Have atheists ever been asked...?

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HabemusFrancis

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Many atheists are fond of saying there is no God, or that there is no evidence to support His existence.

I wonder then how they would respond to the following question: Why is it, that human beings are the only species on earth that has religion or ponders the existence of God?

In other words, why would it be a near universal (historically) trend in the human species to believe that the Divine ( in various forms) existed?

Our closest living relatives, the great apes, do not contemplate that, nor indeed do they have consciences or moral-making abilities.

Part of me thinks… if the atheists were correct, and that Earth just formed by chance billions of years ago, than the human species likely would not think about God, or care about His existence. Why debate or be concerned with something that is fictional?

I hope my argument makes sense. I just think… that even if the biblical genesis accounts are not literally true, their essential message is true. It is abundantly clear that humanity is an organsim compeltly distinct from every other organism that exists.

In terms of behavior and functionality, the great apes (including the chimpanzee… with 98% identical DNA as homo sapien) have far more in common with all other animals than they do with human beings.

Not saying this is sufficient evidence, but isn’t it strong evidence that indeed, humans are special, and yes, created by an intelligent power greater than us? 🤷

I’m no great apologist for the faith far from it… it’s just an idea I’ve had lately…
 
I would say never make assumptions about what other animals can and cannot do. we learn new things through science all the time. No I’m not an atheist-so I’m not speaking for anyone who is.
 
There are many atheists on God’s green earth. You could get as many answers to your question as there are atheists.
 
puzzledtoo said:
I would say never make assumptions about what other animals can and cannot do. we learn new things through science all the time. No I’m not an atheist-so I’m not speaking for anyone who is.
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Exactly…Plus, we know the neanderthals who lived in the stone ages recognized some type of ‘god’ or gods, and they definitely had their version of religion, in that they worshiped the gods they believed in, in their own ways of course
 
I would guess that because great apes don’t have that conscience that we do, they don’t have an awareness of a God or of a something that created everything, nor do they need it. I would also guess that when we gained that conscience, we became aware that we made everything we needed, and so someone else must have made everything. Leading on from that, we couldn’t make mountains or oceans, so this “maker” must be more powerful to be able to create it.

I’m not an apologist either, so I hope this makes some kind of sense.

Lou
 
HabemusFrancis, you’re thinking along the same line, with this idea as C. S. Lewis, who wrote in “Mere Christianity”:

Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning” (p. 38-39).
 
mikekle said:
Exactly…Plus, we know the neanderthals who lived in the stone ages recognized some type of ‘god’ or gods, and they definitely had their version of religion, in that they worshiped the gods they believed in, in their own ways of course
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Absolutely. If people don’t know about God, they create “gods.” I had to take courses in comparative religion for my theology degrees, and one of the things that struck me most was how alike the various religions are. Sure, they all have their differences, but the similarities were so striking. I believe we are all striving toward the same thing.
 
Lou2U said:
I would guess that because great apes don’t have that conscience that we do, they don’t have an awareness of a God or of a something that created everything, nor do they need it. I would also guess that when we gained that conscience, we became aware that we made everything we needed, and so someone else must have made everything. Leading on from that, we couldn’t make mountains or oceans, so this “maker” must be more powerful to be able to create it.

I’m not an apologist either, so I hope this makes some kind of sense.

Lou
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I was going to point out what you did. One can’t expect animals to believe in God and form religions, but humans always do, whether it’s the Christian God or not.
 
HabemusFrancis said:
Many atheists are fond of saying there is no God, or that there is no evidence to support His existence.

I wonder then how they would respond to the following question: Why is it, that human beings are the only species on earth that has religion or ponders the existence of God?

In other words, why would it be a near universal (historically) trend in the human species to believe that the Divine ( in various forms) existed?

Our closest living relatives, the great apes, do not contemplate that, nor indeed do they have consciences or moral-making abilities.

Part of me thinks… if the atheists were correct, and that Earth just formed by chance billions of years ago, than the human species likely would not think about God, or care about His existence. Why debate or be concerned with something that is fictional?

I hope my argument makes sense. I just think… that even if the biblical genesis accounts are not literally true, their essential message is true. It is abundantly clear that humanity is an organsim compeltly distinct from every other organism that exists.

In terms of behavior and functionality, the great apes (including the chimpanzee… with 98% identical DNA as homo sapien) have far more in common with all other animals than they do with human beings.

Not saying this is sufficient evidence, but isn’t it strong evidence that indeed, humans are special, and yes, created by an intelligent power greater than us? 🤷

I’m no great apologist for the faith far from it… it’s just an idea I’ve had lately…
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You might ponder that there is a significant cognitive difference between humans and great apes. It isn’t just about the genes, but how the genes are expressed. Beyond that, for much of H. sapien’s time on this planet (roughly 200,000 years) there was little or no evidence of symbolic or spiritual thinking. At least according to the latest archaeological evidence, we don’t even see the beginnings of symbolism until less than 100,000 years ago.

That humans are special can’t really be argued, but I can’t see how that “specialness” can only be explained supernaturally, or that it explains who modern humans were wandering around for over 100,000 years, and other members of genus Homo for two million years, showing few signs of the kind of cognitive ability that we ascribe to modern humans.
 
HabemusFrancis said:
Many atheists are fond of saying there is no God, or that there is no evidence to support His existence.

I wonder then how they would respond to the following question: Why is it, that human beings are the only species on earth that has religion or ponders the existence of God?

In other words, why would it be a near universal (historically) trend in the human species to believe that the Divine ( in various forms) existed?

Our closest living relatives, the great apes, do not contemplate that, nor indeed do they have consciences or moral-making abilities.

