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Atheism
Atheism
claims there is no God.
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Atheism
The word atheism is a transliteration of a Greek
word which means "without God." The word atheos is used in
Ephesians 2:12 describing the condition of being without the true God.
Christians were at one time called atheists because they refused to
acknowledge heathen Greek gods. Protestants at times have been called atheists
because of their refusal to deify Mary
and to worship saints. Today the term is generally used to describe those who
philosphically reject a personal self-conscious deity or the absolute denial of
God's existence.
There is a practical atheism as well. While God is not
denied, life is lived as if there is no God. There is complete indifference to
his claims, and often there is outspoken and defiant wickedness. This form of
atheism is widely prevalent today.
One of the most visible atheists in
20th Century America was Madalyn Murray O'Hair whose efforts contributed to the
1963 Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional the devotional reading
of the Bible and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer in public
schools.
Today atheism is claimed to be the logical consequence of a
rational system that accounts for all human experience without the need to
appeal to God. Communism is such an organized
and integrated system. At its heart is a materialistic view of history and the
complete secularization of life.
Arguments in
favor of atheism:
- The onus of proof is on the theist, since atheism is
prima facie of more reasonable postion.
- Theistic proofs are inadequate.
- Theism is harmful to
society, as it leads to intolerance and persecution.
- With the advances in modern science there is no need for
God as an explanatory hypotheis. The supernatural is unneeded.
- The material universe began with the 'big bang.'
- Charles Darwin rejected God on the grounds that there
is an inherent cruelty in nature, as seen in the struggle for existence among
animal species.
- Belief in God is psychologically explainable.
- Sigmund Freud saw God as an illusion, a childish
projection which grew out of the insecurity of knowing that parents will die
someday and the subsequent wish for a "father" who was perfect and would not
die.
- Theism is neither true nor false because it is unverifiable
by public sense experience.
- Theism is logically contradictory or incoherent. It has
been claimed that the notion of necessary existence is incoherent and that the
existence of an omnipotent, perfectly good God is inconsistent with the
presence of evil in the world.
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Arguments
against atheism:
- It is against reason. The existence of something rather
than nothing requires God.
- It is contrary to human experience, where some knowledge of
God, no matter how suppressed and distorted, has universally existed.
- Atheism cannot account for design, order, and regularity in
the universe.
- It cannot explain the existence of man and mind.
The Major
World Views
Agnosticism
Holds that truth is "unknowable."
Rationalism
Sees all of nature as rational and the making of proper
deductions is essential to achieving knowledge.
Pragmatism
Is
more concerned with what 'works' than with what's true.
Monism
Everything is an undifferentiated oneness or
unity.
Henotheism
One supreme god, not necessarily to the exclusion of
other lesser gods.
Liberalism/Modernism
We must rethink and adapt our concept of God and truth
to fit with modern culture and modes of thinking.
Pantheism/Naturalism
Everything is god.
Polytheism
There are many gods.
Atheism
There is no God.
Monotheism
There is only one God.
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Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said:
“Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
For as
I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found
an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as
something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
[Acts
17:22-23] |
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