Atheism is a fascinating subject. It often stems from pseudo-intellectual thought. Professing atheists typically don't notice that their skewed form of logic saws off the weak limb they are sitting on.

One great example of this logic is "the only absolute is that there are no absolutes." Years ago, I remember hearing this phrase as a non-Christian and thinking how inspired it seemed. Recently, I thought twice about the statement. When you look at it, it's saying something equivalent to "three equals anything but three." It makes no sense at all. If there are no absolutes, how can it be an absolute fact that no absolutes exist?

Just for a moment, I'd like to follow with the logic that no absolutes exist. I have a question for any atheists reading this: Do you have absolute knowledge on any subject? A "good understanding" or even "professional training" in a subject does not equate to absolute knowledge. Absolute knowledge is complete knowledge of every bit of information that could ever be attained on a particular subject. Without absolute knowledge of the subject at hand, you cannot effectively make an absolute statement about it.

For example, one absolute statement would be "there is no gold in China." What would I need in order for that statement to be true? I would need absolute knowledge of China. I would need to have a reliable record of every molecule in that country. I would need to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that within China, there is no gold in any watch, ring, pendant, tooth filling, etc. That's more knowledge than a person could acquire in a lifetime.

The statement, "there is no God," is another absolute statement. What would you need in order for that statement to be true? You would need absolute knowledge of everything. You would need to know for sure that there is no proof of God's existence anywhere in the universe. But how much knowledge can a person acquire in a lifetime? If you look around on the Internet it will be painfully obvious that you don't even have one percent of all of the knowledge in the world.

For a moment, let's take the assumption that you do have an incredible 1% of all of the knowledge in the world. Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that there might be ample evidence in that other 99% of knowledge to prove God's existence? If you're reasonable, the most you can say is, "I don't think God exists. But with the limited knowledge I have, I can't know for sure."

So then you're not really an atheist - you're an agnostic - someone who isn't really sure whether or not God exists. Don't be too happy about this new title. By no coincidence, the word "agnostic" is derived from the same root as the word "ignoramus."

Isn't this exciting? Now you can't truthfully claim to be an atheist. That is, of course, if you really want to get down to the truth.

One common claim of atheists is that they won't accept the Bible and Christianity because there isn't enough evidence. They need empirical evidence for proof. They claim to be actively involved in a pursuit of truth based on scientific fact. But plenty of Christian sources have produced solid facts. The problem is that professing atheists are usually unwilling to accept facts when facts are given.

• Atheist: I need hard evidence of God's existence before I can believe.
• Christian: There is plenty of evidence. (Then he cites details showing the supernatural origin of the Bible, historical facts to back up the existence of Jesus, etc).
• Atheist: How do I know that you didn't just make that up? Or that somebody else made it up and recorded it in these so-called "holy scriptures?"
• Christian: Because there are reliable records proving that Jesus was here, and there is enough historical data showing that the individual Scriptures date back between 1900 and 3500 years, respectively.
• Atheist: How do I know that this historical data is accurate?
• Christian: Because professional archaeologists and historians recorded the data.
• Atheist: How do we really know that these people are professionals?
• Christian: Because they're certified and world-renowned for their achievements.
• Atheist: How do we know that the institutions that certified them are accredited? How can we be sure that they deserve to be world-renowned?

What generally happens is that the atheist does everything he can to dodge the topic at hand. He fights every fact and point given to him by merely arguing "How can we really be sure that fact is true?" He tries to establish the "fact" that nothing can be taken as fact. He sees every piece of information as subject to some type of underlying conspiracy that falsifies the evidence.

Facts can only be accepted by faith - faith that the source of the facts is reliable. But just mention accepting something by faith to an atheist, and he will immediately scoff. Faith is considered a weakness that should be avoided at all costs.

If the atheist applied the type of logic he uses on Biblical faith to everyday life, he would be consumed in paranoia. Here's a challenge for any atheists out there: Try going one day without exercising faith. I bet you can't do it.

