished, and their followers must be silenced in the public square. The only analogy that comes close to understanding the atheistic mind is that of a man who believes he is dead and after significant testing proving his awareness of life, continues to submit that he is dead until he convinces himself that nothing anyone will ever say will disprove his self-analysis that he is dead. At this point, the man (the atheist) lives to prove to himself that he is dead though all those surrounding him know he is alive. The atheist suppresses or represses that common knowledge (Romans 1) and all facts that he is exposed to prove his thesis that he is dead. How subtle that the case against God is a case for God.