One of the most irritating things I hear from religious people, especially Christians, is that I cannot actually be an atheist or agnostic, even while I claim to be one. When someone asks me why I deny the “obvious truth” of God’s existence, I start by insisting that no such “truth” is at all obvious, nor do I necessarily deny God’s existence, at least technically (more about that below). Anyone who sees any truth as obvious cannot in good conscience deny that it is true—but what Christians most often mean when they ask me this is that I must be wrong because the Bible tells them that I am wrong and it tells them that I know it. It is this last bit that infuriates me. The Bible is full of outrageous and illogical passages—alongside the beautiful and poetic verses—and I have no trouble demonstrating that contradictory and absurd nature to anyone who is willing to listen or read objectively. (See other essays posted here.) But it is maddening to be told that I am, in effect, lying about my lack of religious faith.
The biblical passages usually cited to support the claim that I’m not really an atheist are in Psalms and Romans. Psalms 14:1 reads “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (King James Version). Psalms 53:1 is nearly identical. Romans, 1:17-23, includes this jewel (verse 18): “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
I have had Christian apologists tell me that, based on such verses, they know I do believe—that I am merely denying it because I “do not want to submit” to my “Lord and Master,” that I’m “in rebellion,” or something similar. It is an outrageous claim, but it is not one I can disprove, since the logic behind it is circular. It is part and parcel of the more general argument that you can know the Bible is the word of God—because the Bible says so. It is similar to the logic of many conspiracy theorists, who can convince themselves that any evidence against a given conspiracy theory is really just more evidence of how widespread the conspiracy is.
One could reply that the theistic questioner obviously doesn’t really believe in any gods but merely pretends, goes to church, and mouths religious platitudes to impress his believing family and neighbors (and maybe to help sell insurance or cars or whatever). The questioner cannot prove that he does believe in God in the face of such a counterclaim. But it is hard to convince believers that your point exactly parallels the one underlying the original question—even though it does.
There is some evidence that you can present to such a questioner, but there is probably nothing he will see as conclusive. Why, after all, would you risk His anger and certain damnation if you truly believe in your heart in an all powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing God even while you overtly deny Him? According to Matthew 12:32, those of us who blasphemously deny that God is a Holy Spirit have committed the only unforgivable sin: “And whosoever speaketh against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” It seems unlikely that any of us, if we really believed in this Christian God, would deny Him when He has declared that he will never forgive us for doing so—no matter how “rebellious” we feel. I deny that there is good reason or sufficient evidence for believing in the Christian Holy Spirit, but I would certainly not write that—and let it be published on the Internet for all to see—if I secretly believed that the penalty would be severe and everlasting.
About technically not denying God’s existence: I mean and will explain to a theist if he’ll listen that there are definitions of God under which I do not insist His existence can be disproved. But I remind him that my definition of an atheist is merely someone who holds no current beliefs in the supernatural (see George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God, Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1979, for more) and that I remain an atheist since no one who is a believer has been able to provide me with sufficient logic or evidence to persuade me that belief in some specific version of “God” is tenable. And I admit to my questioner that I cannot prove that I really do not believe in his version of “God”—though I do not.
J. P. Moreland and Kai Neilsen, et al. (including Keith Parsons). Does God Exist? The Great Debate, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990.
Keith M. Parsons. God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytic Defense of Theism, Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1989.
Douglas A. Rankin. Queen Jane’s Version: The Holy Bible for Adults Only, Dallas Emporia Press, 1999.
Gordon Stein, ed. An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism, Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1980; especially sections I and II (pp. 3-104).
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CFI SUMMIT
OCTOBER 24-27 2013
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