I. Definitions, Distinctions and Denunciations
1. Theism (living like God exists) v. Atheism (living like God does not exist).
2. Agnosticism and the “Coexist crowd”: The “coward atheists” of the world.
3. The Bible is what defines Christianity and the God of Christianity.
4. Becoming a Christian means becoming a “biblical theist” (living like the God of the Bible exists: defining your relationship with Him according to the Bible) and seeing all others as “biblical atheists” (living like the God of the Bible does not exist – Titus 1:16).
5. The denunciation of Christianity by all forms of atheists:
5.1. Escapism (an unwillingness to accept reality) (Ludwig Feuerbach, Daniel Dennet; all other forms of religion including Christian cults: Roman Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons): not completely truthful or reality-based.
“I certainly grant the existence of the phenomenon of faith; what I want to see is a reasoned ground for taking faith as a way of getting to the truth, and not, say, just as a way people comfort themselves and each other [i.e. escapism].”- Daniel Dennet
5.2. Illogical/Irrational (Richard Dawkins, Peter Higgs, Steven Hawking): not logical or rational.
“Reason (Logic/Rational Thought) is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.” – Martin Luther
5.3. A psychological crutch (based on insecurity, fear, guilt) (Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche): not ontological.
“God is the product of such “illusions, fulfillments of the oldest, strongest and most urgent wishes of mankind. … the benevolent rule of a divine Providence allays our fears of the dangers of life.” – Sigmund Freud
5.4. A form of insanity (Sigmund Freud, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris): not objective or sane.
“Religion is universal obsessional neurosis” – Sigmund Freud
“Religion allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy.” -Sam Harris
5.5. A manipulative tool used to exploit/control people and steal their freedom (Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Greg Epstein, Francis Bacon): not moral or just.
“Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men.” – Francis Bacon
“Religion is the opiate of the masses” – Karl Marx
II. Defense: Christianity (as defined/revealed in the Bible) provides the only truthful, reality-based, logical, rational, ontological, objective, sane, moral and just argument for man’s existence.
*All ontological arguments are based on secondary sources. Neither the theist nor the atheist can claim primary evidence.
1. Eternal: “Something must be eternal.”
1.1. What created that which created what is created? The illogical/irrational belief of many atheists is that we were created by other created things: the universe (Big Bang!), aliens, etc. The question is, “what created them?”
1.2. “Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit” (Out of Nothing, Nothing Comes):
This is the other illogical/irrational view posited by the atheist: all things suddenly came into being from nothing (“spontaneous generation”). This however is impossible since nothing by definition is void of content/substance, meaning it possesses none of the essential ingredients for something (v. nothing) to exist. In other words, “Creation abhors a vacuum” (The Principle of Biogenesis). The absurd (dare we say idiotic?) formula of the evolutionist: “Nothing times nobody equals everything”.
1.3. The Un-moved Mover/Primary Mover (Aristotle): Something is the ultimate cause(“mover”) of all things in the universe. It is therefore without cause (or movement) making it eternal in nature.
1.4. CHRISTIANITY HAS THE ANSWER: The God of the Bible is the Eternal Creator (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2, 93:2, 102:24-27; Isaiah 40:28, 43:10, 48:12, 57:15; John 1:1; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) (In response to Dawkins –The God Delusion: “Who created God? The question doesn’t apply to the God of the Bible since He was not created – those kinds of gods we call “idols” – Isaiah 40:28). Objection: Why not an eternal universe/matter as the answer?
2. Intelligent: “The eternal something must be someone.”
2.1. Eternal God v. Eternal Universe: the difference between Intelligent Design (ID) and Random Chance (RC).
2.2. The analogy of the watchmaker (Teleological Argument).
2.3. DNA and Intelligent Design:
“In all modern organisms, DNA contains in encrypted form the instructions for the manufacture of proteins [i.e. cells contain information] . More specifically, encoded within DNA is the exact order in which amino acids, selected at each step from 20 distinct varieties should be strung together to form all of the organism’s proteins.” (Dr. Christian de Duve, Nobel Prize Scientist “The Beginning of Life on Earth,” American Scientist, Vol. 83, Sept-Oct. 1995, p. 430).
