ATHEISM

SERV PERP @ ST. MONICA CHURCH

3.12.2023

WHAT IS ATHEISM?

• Definition:

It is the denial of God’s existence

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TYPES OF ATHEISM?

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• Two types

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• 1- Traditional Atheism: Denies the existence of God, and there is not enough evidence to prove otherwise

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• 2- New Atheism: Not just denies the existence of God. But the refusal of His existence. (if He exists then He restricts my freedom .. I want God not to exist so I can exist) – A threat

DO ATHEISTS HAVE A FAITH ?

• YES, They believe that…

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• 1- God doesn't exist
• 2- There is nothing called supernatural (everything has explanation)

(I don’t see Him, then He doesn’t exist)

• 3- The universe AND the human being are made of matter (no spirits)

DO ATHEISTS HAVE A FAITH ?

• YES, They believe that…

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• 4- The moral and principals are relativism NOT absolute (I decide what is right or wrong depends on the situation).
• … Then there is no SIN ( if they did something wrong, it’s a mistake NOT a Sin)
• 5- There is no after life. No heaven or hell!

HOW TO DISPUTE THAT IDEA?

• Remember:
• We are opposing/resisting the IDEA (Atheism)and NOT The Person!!!

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• By using two questions?
• 1- Where did the universe come from?
• 2-A Where did life come from? 2-B What is the meaning of life?

QUESTION 1: WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM?

• ** The argument about the existence of God
• The Cause-and-effect argument: The Origin of the Universe!? Why does it exist?
• The logical argument states that: “ What begins to exist has a cause”

… the universe started to exist … then the universe has a cause

• Reason for existence … What are they?!

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4 CAUSES TO THE EXISTENCE OF THE UNIVERSE

• 1. Universe came out of nothing
• 2. Universe created itself
• 3. Universe is uncreated (eternal/no beginning)
• 4. Universe was created … someone/something created it

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1. UNIVERSE CAME OUT OF NOTHING �

• Was the universe created out of nothing

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• A University professor in Arizona, Lawrence Kraus

A book ----🡪 Just to answer that question!!!

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There is no answer…

Logically nothing comes from NO Thing

2. UNIVERSE CREATED ITSELF �

Logically, for the universe to create itself,

It had to exist before its existence !!

So then, How would it be present and absent at same time

3. UNIVERSE IS UNCREATED (ETERNAL/NO BEGINNING)�

• **This is the most popular amongst Atheists

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• German professor, Immanuel Kant (the father of this idea) answered this way; to not have to answer, where it came from?
• Stephen Hawking says: All evidence point to that the universe had a beginning!
• Alexander Vilenkin says: All available evidence refers to a beginning to the Universe.
• Many other scientific evidence proves there was a beginning to the Universe.

4. UNIVERSE WAS CREATED … SOMETHING/SOMEONE CREATED IT�

• How to prove that God created the Universe using Science and Logic?

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The Law of Reason and Consequent … There must be a motor behind any movement

• Psalm 94:9; He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?

ATTRIBUTES OF THE FIRST CAUSE

• 1. It must be a person with a will (reasonable/intelligent person)
• 2. To create a place, He must not be confined by a place/infinite
• 3. To create Time, He must be above time/ eternal
• 4. To create energy, He must not be under its law

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ATTRIBUTES OF THE FIRST CAUSE

• 5. The design, and intelligence of this universe, He must be all knowing.
• 6. The reason for morals and principles, He must be Good.
• 7. The reason for human love, He must be full of love-absolute love.
• 8. The first reason for life, He is not just alive, but the source of life, He gives life.

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Putting all those attributes together, we find they can only be applied to our Lord Jesus Christ. Without using any bible verses, just science and logic.�

1. God Is Wise – He Is Full of Perfect, Unchanging Wisdom
2. God Is Omnipresent – He Is Always Everywhere
3. God Is Omniscient – He Is All-Knowing
4. God is Omnipotent – He Is All Powerful (Almighty)
5. God Is Good – He Is Infinitely, Unchangingly Kind and Full of Good Will

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6. God Is Love – God Infinitely, Unchangingly Loves Us
7. God Is Infinite – He is Self-Existing, Without Origin
8. God Is Immutable – He Never Changes
9. God Is Self-Sufficient – He Has No Needs

