Do you believe in God?
Atheists don’t.
Webster’s defines an atheist as “one who believes there is no deity (supreme being).”
And so the dictionary definition is quite clear. Atheists don’t believe in God. (Didn’t I already just say that?)
But atheists do believe some things about God.
“What do you mean, Pastor Mike?” you might be thinking. “How could that possibly be?”
When you don’t believe in something it necessarily requires that you do believe things “about” that particular something. You follow? (Read that last sentence again.)
And I was considering what could be included on a list of things that atheists believe “about” God and I came up with the following (below).
Do you agree with me? What might you add to the list? Or am I just totally off my rocker?
Here are:
12 Things Atheists Believe About God…
(pass your mouse over verses to view)
1. He’s a figment of our imagination. (John 20:27)
2. He’s not real. (Psalm 14:1)
3. He’s a liar. (Numbers 23:19)
4. He didn’t create the world. (Genesis 1:1)
5. He wasn’t born a Man. (Luke 2:7)
6. He didn’t live a sinless life. (Hebrews 4:15)
7. He didn’t die on the cross for sins. (John 19:30)
8. He didn’t rise again from the dead. (John 20:18)
9. He won’t be returning to earth. (Acts 1:11)
10. They won’t be standing before Him for judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
11. He isn’t named Jesus. (Matthew 1:21)
12. They are Him. (Atheists are “god.”) (Genesis 3:5)
About Pastor Mike
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NICE!
and so atheists make themselves God.
so sad. Great, I believe God exists.
Dumb. Just stupid. If you’re going to cite the Bible, go ahead and prove it’s worth listening to, prove it’s factual, back it up with evidence.
Ok you need evidence, they found brass axels in the Red Sea, who in the bible was drowned in the Red Sea?
And Troy was a real city, so obviously Zeus is real.
AJ, it’s not up to him to prove anything. The weight of proof is on you. If you believe it to be false then prove it to be so. Many have tried. None have succeeded.
@AJ – you obviously believe as other atheists believe, which is simply due to a lack of doing your own research to discover the truth (or in your case try to disprove). Maybe you should do your research like this guy http://www.hulu.com/case-for-christ
That book is so weak. You really don’t believe it could change any thinking person’s mind, do you?
When will Christians learn that not believing something is not a belief in itself? Is not collecting stamps a hobby?
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here… If an Atheist truly doesn’t believe in God, then why do they hate Him? Don’t you have to believe someone exists to hate them? I mean..really…I don’t hate Cinderella or her little rodent friends.
and I think they don’t believe in the wrong god..meaning..the god they describe..that they hate so much..is not even God anyway.
And about ‘being’ a god..anyone who feasts on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil..has made themselves into a god..and that would be most of Christianity. (Genesis 3 & Matthew 23)
So if an Atheist hates and rejects the god that hypocritical Christians describe then GOOD for them. They are free from the very bondage most Christians refuse to be set free from.
God is love and lives in us all. Even the Atheist. God(Love) never fails and Christ covered the sin of the whole world. Even the ‘sin’ of unbelief. And even the Atheists who act like the Pharisaical Christians.
God’s love don’t dwell in everyone. 2John verse 9 Jesus died for all so that those who are chosen will be able to come before God. Because breaking one part of the law breaks it all. So since we all fall short, Jesus had to take on all sin. 2Corinthians5:15.
Do you know how stupid you sound trying to persuade someone that a god is real by referring to a religious book? That would be like, if I were trying to convince you that Harry Potter characters were real by simply reading the book to you.
You need to cite extra-biblical evidence for any of this nonsense. Your list is also absurd. The only thing worst saying is that atheists haven’t believed in any god claims. Once you’ve said that all this other stuff is implied, except this nonsense that atheists think that they are god.
Don’t you see how that makes no sense? If atheists thought they were god than they would believe in a god, themselves. I’m an atheist and I’m proud to be intelligent enough to realize that there’s no good evidence for any gods, goblins or demons. I certainly don’t think I am one. I have none of the qualities of a god. I’m not all knowing. In fact, I suspect that I know so little that I’m willing to say admit that I don’t know if there is a god. Since I don’t know, I certainly don’t just believe it, that would be asinine.
And it’s sure not for lack of trying, I’ve read the Bible cover to cover. It’s clear to me that it’s silly, immoral, bronze-age mythology. I’ve studied all kinds of religions around the world and all I see is justification for cruelty, beautiful lies about an after life, and con-artists making a killing on ignorance.
