ACTS 3057 Lecture 7 - Atheism

What is Atheism?

• The doctrine or belief that God does not exist, or that there is no god
• Etymology
  • a = no / lack of / without
  • theos = god
    
    
• Two Types of Atheist
  • Passive Atheist: I don't have enough evidence for God's existence
    • These are easier to talk to, point to the right path, satisfy with answers, etc.
  • Aggressive Atheist: I have enough evidence for God's non-existence
    • This evidence is the existence of evil
    • These are more difficult because they hold on to the problem of evil and suffering
      
      
• Atheism has been rising exponentially in our culture
  
  
• Agnostic
  • a = no / lack of / without
  • gnosis = knowledge
  • Agnosticism means "Inability to know whether God exists or not"
  • Passive Agnostic: I don't know if God exists or not
  • Aggressive Agnostic: No one knows if God exists or not
    
    
• Worldview
  • Origin: Big Bang
  • Life: One day we will be able to create life from inanimate material
  • Purpose: Life came into being without purpose. We impose our own purposes on the universe.
  • Human Nature: Humans evolved according to the inexplicable purpose of their ancestor species