I do NOT want an debate on this, I just want to know the atheist's opinion on this article...
"What is atheism?" Atheism is the view that God does not exist. Atheism is not a new development. Psalm 14:1, written by David around 1000 B.C., mentions atheism: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Recent statistics show an increasing number of people claiming to be atheists, up to 10 percent of people worldwide. So why are more and more people becoming atheists? Is atheism truly the logical position atheists claim it to be? Why does atheism even exist? Why doesn’t God simply reveal Himself to people, proving that He exists? Surely if God would just appear, the thinking goes, everyone would believe in Him! The problem here is that it is not God’s desire to just convince people that He exists. It is God’s desire for people to believe in Him by faith (2 Peter 3:9) and accept by faith His gift of salvation (John 3:16). God clearly demonstrated His existence many times in the Old Testament (Genesis 6-9; Exodus 14:21-22; 1 Kings 18:19-31). Did the people believe that God exists? Yes. Did they turn from their evil ways and obey God? No. If a person is not willing to accept God’s existence by faith, then he/she is definitely not ready to accept Jesus Christ as Savior by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). God’s desire is for people to become Christians, not just theists (those who believe God exists). The Bible tells us that God’s existence must be accepted by faith. Hebrews 11:6 declares, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” The Bible reminds us that we are blessed when we believe and trust in God by faith: “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29). The existence of God must be accepted by faith, but this does not mean belief in God is illogical. There are many good arguments for the existence of God. The Bible teaches that God’s existence is clearly seen in the universe (Psalm 19:1-4), in nature (Romans 1:18-22), and in our own hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). With all that said, the existence of God cannot be proven; it must be accepted by faith. At the same time, it takes just as much faith to believe in atheism. To make the absolute statement “God does not exist” is to make a claim of knowing absolutely everything there is to know about everything and of having been everywhere in the universe and having witnessed everything there is to be seen. Of course, no atheist would make these claims. However, that is essentially what they are claiming when they state that God absolutely does not exist. Atheists cannot prove that God does not, for example, live in the center of the sun, or beneath the clouds of Jupiter, or in some distant nebula. Since those places are beyond our capacity to observe, it cannot be proven that God does not exist. It takes just as much faith to be an atheist as it does to be a theist. Atheism cannot be proven, and God’s existence must be accepted by faith. Obviously, Christians believe strongly that God exists, and admit that God’s existence is a matter of faith. At the same time, we reject the idea that belief in God is illogical. We believe that God’s existence can be clearly seen, keenly sensed, and proven to be philosophically and scientifically necessary. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). www.gotquestions.org/atheism.html
Thank you!
Conservative Christian. Remember: you're unique, just like everyone else. DJW community co-host.
Atheism is a position on a single philosophical issue - the existence of God, gods and goddesses.
Atheists don't believe in God, gods and goddesses.
There isn't a lot more to say about it than that.
In one respect, everyone is "atheistic" about almost all the gods who have ever been dreamt up by the human race. I dare say that you do not believe in Aphrodite and neither do I. You probably do not believe in almost all the gods and goddesses I don't believe in, so we're both atheists about 99.999% of all the gods of all cultures throughout history only I go one step further to 100%.
Atheism is a rational response to the total lack of evidence or reason that might support the contention that a god or gods exist.
The problem here is that it is not God’s desire to just convince people that He exists. It is God’s desire for people to believe in Him by faith (2 Peter 3:9) and accept by faith His gift of salvation (John 3:16). God clearly demonstrated His existence many times in the Old Testament (Genesis 6-9; Exodus 14:21-22; 1 Kings 18:19-31).
The above is empty speculation, I am afraid to say. Without proving that this particular "God" exists, it is doubly pointless to speculate what this entity does and doesn't want to do.
Know that any Argument from Scripture is self serving and therefore may be dismissed without further discussion.
Atheism is a lack of belief in the imaginary beings some people have dreamt up for some reason.
I do NOT want an debate on this, I just want to know the atheist's opinion on this article...
It was obviously written for Christians, not atheists. It argues entirely from the point of view that Christianity is true, which means that it assumes the very thing that it ought to prove. Because Christians share this assumption and consider the Bible authoritative, they will no doubt consider it an impressive argument. You must remember though, that atheists cannot regard either Christianity as true or the Bible as authoritative. To them, the argument, such as it is, falls completely flat.
" .. . . . I just want to know the atheist's opinion on this article."
OK, since you asked.
It is silly for several reasons. In no particular order:
To quote the writings of ignorant goat herders from 4K yrs ago to an atheist as if they were fact is BOTH useless and silly. It is useless because we obviously don’t believe a single word of it and it is silly because even if we did the quotes themselves admit we have to have “faith” to swallow these tales. And by definition we don’t.