Try making an argument that makes sense before you get all preachy.
If you were as intelligent as you say, why then do you choose death over life. Why do you choose hell over heaven. I’m not the brightest bulb in the lamp but seems pretty dumb to choose the bad over the good. Just sayin’
That question is unreasonable. We cannot make a choice when we don’t think a choice exists.
What about the bible is silly and immoral? Maybe it’s because you have failed to use what little intelligence you have to dive deeper to understand the scriptures. Take head to what I say, the Bible is the True Word of God.. I’m asking you my brother to read the Bible again and to seek deeper understanding of the scriptures. You will find that in the Bible everything is true.
I wonder how someone ends up an atheist, were you raised that way, or you woke up one day and decided that God does’nt exist? Pherhaps something terrible happened to you to make you question the existance of God.
God has given us free will, we even have the choice not to believe in Him. Some can choose to ignore and reject His teachings.
However the truth is that God is real, and on the last day of judgement ignorance is not an excuse.
You can choose to disbelief God and go out of your way to engage in anti-christ activities, but surely deep down somewhere inside you is an emptiness, and you are searching for an answer to fill that Void, and I pray that God will reveal himself unto you before it gets too late.
This forum may be that oppourtunity for you to give your life to Christ.
Someone said “life is the time God gives us to decide where we’ll spend eternity”. So decide now before it is too late.
He loves you
Billy Check some work out by Lee Strobel. He was once an atheist too. His findings are pretty good. 🙂
Most items on the list are good to note but the one that says atheists believe God is a “liar” is logically inconsistent. Atheists may think that belief in God is a lie but they cannot believe that there is no God and that this same God they don’t believe in is a liar. Things that don’t exist cannot lie.
All you atheists who are reading this: he does quote the bible, but you don’t even need the bible to prove God exists. all you need is good reasoning! If you believe evil exists (ie. a man walks into a school and kills five 4th graders) then that person is saying that there is a measure to which you can compare evil and good. In other words you are saying there is absolute goodness and truth. If you’ve ever said you “ought” to do or not to do something to your neighbor- well what you are saying is there is a “right” way to do something. Please read Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. He explains it so well and doesn’t even have to use scripture to back up his claims. Christ Loves you all sooooo much. He wants you to have true Joy! fleeting pleasure/happiness do not make a person joyful, and the Hope we have is soo astonishing – to know that even Death has nothing on us—- we do not need to fear as believers.
I love you guys and want you to know someone who loves you more than any person could ever love you.
When you come face to face with death, who will you be with? God is with us always, but many of us only see him when we need him.
If you pray and ask him to let you know he’s there (sincerely), he will. It’s through his spirit that he convicts us and shows us the way.
Thank you for speaking what is within your heart and what is also recorded in the ancient scriptures. I find it amazing that these foolish folks will put their belief in a system they didn’t create or follow those in black robes and demand proof from you, the proof is already in their hearts, but they have been deceived by the dark forces and believe in nothing. I pray for their souls. Great article
Ok, so to begin I am a follower of Christ and, well, a missionary. To those who create these arguments as to why someone should believe I would like to say, why? This list is not only ineffectual in persuading atheists due to their disbelief in our scripture, but it is very confrontational.
This list is all about trying to prove the fallacy of their reasoning. Let me rephrase the list in more real world speak, “Excuse me Mr. Atheist, you’re a dumb ass for not believing in God and here is why?” Makes you really want to sit down and have a convo with your attacker and rationalize the existence of God, right?
Oh, and please don’t use the good v evil or morality argument anymore, please. Atheists can be just as moral, often times more, and they can believe in right and wrong. Take the evil evolutionary theory. If they believe the theory to be true it would stand to reason that things that would preserve the species would be considered right and things that would harm us would be wrong. In your argument about the car crashing into the group of 4th graders, of course that is wrong, see above, it does not however prove the existence of God. The same holds true for moral arguments as well.
Again, I am a follower of Christ, but these attacks are not only not helpful, but unbiblical. I can’t remember Jesus ever using the you’re a dumb ass argument to reach anybody, can you? The only things the come to mind are when Jesus was attacking the Pharisees.
Hear, hear! Steve
I have to point out that two of the statements in your list are incorrect.
“3. He’s a liar.”
Obviously, something that doesn’t exist can’t lie. The “lying”, in this context, would be those humans who have falsely portrayed a god as saying something.
