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An Agnostic’s View on the Atheist Argument Against Christianity
Religion as a whole has been under attack in recent history because of modern technological advances and the extremes that the believers are going to in order to back up their misguided ideas of peace. I do not consider myself to be an atheist, but I do reject the tension that is seen when identifying oneself with a religion. Simply put, I am one that believes faith is individualistic in the character that holds it. I find that when one reaches out to a religious denomination for answers they just find more reason to argue with those of different sects. Though I do not speak on behalf of the ‘atheist believers’ (irony anyone?), they have played a prominent role in raising awareness of this contradictory belief system that some Christians have committed their lives to. The following will discuss the arguments that the atheists present against the Christian nation; as well as, discuss philosophical and scientific history that has brought atheists to the conclusion that there is no God.
First, I must define atheism. Encyclopædia Britannica Online defines it as “the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings.”(“Atheism”) In simple terms, an atheist is one who denies any kind of belief system involving a God. Atheism does not just deny Christianity, it denies all religion. However, many scholars have written atheist works that directly attack Christianity. Just one modern example of this is Sam Harris, who has received a philosophy degree from Stanford, and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. Harris is the author of the book Letter to a Christian Nation, andin this book he discusses some of the more practical and direct arguments presented to Christians by atheists. The daunting argument that God does or does not exist is posed immediately and stated as such: “The Bible is either the word of God, or it isn’t. Either Jesus offers humanity the one, true path to salvation (John 14:6), or he does not.”(Harris 3) This is the fundamental idea of atheism in its purest form.
With this fundamental idea comes many arguments against Christianity. The most important of which is the contradictions that the Bible holds. The Bible is the divine text that discusses the life of Jesus and outlines the beliefs of all modern Christians. Atheists do not acknowledge the Bible to be a divine work at all; rather, they just see it as the basis for all the misguided believers of the Christian faith. They argue that the word of God contradicts itself many times throughout the Bible. Jesus preaches to be kind to one’s neighbor, but only if one’s neighbor is a Christian. Now that is not right out of the Bible, but this is: “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6)” (Harris 13) Translate that into however many different languages you would like to, but in the end you will find that it is not a message of peace at all. This is just one example of the contradictions that make up the Bible.
Another contradiction can be seen very clearly in the midst of that one, and that is the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments play a major role in setting the moral ground for Christian believers. Christians live their entire lives based on these values, but at the root of these ‘rules’ in which they live by is a major contradiction. In the Bible it is stated multiple times that those who do not follow the word of God shall be exiled, or stoned to death. At the same time the Ten Commandments profess that “You shall not kill. (Exodus 20:13)” These ideas directly conflict with one another and that is something that any logical scholar should find to be very hard to swallow. To live your life based on rules that are ‘written in stone’, but denied in the very same book is an act of sheer ignorance. This is a blatant denial of all reason. Atheists cannot fathom the cause of this madness and therefore deny it all together.
These thoughts were not recently discovered. In fact, most of them can be dated all the way back to Greek philosophers like Epicurus. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Epicurus “sought natural explanations for natural phenomena.”, and “was also the first to question the compatibility of God with suffering.”(McCormick)Throughout the enlightenment thinkers like David Hume questioned religion. This can be seen in his book Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding which was released in 1748. Specifically, he questioned the belief of miracles, arguing that “uniform experience of natural law outweighs the testimony of any alleged miracle.”(McCormick)More recently you can see the atheist influence in a lot of studied works by scholars such as Nietzsche and Camus. Both of those writers are renowned thinkers and are usually included in a literature class’s curriculum under the subject of existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophy that questions existence. In questioning our existence many of these intellectuals included their thoughts on religion, and almost all of them denied its integrity. These thinkers are where the modern idea of atheism is stemmed from, and can be found most prominently.
It wasn’t just the philosophers that we’re arguing against Christianity throughout history; many of scientists were also some of the first atheists. Before Nietzsche or Camus came Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. This really made much of society dismiss their traditional beliefs in religion and question whether or not there was in fact a God. Not only did it pose the question of whether or not there was a God, but it presented the issue of how mankind came to exist at all. Darwin’s argument was that we evolved as a species to get to where we are today. This was the fuel that the fire needed to burn throughout the secular world. The book On the Origin of Species was Darwin’s most famous work and outlined his research in developing the theory of evolution. He was already much respected in the science world and his research was not unknown to most people at the time, but it still ruffled some feathers of those who believed God was man’s creator. Most did not deny his research, but instead founded the belief that natural selection could be a product of God’s power.
Harris addresses the scientific argument in his book as well. Harris says that, “All complex life on earth has developed from simpler life-forms over billions of years. This is a fact that no longer admits of intelligent dispute.”(Harris 68)Basically, those who do not believe that evolution occurred should be dismissed from this argument of divinity all together because they have no logical reasoning ability. Even though evolution is viewed as a ‘theory’ in the scientific community it holds merit due to its infinite amount of evidence supporting it. So, if you are one who says that evolution never happened then it is clear that you are being irrational and should not try to justify your beliefs with that same lack of intelligence. Evolution is a major part of the atheist’s argument against Christianity and has always been a subject of dismay for all religious figures, but to ignore a conclusion with that much support is just delirious.
I chose this topic thinking that somehow I would discover something about my personal beliefs, but the only thing I’ve learned is that I should trust only my heart in my pursuit of religious convictions. Christianity is not the root of all evil like some may proclaim it is, but it should not be so intolerant in its ways. Also, people who claim to be Christian, but just ignore these arguments are being very naive. Though I am neither a Christian nor an atheist I did find these arguments to be very helpful in my search for a classification of my faiths characteristics. I now see that there are many flaws in the Christian religion and that the only way in which these problems can be addressed is through tolerance. The more tolerant the Christians can be of others beliefs, the more understanding others will have of theirs. As well, the more liberal the atheists are when presenting their argument, the more people will understand their principles. Overall, people must accept that no self-conviction will ever be flawless, which is why I stand by individualist view on one’s faith. I am the one who chooses how to trust that there is a higher being watching over us; in one way or another we are being taken care of by something that is much greater than our level of understanding.
Cited:
“Atheism.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Apr. 2010 >
Harris, Sam. Letter to a Christian Nation. New York: Vintage Books, 2006.
McCormick, Matt. “Atheism”. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Apr. 2010 .
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