Christians, is atheism rational?

Question

Whether or not it's true, do you think it's reasonable to require physical or demonstrable evidence of God? And rational to think such evidence has not been found? Is it logical to accept as true what modern science has shown?

If so, do you think it is unreasonable that people with this view should be punished eternally?

bookish, I do think that Christianity can be argued for rationally. And I don't think the Christians should be persecuted or mocked or tortured.

mike, as an atheist, I don't believe in a ton of coincidences as theory. Not sure where you got that.

Answer 1

Atheism is an unpardonable sin. The problem is not God's refusal to forgive, but humanity's persistent and determined rejection of Christ.

Answer 2

Atheism is OVER-rationalism. Rationalizing even reality out of existence. Hence the term "Doubting Thomas." It is rational to accept as true what science has shown, but one must also consider the possibility of something that exists that one cannot see. I believe in air even though I can't see it simply because science has made a valid argument. However science before the time of Gallileo said that the world was flat. The Earth was the center of the universe. A mole on the skin was where evil spirits entered and exited the human body. Bloodletting was the only cure for certain diseases. Therefore science is always right until science proves science wrong. There have been many proven miracles. A person connot become a Saint unless three miracles have been accredited to them. Miracles can only come about through God. Just because people refuse to believe in miracles because they weren't there to see them doesn't mean they didn't occur.

Should people with this view be punished eternally?

According to God, only the people who flatly refuse to believe in Him and give Him thanks and glory are the ones who shall be eternally punished.

Answer 3

Honestly, I think, that NOT everything needs proof, althought much does. Eg. Martin Luther King had a dream, of EQUALITY, proof, we should be equal, fact we are NOT equal, and even tho laws exist as evidence of this, Men, women, children are NOT treated equally . REQUIRE PROOF of LOVE? How can you proove this, and is Love temporary? You can argue,that affection, and fidelity are proofs of love, but what about infidelity, and divorce. Read Abdul-Baha 's Secrets of the Divine philosophy It gives a very good read if nothing else. As far as the evolution theory, WHERE DID that one little atom come from? We believers believe it was GOD, who ever and whatever that is. We don't know YET but we believe that with time, we will KNOW, Scientists are men, and men make mistakes, just like with abortion, I mean NO ONE can argue that they were wrong about this right? That we were mislead, I know this is a fact, because of 2 reasons, I have had a miscarriage and delivered my little baby, and I can assure you that this was NO EMBRYO, NO FETUS, but a tiny tiny mini baby the size of my thumb, eyes ears and everything, tiny veins the whole deal, My miscarriage happened at 9 weeks, which based on the information, 2 weeks before pregnancy ( they always include this i don't know why?) and then 7 weeks of pregnancy, my baby should have been without a heartbeat right? and heart beat means life? BUT in reality my baby had a little body with all its little organs, and hands arms and legs,and even tho it wasn't alive, you could see that given the chance it could. Is it because a baby is so small that we rationalize abortion and then throwing the baby into the garbage afterwards, YES, because if it was a 5ft 4in body we would have burried it. and put the person in jail for murder, right. but because its a tiny tiny baby we throw it out in the trash. So science WAS WRONG, That doesn't mean that they should stop trying, and searching for proofs, and evidences, ect.. it just means that they are man and fallible, we believe GOD is perfect, Atheism is IN MY OPINION a lack of belief based on a Lack of spiritual knowledge, and desire to know and love God, it happens when Man believes that they have learned all that they think they need to know, or give up trying . The beautiful thing about science is that they are constantly trying to find another, better way, new ieas and new research, Scientists NEVER need evidence, it all starts with theories and Ideas.then they try to proove that idea if we based our decision to believe, with a mixture of science and Spiritualism, perhaps we could find the proof we have been looking for, It doesn't have to be either OR Meg

Answer 4

Considering how much worldly myths are taught as doctrine and how little of the actual Biblical knowledge is used by most of modern Christianity, it is completely rational.

A ship of fools is what it has turned into. Trinity is taught as gospel which the Bible plainly does not teach. It is not even close to reasonable.

The fact that the Bible teaches the dead are incapable of feeling anything for good or bad and God never thought of burning babies or anyone else for torture puts a dent in the hellfire doctrine. (Eccles. 9:5, 10; Ps. 146:4; Jeremiah 7:31) Most religion claiming to be Christian hold on to it like a dog with a bone. The fact of the uselessness of torturing a dead body in view of the scriptures goes right over their heads.

