01.05 - Chapter 5 - Anti-Theistic Theories

Chapter 5 ANTI-THEISTIC THEORIES Atheism (a, no; theism, God)

While atheism is the belief that there is no God, it is logically incapable of proving this belief. The best that atheism can do is to assert denials of God’s existence based upon an emotional hostility towards a Supreme Being. While atheism is not reasonable it does appeal to the unconverted intellectually by offering alternative explanations for the existence of the universe such as the theory of evolution. While atheism tries to destroy God and rob Him of His glory, it cannot be done. "A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ’darkness’ on the walls of his cell." (C.S. Lewis) Instead of explaining away the universe, it would be far better for atheists to consider their Maker as young Abraham Lincoln did at age 19. "I never behold the stars that I do not feel that I am looking into the face of God. I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God."

Polytheism (polus, many; theos, God)

Polytheism is the belief in many gods. The origin of Polytheism is grounded in the worship of nature whereby personal beings were assigned to preside over the natural elements such as the sun, the moon, and the stars, the rivers, animals and winds. The irony of Polytheism is that it is personal beings (i.e., men) who assigns all of the fictional personal beings (i.e., gods) to preside over the elements. When this was done in Israel, the Lord moved with anger against His people (Jeremiah 44:8) while the prophets mocked the foolishness of men who carved dumb images of their own imaginations and then worship them as living gods (Isaiah 44:9-20).

Polytheism has always led to moral depravity. As animals are uninhibited in their mating habits, so those involved in the worship of nature become promiscuous and began to act like the animals. Licentious behavior is justified, often in the name of religion (study Exodus 32:1-6). A truth is observed: the devote worshiper will never rise morally above the object of worship.

Materialism

Materialism teaches that, “All is matter, all is spirit, all is both matter and spirit.” In plain language Materialism denies the reality of spirit. It does this by ignoring any distinction between matter and mind. One advocate of this view has said that, "The brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile." Another person has contended that, "The brain has fibers of thinking as the legs have fibers of motion." In Materialism, there is no God, no devil, no angel, no human soul; no heaven, no hell, and no immortality of the soul. There is only the persuasiveness of matter and force. The founders of Communism called upon their followers to embrace Materialism. They knew that a belief in Materialism could silence the voice of conscience and allow ruthless measures to be used in advancing a political agenda.

Objections to Materialism

Materialism can easily be refuted. Every person knows that they are more than mere matter. Every human is different from and better than the stones of the field or the trees of the forest. Men and women have a moral nature with a sense of right and wrong which Materialism will never be able to account for. The heart protests the thought that the grave is the end of all existence. And there are other considerations.

• Logically, life must come from life. No spontaneous generation has ever been proven. There is a open canyon that cannot be cross between dead matter and living personality.

• The evidence of intelligent design, and thus a Designer, contradicts belief in a blind Materialism. "The more I read and discovered, the more grew my admiration for God...and indeed my sense of awe and worship toward Him. I find my mind unable to contain the reality of the HUGENESS of the stellar universe for one thing...let alone the realities of the complexities of its makeup, its history, its origin, its present condition and its future expectation." (Hart Armstrong)

• Materialists wrongly asserts that all of human life can be explained by the proper chemical combination of material particles. There is no evidence that this is true. What is true is that Materialism is intellectually dangerous. “The greatest demonstration that Materialism is self-destructive and other destructive is displayed in the fact that it produces social and civil disorder and does not protest open immorality. A philosophy that reduces people to mere matter and puts them on a level with mud or a beast of burden, provides no moral restraints. Materialism dismisses God, downplays human responsibility, and gives all of humanity over to unholy passions and depraved cravings.” (David Clark) The Bible teaches that man is more than body. He has an immortal soul that one day must give an account to its Creator, the Father of all spirits (Luke 12:1-9; Amos 4:12).

Pantheism

Pantheism (pan all; theos, God) teaches that, "God is all and all is God." The major tenets of Pantheism may briefly be summarized.

• Pantheism teaches that in eternity past there existed a “Something” which was designated, “Being.” This “Being” was impersonal and unconscious. It had no power of will or choice. It was neither matter nor spirit, but possessed the potentiality of both.

• This “Being “ somehow developed, by the Law of Necessity, into the universe as it is and has been. Fortunately, it will continue to develop ad infinitum (without end). It has come to its highest development and reached consciousness in man. [How this happened is never addressed.]

• The universe is God, God is the universe, and man is the highest existence-form of God. Nevertheless, there is no personal God aside from personality in man.

• Pantheism continues. All individual forms rise up from this “Being” only to disappear into it again, as the waves of the sea rise to form and lose their individual existence in the waters of the ocean and go on forming new waves of the same substance.

• Since all this is affirmed to be the true state, there is no personal immortality to believe in or hope for. Individuals do appear for a brief time, but they will soon be lost again in the great universe of Being. The material substance of a person may enter into other beings but that is all the future that can be anticipated beyond the grave. The Pain of Pantheism

Despite it widespread popularity in certain parts of the world, Pantheism is depressing. It assumes the existence of an eternal non-personal "Something” without offering any proof of its existence or even what that "Something" is.

• Pantheism makes personality proceed from something impersonal that is logically impossible.

• Pantheism teaches that God is impersonal which means that He cannot be loved or prayed to. This in turn means that any expressions of a vital religion would be meaningless.

• Pantheism reduces the universe to the law of necessity, and so destroys all free agency. The Promises of God In contrast to Pantheism is the revelation of the Bible which declares that God can be loved: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first command" (Mark 12:30); God can be prayed to: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3); the world is moving towards a predetermined end: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13); and man can be redeemed from the bondage of sin and death and set free: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1).