Atheism, Fake Living, and Presuppositions
When dealing with professing atheists — I have to pull on the reins right away and stop this pony before it even gets going. My use of professing here indicates that I believe the Bible. Romans 1:18-23 says that everyone knows God exists, but they suppress the truth so they can continue claiming that there is no God. More foolish is that they "lack belief." There are been many professing atheists I have encountered who not only ridicule theists for denying "reality" or some such. However, atheism cannot be lived on a consistent basis.
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| Darwin dollars image made with PhotoFunia |
Frank Turek has written and spoken about how atheists steal from the Christian worldview so they can live their lives. I was surprised when I saw that he made those statements because they were made by Dr. Greg Bahnsen and others long ago. Bahnsen taught presuppositional apologetics, which presupposes that God is real and the Bible is true. Indeed, the Bible begins by talking about God, not starting with, "Before we get started, let me give you evidence so you can judge whether or not he exists."
One attraction for me of presuppositional apologetics is that it cuts through much of the bluster of unbelievers. Asking probing questions is important. One angry atheist I encountered was complaining that something is "wrong" in his view, and I asked him why he considered it wrong. Instead of answering, he said something about not wanting to deal with Christian trickery. Cute dodge. I think he realized that atheism cannot account for morality.
Regular readers have probably noticed that other biblical creationists and I not only take a presuppositional approach, but that we point out that atheists are hardcore presuppositionalists themselves! They presuppose that there is no God, minerals-to-Magneto evolution is a fact, the answers to life are found in science (Scientism), and more. Atheists are faking it and essentially living a lie.
In my view, everyone has some amount of inconsistency. One example is that I have worked for companies I despise at the upper level — but I have to pay the rent. (If I was required to do anything illegal or immoral, then I would find another job.) Also, someone may need to see a counselor, but that counselor is in a secular field; most schools of psychology are steeped in Darwinism. A Christian patient would need to tolerate and use discernment in the counseling, and the counselor would necessarily have to accept the patient "as is." Inconsistencies to get by.
Atheism is irrational and cannot account for the conditions of human experience, so they resort to fake living. That is, being inconsistent with what they claim to believe, but what they really believe and practice to go on about their daily lives is markedly different.
The biblical worldview is consistent and coherent. Daily living, experiences, thoughts, feeling, and other things make sense.
Surprisingly, many atheists actually adopt [a] double-minded approach to life. They admit that atheism has dark, nihilistic implications which they cannot face squarely. Instead of attempting to consistently live out their worldview, they candidly admit that they pretend reality is different than they believe it to be. In other words, they live inauthentically, in effect lying to themselves. This masquerade is a clear sign that atheism, not theism, is the irrational position. It ought to prompt atheists to rethink the assumptions that led them to such an absurd conclusion and to seek a more reasonable and satisfying worldview.
To read it all, see "Atheists who admit they fake it — The impossibility of living authentically without God."