The Folly of Atheism, Part 4

Reflections on Psalm 14:1

The question of God’s existence is the most critical question one can entertain. The existence of God or his nonexistence makes a difference to everything, since as Creator he is the ultimate explanation of everything. Conversion from atheism to Christian theism or vice versa always makes the greatest difference in a person’s life, although no one who is truly regenerate can ever apostatize. Some atheists, like the existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, are clearer than some believers about the consequences of God’s existence or nonexistence.

Taking statements from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic work, Brothers Karamazov, Sartre summarizes Dostoevsky’s view: “Without God all things are permissible.” Now, the average person does not honestly believe all things are permissible, at least they do not live like it. They want certain things to be permissible; whatever suits their fancy, but not all things. What kind of world would that be? But Sartre takes this idea and runs with it.

For Sartre, if God does not exist then there can be no eternal truth because there is no divine mind to think it. There can be no objective universal moral law because there is no divine will to command it. There can be no real meaning or purpose to human life because there is no Author to design it. In his view, humans are “condemned to be free”. Man cannot pretend to have meaning. He must face the angst that comes with this realization and take responsibility for his own existence. Obviously, I fundamentally disagree with Sartre, but at least he’s honest. You cannot dismiss God and act like your life has meaning. Throughout recorded history, humanity has pondered what the universe is and how it came to be there. Very roughly, two views have been held. In Mere Christianity, C.S Lewis explains this as clearly as anyone:

“First, there is what is called the materialist view. People who take that view think that matter and space just happen to exist, and always have existed, nobody knows why; and that the matter, behaving in certain fixed ways, has just happened, by a sort of fluke, to produce creatures like ourselves who are able to think…The other view is the religious view. According to it, what is behind the universe is more like a mind than it is like anything else we know. That is to say, it is conscious, and has purposes, and prefers one thing to another. And on this view it made the universe, partly for purposes we do not know, but partly, at any rate, in order to produce creatures like itself—I mean, like itself to the extent of having minds. Wherever there have been thinking men both views turn up.”

What can be said to move the atheist from a purely naturalistic view of life to a supernatural worldview, which does not deny the natural realm but admits there is something beyond it that brings it into being, sustains it, directs it, and gives it purpose? Philosophical arguments and logic are tools in your toolbelt, but you must remember you are not dealing with a neutral person. He or she is at enmity with God. You must pray for a new heart, for only the Holy Spirit can overcome a sinner’s innate rebellion. It’s worth pointing out that Scripture never seeks to prove God’s existence. It is a given since God has made himself known in the soul and in the skies. His self-disclosure is inescapable.

Our responsibility is to clearly and courageously proclaim the gospel, trusting that God will grant faith and repentance to whomever he pleases. While there is room for debate, we are instructed to give a reason for the hope that is within us. Additionally, the Bible teaches that although we are not to descend to the level of a fool, we are to “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:5). That is, to show him the foolishness or the internal inconsistency of his thinking which we’ll take up next week.