The Folly of Atheism PT 1

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God.”

Psalm 14:1

Introduction

Atheism is the worldview of fools. It touts itself as intellectual and scientific but is nothing more than a philosophy masquerading as neutral and objective. Atheism is no more scientific than the federal reserve is governmental. And it is no more objective than diet coke is for the health conscious. It is a worldview - a lens - through which men and women who hate God and Jesus Christ see the world and every single point of data through. When Richard Dawkins (and other atheists like Bill Nye the science guy) see the same data as Ken Ham (and other creation scientists), their atheistic worldview gives them the impetuous for whatever interpretation they come up with. To be fair, it is the same with the creation scientists. However, the creationists are correct and the atheists are foolish. 

In this series, I hope to show the reader why atheism is so incredibly insane, and those who believe in it are both foolish and horribly inconsistent as well as their desperate need for the salvation of their souls through none other than Jesus Christ the King of all the world!

Atheists and Complexity

Atheists will often say that we do not need a designer simply because we have a great deal of complexity in the world, or that complexity does not prove a creator exists. And, in typical fashion, they will complain that the reason why religious people devised these gods in the first place was to explain phenomena that were either unexplainable or uncontrollable, like the weather. Because men from ages past did not have the scientific clout that we supposedly have today, they attributed extreme and powerful occurrences in the world to supernatural forces. For this reason, they made up these god(s) so that they could feel more secure and comforted because now they had a god that could be prayed to and pleaded with. However, by this invention, the atheist will say, they were really saying “I don’t know” without saying “I don’t know.” 

Atheists are able to look at the complexity of creation and with a straight face say it was all random and without purpose. They can look at the complexity of the human brain with all of its amazing wonders and abilities, the climate and water cycle, or the vast array of living organisms in the world and say that there was no design and it was all by chance. But when they look at complex systems like the power grid, transportation, telecommunications, computer components, or a simple watch they have no choice but to conclude that it was intelligently designed - but by man of course. They will claim that evolution by natural selection is one such system by which complexity can occur without a creator. 

The problem with this theory of theirs is they have moved the goalposts and changed definitions. Atheists will claim that genetic variance and/or adaptation among a species is somehow evolution. Not just evolution, but that when a man and woman with brown eyes have a baby with blue eyes they have created a new species of human, and that this is an example of a complex and evolving system without the need of a creator. You can watch a pithy video of atheists trying their best to explain this with a straight face here. 

But they will argue that the watch and power grid are of course intelligently designed because watches and power grids are not natural. But if all things were intelligently designed there would be “no fundamental difference between a stone and a watch because both would have been designed by an intelligent creator.” [1] And, if this were true then it would be impossible to distinguish design from non-design because design can only exist in contrast to those things with are natural. 

Complexity As A Marker of Design

Hopefully, the errors and hubris of the atheist's line of thinking are painfully obvious. The atheist wants to make man - despite his purposelessness - the focal point of all things. What we can make comes from intelligence, but the fact that we are intelligent and can create somehow does not in any way mean that something intelligent and creative made us. Further, in their system, it must be believed that the power grid and the gear system in Big Ben are somehow more amazing and intricate than the circulatory system in humans simply because one is natural and one isn’t. One is inspired the other uninspired. 

But as Christians, we look around and see design in everything. We see beauty and order in everything and conclude properly and with sound judgment that a creator must have caused and created all that we see. This is called a Teleological Worldview. Not only does the Bible clearly portray and recognize purpose in all of creation (Genesis 1; Proverbs 8; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Romans 8:28), but the recognition of order and beauty is held by nearly all well-known philosophers (Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, et al.). Purpose is discernible both in all the natural phenomena we experience like the fact that we have eyes and hands, as well as the universe as a whole. And where there is purpose there is intelligence. The atheist would say that matter, force, time, and motion are enough for all the natural things we see. But unfortunately for them, this is irrational and far too simplistic. Direction is also needed, and direction is inconceivable without purpose. 

So what we have is an a priori argument. If a watch or computer needs a creator in order for it to exist, then how much more does all of the world need a creator in order for it to function as magnificently as it does? A watch has a purpose, which means intelligence made it. The world and all its systems have purpose, beauty, and order so therefore if something as relatively simple as a watch needs an intelligent creator, how much more does all the world need a creator? 

Conclusion

Atheists will grasp at anything to get away from God, even denying the glorious design of the nose right on their face, and call their Apple watch more impressive than the eyeballs that allow them to see it. But we know that something as simple as sand is impossible to replicate, and that the natural scent of a rose is a wonderful gift from a purposeful God, not a random set of events with no direction. Hold fast Christian, your Father in Heaven has given you ample proof of his love and creativity! 

Notes:

[1] Navabi, A. (2014). Why there is no god: Simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of god. Atheist Republic.