In other words, there is (ID) manifested in the selection process and order of DNA. However…
“There is no known natural law through which matter can give rise to information [i.e. (ID)], neither is there any physical process or material phenomenon known that can do this.” (Dr. Werner Gitt, In the Beginning Was Information, 1997, p. 79).
“If the inference for an intelligent cause [i.e. design] for DNA (and for life too, if DNA is truly necessary for life) is in error, then we would likewise be in error to infer the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence upon receipt of intelligible radio messages from deep space. More important, our knowledge of past civilizations provided by archaeologists would be in jeopardy. These supposed “Artifacts” might be, after all, the result of unknown natural causes. Cave paintings, for example…may not be the result of early humans….Indeed, excavated ancient libraries could not be trusted to contain the works of intelligent men and women.” — Charles B. Thaxton, (“In Pursuit of Intelligent Causes” Origins & Design, Summer 2001, p. 28-29)
2.3. The impossibility of Evolution (i.e. RC):
“Elementary statistical theory shows that the probability of 200 successive mutations being successful is (1⁄2)200, or one chance out of 1060. The number 1060, if written out, would be “one” followed by sixty “zeros.” In other words, the chance that a 200- component organism could be formed by mutation and natural selection is less than one chance out of a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion! Lest anyone think that a 200-part system is unreasonably complex, it should be noted that even a one-celled plant or animal may have millions of molecular “parts [humans are made up of about 100 trillion cells]. The evolutionist might react by saying that even though any one such mutating organism might not be successful, surely some around the world would be, especially in the 10 billion years (or 1018 seconds) of assumed earth history. Therefore, let us imagine that every one of the earth’s 1014 square feet of surface harbors a billion (i.e., 109) mutating systems and that each mutation requires one-half second (actually it would take far more time than this). Each system can thus go through its 200 mutations in 100 seconds and then, if it is unsuccessful, start over for a new try. In 1018 seconds, there can, therefore, be 1018/102, or 1016, trials by each mutating system. Multiplying all these numbers together, there would be a total possible number of attempts to develop a 200- component system equal to 1014 (109) (1016), or 1039 attempts. Since the probability against the success of any one of them is 1060, it is obvious that the probability that just one of these 1039 attempts might be successful is only one out of 1060/1039, or 1021. All this means that the chance that any kind of a 200-component integrated functioning organism could be developed by mutation and natural selection just once, anywhere in the world, in all the assumed expanse of geologic time, is less than one chance out of a billion trillion. What possible conclusion, therefore, can we derive from such considerations as this except that evolution by mutation and natural selection is mathematically and logically indefensible… Furthermore, since the law of increasing entropy, or the second law of thermodynamics, is essentially a statement of probabilities, many writers have also used that law itself to show that evolution on any significant scale is essentially impossible…[since] in the world of scientific observation, no more complex system can ever ‘evolve’ out of a less complex system…[hence] the probability of the naturalistic origin (i.e. evolution) of even the simplest imaginary form of life is zero. The existence of complexity of any kind is [instead] evidence of [(ID)].” – Dr. Henry Morris
2.4. The impossibility of moral right and wrong without Intelligent Design: morality/ethics become the inventions of society based on the preferences of those in power (true good and evil do not exist, only exploitation and manipulation).
2.5. CHRISTIANITY HAS THE ANSWER: The God of the Bible is the Intelligent Designer (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 104:1-31, 139:1-14; Proverbs 3:19-20; Isaiah 45:18; Jeremiah 33:2 As Intelligent Designer and Eternal Creator, God also has the right to expect submission to His moral code – 1 Chronicles 29:11; Deuteronomy 10:14; 4:39-40. This is what establishes Paul calls for repentance in Acts 17:22-30).