After I posted this brief essay (below), an atheist
reiterated the same challenge that many do: “Well, you first have to prove your god
exists!”
If you’ve have tried to present proofs to militant atheists, you know
how disappointing this can be. No matter how weighty your proof, the atheist
can still quibble with it. This might not reflect a problem with your proof but
a problem with all proofs in general –
that none are ever airtight and
unassailable.
Rather than engaging in this frustrating process, in many
cases I’ve opted by placing the burden of proof on the atheist: “First prove
that you exist! This will prove to me that it is even worthwhile for me to
attempt to prove that God exists.” Of course, they never can prove this to my
satisfaction. The dialogue that follows this post illustrates this fact.
You ask for proof of
God’s existence. I’ve answered that the proof is all around us – in the stars,
the trees, the laws of nature, our bodies and feelings - available for the
seeing. However, I prefer contextualized proof – the proof that arises by
itself in the very midst of our conversation. Let me take an example.
You vilify Christians.
I’m not talking about you specifically but about the treatment that Christians
uniformly receive in the blog-Facebook world. How do we understand such
behavior among people who strenuously insist that they are good without God?
These are also people who boast of being tolerant and open-minded – people who
pride themselves on being open to all forms of lifestyles! Why then the
disconnect? The hypocrisy?
Let’s add to this
another observation – the need to prove or justify ourselves, often by putting
others down. Is there a simple and parsimonious way to explain these
observations? Our awareness of our guilt, shame, and sense that we deserve
judgment – the very things that the Bible claims we know! These are our
underlying motivators – the causes of our inconsistencies – and also those
things that serve to justify the biblical worldview.
We Christians serve as
reminders of this reality. You project your guilt and shame on us as if we are
the cause of them. This is what happened
to our Lord Jesus. He explained that He was hated because He revealed the truth
to people about themselves, and He was crucified for this. Jesus warned that
this would also become our fate.
But I say this, not to
condemn you, but to shed some light upon your plight and the remedy we all have
through our Savior who died for us, paying the price for our sins.
ATHEIST: You still have not shown me any evidence that god
exists.
ME: Well, if you
prove you exist, I'll prove God exists.
ATHEIST: I asked for evidence not proof. And when I say
evidence, I mean real evidence, not bad logical arguments.
ME: "Proof?"
"Evidence?" The same problem
still adheres to both - that all of your evidence for your own existence remains
assailable in the same way that my evidence for God remains assailable to the
quibbler… Nevertheless, there were many substantial reasons that this Jew
adopted a faith in Christ, one of which was an encounter with Christ.
ATHEIST: Daniel, do
you honestly think that there is a direct comparison between whether I exist,
and whether god or Jesus exists? Clearly you have more evidence for me existing
than for god or Jesus.
ME: Then prove
yourself! Prove that you are not simply a bio-chemical robot. Or
perhaps you are just an expression of a Buddhist matrix. Consistent with this,
please define your use of the word "I." What is this thing you call
"I?"
ATHEIST: Why do I have to prove that I'm not a bio-chemical
robot in order for you to be convinced that I exist? Why couldn't "I"
be that bio-chemical robot.
ME: First, you have
to define the "I" before you can prove that this "I"
exists. Please understand, in the case that you are robotic, we must cease this
dialogue immediately, since I do not correspond with robots. Therefore, your
proof represents more than just a passing interest.
ATHEIST: Just think
of everything that you normally think of when thinking of a human being, minus
the invisible soul that we have no evidence for and that makes little sense. Can you prove to me that anyone has a soul?
We know our physical bodies exist, but we don't have any evidence for a soul,
therefore the burden of proof is on you to put forth evidence of the existence
of the soul.
ME: So you will not
even try to prove that you exist? Fine, but don't even dare to challenge us for
a proof or evidence that God exists!!!
ATHEIST: Daniel, is this a silly attempt to absolve yourself
from having to provide proof that god exists? It's rather juvenile. Why is it
that you don't think I exist?
ME: As I
believe that God exists, I also believe that you exist. However, we are talking
about proof. Once again, if you refuse to prove that you exist, you are not in
any position to taunt me that I cannot prove that God exists.
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