Pemalite said “Atheism is the disbelief/rejection in the existence of God or Gods as the burden of proof has not been met.”
Here’s my response:
It is true that the Christian cannot prove the existence of God. But the atheist cannot prove the non-existence of God either. If a person is truly seeking after the truth, then he or she will weigh all of the available evidence and make a faith-based judgment.
You cannot escape having faith. The atheist has faith, and the Christian has faith. As I said, neither of us was around when the universe began and when life began. We both have beliefs regarding what happened. And we both have access to the same facts/evidence/data.
I believe, after examining all of the information available to us, that my Christian worldview represents a “reasonable” faith. I believe the atheist worldview represents an “unreasonable” faith. I don’t have time or space to go through all of my supporting arguments, but I will touch upon a few, and I challenge Pemalite (or any other atheist to respond to them).
First, how is it possible that we even have a universe? Everything can’t come from nothing. Only nothing comes from nothing. Where did all of the matter come from? Where did all of the energy come from? Where did the fabric of space come from? Where did the laws of nature come from? Where did the elements come from? Why do each of the elements exhibit uniformity across the universe (i.e., carbon acts like carbon, hydrogen acts like hydrogen)? I believe an all-powerful, all-knowing, personal God who exists outside of time and space created the universe. I’d love to hear how the atheist explains the existence of the universe.
Second, not only does the universe exist, it is highly improbable and finely-tuned. There are over 20 constants in nature (e.g., gravity, speed of light, strong nuclear force) that must be set exactly right in order for the universe to exist. For example, if gravity was just a fraction of a percent stronger, the expanding universe would collapse upon itself. This is just one example out of over 20. The probability that all of these constants just so happen to be spot on, is infinitesimal. Our universe is not only vast & majestic…it is also highly improbable and has the clear appearance of design. It clearly screams for the existence of a brilliant creator God.
Lastly, we have the existence of life. Our bodies are so amazingly complex. Did our skeleton just come about on its own? What about our nervous system? What about our muscles? What about the circulatory system? What about our amazing organs (e.g., lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, etc.)? What about our eyes and hands and feet? What about our brains? The human body is so astonishingly complex & wonderfully made. Does the atheist really believe that the body just created itself through time and chance? Really? We look at a watch and use common sense to conclude that it was designed & manufactured by humans. We look at a car or video game or Mt. Rushmore or a paper clip and come to the same conclusion. It’s obvious! So why does the atheist look at the human body, which is at least a million (if not a billion) times more complex, and conclude that it created itself…rather than that it was “designed & manufactured” by a brilliant God?
