A Christian Response to Atheism

First of all, Mr. Atheist, I want to explain the nature of the issue we are discussing. You and I both have ways of looking at the world. You say that for you "seeing is believing," that you believe only what you can verify using your five senses. I will refer to this position as the "empirical view of knowledge." This is a basic assumption about the nature of knowledge that you are making as you seek to make sense of the world.

You also believe that the nature of reality is ultimately matter—the material universe is all that exists. You do not believe there is a spiritual component to reality. I will refer to this position as materialism.

Ultimately, Mr. Atheist, we all have lenses through which we understand the world. Since you are a materialist, your explanations for miraculous claims is that they are lies, illusions, myths, or otherwise non-miraculous phenomenon. For this reason you would likely regard a miraculous event which you yourself witnessed as having some alternative materialistic explanation. Similarly, you would be inclined to evaluate a given truth claim based on your empirical view of knowledge. This is what you are doing regarding Jesus about whom the Scriptures make certain claims. But this just goes to show that you have a system of thinking through which you view the world. Of course, I too have a system of thinking through which I view the world. I will refer to these kinds of systems as "worldviews."

Everything I have said up until now, I have said to make this point: the nature of the issue we are discussing is a matter of worldviews. You hold to an empirical view of knowledge and a materialistic view of ultimate reality. I, on the other hand, hold to a revelatory view of knowledge and a theistic view of ultimate reality. I believe that knowledge is based on divine revelation and that all that exists has its being because it is generated by God who exists necessarily and eternally. This is the nature of the debate.

Now, I would imagine that you would like to have me demonstrate my worldview based on your worldview. Perhaps you would have me argue for the truth of the Bible based on empirical data. This, however, is impossible. Our worldviews are antithetical to one another. They are contradictory. I believe that divine revelation serves as the foundation for knowledge while you believe in an empirical foundation for knowledge. If I were to argue for the truth of the Bible based on empirical data, then I would have to assume your foundation for knowledge as ultimate and reject my own foundation for knowledge as ultimate.

So the question becomes, where do we go from here? You assert that knowledge is obtained empirically and I assert that it is based on revelation. Can we move forward? I believe we can.

I believe that unless we adopt the Christian worldview, we can't make sense of anything. This, I believe, can be seen as we examine your own worldview. You say, for example, that you believe knowledge is gained empirically. Yet you also believe that matter is all that exists. And so the question is, is knowledge a material thing? This question really falls under more comprehensive question, namely, how do you account for the mind? Do all of our thoughts, perceptions, and feelings consist of matter? Perhaps you would say that as our brains operate in accordance with the natural laws which govern the matter of which our brains are composed, that this gives rise to our thoughts and perceptions. But this just shows that your theory of knowledge is flawed because this hasn’t been demonstrated empirically. You say that “seeing is believing,” but you haven’t seen the impersonal matter of our brains producing our thoughts, perceptions, and knowledge. No scientist in the world can tell me what I'm thinking by empirically observing my brain. Perhaps some day scientists will be able to do this, you might say. But you shouldn't believe it until that day comes if you are going to be consistent with your theory of knowledge.

But again, the real problem with saying that thoughts and knowledge are produced by the material matter of our brains is that by acknowledging the existence of thoughts and knowledge in the first place you are acknowledging the existence of something that is immaterial. Yet at the same time you say that everything that exists is material. Either knowledge does not exist, or not all things which exist are material. Your contention that thoughts are produced by matter does not have any bearing on this.

Another problem with your position is that the impersonal matter of which you assert our brains are comprised would not seem to have any interest in producing thoughts and perceptions that necessarily corresponded to reality. Take your memories, for example. If your memory is merely produced by matter operating according to natural law, then how do you know that your memories are reliable? Does impersonal matter have any interest in providing you with a reliable memory? In order to answer, you must use your memory. But if your memories are unreliable, then your answer to the question is likewise unreliable. How do you get around this?

Now, up until this point you have not explicitly stated your view of morality. Yet several things can be understood from what you have said. It is clear that you do hold to some level of morality since you seem to agree that there are some rules we ought to follow as we engage in dialog about the issues we’re discussing (you don't think that a person ought to believe something unless it has been empirically demonstrated, for example). This kind of thing is really a moral position. Anytime you believe anyone ought to do anything, you are making a moral judgment. But how can you account for this? If we were merely composed of matter operating according to natural law, then it would seem that you would have no basis to tell me that your way of settling this question of worldviews is any better than mine.

While your worldview has some inherent flaws, the Christian worldview provides a firm foundation for the existence of knowledge, the reliability of memory, the existence of universal laws, and the correspondence of our perceptions to reality—all of the things for which you cannot account given your own worldview. From a biblical perspective, these things are a part of the world God has created and they have their basis in His nature and character. Within the Christian worldview there is both a material and an immaterial aspect to reality. This framework avoids the problems of a purely materialistic universe. Likewise, the omniscient God who speaks and does not lie serves as the foundation for human knowledge. Our knowing is based on God's knowing. The laws which govern the universe also make sense given that the Scriptures teach that God created the universe to operate with a uniformity of cause and effect.

The truth is, Mr. Atheist, if we reject God, we have to adopt some other point of view that will lead to irrationality. The Apostle Paul describes this in Romans 1. Paul writes, "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." When we deny God, we embrace ways of thinking that are out of alignment with the way God has designed things to operate. The problems with empiricism and the problems with materialism exist because these viewpoints are at odds with the way things really are—they are out of alignment with God's nature and character. And when we embrace sinful ways of thinking we reap the consequences of irrationality that come with it.

Yet God sent his Son into to save us from both the penalty of sin and the reign of sin in our lives. The Christian faith must serve as the basis for understanding the world. It is only when we turn to God and embrace Christ by faith, that we can begin to make sense of the world in which we find ourselves. When we deny God, we become futile in our thinking and cannot live consistently with what we believe or even make sense of the things we take for granted. If you’d like to know more about embracing Christ, see this short presentation.