So, “Atheist Central” Wants To Know About Atheism?
Ray Comfort, who recently changed his blog name to “Atheist Central”, has revealed he is writing a new book. It will have a chapter on atheism, and he wanted to know a few things:
I have a new book coming out soon. There will be a chapter on atheism. Tell me, what do atheists (officially) believe about:
God:
The Bible:
Heaven & Hell:
Sin:
Salvation:
Jesus:
Firstly, unlike Christianity we don’t have a doctrine telling us what to believe, so I can only answer the first of that list definitively. The others are down to personal beliefs, and I shall define my own.
God: All atheists disbelieve in all gods.
The Bible: I think the Bible is simply a book of stories and rules, written by man. It has no divine meaning (see above point about God). It was written to try and explain the unexplainable, but also to control people and make them easier to govern, using the threat of death and hellfire. In a modern society it should not be taken literally at all.
Heaven & Hell: I do not believe in either because I don’t think there is any valid reason why we would have an afterlife. However, I know some atheists who do believe in an “afterlife” of sorts, citing that the conscious mind could go on after death. I don’t think any atheists believe in Heaven & Hell in the Biblical perspective, because it goes against the point about God (again, see above).
Sin: I do not believe there is such a thing as sin, mainly because I do not believe that the Bible is anything other than a load of stories. If there is sin, then there must be moral absolutes, which do not exist because our stance on morality has changed over time. Homosexuality was originally thought of as fine, then the Christians decided it was evil, and now most of us think it is fine again. A continually evolving morality does not have sin, unless the sin were to evolve with it, which makes the entire point of it useless.
Salvation: Seeing as I do not believe in an afterlife, the concept of salvation seems ridiculous and unnecessary to me.
Jesus: Whether Jesus existed or not we may never know. I have mixed opinions on the subject. If he did exist then I think he was probably a very good teacher, who had interesting philosophies. If he claimed to be the Son of God then I would think he was mentally unstable, and probably got a load of followers the same way modern day “messiahs” like Michael Travesser do.
So there you go Ray, I have answered your questions. Feel free to put my answers in your book. My only demands are that I am fully cited (the entire url to my blog post in a footnote or something), and if possible, a free copy of your book when it comes out. You can contact me here.
Possibly Related Posts:
Subscribe to my RSS Feed if you like what you read!
Follow me on Twitter!
Loading ...
I can just see it now:
“I asked atheists to tell me what they officially believe about sin. A notable atheist wrote back: ‘I do not believe there is such a thing as sin.’ Just like he does not believe in God, despite Him existing, he does not believe in sin, despite it existing. I suspect if I were to ask what atheists officially believe about the Sun I would get the reply: ‘I do not believe there is such a thing as the Sun.’ If atheists are so blind that they have closed their eyes to God, are we to be surprised that they aren’t as blind to the Sun? The Bible is so right, atheists are so blind.”
DisComforting Ignorance
30 Aug 08 at 4:49 am (GMT)
The only commonality is that all atheists lack a belief in God, state that they believe that God does not exist or show how they have no reason to believe in any Gods.
2,3,4,5,6 are not necesary. If you are a rationalist, you will lack belief in the bible being divine and the existance of every other thing on the list. However, not all atheists are rational (see anarchists and communists. Tell the anarchists that atheism is responsible for communism and vice versa using “state as God” and “hedonism” arguments. Than link the two groups together- fun time!)
As for DC I, he fails to understand a critical differance. Sin is NOT a physical object- it is mans seperation from God and is a concept. Concepts do not have physical existance.
The existance of sin relies on the existance of God, which is severly wanting.
As for the Sun… I don’t need to see it- I can feel it! Yes, it gets that hot. All our senses report it- it is obviously not an illusion as we see it every day. It does exist.
Samuel Skinner
30 Aug 08 at 7:45 am (GMT)
Samuel Skinner:
I don’t fail to understand the critical difference; Ray will though. It’s exactly the sort of antic he would do, starting with taking a part of the reply out and then bungling that up. He likes to compare the existence of God with the Sun, for example The A-sun-ists Headquarters.
As for another imagined Ray Reply to you:
“‘As for the Sun… I don’t need to see it- I can feel it!’ It is amazing the logic of the professing atheist. Doesn’t he realize that God is as obvious as the Sun, verified in exactly the same way as the Sun? We don’t need to see God; we can feel Him. You would have an easier time convincing the professing atheist that the Sun is made of ice than convincing him to apply the same standards of evidence to God as he does the Sun.”
DisComforting Ignorance
30 Aug 08 at 7:57 am (GMT)
Neh, he cannot know of atheism without accepting rational thought into his brain and allowing logic to fulfill his days. He has to accept it unconditionally to know it and denounce irrational faiths to understand it.
jagannath
30 Aug 08 at 10:58 am (GMT)
I didnt like the name of ATHEIST CENTRAL, then what, an ATHEIST CHURCH seems you neither like it.
I coincide in your opinions incredible in all of them but in the one of sins, because that was something I never asked my self before but your answer was really good. I will analyze that subject.
Faryshta
30 Aug 08 at 7:59 pm (GMT)
Since Comfort has shown he’s willing to lie about other peoples’ beliefs and even facts, I fail to see any advantage in answering his questionnaire.
Like many goddists, he knows what atheists believe. He knows that we’re immoral, hate religion, hate the idea of God, and are damned for eternity. It doesn’t matter that the only thing that atheists share is a disbelief in god or gods. Comfort has already determined what we believe. He just wants quotes so he can mine them.
JoJo
30 Aug 08 at 9:22 pm (GMT)
have you noticed the bible says King James Version? emphasis on “KING”. back then everyone thought when you died nothing happened (which is true) so no one was afraid of punishment. criminals (as all) think they’re going to get away with everything…LET ME JUST GET OVER THE HISTORY LESSON AND GET TO THE POINT!
my theory is that the king realized this and decided to write the book to create fear in people. it worked. people were to afraid to commit a crime because they were brainwashed into thinking if they did something bad they would suffer eternal damnation. i am an atheist, and this is my theory. by creating a load of bull **** like this, people were to afraid to commit a crime of anykind. but that is cruel…and somewhat brilliant…its cruel because you controlling people through fear and terror like a dictatorship. its brilliant because it actually worked at times, some people wont do anything because they’re to religous and beleive they’ll suffer eternal agony.
MY SECOND THEORY: Dieing And Seeing The After Life.
you hear stories all the time about how people die and see “Heaven” and “Hell”. well let me tell you something i have learned in psychology. its called - SUBCONSCIOUS THINKING. its where you think of something, but you dont know that you are. when you die, your subconscious mind can awake and start flashing images through your head. know why that happens? because you may have no pulse or heart beat, but your BODY is still alive for a period of time. thats why they can bring you back to life with a defibulator (the thing that shocks your chest to give your heart a jump-start). when you die, your subconscious mind can flash images through your head that seem almost real. who here has ever had a dream that seemed so real only to wake up in your bed with a startle to discover you were dreaming. th mind has the ability to do that, if your mind thinks its real your body will react to it also. thats why when people say they’ve seen hell and they come back to life and there heart rate is raceing and there pulse is through the roof. there mind is convinced its real and your body will react, and also you just had 100 volts of electricity go through your body from the defibulator.
THANK FOR HEARING ME OUT!
trevor
30 Aug 08 at 9:55 pm (GMT)
I think you should rename your blog “The Christianity Repository”. I mean, there IS a lot of information about Christianity here…
Katie
10 Sep 08 at 1:58 am (GMT)