How skeptics explain people’s beliefs in God
- Man invented God (and religion) to explain things that he didn’t understand.
- People are gullible and superstitious, and are easily deceived by lies or misinformation.
- They are ignorant of scientific facts and have never investigated the evidence.
- Their beliefs are based on irrational and illogical ideas.
- Religious people have a need for comfort in the face of fear of the unknown that overrides their ability to reason.
- They are "projecting" wishful thinking.
- They want to impose their values on others for selfish reasons; control, money, power, etc.
- A good God would not send honest unbelievers to eternal punishment who based their beliefs on evidence.
- Modern man has evidence that contradicts what theists (and the Bible) claim about God.
- A good God could not allow evil to exist in the world.
- Free will is impossible if God is omniscient and omnipotent.
- Religious claims require scientific proof.
- If God existed He would not refuse to communicate directly with anyone who asked Him to as a basis for belief.
- The Bible contradicts itself and is not a historical document, so cannot be communication from a perfect being.
Even though we can ask seemingly simple, fundamental questions about beliefs, we cannot fully understand the implications of the answers we get until we understand the context – the nature of the God that people believe in, their definition of truth, the importance of reason and consistency when making statements about belief.
6 comments:
Good Stuff. You have to study the films before the game right???
Know your opponent...
cas
This is a great checklist to begin with. My goal is to get a decent response to each. Guys, hold me accountable to this.
The skeptics' reasoning for why they don't believe in God is remarkably "thin". None of the claims would seem to be able to stand up to even the most elementary of arguments. Looking forward to the next post.
tba
i can see how skeptics would put forth these statements...very true that we must know how to refute these!
We are called to have a good defense for the hope that lies within us to all who would ask. We forget the last part of that verse though. "to all who would ask" implies that there should be something about us that makes someone ask. We can study these doubts, and have great answers but we must live a better way.
Hey guys, I just joined into the study. I am anxious for the next few days study. Should be good preparation for future questions.
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