Various agnostics and theists have criticised atheism for being an unscientific, or overly dogmatic and definitive position to hold, some with the argument that 'absence of evidence cannot be equated with evidence for absence'. The philosopher Alvin Plantinga argues that a failure of theistic arguments might conceivably be good grounds for agnosticism, but not for atheism, and points to the observation of an apparently "fine-tuned Universe" as more likely to be explained by theism than atheism. Oxford Professor of Mathematics John Lennox holds that atheism is an inferior world view to that of theism, and attributes to C.S. Lewis the best formulation of Merton's Thesis that science sits more comfortably with theistic notions, on the basis that Men became scientific in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th century "Because they expected law in nature, and they expected law in nature because they believed in a lawgiver.'In other words, it was belief in God that was the motor that drove modern science." The leading American geneticist Francis Collins also cites Lewis as persuasive in convincing him that theism is the more rational world view than atheism.

Other criticisms focus on perceived effects on morality and social cohesion. The Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, a deist, queried the implications of godlessness in a disorderly world ("If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him". The father of Classical Liberalism, John Locke, believed that the denial of God's existence would undermine the social order and lead to chaos. Edmund Burke, a name associated with both modern conservatism and liberalism, saw religion as the basis of civil society and wrote that "man is by his constitution a religious animal; that atheism is against, not only our reason, but our instincts; and that it cannot prevail long". Pope Pius XI wrote that Communist atheism was aimed at "upsetting the social order and at undermining the very foundations of Christian civilization". In the 1990s, Pope John Paul II criticised a spreading "practical atheism" as clouding the "religious and moral sense of the human heart" and leading to societies which struggle to maintain harmony.

The advocacy of atheism by some of the more violent exponents of the French Revolution, the subsequent militancy of Marxist-Leninist atheism, and prominence of atheism in totalitarian states formed in the 20th century is often cited in critical assessments of the implications of atheism. In his Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke railed against "atheistical fanaticism". The 1937 papal encyclical Divini Redemptoris denounced the atheism of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, which was later influential in the establishment of state atheism across Eastern Europe and elsewhere, including Mao Zedong's China, Communist North Korea and Pol Pot's Cambodia. Critics of atheism often associate the actions of 20th-century state atheism with broader atheism in their critiques. Various poets, novelists and lay theologians have also criticized atheism, among them G. K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis. A maxim popularly attributed to Chesterton holds that "He who does not believe in God will believe in anything."

Funny topic, especially when your signature is taken into context.

musKeeto:
Funny topic, especially when your signature is taken into context.

I don't get you?

@paulgrundy

I don't see any atheist argument against God being criticized.

Before you make a reply to me, elect between which has a greater value, the truth or falsehood.

As regards your OP, there is an apparent in some parts such as a godless world (like a world without parents) can be chaotic, disorganised, with crumbled value systems, but there is one truth that emerges: the true nature of man. In a godless world, man's true will, desires, inspirations, his self emerges. Man can go as far as making himself God.

paulGrundy:


I don't get you?

Why will you understand him when it is obvious that you are a simple man, rather then a clever man.

As your signature shows, a clever man understands that it is foolish to believe everything he hears or reads without having proofs.

I won't say I'm an atheist but I just need one incontrovertible proof that there is an Almighty God. I don't mean a speculative proof or a statement where you tell me that since "A" is this way, it means that there must be God. No! Give me one incontrovertible and clear-cut proof that God exists.

That GK Chesterton or CS Lewis made a statement based on his personal observation and opinion doesn't make it a fact. Learn to differentiate facts from opinions.

nobilis:

Why will you understand him when it is obvious that you are a simple man, rather then a clever man.

As your signature shows, a clever man understands that it is foolish to believe everything he hears or reads without having proofs.

I won't say I'm an atheist but I just need one incontrovertible proof that there is an Almighty God. I don't mean a speculative proof or a statement where you tell me that since "A" is this way, it means that there must be God. No! Give me one incontrovertible and clear-cut proof that God exists.

That GK Chesterton or CS Lewis made a statement based on his personal observation and opinion doesn't make it a fact. Learn to differentiate facts from opinions.

The purpose of the thread is not to prove the existence of God, instead it is to point out the flaws in athiest's arguments against the existence of God.

Btw there is proof of Gods existence, the problem is the kind of proof you are asking for. Miracles happening in our time are solid proof of Gods existence.

nobilis:

Why will you understand him when it is obvious that you are a simple man, rather then a clever man.

As your signature shows, a clever man understands that it is foolish to believe everything he hears or reads without having proofs.

