Has Darwin Made Atheism Respectable?

 

The evolutionist Richard Dawkins famously stated that Darwin made atheism respectable. However, atheism requires far more than Darwin. There are also many other phenomena for which Darwin’s naturalism cannot begin to “explain” – life, the cell, DNA, The fine-tuning of the universe, the “natural” laws of science, consciousness, freewill…

Simply put, this world seems to be strangely designed for our benefit. It’s as if we had been ship-wrecked on an uninhabited island. Upon exploring, we find a house with our name written across it. Inside, we find all of our favorite food, drink, clothing and music – everything we need to survive and even thrive. If we conclude that these fortuitous circumstances just happened, we would be blind. If we failed to give thanks for them, we would be ungrateful.

Just one example of our fortuitous circumstances is the nature of water. It exhibits characteristics unlike other liquids. When it freezes, it expands, making it lighter than water. It therefore floats. Consequently, it doesn’t kill all the life within the lake. Vett and Malone have written about water’s perplexing, yet fortuitous properties:

·       Most liquids become heavier and sink when frozen, but not water. Frozen water floats. As water cools to 39^O F, it contracts; then a strange thing happens from 39 to 32^oF.  It expands until it freezes. This expansion creates spaces between the molecules causing the ice to float. Ice floats in water because it is less dense than water. Water expands 9% when it freezes. (Inspired Evidence)

God has stocked His creation with millions of such gifts, all pointing back to our Benefactor. As Scripture proclaims, we are without excuse for not acknowledging them (Rom. 1:18-20). However, we cling to atheism and claim that it is respectable, because a Benefactor implies moral obligation – the very thing from which we want freedom, a costly freedom.