What Is Atheism?
Atheism is the absence or rejection of belief in the existence of God or gods. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, the word atheism comes from the Greek word atheos, meaning “without god” or “godless.” The prefix a– means ” “not” or “without,” while theos means “god.” The suffix –ism denotes a doctrine or worldview. The word atheism can therefore be understood as a worldview characterized by the absence of belief in God.
Short Answer: Atheism rejects belief in God and therefore also rejects the idea that the Bible is a divine revelation. Atheists give different reasons for their position, including the existence of evil and suffering, the apparent absence of direct evidence for God, and the belief that the universe can be explained without a Creator. But do these arguments actually prove that God does not exist?
The question cannot be settled merely by stating that God cannot be seen or detected with scientific instruments. Nor does the existence of suffering logically demonstrate that there is no Creator. These arguments must themselves be examined.
In this article, we will examine some of the principal arguments for atheism in the light of reason and logic. We will also consider what the Bible says about God’s existence and why he has temporarily permitted evil and suffering.
Atheism and the Problem of Evil
We should not be surprised that some people question or reject the existence of God. During the twentieth century, millions of innocent people were killed in two world wars and numerous other conflicts. Millions were murdered in concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Some of the political powers involved in these wars even claimed to be Christian.
For many people, experiences such as these make it difficult to believe in a God who is both almighty and good. They ask: If God exists, why did he not prevent these atrocities? Why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?
The Bible provides an answer to this question, but the answers given by religions have often failed to satisfy people.
For some, experiences of evil and suffering have contributed to their rejection of religion and belief in God. But when did atheism first become prominent in history?
When Did Atheism Arise?
People who rejected belief in the gods can be found in ancient Greek history, although they appear to have been relatively uncommon. Individuals such as Diagoras are often associated with ancient atheism or criticism of traditional religion.
Explicit atheism remained comparatively uncommon for many centuries. It was especially from the seventeenth century onward, and increasingly during the Enlightenment and the centuries that followed, that openly atheistic philosophies became more widespread.
During the last two centuries, atheism has gained increasing influence among philosophers, some scientists, and the general population.
Among the philosophers associated with atheistic criticism of religion was the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. He argued strongly against belief in God and regarded religion as a human projection.
But simply asserting that God does not exist does not demonstrate that this is true. The question remains: What evidence can actually establish that there is no God?
The existence of widespread disagreement about God does not in itself prove either God’s existence or nonexistence. It does, however, show that the question cannot simply be dismissed as self-evident.
Atheism as a Worldview
Some have claimed that there are no genuine atheists. I do not agree with that view. There are clearly people who sincerely reject belief in God, and today there are organizations and associations that openly promote atheism.
The important question, therefore, is not whether atheists exist, but whether the arguments used to support atheism are logically sound.
Since atheism rejects the existence of God, it naturally also rejects divine revelation such as the Holy Scriptures. It therefore rejects the idea of a real relationship between God and mankind and generally rejects the biblical hope of life beyond death.
An atheistic worldview must therefore explain reality without reference to God. Questions about the origin of the universe, life, consciousness, morality, and human existence must ultimately be answered without appealing to a Creator.
One of the questions this raises concerns the foundation of morality.
Atheism and Morality Without God
If God does not exist, commandments such as “You shall not murder,” “You shall not commit adultery,” and “You shall not steal” do not derive their authority from him.
An atheist may, of course, believe strongly that murder, theft, and other harmful acts are morally wrong. The question is therefore not whether atheists can behave morally. Clearly they can.
The deeper philosophical question is this: What provides the ultimate foundation for objective moral values if there is no God?
Within an atheistic worldview, moral principles must be explained on some other basis, such as human reason, social agreement, well-being, or moral philosophy.
If morality is entirely the product of human beings, societies, or cultures, by what higher standard can one human law or moral system be judged better than another?
This is one of the important questions raised by an atheistic worldview.
