The Failure of Atheism?

If atheism is true, then life is ultimately without purpose

The Nobel prize-winning scientist, Steven Weinberg, an outspoken atheist, writes:

‘The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless. But if there is no solace in the fruits of our research, there is at least some consolation in the research itself ... The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy’ (from The First Three Minutes).

Weinberg considers life as being ultimately without purpose, but he does talk about how a passion for actually doing science gives life a temporary lift above the level of farce - and he finds a crumb of comfort in that.

On the other hand, a real sense of purpose is to be found in the fact

'we [were] ... created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.2:10).

If atheism is true, then life is ultimately without meaning

In an address to the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in 1991, Dr. L.D. Rue encouraged his distinguished audience to cheat on their atheistic worldview if they wanted to be happy. He recommended that they should deceive themselves into believing some kind of 'Noble Lie' which gave them and the universe some meaning. He said:

'The lesson of the past two centuries is that intellectual and moral relativism is profoundly the case.'

He explained that this, when taken to extreme, results in a drive by each of us to live only for ourselves without a sense of community. To avoid the fabric of society being destroyed in this way, Dr. Rue saw only two possible solutions to overcome this logical result of atheism. One was a totalitarian state, where the wishes of individuals were suppressed by the state imposing its own values on all of society (he didn’t want that). The alternative was to embrace some form of Noble Lie. A Noble Lie ‘is one that deceives us, tricks us, compels us [to go] beyond self-interest, beyond ego, beyond family, nation, [and] race.’ Why call it a lie? His answer was because it tells us the universe is infused with value and because it makes a claim to universal truth – things which atheists deny. Rue adds: ‘Without such lies, we cannot live.’

On the other hand, Jesus Christ said: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ What Dr. Rue judged to be missing is to be found in Christ, and so in the Noble Truth of Christianity, as Christ’s faithful followers live selflessly ‘for the interests of others’ (Phil.2:4)

If atheism is true, then life is basically unliveable

The German philosopher Nietsche, who died in the year 1900, made popular the saying: 'God is dead.' People at that time failed to realize (and many still do) the consequences of killing God philosophically by declaring he doesn't exist. That's why Nietsche concluded ‘I have come too early. This tremendous event is still on its way’ (from The Madman). But 45 years after his death, the time had come, and everyone since then should know the terrible consequences of believing there's no God. The point Nietsche anticipated was this: in a world which believes there's no God, objective right and wrong can’t exist, and so all things may be permitted. When Nietsche's fellow-country-man, Hitler, put Nietsche’s ideas into practice, the world soon learnt the horrors that follow when we live consistently with the idea that God is dead, and life is senseless. If God doesn’t exist, then our world becomes an Auschwitz. This is man without God. It’s life without sense.

On the other hand, Jesus claimed:

‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10).

If atheism is true, then it is not supported by scientific explanation

Atheistic scientists like Richard Dawkins concede that science has no ‘strongly satisfying’ explanation for why the universe appears to have been fine-tuned with the precise conditions ideally suited to life as we know it, but he urges his readers (The God Delusion, pp.157,158) ‘not to give up hope’ in ‘some kind of multiverse theory’ (the totally speculative idea that a trillion trillion parallel universes exist simply to explain the remote chance of this one being as it is). In this unpublicized section, Dawkins appeals to his readers not to give up hope in the discovery of some new scientific theory that will one day save atheism!

On the other hand,

‘that which is known about God is evident ... for God made it evident ... for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes ... have been clearly seen ... through what has been made ... [but] they did not honour Him as God ... but they became futile in their speculations’ (Rom.1:19-21).

Mar 2011 | Hot Topic