It is a worthless argument because relative few of us take the absolute position. The much more common position is, “I don’t believe in god(s) for the same reason I don’t believe there are invisible unicorns on Mars. But both gods and unicorns are possible; and about equally as likely.”
And the 1st cause argument advanced is silly. It is silly because even granting such a cause tells us nothing about it. The 1st cause argument supports ANY god we have ever invented.
Frankly, I have heard and read much better arguments for A god than this rather simple-minded and silly example you have provided.
What else you got?
The World is divided into armed camps ready to commit genocide just because we can't agree on whose fairy tales to believe. The belief in supernatural religion will kill us all if we don't outgrow it.
When I first read "End of Faith" I thought Sam went too far. The more I read and listen to these "believers" the more I wonder if maybe he wasn't right after all.
The problem here is that it is not God’s desire to just convince people that He exists. It is God’s desire for people to believe in Him by faith (2 Peter 3:9) and accept by faith His gift of salvation (John 3:16). God clearly demonstrated His existence many times in the Old Testament (Genesis 6-9; Exodus 14:21-22; 1 Kings 18:19-31).
The above is empty speculation, I am afraid to say. Without proving that this particular "God" exists, it is doubly pointless to speculate what this entity does and doesn't want to do.
Know that any Argument from Scripture is self serving and therefore may be dismissed without further discussion.
Atheism is a lack of belief in the imaginary beings some people have dreamt up for some reason.
God's desire for people to believe, is a required first step before people can feel love...
Her love for us, and reciprocating love for Her.
I use the expression of child giving a speech at high school graduation, with their parents watching proudly in the audience...
"ya, it was more difficult for me to reach this point in my life than the rest of you, as I have no family, no support, no encouragement, no mentor, NOTHING. I did this completely BY MY SELF."
those are simply "blah blah blah" vibrations in the air... why would they be cause for concern by the parents sitting in the audience listening to it?
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
Christians believe strongly that God exists, and admit that God’s existence is a matter of faith. At the same time, we reject the idea that belief in God is illogical. We believe that God’s existence can be clearly seen, keenly sensed, and proven to be philosophically and scientifically necessary.
This argument is contradictory and irrational.
Also, it doesn't honestly address how atheists actually think, inserting straw men views instead.
Furthermore, any rational God would understand if rational people don't accept faith as a means to knowledge. So, the idea that God would require people to act against their best judgment says more about the foolishness of the theist author than about the alleged foolishness of atheists.
Atheists cannot prove that God does not, for example, live in the center of the sun, or beneath the clouds of Jupiter, or in some distant nebula. Since those places are beyond our capacity to observe, it cannot be proven that God does not exist.
It sounds like the author has been influenced by Dante's Paradiso.
It takes just as much faith to be an atheist as it does to be a theist.
No, it does not take any faith to be an atheist. It takes a lack of faith. There is a great difference between faith and no faith. For instance, back when I was a theist and a Christian, I believed in God even though I had no personal experience of God, what is sometimes termed "unverified personal gnosis" or "UPG." My faith was therefore much like the faith described by R. S. Thomas in his poem "Via Negativa": "Why no! I never thought other than / That God is the great absence / In our lives, the empty silence / Within, the place where we go / Seeking, not in hope to / Arrive or find." In these lines, Thomas is describing a faith based on a lack of unverified personal gnosis -- the speaker not only believes in God in spite of not having any personal experiences of God, but he asserts that he never expected his faith in God to be anything other than absence, silence, and seeking with no hope of arriving or finding.
This kind of faith with no personal evidence and with no hope is very different from an atheist's lack of faith. When I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours daily, I prayed to a deity that I believed in, but a deity that was silent and absent, and that perhaps lived far away in a distant nebula or beneath of clouds of Jupiter or in the center of the Sun (to allude to the article in the opening post) and perhaps wasn't even aware of my existence or of my chanting of the Hours. As an atheist, I have no faith (or, I have a lack of faith) that there is a God out in space somewhere. In other words, unlike the Christian in Thomas's poem, I have no faith that beyond the silence (or, in spite of the silence), and beyond the absence (or, in spite of the absence), and in spite of a lack of hope, that God indeed does exist. Disbelief is not the same as belief; a lack of faith is not the same as faith.
I do NOT want an debate on this, I just want to know the atheist's opinion on this article...
"What is atheism?" Atheism is the view that God does not exist. Atheism is not a new development....
No need to go any further than the first sentence to see that the author knows nothing about the topic of Atheism. The rest couldn't possibly contain any truth.
Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.
I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