“12. They are Him. (Atheists are ‘god.’) (Genesis 3:5)”
That one just doesn’t even make any sense.
First, look at the verse you cite: “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” You obviously misapplied the verse, since it’s actually referring to all humans, not merely those who are atheists. Additionally, it’s a simile, saying that humans will be “like God”, but specifically like God in what sense? In the sense of “knowing good and evil”.
Second, atheists do not in fact believe they are gods. So it’s just false to say they do.
A lot of religious believers are so opposed to people who expect credible, good real world evidence to back up ideas and who therefore refuse to buy into the principle of religious faith in the first place, that they have a difficult time understanding what we really think about religious belief in general and specific religious beliefs in particular – but it still behooves them to try to be accurate.
Part of the difficulty here that some of the other commenters seem to have is that there are multiple ideas of what is meant by “god”. In one of the points, the idea is “Jesus is God.” In another point, God is the creator of the world. On the last point, I think what’s meant is that God is the Supreme Being. No one is above God in importance (for the Christian, or in the Christian world view). However, for the atheist, the individual decides what is “right”. Without God, morality is relative to the situation. Atheists talk about, “If Christianity works for you, that’s great. But don’t push your religion on me.” From a biblical perspective, however, if you deny the existence of God and put yourself in the position of being the one who ultimately is in control of your own destiny, life, morality, etc., then you are “making yourself God.” I know that’s not supported by the verse cited for that last point, but that’s generally what’s meant by that phrase. Obviously, the author wasn’t trying to “prove” anything. The article is too short for that. He was just giving references in order to give people some context for what he was writing about.
As far as God being a liar goes, again, if God does actually exist, and actually did move men to write down his thoughts (making Him the author of the Bible), then claiming the Bible is untrue is the same as calling God a liar. Whether you really believe in Him or not doesn’t make any difference to what’s real.
Lastly, I know this post was put up ages ago, but these other comments were such a clear example of atheists just not understanding a common phrase from Christianity. I figured the terminology deserved a bit more explanation… It seems so clear that the people mocking because of “logical inconsistencies” or things being “obviously” wrong (like the idea that it is obviously not possible to make oneself into the creator of the universe, i.e. God) just aren’t taking the time or energy to try to figure out what the author of the piece is talking about.
Just a couple of silly questions, and an observation.
Why would someone read a blog about something they do not believe in?
Why do Atheists care what Christians believe?
Calling people names never convinces them you are right.
Atheists do not believe in God. Therefore, there is no one but themselves they are accountable to. Therefore, THEY have assumed the properties of God as they have attributed god-like attributes to themselves.
Those who believe in God will submit to Him, will bow down to Him, will pray to Him, will expect Him to answer the prayers in time, or, possibly, choose not to answer the prayers–but, in the theists minds and hearts, it is all about God.
In the atheists hearts, it is all about them.
@viczarley you are so wrong. How can you presume to speak for an atheist? Atheists don’t think with their hearts. Maybe that’s why we don’t believe in god. We put our energies into bettering the whole human race. You included. We also care about our fellow creatures that exist with us on this planet.
Tell you what, I’ll use what atheist scientists have given us, like the internet, cars, modern medical treatments, etc. & you use what the bible gives you, prayer & hope. We’ll see who comes out best. And don’t you dare use anything those evil scientists have contributed.
wake up and smell the science you ignorant sheep!
What science are you referring to?
Excellent point! Atheists are defined by the very thing they don’t believe. Amazing thought.
-Vicky
Most of that padded list (1-11, though seriously 2 also makes no sense in the context of atheism) could have subsumed in the general definition: atheists don’t believe in God.
Your 12th thing atheists belief about God simply not true. We do assume the properties of god, and I have never met an atheist who thought they were only accountable to themselves. We do, like most human consult our conscience, and our sense of empathy. We do think we are accountable to our fellow humans.
In my comment above I meant to say we (atheists) do not assume the properties of God(s). Sorry about the mistake.
The reason Atheists don’t believe in God is because they see no evidence of Him in the lives of those who proclaim Jesus Is Lord?
People who do not believe can quickly see where those who claim to believe talk the talk and don’t walk the walk. Aren’t we charged as Christians to always have an answer for the hope we have? Instead we go picking fights with people minding their own business or worse, insulting them because in our judgment they don’t pass muster.
