The Folly of Atheism, Part 6

Reflections on Psalm 14:1

Like all forms of unbelief, atheism is essentially an escape from responsibility. The natural result of atheism is a loss of transcendent values, for these can only be revealed and prescribed by the God of Scripture.

Peter Kreeft notes:

“If we are nothing but clever apes as Darwin says, or pawns of our economic system, as Marx says, or bundles of sexual urges, as Freud says, then there is no moral agent to blame, and no one to feel guilty. Morality becomes a myth … And that is why Marxists are always justifying things like propaganda and purges of politically incorrect dissidents, in the state or the university. And why Freudians will never condemn any misbehavior, only try to understand its necessary causes. And why Darwinians explain aggression and ruthless competition and selfishness as the territorial imperative of animals. All three are materialism, and materialism removes the soul, and therefore free will, and therefore moral responsibility, and therefore guilt. That’s why people are attracted to these philosophies.”

Did you know that for many years in the United States atheists were not allowed to testify in court? Why? Because it was believed that an atheist would have no reason to tell the truth. One book on evidence stated: “Under the common-law rule, a person who does not believe in a God who is the rewarder of truth and the avenger of falsehood cannot be permitted to testify.” Laws have since changed but you can understand their reasoning. If individuals do not believe they will be held accountable for their actions, why not lie if it is to their advantage?

Now I should say that there are atheists who maintain some value judgments very strongly. Some may even wish to defend objective morality, but they must be told that they have no basis for making such judgments. While atheists can behave morally in the sense of conforming to certain external standards, though never in a way that honors God because the motive and end of their actions are godless, they have to give a rational explanation as to why they or anyone else is obligated to lead a morally responsible life. In other words, atheism is unable to give an account for why one deed should be seen as good and another as evil.

Without God, we have no basis for morality, meaning that values such as right and wrong and good and bad are totally relative and have no absolute anchor. If man is the product of an accidental combination of molecules in an ultimately impersonal universe, human values such as honesty, brotherhood, love, and equality have no more cosmic significance than treachery, selfishness, hatred, and prejudice.

One of the classic mistakes made in talking to unbelievers about Jesus is allowing them to do all of the questioning. What we should be doing more is first listening to our non-Christian friends to understand their position and then asking a series of questions to help them see the inadequacies of their worldview. How can they justify their way of looking at and understanding the world based on atheism? The atheist cannot have it both ways. He cannot say some things are universally wrong and still maintain that there is no God. He cannot borrow Christian categories and, at the same time, deny Christianity.

Kenneth Boa notes, “Not many people have come to grips with the logical implications of atheism and no one can live consistently with them. All of us act as though human existence has meaning, as though moral values are real, and as though human life has purpose and dignity. But all these things presuppose an infinite personal Creator, so if God is dead, man is also as good as dead.”