THE FOOLISHNESS OF ATHEISM
The Bible never debates God, defends God, nor seeks to prove God; the Bible simply affirms and proclaims God. The Christian’s confession is: Credo in Deum.
An assumption of Theism is the explicit presupposition of the Biblical Revelation. Genesis begins with God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1), and the last book of the Bible ends with God: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Rev. 21:2-3). The Bible asserts that it is from God, with an assertion that demands faith; and the Scriptures inform man of God and His plan for His creation. In the Scriptures God is inescapable.
To not believe in God is to court atheism, a position that Scripture does not seek to engage in discussion. It is merely mentioned and dismissed, for debate and dialogue are not the Biblical methods of confronting the atheist. Twice the Scriptures simply and profoundly assert: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 14:1; 53:1). This fool is not an intellectual fool but a moral fool, not a person with mental problems but one who displays moral foolishness because of the corruption of his nature. This fool is not one who cannot reason, but one who reasons wrongly. It is not that the man does not know but that he rejects obvious knowledge, a rejection anchored in the depravity of his own heart. Inescapable knowledge of the true God is suppressed. Deliberately and maliciously the atheist says: “No God”; deliberately and unhesitatingly God responds: “Fool!” In response to atheism and to all other intellectual positions of skepticism and doubt, the Christian theist, by faith, boldly and confidently proclaims: “God is!”
According to the Scriptures, the position of the atheist is not a sincere position.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (Rom. 1:20, NKJV).
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom. 1:20, ESV).
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom. 1:20, ESV).
The atheist is not sincere because he is rejecting that which is obvious. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” and this declaration and showing occurs day and night: “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (Ps. 19:1-3). Indications of God’s existence are not obscure; they are everywhere.
So obvious are the indications that the person who denies them has no justification for his position. Job says that the beasts, birds, and fish can give testimony that God is and that God acts (Job 12:7-9). Their very existence proclaims His Being. All leaves, both those attached to vegetation and those that have fallen to the ground, attest to their Creator; every single leaf is irrefutable evidence for the existence of God—but how seldom is such evidence even considered. But the leaves are silent and continual testimonies to Him, and if they exist, then He must exist. Creation makes it impossible for anyone to say there is no God, for creation simply confirms what man already knows. All of creation testifies that it has come to be and exists because God is. Statements in Romans, Psalms, and Job are not given as an attempt to win belief on the part of man by rational argument but simply as declarations of fact. The tenor of Scripture is that the truth of these declarations is obvious; only the fool would think otherwise (see: The God of Creation and Display the Image).
God’s existence is undeniable; God “cannot be unknown in his existence” (Charnock, E and A, I, 26). Where is the group of people that has rejected a higher power? What culture has made atheism its religion? Admittedly, atheism may have been voiced at times by some in power, but never has such an official policy become the thinking of the masses. Even Satan did not tempt man to deny God’s existence, but the evil one tempted man with the desire to be like God.
All men do not hold to the monotheism of the Christian faith, but all men worship; they worship whatever they perceive to be greater than themselves, whatever it is that they desire to invoke to assist them in living. In every age man has worshipped, worshipped someone or something greater than himself. The worship may be a perversion of true worship but all worship exists as testimony to man’s need for and belief in One greater than himself. Man’s outward religion manifests his inward conviction. Only the fool says that there is no God (see: The Aloneness of Atheism).
Holy, holy, holy is YHWH of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!
Isa. 6:3
The whole earth is full of His glory!
Isa. 6:3
Return to God's Existence; Next Article: Innate Knowledge of God
For overview of THEOLOGY, see: Site Map - Theology