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BIBLE VERSES TO PROVE THAT GOD IS THE FIRST CAUSE

• For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. (Hebrew 3:4)
• Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself (Isaiah 44:24)

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BIBLE VERSES TO PROVE THAT GOD IS THE FIRST CAUSE

• Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands (Psalm 102:25)
• For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (Romans 1:20)

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2- WHERE DID LIFE COME FROM?�

• The law of Biogenesis states that;

Life comes out of life or from the source of life

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• Q: From where did the first life come from?
• Atheists’ answer: We don’t know yet, but scientist are studying, and we will know in the future.
• E.g. Clinton Dawkins, Oxford University (Aliens)

• So until now there is no logic answer.
• A: The Big Bang Theory Q: Who/what caused the big bang?
• A: Life come out of life? Q: Where did life come from?

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• Then Atheists have faith (they don’t like that word) … They believe that they will know in the future!

THE DARWINIAN EVOLUTION

• Herbert Spencer, says that we all came through evolution
• States that: everything in the universe can be explained by 5 main things;

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• He spent his whole life trying to find explanations to all those 5 things to explain the universe.

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• Had he read the first verse, in the first chapter, in the first book of the Bible, He would have found his answer that his entire life was spent on finding it

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• Genesis 1:1; “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

• “In the beginning (Time) God (Force) created (Work) the heaven (Space) and the earth (Matter).”

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2-B WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

• These are all existential questions;

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• 1- The Past:
• where did you come from?
• What is your origin?
• Who brought you to life?
• Psalm 139:14

2-B WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

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• 2- The Present:
• Why am I living?
• What is my purpose? What is my message?
• What does life mean to me?
• Ephesians 2:10

2-B WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

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• 3- The Future:
• where do I go after life/death?
• Is there an eternal life? Or just nought /void?

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WHAT IS MY PURPOSE IN LIFE?

• Everything that we do in this world takes a meaning from the hope into the future;
• E.g.
• Studying … Certificate & Success
• Work … Salary at the end of the month
• “There is a value comes out of doing something”

WHAT IS MY PURPOSE IN LIFE?

• How about life itself ??
• Does it make sense that Life has no meaning and doesn’t have an eternal life?!!

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• For this life to have a meaning, there must an afterlife, Which we, Christians, call it Hope!

ATHEISTS' ANSWERS TO THE MEANING OF LIFE

• Jean-Paul Sarte: “ There is no meaning to be born nor to die, we are empty bubbles floating on a sea of nothingness.”

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• George Bernard Sahw: “Life is like a disease, the only difference between any of us is the stage of the disease we are in.”

ATHEISTS' ANSWERS TO THE MEANING OF LIFE

• Bertrand Russell: “We must build our lives on foundation of despair that doesn’t run out”
• Lawerence Kraus: “We are just some kind of pollution, if gotten rid of, the universe will be the same, we are absolutely not important.”
• Clintion Dawkins: “Life has no meaning .. Life has no value”

HOW DO WE ANSWER THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS AS CHRISITANS?

• The Past: Where did I come from?
• I was created of God’s image and likeness. He made me and gifted me with the source of life, I came from him.

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HOW DO WE ANSWER THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS AS CHRISITANS?

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• The Present: Why am I here?
• To live and grow in his knowledge, to gloify Him and make Him known to others
• The Future: Where am I heading?
• To be/live with Him for eternity.

QUESTION TO ATHEISTS?

• What gives you more internal satisfaction? Which one do you choose?
• To be purposely created from a loving God who gave you the existence, or you are a result of random evolution?!

FAMOUS ATHEISTS ON THE DEATH BED

• Jean-Paul Sartre said, “I needed God … I reached out for religion, I longed for it, it was the remedy. Had it been denied me, I would have invented it myself”

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• Albert Camus, “For anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful”

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FAMOUS ATHEISTS ON THE DEATH BED

• Bertrand Russell, “Something in one seems to belong to God, I care passionately for this world and many things and people in it and yet … what is it all? There must be something more important one feels, though I don’t believe there is.”
• Sigmund Freud, “It would be very nice if there is God who created the world and a moral order in the universe and an after-life.”

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• All those Atheists deny God with their minds but they cannot avoid Him in the depth of their hearts. Why?!!!

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• “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

ST. AUGUSTINE

• “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

BREAK