Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all have a worldview. We all have beliefs about the world. As we go about our lives, we develop our own personal philosophies and beliefs. We develop our own perception of the world. It doesn’t necessarily have to be religious.
But I put it to you, that the worldviews that do not include God are left with a real void. And when it is tested, it does not hold up to scrutiny.
Suffering
One area I notice the atheist worldview really lack is in suffering. Watching non-Christians comfort others, I've noticed how vacuous their attempts are. “Well, I hope it works out all right”, they say. “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.
Consider for a second all the truths that the Christian has to work with when they comfort another. God promises to be near the broken-hearted. God sees your pain. God sees your decisions to be godly in the midst of hardship and he rewards it. The Holy Spirit will guide your prayers when you are weak. God is the source of all comfort.
There is such power in these truths. Whereas the atheist comfort is absolutely empty.
How about the atheist response to tragedy. Maybe they would say “My thoughts go out to you”. What a pitiful response. A nice gesture, a nice sentiment yes. But what a powerless thing.
However, for the Christian, we know that God can work evil for good. We know that for those with faith, they rest in eternal paradise. We know that God will be a source of strength and comfort in the time of mourning. We know that every event is seen by God. We know God is a God of justice.
Origins
The atheist has no explanation for the universe. The atheist worldview cannot explain the world. If your worldview has absolutely no explanation for the universe, is it not completely bankrupt?
For the theist, they know that for the universe to come into being, the first cause must be timeless, spaceless, immaterial, personal and all powerful. What is this, other than God?
Baseless Morality
Many claims are launched against God. How could God do this, how could God allow that? But all of this is assuming something. Assuming a standard of morality. But where does this standard of morality come from? How does an atheist ground their morality? They are appealing to an unchanging objective standard of morality. But this does not exist in the atheist worldview. All they have is a subjective morality. Which is capricious.
An unchanging, unpolluted standard of good and evil only exists in the theist worldview. The standard of morality is that God’s nature shows us what is good. That is the foundation.
Illusory virtues
Human rights, justice, truth, within a godless worldview, they are ideas in which help accomplish good things. But they are nothing more than that. They are not real. They are made up. A human being doesn’t really have human rights, we just say that, so people don’t mistreat them. Justice is not a real thing, its just made up so we humans make the right decision judicially.
While we would never say this in daily discussion, yes, but in formal debates when you are searching out the logical conclusions of your worldview, this is the result. If you commit to a godless worldview, you commit to illusory virtues.
Conversely, for the theist, God’s nature is the foundation of human rights, justice and truth. We have these because they find their reference in God. All of these concepts are true and alive because we are made in his image.
Turning away
When the enemy blinds people and they turn away, this is the worldview that he takes them too. A worldview completely vacuous and wanting. It is a tremendous shame when people turn away from the faith. Because they don't know what they are turning towards. They think what they are turning to will be more fulfilling. What a great deception this is. The truth of the matter is, a life without God, is a life built on no foundation.
Roden Meares enjoys playing basketball, reading comics and going to the gym. He has a passion for evangelising and helping others in their faith through writing.
Roden’s previous articles can be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/roden-meares.html
