Tag Archives: Atheism

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Of Course God Doesn’t Exist…Now What? Introducing Atheism 2.0

A friend of mine recommended this TED video on Atheism 2.0 and I found it to be fascinating (wrongheaded…but fascinating nonetheless). Atheism 1.0 is about the angry atheists – he singles out Richard Dawkins – who think religion is dangerous and the intellectual equivalent of believing in the tooth fairy. I have written a book responding to this brand of atheism and am convinced that Christianity is not only true, but there are good reasons to believe its true. But I will let the reader decide if that was successful. I mention that because in Atheism 2.0, Botton starts by asserting (not arguing) “of course God doesn’t exist. But let’s not throw out religion, let’s learn from it.” There are things we can pick and choose and assemble. We can have mystery and spiritual experiences without the existence of anything spiritual. Romanticism meets atheism. There is no purpose so we must create our own. Culture must replace Scripture. Why? Because no one is teaching us how to live. Secularism simply gives us information and data. But what people long for is human flourishing and community (BTW – the Christian worldview really sparkles here). So Botton suggests there is much to learn from religion even if we don’t believe any of it.

 There is much that can be said, but I want to suggest the main reason the project of Atheism 2.0 will fail: It’s not aiming at truth. Transcendence without truth will lead to despair in the end. Truth is not an “open source” kind of thing. It’s not a wiki project.

In response to this video, I want to recommend two resources. First the book I wrote with Sean McDowell Is God Just a Human Invention? which largely deals with Atheism 1.0. If you would like a thoughtful response to the themes of Atheism 2.0, I would recommend Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey.
The teachable moment from a video like this is that people are hungry for meaning, purpose, and a vision for human flourishing. But that must be grounded in an objective answer to the question – what is a human being for? And Christianity of course has much to offer here. Humans are created by God for an everlasting relationship with Him and each other.

Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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Is Science Our Only Source of Knowledge?

With the rise and success of modern science (and these advances have been beneficial in many ways), some people have unfortunately come to believe that science, and science alone, offers true knowledge of reality. Famous atheist Bertrand Russell put it this way: “Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know.” Initially, this sounds sophisticated and intelligent. You will hear variations of this slogan all over the place, and it is implied in most documentaries you see on TV. The only problem is that if it is true, we couldn’t know it to be true. Why? Because the state-ment itself is not testable by the scientific method and is therefore by its own stan- dard unable to be known! It’s self-refuting. It’s a statement that commits suicide.

Contrary to what you may have been lead to believe, science is not capable of providing comprehensive knowledge of reality. It does great with bacteria, supernovas, genes, and gravity, but it falters when trying to discuss virtue and vice, souls, free will, moral responsibility, success, joy, love, forgiveness, wisdom, salvation, redemption, hope, purpose, meaning, and beauty (just to name a few!). The scientism espoused by Russell, which is hand in hand with naturalism, must be resisted by Christians if we are to engage our world with the good news of the kingdom of God. We don’t need to be bullied into thinking that if we can’t examine something with a microscope or telescope, then we can’t know it. For this is a self-evidently false statement. 

Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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From Atheism to Christianity

Not God’s Type? A very cool story…

“Smart people don’t become Christians,” Holly Ordway, a college professor, thought when she was an atheist.

However, a student in Biola’s Christian Apologetics graduate program showed her otherwise. Josh Runyan, and his wife, Heidi, modeled winsome Christian kindness and care along with intellectual attentiveness to Ordway’s questions, obstacles and curiosities about God, Christianity and life.

….

“It is a hard thing to look at the truth when it runs contrary to what you’ve always believed,” writes Ordway about the atheism of her youth and 20s. “I was not looking for God. Make no mistake. I did not believe that He existed. I was a college professor — logical, intellectual, rational — and an atheist.”

What happened? Fundamentally, a change in her worldview began to occur at age 31 along with a struggle in her own will.

“I was drawn, against my conscious will, and against my own inclination, to be interested in matters of faith,” Ordway writes.

Nonetheless, “My naturalistic worldview was inadequate to explain the nature of reality in a coherent way: it could not explain the origin of the universe, nor could it explain morality,” Ordway says.

On the other hand, she came to acknowledge, “the theistic worldview was both consistent and powerfully explanatory: it offered a convincing, rationally consistent, and logical explanation for everything that the naturalistic worldview explained plus all the things that the naturalistic worldview couldn’t.” (More)

Fore more, see:

Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith

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Is Atheism a Crutch?

Greg Koukl has a helpful post on this question:

“Some say Christianity is just a crutch. But let’s turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways.

Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they’ve had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God’s existence? Think about it.

And to the question “Is Christianity a crutch?” I say yes, but not in the way the atheist puts the challenge. Just as someone with a broken leg needs a crutch to lean on to help him heal, Christians have recognized that we are broken people who need a Savior who is the only Healer of our sin.

We all need a crutch. The questions is, are you using a crutch that will hold you?….”

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Texas students argue the Bible is smut

Interesting article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

“The Atheist Agenda, a University of Texas San Antonio student organization, is preaching the Bible and other religious writings are just as smutty as recognized pornography.

The “smut for smut” campaign this week tries to counter the religious message of love by noting that the Bible and the Quran recount violence and torture, according to the San Antonio News-Express.

“It’s a First Amendment right,” said Bradley Lewis, an 18-year-old member of the Atheist Agenda. “If religious groups can put out missionaries and go knock on my door and wake me up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I can put a table outside of a college.”

Nobody seems to be contesting the group’s right to have their say, but Robin Lorkovic — standing nearby with a sign proclaiming “God Loves you! Keep your Bible and learn from it” — said the Atheist Agenda’s campaign was inappropriate.

“I am a Christian,” Lorkovic, 18, told the News-Express. “I believe in God’s love, and I am here to stand my ground and stand up for what I believe in.”

Lewis conceded that the event is basically a publicity stunt and a means to generate debate.

“This is ultimately why this is going on,” Lewis said. “It’s an icebreaker to get people talking about these things.” (more)