Atheism, Belief, and Doubt
Not everyone who calls himself an atheist arrives at that position in the same way. Some are firmly convinced that no God exists. Others are closer to agnosticism and simply doubt that there is sufficient reason to believe in God.
There is also an important logical distinction between saying “I do not believe that God exists” and saying “I know that God does not exist.“
The second statement makes a stronger claim and therefore requires justification.
For those who genuinely doubt God’s existence and want to examine the question, it is worthwhile to consider the arguments carefully rather than simply assuming either conclusion from the beginning.
Let us therefore examine some of the arguments commonly used against belief in God.
Can Science Detect God?
One argument against God’s existence is that he cannot be found through scientific investigation.
The Austrian thinker Bartholomäus von Carneri expressed the idea by saying that he could not find God either in creation or in the government of the world.
Similarly, the argument has been made that no researcher has discovered a supernatural or spiritual being by means of a microscope, telescope, laboratory equipment, or dissection.
At first glance, this may seem like a powerful argument. But what does it actually prove?
At most, a researcher can say that he has not detected God by means of a particular scientific method. That is not logically identical to demonstrating that God does not exist.
Throughout history, many scientists and philosophers have studied nature and nevertheless concluded that belief in God was compatible with what they observed. Newton, Kepler, Copernicus, Pasteur, and other prominent figures believed in God.
Their names do not prove that God exists, just as the names of prominent atheists do not prove that he does not exist. The relevant issue is the reasoning and evidence behind the conclusion. But their example does demonstrate that the study of nature does not inevitably lead to atheism.
There is also a limit to what any human being can claim on the basis of personal observation. Human investigation is necessarily limited. We occupy a small part of an immense universe, and our knowledge is incomplete.
Therefore, the fact that a human being has not personally found God cannot by itself establish that God does not exist. To know with absolute certainty that no God exists anywhere would require knowledge extending far beyond normal human experience.
There is another problem with demanding that God be detected by physical instruments.
If God is a spirit, as the Bible teaches, then he is by definition not a material object. The Bible says that God “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).
A microscope is designed to examine extremely small physical objects. A telescope is designed to observe distant physical objects. Neither instrument was designed to determine whether a nonmaterial spiritual being exists.
The inability of a particular instrument to detect something outside the category of things it was designed to measure does not establish that the thing itself is unreal.
Scientific instruments are extraordinarily useful for studying matter and physical processes. But if spiritual reality exists, purely material instruments would not necessarily be capable of detecting it.
The question of God’s existence must therefore also be approached in another way.
Does Nature Point to a Creator?
The existence of God can be considered by examining what may reasonably be inferred from the world around us.
The question is not simply whether God can be seen. We can also ask whether the universe, its laws, its order, and the existence of life and intelligence point beyond themselves to an intelligent cause.
According to the Bible, creation itself provides evidence of its Creator:
“For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20, NKJV)
God should therefore not be sought only in extraordinary events such as miracles or fulfilled prophecy. The natural world itself can also be examined for evidence of a Creator.
The universe operates according to regular patterns that we describe as laws of nature. It contains remarkable order and structures that make life possible.
This raises several philosophical questions.
Why does anything exist at all? Why is the universe governed by intelligible laws? Why can the human mind understand those laws? And how did a universe capable of producing life and consciousness come into existence?
A theistic explanation holds that the order and intelligibility of nature ultimately have their source in an intelligent Creator.
Likewise, if the universe and everything within it depend upon prior causes, it is reasonable to ask whether there must ultimately be a first cause that does not itself depend upon something preceding it.
These questions do not disappear simply because science can explain how particular processes within the universe operate.
If someone insists that God can exist only if he can be directly observed with physical instruments, the search has already been restricted to the material world. But the biblical claim is precisely that God transcends the physical universe.
The question should therefore also be approached by considering the “footprints of the Creator”—the existence of the universe, the order of nature, human consciousness, morality, and mankind’s experience of reality.