I won't say I'm an atheist but I just need one incontrovertible proof that there is an Almighty God. I don't mean a speculative proof or a statement where you tell me that since "A" is this way, it means that there must be God. No! Give me one incontrovertible and clear-cut proof that God exists.

That GK Chesterton or CS Lewis made a statement based on his personal observation and opinion doesn't make it a fact. Learn to differentiate facts from opinions.

So how many facts have atheists provided to prove the non-existense of God?

Kay17:
@paulgrundy

I don't see any atheist argument against God being criticized.

Before you make a reply to me, elect between which has a greater value, the truth or falsehood.

As regards your OP, there is an apparent in some parts such as a godless world (like a world without parents) can be chaotic, disorganised, with crumbled value systems, but there is one truth that emerges: the true nature of man. In a godless world, man's true will, desires, inspirations, his self emerges. Man can go as far as making himself God.

religion, speaking for the bible-only, places injunctions on morality not creativity. Infact, a person who obeys d dictates of the bible fully will b outstandg in his field.

asalimpo:


religion, speaking for the bible-only, places injunctions on morality not creativity. Infact, a person who obeys d dictates of the bible fully will b outstandg in his field.

I don't understand what you are trying to say here or how it relates to my post or the OP.

paulGrundy:

Btw there is proof of Gods existence, the problem is the kind of proof you are asking for. Miracles happening in our time are solid proof of Gods existence.

Could you define what you mean by miracles and give examples of miracles?

AgentOfAllah:


Could you define what you mean by miracles and give examples of miracles?

Sorry! I don't chat my nairaland muslims, you banned us from your section and now you expect me to chat with you?!

No way!

Tell your oga at the top to stop forcing people to convert to islam.

paulGrundy:


Sorry! I don't chat my nairaland muslims, you banned us from your section and now you expect me to chat with you?!

No way!

Tell your oga at the top to stop forcing people to convert to islam.

I'll ignore your unabashed prejudice and directly address your misconception about me: I'm not Muslim, and if it makes you feel better, I've also been banned from the same forum, although, I wouldn't go as far as embracing guilt by association tactics. I will still engage with Muslims that feel like engaging.

Now you can feel free to chat with me.

AgentOfAllah:


I'll ignore your unabashed prejudice and directly address your misconception about me: I'm not Muslim, and if it makes you feel better, I've also been banned from the same forum, although, I wouldn't go as far as embracing guilt by association tactics. I will still engage with Muslims that feel like engaging.

Now you can feel free to chat with me.

Incurable illnesses healed, personal experience of the gift of word of knowledge, the dead raised e.t.c.

paulGrundy:


Incurable illnesses healed, personal experience of the gift of word of knowledge, the dead raised e.t.c.

I don't know what the emboldened means.

As for healing "incurable illness" and raising the dead, those are indeed remarkable. So, have you any source on the occurrence of such miracles?

AgentOfAllah:


I don't know what the emboldened means.

As for healing "incurable illness" and raising the dead, those are indeed remarkable. So, have you any source on the occurrence of such miracles?

Numerous occurences of miracles abound and there are several accounts online. Check out these videos of synagogue church website.

http://www.scoan.org/media/healing/

As per bolded it means when God uses someone to tell you details about your past that no one knows. God uses it to touch lives and provide solutions to peoples problems.

paulGrundy:


Numerous occurences of miracles abound and there are several accounts online. Check out these videos of synagogue church website.

http://www.scoan.org/media/healing/

As per bolded it means when God uses someone to tell you details about your past that no one knows. God uses it to touch lives and provide solutions to peoples problems.

lol....

paulGrundy:


Numerous occurences of miracles abound and there are several accounts online. Check out these videos of synagogue church website.

http://www.scoan.org/media/healing/

As per bolded it means when God uses someone to tell you details about your past that no one knows. God uses it to touch lives and provide solutions to peoples problems.

All fantastical claims, and a mesmerising display of miraculous powers. Today there are members of the same church who were victims of flagrant abuse of state laws, who have suffered incurable damage to their limbs. I'd love to see the same man heal them... When he's done, he should raise the over 100 members who met their untimely demise in that collapsed building from their deaths. Then I'll truly believe.

paulGrundy:


Numerous occurences of miracles abound and there are several accounts online. Check out these videos of synagogue church website.

http://www.scoan.org/media/healing/

As per bolded it means when God uses someone to tell you details about your past that no one knows. God uses it to touch lives and provide solutions to peoples problems.

Do successful cancer treatments count as miracles?

Does the construction of the pyramids count as a miracle?

Do our planes and space rockets count as miracles?