We were all unbelievers at one point. We’d do well to remember that before beating someone else down. We crucify Christ all over again when we subject him to mockery with arguments that are too simplistic. For someone asking for empirical scientific proof “Because the Bible said so” will not cut it.
But I do have one comment: for those commenting that the Bible is immoral how moral is the society that doesn’t have the Bible? The Bible is not a ‘bronze age myth’ but a historical account of the stupid and hateful things people do to each other on a daily basis over thousands of years. Kinda like today.
Just sayin’.
TO: Billy Deaton whosaid…
… trying to convince you that Harry Potter characters were real by simply reading the book to you….
You need to cite extra-biblical evidence…”
Here you go…if you have the guts to really think this through:
http://www.godtube.com/turekvideo/
and someone else suggested
http://www.hulu.com/watch/141396/case-for-christ
which is great,too.
There’s a reason you’re posting messages responding to a Christian blog….
It’s your choice. Do you want to meet Him or not? You’re starting from an antagonistic point. Start from infinite “nothingness” and examine the evidence.
One thing that atheists may know but not understand is that when Christians look at non-Christians we are seeing you through Jesus’ eyes. And it’s that love that drives us to try to convince people.
HOWEVER, we don’t do that very well, because, as Christ told Peter, “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father has.” We often come of as “salesmen,” but we CANNOT convince anyone. ONLY He can do that. But even He won’t force Himself on anyone. But He’s there…with you, right now, otherwise you would not be reading this message.
atheists lossier
In order to prove that the things written in this blog are, one must first prove that the bible is wrong and of no factual accuracy.
The bible scriptures are recorded by historians, of course they are credible historians such as Josephus.
Not only that, in order for a scripture to be chosen and to be put in the bible, it requires 2 or more than 3 corroborating manuscripts.
In fact, these manuscripts can corroborate even though they are written by people who lived in different places during their time.
For example, person A can write the same or similar account as person B, and also both person A and person B do not live in the same area, how is that possible???
By using corroborating historical sources by credible historians (COMMON SENSE), you will find out that the bible is actually true and inspired by God.
In order to prove that the things written in this blog are, one must first prove that the bible is wrong and of no factual accuracy.
The bible scriptures are recorded by historians, of course they are credible historians such as Josephus.
Not only that, in order for a scripture to be chosen and to be put in the bible, it requires 2 or more than 3 corroborating manuscripts.
In fact, these manuscripts can corroborate even though they are written by people who lived in different places during their time.
For example, person A can write the same or similar account as person B, and also both person A and person B do not live in the same area, how is that possible???
By using corroborating historical sources by credible historians (COMMON SENSE), you will find out that the bible is actually true and inspired by God.
On top of these, I would like to provide some credible articles..
1) Noah’s ark found at the same exact location as mentioned in the bible.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-noahs-ark-found-in-turkey-science-religion-culture/
2) Evidence of Bethlehem found.
http://news.yahoo.com/archaeologists-earliest-evidence-bethlehem-165940460.html
Next I would like to talk about my faith in Jesus Christ.
There is something called the “Trilemma”. People often argue that Jesus is either;
1) a Liar
2) a Lunatic or
3) Lord of all
Let’s start with (1)… If Jesus is a Liar, why would credible historians record that His disciples died for their faith in Him? Among his disciples, some got decapitated, stoned and crucified upside down. Why will these disciples be willing to undergo such a terrible dying process when they could just said that their God is untrue? Why would they die for a lie? why would Jesus even die for a lie? He could have just said that “okay okay, i’m not any messiah, i’m just lying to gain popularity”.
(2) If Jesus was a lunatic, why will his disciples chose to follow Him and die for Him??? Can a lunatic heal or drives out demons as what credible historians recorded? NO! Will you die in a gruesome manner for a lunatic? NO!
(3) The only reason why credible historians will record what is in the bible is simply because Jesus is the true Lord of all. Let me ask you a reasonable question, will you die for the true Lord/God or will you die for a liar or lunatic? I will choose to die for the true Lord/God. What about you? (:
This really is stupid. How can anyone claim that something they don’t believe in is a liar? Jesus was not a lunatic. He didn’t exist. Prove he did. The gospels were written 40+ years after this supposed messiah supposedly died. There are no credible historical accounts of this “savior”.
Why would a god create a flawed being then punish that being for it’s flaws? This is what your god claims to have done. And we’re supposed to be impressed? And grateful that he sent himself to die for his own failures?
A true god could have made a more plausible story.