http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2007/08/atheism-and-culture-of-denial.html
Atheism and the Culture of Denial

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2007/08/atheism-and-culture-of-d...

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Atheism and the Culture of Denial

In my interview with Jim West posted on July 1, 2007, Jim asked me a
question about biblical interpretation. In my reply, I said that
believers are better interpreters of the biblical text than atheists
because atheists approach the Bible with false assumptions. Some of
these false assumptions are that there is no God, that the Bible is
only myth, that there is no revelation, and others.

In reply to my statement in that interview, Chris Hallquist published
a blog in which he addresses my statement and also criticizes a
response I wrote to Duane Smith, who had written his own post
responding to my interview with Jim West. Hallquist's post was also
published in God is for Suckers, a blog dedicated to "making fun of
believers everywhere."

Hallquist believes that atheists can interpret the Bible as well as
believers because anyone can examine an ancient text such as the
Illiad [sic] "without believing everything it says." The problem is
that Hallquist already begins with the false assumption that the Iliad
and the Bible are identical in purpose and message. They are not! The
intent and message of the two books are completely different. The only
similarity between both books is that they are literary works of
individuals who lived hundreds of years ago.

Atheists and Christians have two different world-views and this alone
influences the way they approach the Bible. Atheists can read and
interpret the Bible from a historical, sociological, linguistic, or
mythological perspective. Christians, on the other hand, read the
Bible from a historical, sociological, linguistic perspective, but
also from the perspective of faith and religion. For instance,

1. Atheists can study the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, but they cannot
love God with all their heart, soul and strength.

2. Atheists can study the word hesed from a philological perspective,
but they cannot experience divine hesed.

3. Atheists can write many books and articles about Christ, but they
cannot say: "Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

4. Atheists can write about Christians and Christianity, but they
cannot understand fully what it means to be saved by grace (Ephesians
2:8).

These are facts that atheists fail to understand. Atheists deny the
existence of God and the claims of Christianity. Believers approach
the Bible from the perspective of faith, thus, there must be a
difference in the way believers and atheists interpret the Bible,
since atheists do not have faith in the God of the Bible. Because
atheists deny the possibility of faith, they are not willing to accept
any view espoused by Christians. Because Christians believe in God,
they are not willing to accept the claims of atheism. This, then,
leaves both group at an impasse.

In his post, Hallquist uses "the outsider test" to evaluate my
comments. According to Hallquist, "the outsider test" is "a phrase
coined by John Loftus for the idea that religious believers ought to
be willing to examine their beliefs from the point of view of an
outsider."

Hallquist applies the outsider test to Christianity; I would like to
apply the outsider test to atheism.

1. The Test of History. Judaism and Christianity claim a historical
basis for their faith. Judaism says there is a God because of the work
of God in the history of ancient Israel. Christianity says there is a
God because of the existence of a historical Jesus. Atheism does not
have any historical claim to prove that there is no God. Atheists only
have their own statement that says there is no God. Since atheists do
not have history on their side, they deny the historicity of events in
Judaism and Christianity.

2. The Test of Witnesses. Judaism and Christianity believe there is a
God because they believe the words of witnesses who saw God at work.
The people in Israel claimed they heard the voice of God. Christianity
claims that after the resurrection, Jesus "appeared to more than five
hundred people at the same time" (1 Corinthians 15:6). It is possible
to say that these people were delusional or that they were unreliable
witnesses but atheism does not have one witness who was there to say
that there was no God. Since atheism does not have one single witness
who has seen the evidence that there is no God, they reject the
reliability of the biblical witnesses and deny the validity of their
testimony.

3. The Test of Written Records. Judaism and Christianity claim that
God exists because they have ancient written records that report the
work of God in their history. Atheism has no written records that can
prove that God does not exist, therefore they deny the claims of the
written records of Judaism and Christianity.

The fact is, atheism cannot prove anything. Atheism cannot prove that
God does not exist. Even Richard Dawkins acknowledged this truth. In
his book, The God Delusion, Dawkins developed a spectrum of
probabilities about the existence of God. He said that there are seven
levels of probability concerning the issue whether God exists. At one
extreme is Level 1, where strong theists are. Those who are on Level 1
believe 100% that God exists. On the other extreme, Level 7 is where
the strong atheists are. A strong atheist is the one who says for a
fact that there is no God.

Dawkins says there are very few people at level 7. Dawkins places
himself at Level 6. Those who are on Level 6 say that there is a very
low probability that God exists. Those on Level 6 are the people who
say they cannot know for sure but think that maybe God does not exist.

Since atheists cannot prove that there is no God, they place the
burden of proof on Christians; it is the responsibility of Christians
to prove that God exists. Since atheism cannot prove their claim that
there is no God, they deny the existence of God, they deny the claims
of the Bible, they deny the possibility of revelation, they deny
divine intervention, they deny the reality of faith. Atheism is based
on a culture of denial. In order for atheism to exist, atheists must
deny anything and everything Christianity stands for. The truth is,
atheism stands on the shoulders of Christianity to tell the world
"there is no God."

When asked to prove that there is no God, atheists point to errors and
contradictions in the Bible, as if the faith of Christianity is based
on who wrote Genesis, or how many days it took to create the universe,
or how many officers Solomon had, or even how old Jehoiachin was when
he began to reign.

Atheists also mention suffering, evil, wars, violence, diseases,
hunger, poverty, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters to
prove that there is no God. But these tragedies are not evidence that
there is no God. These tragedies do exist. There are many reasons that
cause some of these tragedies to afflict human beings; many of these
tragedies are hard for us to fully understand. When Christians try to
offer an explanation for these events, no explanation is good enough
because atheists have already convinced themselves that these events
are evidence that God does not exist or if he does, that God is not
good or that God is powerless.

Atheists advance their cause by ridiculing others. "God is for
Suckers" is their motto. Their writings are only "rants on the evils
and stupidity of belief." Their purpose is "making fun of believers
everywhere." Their goal is to discredit "the big invisible daddy in
the sky."

The ridicule present in the writings of atheists shows that there is
no dignity in their argument. Atheism is a cause infused with a
culture of denial. Atheism does not have anything positive to say;
they only advance their cause by denying the claims of others. The day
atheism can show me better proof that there is no God, I may be
willing to listen.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2007/08/atheism-and-culture-of-d...

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Atheism and the Culture of Denial

In my interview with Jim West posted on July 1, 2007, Jim asked me a
question about biblical interpretation. In my reply, I said that
believers are better interpreters of the biblical text than atheists
because atheists approach the Bible with false assumptions. Some of
these false assumptions are that there is no God, that the Bible is
only myth, that there is no revelation, and others.

Atheism and the Culture of Denial

I said that
believers are better interpreters of the biblical text than atheists
because atheists approach the Bible with false assumptions.