These matters require thought and reasoning, not merely laboratory instruments.
The fact that someone cannot find God by a method incapable of detecting spiritual reality does not establish that God does not exist.
Do Apparently Useless Things Disprove God?
Another argument against God’s existence points to things in the world that appear useless, unnecessary, or meaningless.
People may point to deserts, natural disasters, certain anatomical features, or characteristics of animals that seem to serve no useful purpose. The argument is that an all-wise and good Creator would not have made such things.
But this argument faces several difficulties.
First, it focuses on individual phenomena that appear meaningless while the universe contains countless examples of order, structure, and function. If much of nature displays remarkable regularity and usefulness, this also needs to be considered.
Second, the argument assumes that human beings are capable of determining with certainty what has no purpose. Our knowledge is limited. Something that appears useless to us may have a function that we do not yet understand.
Scientific history contains many examples of structures and phenomena whose functions became clearer only through further investigation.
Third, something may appear meaningless because we assume the wrong purpose for it. Not everything in nature needs to exist for the direct benefit of human beings. Something may have a function within a larger system that is not immediately apparent to us.
It is therefore more cautious to say that something appears meaningless to us than to conclude that it is objectively without purpose.
The existence of things whose purpose we do not understand does not by itself demonstrate that no Creator exists.
Does an Imperfect World Disprove God?
A further argument holds that there cannot be a Creator because the world contains so much imperfection.
If an all-wise Creator made the world, the argument goes, why are there extreme heat and cold, deserts, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, famine, disease, and dangerous animals?
And what about human beings themselves?
Physical disease, moral failure, violence, selfishness, and death are everywhere. Clearly, the world in which we live is far from perfect.
But does the imperfection of the present world logically prove that God does not exist?
The Bible does not teach that the world is presently in the condition God ultimately intends for mankind.
According to Genesis, human sin changed mankind’s relationship with God and affected human life and the earth itself (Genesis 3:17–19). Paul similarly describes creation as having been “subjected to futility” and awaiting liberation (Romans 8:20–21).
Thus, from the biblical perspective, the present condition of the world is not evidence that God originally created mankind for suffering, decay, and death.
Moreover, imperfection in something cannot logically demonstrate that its maker does not exist. At most, without further information, it might raise questions about the maker, his ability, or his purpose.
A partially completed house does not prove that there is no builder merely because the work is not yet finished.
Likewise, the Bible presents God’s purpose for mankind as something that has not yet been fully realized.
Does Suffering Disprove God?
Another form of the argument from evil points specifically to suffering.
Disease, grief, pain, death, natural disasters, poverty, violence, greed, and selfishness cause enormous suffering to humans and animals. This fact cannot reasonably be denied.
The question, however, is what follows from it.
Does suffering prove that God does not exist? Or does it instead raise questions about God’s goodness, his purposes, and why he permits suffering?
Those are not identical questions.
The presence of sick people in a hospital does not demonstrate that no doctors exist. The presence of crime does not demonstrate that there is no law.
Likewise, the existence of suffering does not logically establish the nonexistence of God.
It does, however, create an important question that any belief in a loving God must address: Why does God permit suffering?
Before considering the Bible’s answer, there are two aspects of suffering worth noting.
Suffering is evil in the sense that no compassionate person desires needless pain. Nevertheless, difficult circumstances can sometimes produce qualities that would otherwise have little opportunity to develop.
Compassion and sympathy may grow when people encounter the suffering of others. Self-sacrifice can arise when someone chooses to help another person in distress. Patience, endurance, forgiveness, and courage are often developed under difficult circumstances.
Friendships formed through adversity can become particularly deep and lasting.
Necessity has also frequently stimulated human ingenuity. Many advances in medicine, technology, agriculture, housing, and other areas have arisen because people sought solutions to hardship.
This does not make suffering good in itself. It does show, however, that suffering can sometimes produce beneficial consequences.
There is also another aspect of human mortality worth considering.
