I came across this "Letter to an Atheist" which in some ways is
similar to my first post.
Dear Atheist,
Before I ask you a few questions,
I am going to be entirely honest with you right from the start and
tell you that I dont believe you exist. By that, I do not mean you
are not physically in existence. Clearly someone pressed the “send”
button” to transfer the letter I found in my e-mail box this
morning that reports to have come from you. I see no reason to
question its authenticity.
What I mean is that I dont believe
you are a true atheist. I dont just say that about you though, I
say that about every professing atheist. That is because, from my
worldview as a Bible believing Christian, the God who has clearly
revealed Himself both through this natural order and in Scripture
has told us:
Romans 1:18-22 "For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the
truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because
God has shown it to them. 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. For although they knew God, they did
not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile
in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming
to be wise, they became fools…"
God does not believe that genuine
atheists exist. He has made the truth of His existence known to you
and you are suppressing this knowledge with all the mental
gymnastics you can muster from a heart in defiance of Him.
Actually, that leads me to my first question:
(1) Why do you spend so much time
on the internet and in every other possible venue seeking to spew
out hatred for a God you say you don't believe in? If he does not
exist, why do you seem to hate Him so much?
(2) In your evolutionary material
worldview, where all things came from minute particles of matter
exploding, can you please explain where personality comes from? For
instance, if all there ever was was rock, which rock decided to
expand itself to think, to choose, to like, to dislike – and how
exactly did it do that?
(Just telling you right up front,
if your answer is “matter, if given a whole lot of time developed
personality ” you will have lost me. Something without personality
cannot develop personality whether left to itself for 5 minutes or
5 billion years. If you then say that science has yet to observe
this but I am sure it will, once again you will have lost me.
Science has not only never observed it, but it defies all its basic
premises. You are merely hoping for something and that is not
dealing with the present reality we all have to deal with, the data
currently available to us).
(3) You seem hell bent (pardon the
expression) on tearing down the God of the Bible suggesting He does
not live according to His own standards of goodness. You say that
if He is ultimately reponsible for all that is and all that happens
in this world, this raises serious questions about His goodness.
But may I ask, where are you even getting the concept of good?
Aren’t you having to borrow from my worldview to even find such a
thing as moral goodness? How can there be moral goodness in an
atheistic worldview? Aren’t you left with only moral preferences –
you prefer to eat nicely at a restaurant today rather than go on a
genicidal run to exterminate all people from Iceland, but in your
system, those who choose the latter are merely those with a
different preference for the day. There is no right and wrong when
ultimately there is no one to answer to. And if you say that
society at large comes up with morality, then nothing is fixed,
because society (if we mean by that, what most people in a society
think) changes its view regularly (slavery was one considered
acceptable in America, and now obviously is not).
As one man observed, “what makes
your moral standard more than a subjective opinion or personal
preference? What makes it truly binding or obligatory? Why can’t I
just ignore it? Won’t our end be the same (death and the grave)
either way?”
(4) Why not be a full blown, out
in the open, militant racist? If all we are is grown up germs (in
an evolutionary/atheistic framework) who cares if black grown up
germs or white ones, sit at the back of the bus. We get rid of
germs in the sink, why not get rid of grown up germs in our
neighborhood?
You realize that because there is
an ultimate law giver who has made His will known and to whom all
of us in every culture is accountable, I know WHY such a thing is
wrong, but where in your system can you say any of this slaughter
of people of a different color is morally “wrong”?
(5) I have asked where you get
morality. Now I ask you what it is. If everything ultimately must
be explained by the laws of physics and chemistry, help me
understand what a morality is (does it have mass, occupy space,
hold a charge, have wavelength)?
(6) I know you believe in morality
because you accuse God of not being moral enough, so please tell
me, how did matter, energy, time and chance result in a set of
objective morality? As one man asked so well, “Did the big bang
really spew forth “love your enemy?” If so, you have to help me
understand that.”
For my part, I believe there is no
moral “good” apart from the God you say you dont believe in, and
whose character you question.
I look forward to receiving your
reply.
