Atheists are
determined to disprove the existence of God. They attempt to promote arguments
that suggest there is evidence that God does not exist. A reader, in the
comment section of one of my articles, supplied me with several of these
arguments. While everyone will not
accept all of my reasons, they are offered in the spirit of love with the hope
that those who are truly seeking answers will realize that they do exist for
these challenges and that believing in God is not unreasonable.
Atheist
Argument: The omnipotence paradox suggests that the concept of an omnipotent
God is logically contradictory, from considering a question like: “Can God
create a rock so big that He cannot move it?” or “If God is all powerful, could
God create a being more powerful than Himself?”.
Response: This
argument proves that the atheist asking them does not truly want an
answer. These are simply smokescreens
meant to muddy up real discussion about God, His character, and His attributes. J. Warner Wallace writes, “When someone asks,
“Can the all-powerful Christian God create a stone so heavy he cannot lift it?”
they are asking a logically incoherent question. It is the equivalent of
asking, “Can God create a ‘square circle’?” Circles and squares are mutually
exclusive by their very definition. As a result, the question nonsensically
queries the creation of something similarly nonsensical. God cannot create
square circles for the same reason He cannot sin; He acts dependably in a
manner consistent with His moral and logical nature, and our universe is the
beneficiary of God’s dependable nature. Those who ask logically incoherent
questions of this kind are requiring God to violate His nature (His logical
coherency) in order to demonstrate His nature (His power)” [1]. Logic is a reflection of God’s unchanging
nature; therefore, He will act in a logical manner. Although God is omnipotent, the Bible does
say that there are certain things He cannot do. He cannot sin (James 1:3); He
cannot change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17); He cannot deny Himself (II Timothy
2:13). Does this mean God is not
omnipotent? No, it simply means that He
acts according to His nature.
Atheist
Argument: The Omniscience paradox. “If God is omnipotent, then he should be
able to change the future to an “alternate future” that is unknown to him,
conflicting with his omniscience” Similarly, an omniscient God would know the
position of all atoms in the universe over its ~14 billion-year history as well
as its infinite future. To know that, God’s memory needs to be bigger than the
infinite set of possible states in the current Universe.
Response: Simply
because we cannot comprehend the immense power and ability of God does not mean
He does not/cannot exist. It makes good
sense to consider that God, Who is capable of creating the universe, is able to
do far more than we are able to wrap our minds around. The argument about an omniscient
(all-knowing) God creating something He does not know is a self-defeating
argument; much like “can God create something that is uncreated”, simply an
exercise in word play…nothing more.
There are also many unfounded assumptions contained in this argument:
the universe has not been proven to be 14 billion years old, yet this argument
makes that assumption in an attempt to bolster its case. One could also contend that humans do not
know how big God’s memory needs to be to do anything. These are meaningless shots in the dark that
do not contain facts, only fantasy.
Atheist
Argument: The “No Reason” Argument tries to show that an omnipotent and
omniscient God would not have any reason to act in any way, specifically by
creating the universe, because He would have no needs, wants, or desires since
these very concepts are subjectively human. Since the Universe exists, there is
a contradiction, and therefore, an omnipotent God cannot exist.
Response: The
only reason God has for acting in a certain way is simply because He chooses to
act in that way. It is amazing that we
sometimes think we have the right to determine how God should or should not
act. If God cannot act as He chooses, He
is not God. Humanity shows its arrogance
when we say that we have decided, by using our fallible reasoning capabilities,
that God should have done this or that He shouldn’t have done that. God asked Job, “Where were you when I laid
the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding...” (Job 38:4
NASB). God is pointing out the fact that
He did not ask our opinion when He created the universe and everything in it;
therefore, who do we think we are to question Him?
As to the idea
that ‘need, wants or desires’ are ‘subjectively human’; is it reasonable to
believe that an all mighty God has no feelings?
The Bible clearly says that God loves us, it speaks of His anger and His
wrath against sin and evil doers, He can grieve…are these not feelings? He certainly would have no needs because He
is God, but we know He has desires because the Bible clearly says so, “God, our
savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth” (I Timothy 2:3-4 NASB). Whereas
many of our wants and desires are sinful, God has no wants or desires that are
contrary to His holy nature. But it is
not we who decide God’s nature; He created us, not the other way around.
There will come
a time when we are all judged by God, are you ready? “...the Lord Jesus will be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out
retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction,
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He
comes to be glorified...” (II Thessalonians 1:7-10 NASB).
NOTES:
No comments:
Post a Comment