The Faith of Atheists and Agnostics
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:35 am
This morning, I happened across a comment about challenging atheists, made by our good friend Bippy: "If I were you I would approach it in a different way. I would actually use an indirect approach to show them that atheism is truly a religion more then a position of logic, reason and science."
Yes, atheism cannot know or prove how the universe began, nor how things previously non-existing and immaterial came into being and THEN organized themselves into massive marvels of engineering, functionality, on an unfathomable scale, from microscopic to galactic details. NO KNOWN/VALIDATED (and ALL necessarily SUBSEQUENT) scientific processes or analysis can account for this. And the great complexity, design and functionality - awesomely apparent at the very beginning, when previously non-existing things came into to being - are great evidences for the Intelligent Designer behind it all.
Given the above, and given that ALL atheists and agnostics - especially those in the West and places that the internet touches - well know that Christianity, Judaism and Islam assert that not only is there a God - or what I call a "god" - behind the universe - but that if you get it wrong as to exactly who He (or "he") is, then your eternity will likely be terrifying, the punishment great, the consequences enormous. And so, especially knowing that vast millions of Christians assert the truth of the Bible - that dying without faith in Christ leads to eternal separation from God, punishment, hopelessness and darkness - this means that such atheists and agnostics realize that IF they are wrong about the God question, then they will be (are) DOOMED. But that if they are correct and there is NO God, then it really doesn't matter, does it? As the only thing that would ultimately matter are their lives before death. As forever afterward, they would share the dreams of rocks!
So, given the enormous potential consequences of getting the God question WRONG, atheists and agnostics (and other non-Christians), well know they need to have the answer to this question correct. They have to have a strong core belief that they are correct - which I would call "faith." One dictionary defines faith as: "Having complete trust or confidence in someone or something." Now, of course, merely having faith in a thing or a God (or god) does not change whether or not He (he) is a reality or non-reality. He (he or nothing) is either the reality or not. And faith is a gamble of playing the odds, is it not? The unbeliever must have faith that His spiritual/non-spiritual beliefs are valid and will never harm them - certainly not ETERNALLY. This is why so many atheists and agnostics spend vast amounts of time trying to disprove Christianity or that the universe required a God. As, psychologically/emotionally, they want to FEEL that they are correct, even if they can't prove that.
So, all unbelievers - even atheists and agnostics must have a faith - a core certainty that they have chosen correctly, as to the God question. And they well know this, surrounded by various theists and Christians. But I wonder, given the severe consequences IF they are wrong about the God behind Christianity, are they never stressed or worried about the possibility that they are wrong? Do they not think about that, or the horrific thoughts it should conjure? They also well know that they cannot physically or scientifically PROVE their non-theist beliefs, that their beliefs ALSO require faith. Even agnosticism requires a faith - not just that things are unknowable - but that remaining in the "things are unknowable camp" is nonetheless a rejection and lack of acknowledging God (or ANY god). The Bible calls such people unbelievers in the Lord, not just "unbelievers in anything specific or that is unknowable." And, so, it's not just important that the faith of atheists and agnostics be strong - for their eternal well being - it must be held in something that is actually TRUE. I don't think I could function if I thought I even "might" have the answer to that question wrong. And given the impossible option that ALL that came into being at the Big Bang, with great power, organization, design, functionality, with unfathomable scale of detail - to think ALL of that could happen, uncaused/without an Intelligence behind it all - that would cause me to have a crisis of faith about the enormous uncertainty of my unbelief (IF I were truly honest with the implications of it all). ESPECIALLY given the uncountable chain of uncaused miracles that would have been IMMEDIATELY necessitated by the beginning, content, organization, design, function and scale of the universe.
Yes, atheism cannot know or prove how the universe began, nor how things previously non-existing and immaterial came into being and THEN organized themselves into massive marvels of engineering, functionality, on an unfathomable scale, from microscopic to galactic details. NO KNOWN/VALIDATED (and ALL necessarily SUBSEQUENT) scientific processes or analysis can account for this. And the great complexity, design and functionality - awesomely apparent at the very beginning, when previously non-existing things came into to being - are great evidences for the Intelligent Designer behind it all.
Given the above, and given that ALL atheists and agnostics - especially those in the West and places that the internet touches - well know that Christianity, Judaism and Islam assert that not only is there a God - or what I call a "god" - behind the universe - but that if you get it wrong as to exactly who He (or "he") is, then your eternity will likely be terrifying, the punishment great, the consequences enormous. And so, especially knowing that vast millions of Christians assert the truth of the Bible - that dying without faith in Christ leads to eternal separation from God, punishment, hopelessness and darkness - this means that such atheists and agnostics realize that IF they are wrong about the God question, then they will be (are) DOOMED. But that if they are correct and there is NO God, then it really doesn't matter, does it? As the only thing that would ultimately matter are their lives before death. As forever afterward, they would share the dreams of rocks!
So, given the enormous potential consequences of getting the God question WRONG, atheists and agnostics (and other non-Christians), well know they need to have the answer to this question correct. They have to have a strong core belief that they are correct - which I would call "faith." One dictionary defines faith as: "Having complete trust or confidence in someone or something." Now, of course, merely having faith in a thing or a God (or god) does not change whether or not He (he) is a reality or non-reality. He (he or nothing) is either the reality or not. And faith is a gamble of playing the odds, is it not? The unbeliever must have faith that His spiritual/non-spiritual beliefs are valid and will never harm them - certainly not ETERNALLY. This is why so many atheists and agnostics spend vast amounts of time trying to disprove Christianity or that the universe required a God. As, psychologically/emotionally, they want to FEEL that they are correct, even if they can't prove that.
So, all unbelievers - even atheists and agnostics must have a faith - a core certainty that they have chosen correctly, as to the God question. And they well know this, surrounded by various theists and Christians. But I wonder, given the severe consequences IF they are wrong about the God behind Christianity, are they never stressed or worried about the possibility that they are wrong? Do they not think about that, or the horrific thoughts it should conjure? They also well know that they cannot physically or scientifically PROVE their non-theist beliefs, that their beliefs ALSO require faith. Even agnosticism requires a faith - not just that things are unknowable - but that remaining in the "things are unknowable camp" is nonetheless a rejection and lack of acknowledging God (or ANY god). The Bible calls such people unbelievers in the Lord, not just "unbelievers in anything specific or that is unknowable." And, so, it's not just important that the faith of atheists and agnostics be strong - for their eternal well being - it must be held in something that is actually TRUE. I don't think I could function if I thought I even "might" have the answer to that question wrong. And given the impossible option that ALL that came into being at the Big Bang, with great power, organization, design, functionality, with unfathomable scale of detail - to think ALL of that could happen, uncaused/without an Intelligence behind it all - that would cause me to have a crisis of faith about the enormous uncertainty of my unbelief (IF I were truly honest with the implications of it all). ESPECIALLY given the uncountable chain of uncaused miracles that would have been IMMEDIATELY necessitated by the beginning, content, organization, design, function and scale of the universe.
. Oh, and they are OLDER than most of today's atheists, didn't have the internet 
- other than those, they sound very familiar, and unfortunately, were just as lost. Thankfully, FL was transformed - into the nice, respectful, polite and PC Christian he is today. 
