How Strong is the Case For Atheism?

Often, we hear "philosophers have been wrestling with these problems for centuries, and never found a solution."  The truth is, it's more like "philosophers have been studying these things for centuries, but were never able to make everyone acknowledge the truth."

We live in a world that thinks (or seems to think) that everything can be decided with a vote, so of course, it's hard for people to understand, but just because not everyone agrees with you doesn't mean you're wrong.

One of the most baffling and astonishing phenomena in the history of mankind has emerged from this vote-based view of the universe; the re-emergence of atheism as a popular world view.  This is utterly new, largely because of just how weak the arguments for atheism really are.  Yet, you only realize this if you think about these arguments logically.  Taking a show of hands won't convince you that atheism is wrong, for quite a few reasons, really.

No, the only way out is to start looking at the truth again.  In logic, there is a method of proving a point by establishing that your own position is correct, independant of what your opponents say; which is known as forming "a positive argument."  It's also possible, even if you can't prove your own position correct, to prove that your opponent is wrong by pointing out weaknesses or contradictions in their claims.

Atheism can't do either of these things, and Christianity can do both.  There is no strong, positive proof that God doesn't exist.  There isn't even any way to seriously challenge the proofs that exist for Christianity being right.

Proofs for Christianity?  What?  Yes, proofs.  Positive proofs; the strongest kind.  Here are a few of the strongest.

The Kalam Cosmological Argument
Everything that begins to exist has a cause.  The universe began to exist.  Therefore, the universe has a cause.

The Moral Argument
If God exists, we have a very strong reason for believing that morality is a real and objective thing.  If God does not exist, we have a very poor reason for believing that morality is a real and objective thing.  Objective moral values exist.  Therefore, God exists.

The Ontological (of Existence) Argument
God is the greatest conceivable being.  The greatest conceivable being would exist, necessarily, in every possible world.  We live in a possible world.  Therefore, God exists.

The Argument From Evil
Evil clearly exists.  Evil is clearly wrong.  In order for something to be wrong, there must be a standard of rightness to guage it by; something which is morally perfect.  Therefore, God exists.

I may deal with these proofs, and a few others, in greater detail in a later season, but any one of them would be sufficient to establish the existence of God.  Each is a strong, positive proof of God's existence, and none of them depend on emotional highs, or upbringing, or social situations, or blind faith.

If you're an atheist, just ask yourself this one question.  Why are you an atheist?  Every day, I ask myself why I'm a Christian, and every day, I answer that it's because that's where the strongest evidence points.  As a Christian, I can defend my position rationally.  As an atheist, I couldn't do that.

If you want my advice, you'll look into some of these arguments.  Don't get hung-up on the datedness of the biblical language or symbolism, don't refuse to believe because of poor conduct that some religious people have demonstrated, and certainly don't refuse to believe because you don't want to obey any moral authority.  If that -is- your reason for not believing, take some time to analyze that, and think it over in your mind.  Don't flee from the difficulties this might present you with.  Study them objectively.

However, if you're an atheist who just doesn't believe for -purely- intellectual reasons, then you're very similar to the kind of person I once was.  I languished in agnosticism for close to ten years, because the only answers I ever received from the believers I knew was "Well, it doesn't challenge -my- faith."  Don't let that kind of reply bias your study of these issues.  Learn the real arguments in favor of Christianity, and learn the real arguments in favor of atheism, and then ask yourself; "Which one -really- has more evidence behind it?"

This is the path I took, and the place I wound up is an indication of where, in my view, the strongest proofs lie.