Consequences of Atheism

There are some atheists who do not think that their atheism has much impact on their lives as a whole. To them, atheism (or the lack of belief in God or the Supernatural) is but a small part of their lives. They might even compare a lack of belief in God to a lack of belief in Santa Claus or unicorns. But is it really true that atheism has little impact on one’s life? Definitely not! Let me briefly trace the consequences of atheism, and particularly of denying the God of the Bible, in three areas.

First, atheism has an impact on one’s view of reality. Most atheists would say that reality is composed of the material and physical, and that nothing beyond space and time exist, and even if it does exist, it has no impact on his life. As such, everything that the Bible says about the origin and purpose of this universe, of life, man, angels, heaven, hell etc can be discarded.

Second, atheism has an impact on one’s view of knowledge. If, as most atheists would say, reality is simply what can be experienced by the senses and nothing else, then they have determined the only method of knowing, namely, through observation. Revelation from God, i.e. the Bible, is ruled out, a priori, as a valid source of knowledge and truth.

Third, atheism has an impact on morality, i.e. it has implications for how a person lives and how he will determine right and wrong. If God does not exist, then everything that the Bible says about what God requires of man can be discarded. The atheist is essentially saying that he is his own “God” and that he will determine for himself what is right and wrong, and what the course of his life ought to be. He will use his own common sense or any other ethical theory devised by man to judge good and evil, right and wrong.

It’s clear that all atheists have a philosophy of life that is radically affected by their rejection of the supernatural. It’s true that there is no common philosophy among all atheists but one thing is sure, they have all rejected the Biblical philosophy of life and substituted something else for it.

The Bible has this to say about atheists: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalm 14:1)” And again: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are no convenient…(Rom. 1:28)”

Excerpt from “The Great Debate” on the laws of logic

The following is an excerpt from “The Great Debate: Does God Exist?,” a formal debate between Dr Greg L. Bahnsen (a Christian apologist) and Dr Gordon S. Stein (an atheist) that was held at the University of California (Irvine) on February 11, 1985. This is the last part of Dr Bahnsen’s cross examination of Dr Stein and then they switch over.

You can listen to this segment of the debate here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cSA8ezkmR4&feature=related

I would encourage you to listen to the whole debate which is also available on youtube.

As Dr Bahnsen once said, if you give let the unbeliever talk long enough, he’ll give you the “rope” by which you can “hang” him.

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Bahnsen: I heard you mention “logical binds” and “logical self-contradiction” in your speech .
You did say that?

Stein: I used that phrase, yes.

Bahnsen: Do you believe there are laws of logic then?

Stein: Absolutely.

Bahnsen: Are they universal?

Stein: They are agreed upon by human beings. They aren’t laws that exist out in nature. They’re consenual.

Bahnsen: Are they simply conventions then?

Stein: They are conventions, but they are conventions that are self-verifying.

Bahnsen: Are they sociological laws or laws of thought?

Stein: They are laws of thought which are interpreted by men and promulgated by men.

Bahnsen: Are they material in nature?

Stein: How can a law be material in nature?

Bahnsen: That’s a question I’m going to ask you.

Laughter…

Stein: I would say no.

Moderator: Dr Stein, you now have an opportunity to cross-examine Dr Bahnsen.

Stein: Dr. Bahnsen, would you call God material or immaterial?

Bahnsen: Immaterial.

Stein: What is something that’s immaterial?

Bahnsen: Something not extended in space.

Stein: Can you give me an example of anything other than God that is immaterial?

Bahnsen: The laws of logic.

Much laughter….

Moderator: Can I ask you to hold that down please…

Is Christianity one of many religions?

The question we need to ask is, “How can religion in general be defined?” One book, some years ago, listed about one hundred definitions of religion. This shows us just how complex this issue is. In general, two methods have been used to distinguish religion from other subjects of study. The first views religion in terms of emotional experiences or attitudes. The problem with this approach is that no single emotion or experience or state of consciousness can be singled out as the definitive element in religion. Furthermore, it cannot differentiate between a religious and a non-religious emotion. For example, why is the emotion of a soccer fan or political fanatic non-religious while that of a temple worshipper religious? The second approach tries to find common beliefs among the religions. Again, this approach fails because in order to discover the common elements in all religions, it would first be necessary to distinguish religious from non-religious phenomena. In other words, how do you search for something which you do not even know at the beginning of the search? Also, there isn’t any common quality or belief to be found in all religions – not even the existence of a god. The conclusion is that religion cannot be defined! The word may be used in a very loose way to refer to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism etc but strictly speaking, it cannot be properly and meaningfully defined.

So to answer the question – No, Christianity is not one manifestation of religion in general. Why? Because there is no such thing as religion in general. Here is the paradox: there are many religions but no religion in general. Only the Christian viewpoint can provide a solution to this paradox. True religion all began when God made man in His image and gave man a special revelation. But with the fall, men became estranged from God and started to distort true religion. All forms of idolatry, witchcraft and superstitions arose. Even atheism is nothing but a terrible distortion of the truth. All the religions of the world today, including atheism, are descendants of the one true and original religion, and because of this common origin, they are colloquially or loosely categorised under “religion”. As Christians, we alone have the truth. All other religions and belief systems are nothing but distortions of the truth. Unbelievers will not like to hear this but that is what we have to tell them – nicely and gently of course!