As I have argued earlier, atheism leads to determinism. (Please notice how I define atheism). The most important reason that atheism leads to determinism is that atheism requires that everything be subject to naturalistic, scientific explanation. From an atheistic perspective, there can be no thing, event, or action which cannot be given a total explanation by reference to physical objects and natural laws. As Charles Darwin put it: “Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.” Humans and human actions are part of nature; therefore, we and our choices are the result of fixed laws.
reason
Atheism and the Denial of Reason
I want to clarify the problems with determinism under atheism. (Please notice how I define atheism).
Thankfully, Sam Harris has already identified one of the problems for us:
Atheism and Moral Accountability
Many atheists, dedicated to doing what is good, are offended by arguments that the atheistic worldview has problems with morality. It is frustrating for an atheist who genuinely loves doing kind actions to be told that, philosophically speaking, their lifestyle doesn’t fit with their worldview. After all, for that person, it does fit together. On the one hand, they don’t believe in an invisible fairy god who magically grants wishes, on the other hand, they love science, reason and the people in their lives. (Please notice how I define atheism).
Atheism and the Denial of Freedom
Many (but not all) atheists argue for and accept that “free will” in an illusion. Why? Because this conclusion follows logically from the basic principles of atheism. I want to clarify why all atheists should deny the existence of free will or, by contrast, why all who believe that they have free will should reject atheism.
In other words, I will argue that if atheism is true, then humans do not have free will. But by contrast, if humans do have free will, then atheism is false. (Please notice how I define atheism).
Atheism, Evil and Despair
Have you ever felt wretched, just sick to your stomach, over how you’ve hurt someone else? I want to talk about how atheism deals with these experiences. (Please notice how I define atheism).
At a time in my life when I should have known better, I put myself in this position.
Enlightenment and the Bible
One of the responses to yesterday’s item was this insightful comment: “[A] lot of people have the impression that they would be different. They’ll say, “Sure, those silly Israelites made that mistake, but certainly I wouldn’t. *I* would listen to God and would never forsake Him if only I saw him once.” In other words, the interpretive question that must be answered about the narrative I shared from Deuteronomy is: are we similar to those “silly Israelites”?
Why Doesn’t God Reveal Himself To Me?
One of the more frustrating elements in the search for God’s existence, at least for some people, is this nagging question: why doesn’t God just shout “HELLO! YOU THERE! BELIEVE IN ME! I AM REAL!” On the face of it, this would be extremely easy for God to do – if He existed. After all, the idea is that God is good, loving, all-powerful, all-knowing. What’s the problem here? If marketers for major companies can send me personalized mail with the Postal Service, what’s keeping God from doing the same?
Does God Exist?: Some Good Questions
“Does God exist?” is a huge, daunting question. When you’re trying to figure out the existence of God, you need to break the intellectual search down into smaller pieces.
Here are some good questions to consider as you work on the big question:
The Need for Humility
If you’re trying to find God, one thing you need is humility. What is humility?
First, humility is not thinking terrible, false thoughts about yourself. It is no virtue to believe harsh, negative lies about yourself. There is nothing humble about believing you are worthless, basically incapable, stupid, or any other variation upon these themes.
Searching for God: Community
One often neglected component that is essential, when conducting a thorough investigation for God’s existence, is participating in community.
Think about it: how did you learn math or chemistry or English? It was almost certainly in community – with a teacher, fellow students, and books written, edited, published, marketed and sold by others you never met. Almost all of our learning, in every discipline, depends upon participation in a community. If you want to learn math, you get to know the math professors; for chemistry, with others in the lab; for English, through reading and the English department. The same is true if you are looking to find God: you simply need to be around people who claim to know God!