Answer 5

Physical evidence of God, Yes. You have that in recorded miracles and fulfilled prophecies.

It's not rational to think that the evidence found has not been found.

Modern science is often misinterpreted, or twisted to suit the individual's preconceived notions. For example, the Grand Canyon, once thought to be 2 billion or so years old, has now been revised to 7-70 million years old. However, the Earth's age has stayed the same.

Answer 6

God is not knowable at a rational level. The experience is transcendental. Atheism is the decision to look in the wrong place and having found nothing to stop looking. Believing that your search has been adequate requires a greater act of faith than accepting that you don't know and continuing the search.

Answer 7

How can you expect members of worldwide cult-like institutions (i.e., religious institutions) to have a conversation/discussion about rationality? A Christian's idea about what's REASONable and what's UNreasonable is not based on anything tangible. Not everything that is real is tangible. Music, for instance, is real, but you cant touch it, or see it, or hold it in your hand. But you can hear it and you can feel it. As a musican, is it "reasonable" for me to expect non-musicians to be able to keep a beat or sing in tune? Or is that an UNreasonable expectation? Maybe we should leave Christians alone on this forum: they have enough trouble just trying to convince themselves that there will be a tomorrow, that things will get better, that they're saved. They have so many unreasonable hopes and dreams that'll never be fulfilled, I'm beginning to have compassion for their pathetic efforts to secure for themselves some sense of peace and security.

Answer 8

I think that atheism comes out of rational processes, yes. God is not something you can look directly at and the existence of whom would devastate many people's worldviews. Of course people who aren't serving a god don't want there to be a god or gods.

Yet the Christian perspective is that God reveals himself to every single person in some way. And that we all get the opportunity to make a choice about him. And also, God judges each person's heart, not Christians. So I couldn't tell you whether or not you will spend eternity without God. You've got up until the end of your life to choose to serve God. So I guess God's got up until the end of your life to reveal himself to you. I think if you ask him to, he'll do it. But then again, if he did show himself to be real, you'd have to deal with that reality. Hmmm....

Answer 9

As it is written...20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom 1)

This does not make me any better than you, it just means that God is completely innocent. And He is hated "without reason."

It is also written, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Answer 10

we Christians have evidences for God's existence such as fulfilled biblical prophecy, Jesus' resurrection, the Transcendental Argument, the entropy problem, etc.

But there is another problem for atheists. Refuting evidences for Gods existence does not prove atheism true anymore than refuting an eyewitness testimony of a marriage denies the reality of the marriage. Since atheism cannot be proven and since disproving evidences for God does not prove there is no God, atheists have a position that is intellectually indefensible. At best, atheists can only say that there are no convincing evidences for God so far presented. They cannot say there are no evidences for God because the atheist cannot know all evidences that possibly exist in the world. At best, the atheist can only say that the evidence so far presented has been insufficient. This logically means that there could be evidences presented in the future that will suffice. The atheist must acknowledge that there may indeed be a proof that has so far been undiscovered and that the existence of God is possible. This would make the atheist more of an agnostic since at best the atheist can only be skeptical of Gods existence.

This is why atheists need to attack Christianity. It is because Christianity makes very high claims concerning Gods existence which challenges their atheism and pokes holes in their vacuum. They like the vacuum. They like having the universe with only one god in it: themselves.

As far as people being Punished Eternally ?
Whether you believe in something or not does not change the fact of its existence. Jesus spoke often of Hell (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 16:19-31), and warned us so we would not go there. Would you say Jesus didn't know what He was talking about?
Are you implying that it is unjust for God to send people to hell? If so, then you accuse God of injustice. Sin is wrong and it must be punished. What would you have God do to those who oppose Him and do evil? Do you want Him to ignore that which is wrong? Do you want Him to turn His head and not be holy and righteous?
Hell was originally created for Satan and his angels. In the future it will contain those who join Satan in rejecting God. If you reject God's provision for the forgiveness of your sins, then you will join the Devil who rejected God from the beginning. Is that what you want?

Answer 11

I think that both sides have valid arguments. It is hard for me to believe that everything in existance came from nothing without a creator, but it is also hard for me to believe that there is an all powerful creator who we can't prove in any way.

"If so, do you think it is unreasonable that people with this view should be punished eternally?"

Well, eventually it comes down to one side is right and one side is wrong (no matter which way you believe). If you are on the wrong side, then sure, you have to suffer whatever consequences that might hold. I.E. Christians may have wasted a lot of time while on Earth if there is no God and athiest may have wasted a lot of time while on Earth if there is a God.