What would happen if selfish, violent, and oppressive people could continue their activities indefinitely?
History has produced rulers and conquerors capable of causing enormous suffering within a single lifetime. If such people possessed unlimited life and power, the consequences could be even worse.
Death therefore places a limit on every human ruler, oppressor, criminal, and tyrant.
This does not make death desirable. According to the Bible, death itself is an enemy that will ultimately be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26).
But under present conditions, human mortality also prevents any individual from exercising evil indefinitely.
These observations do not by themselves explain why God permits evil. For that, we must turn to the explanation given in Scripture.
Why Does God Permit Evil?
Atheists recognize the reality of suffering. But recognizing suffering and explaining why it exists are two different things.
The Bible provides an explanation that begins with mankind’s departure from God.
According to Scripture, Adam was created with freedom and moral responsibility. He chose to disobey God, and the consequence was sin and death. His descendants inherited the resulting condition (Genesis 3:17–19; Romans 5:12).
God permitted this rebellion and its consequences, but he did not abandon his purpose for mankind.
The Bible presents the present experience of evil as temporary. Humanity is being allowed to experience what life apart from God produces.
According to this biblical explanation, mankind’s experience with evil teaches a lesson that mere instruction could not teach in the same way. Human beings experience firsthand the consequences of sin, selfishness, violence, injustice, and independence from God.
The purpose is not that evil should continue forever.
Rather, Scripture presents a future in which evil will be removed and mankind will experience righteous rule. The contrast between these two experiences—evil and righteousness—will demonstrate the consequences of each.
God’s purpose is therefore not merely to command mankind to reject evil, but ultimately to establish a world in which people understand from experience why righteousness is better.
The Bible teaches that Jesus gave his life as a corresponding price for what was lost through Adam (1 Corinthians 15:21–22; 1 Timothy 2:5–6).
Through Christ, mankind will eventually be brought out of the present experience of sin and death and into an experience of righteous rule.
According to Revelation, Christ will reign for a thousand years, during which Satan will be restrained so that he can no longer deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1–6).
Humanity will then experience the contrast between the present world under sin and the righteous rule of God’s Kingdom.
Through these two experiences, mankind will be able to understand both the destructive consequences of sin and the benefits of righteousness.
From this biblical perspective, God’s temporary permission of evil is not evidence that he is absent. It forms part of a larger purpose that ultimately ends with the removal of evil, suffering, and death.
Does Atheism Explain Reality?
The arguments we have considered raise legitimate questions. Why is there suffering? Why can God not simply be observed? Why is the world imperfect?
But asking these questions is not the same as demonstrating that God does not exist.
Atheism must also answer fundamental questions of its own.
Why does the universe exist? Why is it governed by intelligible laws? What is the ultimate origin of life, consciousness, reason, and moral awareness? Is there an objective basis for right and wrong? And is the existence of suffering logically incompatible with God, or does it merely require an explanation for why God permits it?
The Bible does not ignore these questions. It presents a coherent account in which creation has an intelligent source, mankind has departed from God, evil is temporarily permitted, Christ provides the means of restoration, and God will ultimately remove sin and death.
Conclusion
Atheism rejects belief in God, but the rejection of God is not in itself proof that God does not exist.
The inability to see God with physical instruments does not establish his nonexistence. The existence of things we do not understand does not prove that they have no purpose. And the existence of suffering, although it raises profound questions about God and his purpose, does not logically demonstrate that there is no Creator.
The Bible gives its own explanation of the world as we experience it. It teaches that mankind is presently experiencing the consequences of sin and separation from God, but that this condition is temporary. Through Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom, mankind will eventually experience righteous rule, and evil and death will ultimately be removed.
The question of God’s existence therefore deserves more than a simple assertion from either side. It should be examined carefully in the light of evidence, reason, and Scripture.
The Bible itself expresses its position in direct terms:
“The fool says in his heart: There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1, Interlinear Bible)
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