Pragmatism Points to God

God’s wisdom is always crying out for any takers (Proverbs 1:20-32). One evidence of this is the preaching that arises from within our own heart regarding moral absolutes, like “genocide is wrong!” The atheist denies that there is any such thing as moral absolutes, knowing that such a concession leads to the unavoidable conclusion that there is a Giver of moral absolutes!

Nevertheless, the atheist insists that he is just as moral as anyone else. But on what does his moral rationale rest if not moral truths? Pragmatism—results, benefits! Atheist and author of the Humanist Manifesto II, Paul Kurtz affirms that pragmatism is the “only” possible justification for morality:

"How are these principles [of equality, freedom, etc.] to be justified? They are not derived from a divine or natural law nor do they have a special metaphysical [beyond the material world] status. They are rules offered to govern how we shall behave. They can be justified only by reference to their results." (David Baron, Understanding the Times, 237)

Indeed, moral behavior does yield favorable results. It gives rest from our noisy conscience, but so does faith in God! The famed business consultant, Peter Drucker, was asked why he had become a Christian. He answered, “Because there’s no better deal!” He’s right, and there’s a ton of evidence to back him up. In God: The Evidence, former atheist Patrick Glynn cites many studies showing that Church-goers have lower incidences of mental, physical, and substance abuse problems.

This leaves the atheist with a huge problem. If he denies that moral truths (absolutes) exist independent of our own wills and nevertheless chooses to live morally merely because it brings benefits, he no longer has any basis to reject faith in God, which demonstrably also brings benefits. God has covered all the bases: Moral absolutes point to God; the denial of moral absolutes in favor of pragmatism also points God!

Seen from another perspective, the Darwinist acknowledges that faith in God is part of our evolutionary endowment, a product of natural selection. However, natural selection selects those things that confer an adaptive advantage. Therefore, faith in God confers this advantage! However, the atheist hypocritically ridicules this advantage as foolishness. How can it be foolishness, if, according to the Darwinist, it has promoted survival and possibly other benefits?

To reject God bears its own consequences as Proverbs asserts:

"Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes." (Proverbs 1:29-31)