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Oct 06, 2020 08:00am

It Takes A Lot of Faith to be an Atheist

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Curious to me, the atheist commonly renders a person ill-informed for living his life in view of “faith.” I consider my faith quite reasonable.

Interesting, however, that atheists are relatively OK with saying they don’t know how the universe’s beginning was conceived:

“Whatever brought about the beginning of the universe, it was not a Creator,” they say.

“We’re not there yet. We don’t know.”

But the calculation “I don’t know” plus “best guess,” is the sum of two parts that equal “faith.” At least to some degree, we all live by faith that God does or does not exist.

My question, then, is: Who has greater faith, the theist or atheist?

Logic: Theist vs. Atheist

Creation:

The logic behind the atheist is that everything material came from nothing. This is a hard sell. If nothing exists, then from nothing, everything will come? I understand that the quantum realm plays by different rules, but this type of logic doesn’t hold up. Something will never come from nothing.

Order:

For the atheist, his claim is that our complex life systems and created order result from random forces guided by no one. It’s by chance that our universe has fixed natural laws, and everything works according to order and pattern. The universe has a beautiful symmetry. Is it all from random mutations and chance?

Purpose:

It’s hard for anyone to dismiss the fact that our lives, at least fundamentally, have meaning and purpose. I would love to think that as a husband and father, there is purpose. Somehow, what I do matters to some degree for something. Maybe.

The atheist must hold the position that ultimately our lives are not significant in any way. Your purpose in life? You don’t have one. You’re pointless. Our lives are meaningless because everything is an accident. Love, marriage, parenting, life in general: All these things are without ultimate purpose or meaning. What a disheartening way of viewing the world.

Morality:

Creationists stand behind moral absolutes, meaning there is such a thing as “right” and “wrong.” So, if there is an objective moral law, then it makes sense that there is a moral law giver from which that law derives.

Atheists exercise the position that “right” and “wrong” are relative terms, that right and wrong are determined by culture. What happens when the culture says it’s OK to murder children in the womb? Or even in more primitive cultures, it’s OK to kill children because they weren’t born the right gender?

What one culture says is right may be vile in another. In fact, this is often the case. Morality flies in the face of the atheist because there is no good way to determine what is right or wrong.

What matters?

Our purpose and meaning are tied directly to the God who created us. The value of our lives is inextricably connected to who we become and what we do for him. Living our lives apart from the Creator, we waste it. What matters about what we believe? Everything.

Every choice we make and everyone we engage will be affected by our beliefs, because it’s through the filter of our beliefs that all of our choices are made. It doesn’t matter how big or small, even our smallest and most private decisions are made through the context of our worldview. All of a sudden, everything we believe about God must be the most critical aspect of our lives.

John 1 + 1 John 1 = God’s Purpose Becomes a Person

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1 John 1:1 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands . . .

In the beginning was the Word, the Logos. “Logos” is a loaded Greek philosophical and technical term that means “divine reason.” It’s where we get the English word logic. But this is not just general logic or reason, it denotes the reason for life, or divine reason- the purpose of life.

God has given us the divine purpose, but not in the abstract. Rather, he came as a person (Jesus) to feel, touch, interact with, and experience – someone we can connect with personally.

He meets us where we are. He becomes graspable. Our purpose, meaning, and even our freedom are all tied directly to this logos (divine reason), and when we connect to him (salvation), we plug ourselves into God’s ultimate purpose for our lives.

The Logos is God who become human in the person of Jesus Christ OR John 1 + 1 John 1 = God’s Purpose Becomes a Person

A fish out of water is not living as he was designed. He is frustrated and dying. But when he enters the water, he is free to move and live as intended. In the same way, when we live out of accord with our divine purpose (our Logos) we become frustrated, and slowly we die. But it’s precisely our connection with God that gives us life, freedom, and purpose.

Now more specifically, Logos must be the most critical aspect of our lives – the center of gravity and reality, around which all aspects of our lives revolve.