When you wake up to the alarm clock, don't believe that the clock kept accurate time throughout the night - you could already be running hours late. Don't trust the water in the shower - it could be filled with contaminants. Don't trust your water heater - you might get burned. Don't trust your deodorant - chemicals in it could cause a rash. Don't trust your cereal - maybe the manufacturer didn't process the grain right. Don't trust your milk - the cow that produced it may have been sick. Don't trust your car - the brakes could fail at any time. The list is endless.

If you were to really try not to accept anything on faith, you would spend your entire day reading up on how to test your water for chemicals, test your cereal for impurities, check your brakes, etc. You would waste your time doing tests and examinations of everything down to a miniscule level. Then when you were done, you couldn't help but start to wonder, "How can I be sure the literature I read was right? How do I know the water testing kit is correct? How do I know my water thermometer was accurate?" At that rate, you'll go mad in no time.

By now you'd have to admit that throughout your life, you've accepted those simple things by faith. Generally, you've had a degree of trust for your water to be suitable for bathing, for your cereal to be okay to eat, for your brakes to get you stopped at an intersection.

My next question is: how did you come to that faith? You would like to say that you arrived at such faith through examining empirical evidence. Probably not true. Chances are, you accepted those things because someone (most likely your parents) had good results with them and taught you to rely on them too. You trusted their judgment, so you had faith that those things would work for you as well. You decided to "take their word for it" and things turned out alright.

Now you're in a similar situation. Christians tell you that you need to repent in order to be saved. But instead of taking our word for it, and instead of even looking into the evidence we present to you, you just waste time trying to debase our facts.

Have you listened to our facts? We have some really interesting ones. We hold that the Bible is the Word of God because of the amazing material contained within. In parts of the Old Testament that are 3,500 years old there are scientific facts we've only discovered in recent history (such as the world being round, and the earth's free float in space). There are also hundreds of prophecies which came true to the letter, hundreds of years later (see "The Bible is completely unreliable" for more details). The fact most self-evident to a Christian, however, is God's existence.

Allow me to show you how silly the premise is that there is no such thing as God. Do you know of any painting that doesn't have a painter? Do you know of any building that doesn't have a builder? The painting is absolute proof that there was a painter, and the building is absolute proof that there was a builder. When you look at a building, it's inherent that someone built it. You don't need to see, touch, or hear the builder to know someone built it. It doesn't matter who made it or when, but someone had to make it. A complex "finished product" (creation) is absolute proof there was a Creator. You couldn't want better proof that there is a Creator than to have creation staring you in the face.

Statistical Probability

Suppose I were to drop 50 oranges on the ground, and they happened to roll into five perfectly parallel lines of ten oranges. What were the chances of that? Maybe you should try it to find out. Maybe even try a smaller experiment. Go the supermarket, put 20 oranges in a bag, take them home to your living room, open the bag, turn it upside-down, and dump them all over your carpet. What are the chances that they will roll into 5 perfect rows of 4? Or 2 rows of 10?

If you were to see 50 oranges lined up in 5 parallel rows of 10, wouldn't you naturally assume that a somewhat intelligent mind put them in that order? As a matter of fact, I'm sure that I'd have a hard time convincing you otherwise.

Now look at the earth. We just happen to be the right distance from the sun so as to keep us from being scorched or frozen. If we were any closer, the whole planet would be a desert. If we were any farther, the whole planet would be a chunk of ice. Instead, as "luck" would have it, we just happen to be the right distance for the sun to sustain all several million species of plant and animal life on earth. Pretty good coincidence.

It's also a good coincidence that our bodies "evolved" to form different kinds of hair. Imagine if your eyelashes got to be the same length as the hair on top of your head. It's another fascinating coincidence that our nostrils face down and our ears face forwards. Imagine getting caught in the rain if the entrance to your nostrils and ears faced upwards.

Face (and don't dodge) the facts: there is an endless list of things on earth which show such a high level of order that an intelligent mind is the only intelligent explanation. Consider the human body. Even consider the eye by itself. The eye has 40,000,000 nerve endings, the focusing muscles move an estimated 100,000 times a day, and the retina contains 137,000,000 light sensitive cells. Charles Darwin said, "To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

Digital imaging systems don't even merit comparison to the human eye. But it took thousands of scientists and engineers several decades to develop the kind of imaging systems we currently have. If such systems took so much thought and effort, what makes you think that the far more advanced human eye took no intelligence at all to develop?