Part of me thinks… if the atheists were correct, and that Earth just formed by chance billions of years ago, than the human species likely would not think about God, or care about His existence. Why debate or be concerned with something that is fictional?

I hope my argument makes sense. I just think… that even if the biblical genesis accounts are not literally true, their essential message is true. It is abundantly clear that humanity is an organsim compeltly distinct from every other organism that exists.

In terms of behavior and functionality, the great apes (including the chimpanzee… with 98% identical DNA as homo sapien) have far more in common with all other animals than they do with human beings.

Not saying this is sufficient evidence, but isn’t it strong evidence that indeed, humans are special, and yes, created by an intelligent power greater than us? 🤷

I’m no great apologist for the faith far from it… it’s just an idea I’ve had lately…
Click to expand...
That men are inclined to religion does not prove the truth of God, since men are drawn to many illusory schemes of reality, including atheism.

What the atheist might say is that God is a hypothesis that once worked to explain the otherwise unexplainable, but that now science is narrowing the field of the unexplained, and may someday narrow it altogether.

But what the atheist cannot know is whether this is really true.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
That men are inclined to religion does not prove the truth of God, since men are drawn to many illusory schemes of reality, including atheism.

What the atheist might say is that God is a hypothesis that once worked to explain the otherwise unexplainable, but that now science is narrowing the field of the unexplained, and may someday narrow it altogether.

But what the atheist cannot know is whether this is really true.
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True enough. Atheism cannot be regarded a scientific position. But then again, neither can theism or deism. I suppose the agnostics are in the strongest position, simply by admitting there is no strong position.
 
aclausen said:
True enough. Atheism cannot be regarded a scientific position. But then again, neither can theism or deism. I suppose the agnostics are in the strongest position, simply by admitting there is no strong position.
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The strongest perhaps…the least satisfying…? For certain…!
 
I don’t know about the least satisfying, at least for me. I found it quite liberating once I finally let go enough to say I just don’t know what the Truth is. I believe we were created but simply can’t say for certainty that I’m right. So I’m learning to be comfortable with that uncertainty and I find that satisfying in and of itself. Blessings to all.
 
The point HabemusFrancis brings up is, of course, only one aspect in answering atheist’s ideas/sensibilities. There are many more.

If I might wax metaphorical, faith is like a cut diamond. It needs all that is extraneous cut away in order to see the beauty of the stone.

Or put another way, it’s like making bread. All the ingredients necessary to make bread will produce bread. If one wants something else baked, one uses other ingredients.

Thus, belief is cutting away mere human understanding, which is finite, and only adding that which Christ has given us to believe and practice.

This is an act of humility. One can be an atheist, through an honest inability to believe, or an agnostic, for the same reason. This is an act of humility–of stating that we who are finite cannot understand everything no matter how much we might look into any one field of study, be it behavioral science, experimental science, quantum physics, theology, etc.

No one person can grasp it all. At some point we have to bow to those with more knowledge, and accept, in faith, that they have worthwhile information and experience to pass on to us. At least, that’s how I see it. 🙂
 
puzzledtoo said:
I don’t know about the least satisfying, at least for me. I found it quite liberating once I finally let go enough to say I just don’t know what the Truth is. I believe we were created but simply can’t say for certainty that I’m right. So I’m learning to be comfortable with that uncertainty and I find that satisfying in and of itself. Blessings to all.
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We have similar lines of thought, with subtle differences. I don’t believe that we were directly created, but are a consequence of creation. Like you, I cannot affirmatively prove my thoughts, but I am comfortable with the uncertainty; certainly more comfortable than my previous indoctrination, which was accomplished without my consent.

Be well,

John
 
aclausen said:
True enough. Atheism cannot be regarded a scientific position. But then again, neither can theism or deism. I suppose the agnostics are in the strongest position, simply by admitting there is no strong position.
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I never see agnosticism as a strong position. It is more a surrender to ignorance.

Both science and theism assert the possibility of knowing SOMETHING to be true even should they disagree about WHAT is true or knowable.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
I never see agnosticism as a strong position. It is more a surrender to ignorance.

Both science and theism assert the possibility of knowing SOMETHING to be true even should they disagree about WHAT is true or knowable.
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Well, I don’t see science showing that anything is true, in the philosophical sense, rather science can only observe natural processes and make hypotheses about what they are. Scientism makes philosophical assumptions not really based on science but on whatever its adherents want to see in science. That’s the difference, as I see it.

Religion is revealed truth that has its roots in reason and creation. Science is the observation of nature and what we can learn from it about the physical world. They intersect, but they are not philosophically the same.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
I never see agnosticism as a strong position. It is more a surrender to ignorance.

Both science and theism assert the possibility of knowing SOMETHING to be true even should they disagree about WHAT is true or knowable.
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It’s always amusing how both theists and atheists can agree on one thing at least, that they don’t like those fence-sitting agnostics!

Being an atheist of an agnostic bent, I don’t think I’m surrendering to ignorance so much as admitting that atheism is no more a scientific position than theism or deism. Science, by its nature is a-theistic (that is it is neutral on the existence of God). In other words, science is agnostic.
 
aclausen said:
It’s always amusing how both theists and atheists can agree on one thing at least, that they don’t like those fence-sitting agnostics!

Being an atheist of an agnostic bent, I don’t think I’m surrendering to ignorance so much as admitting that atheism is no more a scientific position than theism or deism. Science, by its nature is a-theistic (that is it is neutral on the existence of God). In other words, science is agnostic.
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I don’t get your post. You say science is both atheistic and agnostic? That seems like having your cake and eating it too. 😉
 
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