When has an explosion by itself created order? It has been said that the statistical probability of creation happening because of "the big bang" is equivalent to the probability that an explosion at a printing press could have produced the Encyclopedia Britannica. 

"That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy." - Jonothan Swift

Perhaps you feel obligated to agree with other "intellectuals" who claim that God is fictitious. But there are plenty of intellectuals who are completely convinced that God is real. The famous statistician George Gallup said, "I could prove God statistically; take the human body alone; the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen, is a statistical monstrosity." Francis Bacon said, "It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."

Louis Pasteur said, "The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator," and "A little science estranges men from God, but much science leads them back to Him." Albert Einstein, a relatively bright guy, said "Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a Spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe - a Spirit vastly superior to man, and one in the face of which our modest powers must feel humble."

You don't need to be a genius to figure these things out. A child can tell you that a building proves there was a builder, and a painting proves there was a painter. Over 95% of the world believes in some kind of creator. It is obvious to everyone but the professing atheist that God exists. How could a reasonably intelligent person miss something that is exceedingly obvious to everyone else?

The answer is simple. Everyone on this earth knows there is a God (everyone including you). The professing atheist knows God exists, but does not want to admit it. In his heart he knows God exists, but he wishes that He didn't exist. The thought that he is accountable to God is more than he can handle. Why is an atheist so offended by this?

Could it be that he has something to hide? Perhaps he has one or more habitual sins that he doesn't want to give up. Because of his conscience (placed in every human by God) he knows that it is wrong to steal, to lie, to commit adultery and fornicate, to hate, and to be greedy. The problem is that his love of sin leads him to deny the truth: that each and every one of his sins will be punished when he finds himself under judgment by a just and holy God.

Every person is born with a conscience. God "hath given light to every man" so that every person may know right from wrong. The word conscience comes from the roots "con" (meaning "with") and "science" (meaning "knowledge"). Isn't it true that every time you've sinned you've done it with the knowledge that it was wrong?

Many people work very hard at pacifying their consciences. Some try to do "good deeds" to make up for their sins. Some keep themselves too busy to think about it. Some rebel against what they know to be right, diving into sin with careless abandon. Some refuse to admit that they've done wrong and will argue the point forever. Still others choose another path: they do their best to ignore their consciences. They hope that if they ignore God maybe He will go away.

The Bible explains the situation in more detail. It speaks of "men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For 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 [i.e. creation], so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Such people deny the obvious truth that God is the source of all creation. They use skewed logic to try to disprove His existence, all the while claiming to be thoughtful intellectuals. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."

When told that creation is evidence of a Creator, many atheists like to ask, "then who made God?" They smirk as they ask the question, confident that it can't be answered. They stake their eternal welfare on this question. But there is an answer.

The answer: nobody created God. Nobody had to. God is, was, and shall always be. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He dwells outside of time. Time is a dimension He created for us, that we are confined to. He isn't bound to the rules that our small minds rely upon.

Let me give you an example. Think about outer space. How vast is it? Nobody knows. If you keep going and going, do you eventually come up to a brick wall? And if you do, then you tell me what's behind that wall. What's beyond the boundaries? If space is limited to a sphere, what's outside of the sphere? More space? Nothing?

See, we can't really fathom infinite space. Our brains need boundaries to put things in perspective. We're used to boundaries on everything - time, space, volume, mass. In the same way, we can't fathom eternity. We can't fathom the fact that God always existed, exists now, and always will exist. But just like there are no understandable boundaries of space, there are no boundaries to God's existence. He isn't bound to our linear system of time. He dwells in eternity. That's how God gave us the amazing prophecies in the Bible: God can flip through history as easily as we can flip through a history book.

If you consider yourself to be an atheist, I'd like you to compare the consequences of your beliefs versus mine.

For a very brief moment, let's assume that you're right and there is no God. Everything came into existence by simple blind luck through nothing more than a big bang explosion (even though explosions can only cause disorder; See the Second Law of Thermodynamics). All life on this planet and all of the trillions of details that make the universe work happened by amazing statistical coincidence. The prophecies, accuracy, scientific facts, and other mind-boggling features of the Bible appeared purely by chance.

Your life, mine, the lives of your loved ones, and everyone else in the world will be ripped from us by death, rendering our lives basically meaningless. The only "good" reason to live is to exploit life to its fullest for the sake of pleasure. If life isn't pleasurable, then there isn't any point in being alive.

Is your life pleasurable? Is every waking moment a joyride? If it's not, and God doesn't exist, why bother living? How deeply committed to your atheistic beliefs are you? I heard of an existentialist that was asked, "Why not kill yourself?," so he did. Why are you so determined to live?

People give lots of answers to that question. Some think that living to a ripe old age will somehow make their death more acceptable. One person told me they wouldn't kill themselves because "I like myself too much." Perhaps some would claim that it would negatively impact their families, but what would it matter if their fate is also a meaningless death? No matter what a person's initial answer, a little probing will show the true underlying reason - fear of death.

Isn't it true that you're afraid to die? If someone had a gun pointed at you and started to pull the trigger, wouldn't you be terrified? I'd bet you would. That doesn't make sense. All of your cares and your worries would be erased in a split second. No more work, no more bills, no more pain, no more dandruff, nothing bad will ever bother you again.

If that's true, why are you so afraid to die? Could it be that your conscience is warning you about death? The thought of death awakens your conscience, and it fills you with panic. The same conscience God gave you makes you fear death because you know that you must answer to God when you die. "It is appointed for a man to die once, and after this is judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)

If I am right in believing that we all have an appointment with the Judge of the universe, you have cause for concern. Have you ever told a lie? Then you're a liar in God's eyes. Isn't it true that it only takes one lie to become a liar, just like committing one murder would make you a murderer? The Bible warns that all liars will have their place in the Lake of Fire. Have you ever lusted, stolen (even anything small), failed to honor your parents, coveted your neighbor's possessions or spouse, hated anyone (which God considers murder within the heart), or taken the Lord's name in vain? Most important, you are commanded to love God above all else, but have you always done that?

Any sins you have ever committed will come out as evidence of your guilt. The Bible warns that God "shall by no means clear the guilty." It says that, "every idle (careless) word a man speaks he shall give an account thereof on the Day of Judgment." If a man is without the Savior, God will "grind him to powder." "He that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son has not life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

If there is one chance in a million that I'm right, you owe it to yourself to find out. You've probably played the lottery at some time - you had even less than a one in a million chance to win big money, but you took that chance because the potential gain was worth your trouble to get a ticket. How much more is your life worth? How much more is your soul worth? The truth is out there, and is much more tangible than you think.

You can either choose to look into more evidence, or you can blindly hold onto your (lack of) beliefs. But what you believe doesn't change reality. If you stand on a freeway in front of an oncoming truck and say to yourself, "I don't believe in trucks," what good will that do you? You are still going to suffer the consequences of your actions. If you say to yourself, "there is no God," you will still have to face Him on Judgment Day. If you're not convinced of that, at least take a minute to find out whether or not you're standing in front of a truck.

Set aside your biases and take a closer look at this site. A lot of your questions are answered here. If they're not, answers can likely be found in one of the resources I have listed. It never ceases to amaze me that the Bible answers every important religious question (not to mention hundreds of other types of questions). If you have a question, someone else has probably asked it before, and there is bound to be a good Christian scholar with a solid reasonable answer.

Also keep in mind that I wasn't always a "Bible-beating Christian." For most of my life, I was a pretty normal guy who thought that fundamentalist Christians were crazy. I thought it was silly to get excited over religion. God changed my mind (and my heart) and I thank Him for that. In 1999 I wasn't a Christian and would never have thought I would be evangelizing a year later.

Much of this article is based on "How to Make an Atheist Backslide" by Ray Comfort.  I highly recommend this humorous and insightful book for atheists and believers alike.

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