Believing what comes naturally

by | Mar 9, 2023 | 2013 | 0 comments

Is it unnatural to believe in God? Atheists confidently claim that atheism is the only logical and natural position for a human being, unless his or her mind has been polluted by exposure to religion.

Richard Dawkins in his book, The God Delusion, wrote “You Christians reject all the gods of history except one—we atheists just deny one god more.” He seems to think this will convince us to agree with his point of view. After all, we reject, Ashteroth, Molech, Isis & Osiris, Zeus or Jupiter, Vishnu and Karishna, so isn’t it logical to also reject the one God in whom we do believe?

Ravi Zacharias has pointed out the flaw in this line of reasoning. He showed how Dawkins argument is the equivalent of saying that when we consider the mates of other people we know, then we can see that marriage is illogical and unnatural. So we should therefore also reject the one person we have chosen to be committed to, and become celibate. But that is obviously ridiculous – the difference between celibacy and monogamy is not merely a matter of degrees. They are virtually opposite positions. Professor Dawkin’s reasoning is obviously flawed.
It saddens me that people’s faith in God can be undermined by this kind of false reasoning. The ideas of atheists like Professor Dawkins are given wide publicity. But you don’t hear so much about evidence that contradicts them.

For example, have you heard about the research of psychologist Olivera Petrovich? She has found empirical evidence that, far from having a natural proclivity for atheism, infants seem to naturally incline toward belief in some kind of God. Her research can be illustrated by the experience of Helen Keller, who became blind and deaf when she was only a few months old. Helen was cut off from all normal contact, until a dedicated teacher, Annie Sullivan, unlocked her mind. Helen grew up to become a gifted writer and speaker, and eventually she became a Christian. Writing about her understanding of God during her childhood years of silence and darkness, Helen wrote “I always knew He was there, but I didn’t know His name!”

So you see, the idea that atheism is our natural default position, and a belief in God is abnormal just isn’t true.

The Bible warns us not to be led astray by “cunningly devised fables.” Arguments based on flawed logic and contrived arguments are no threat to genuine faith. Remember – atheists must do more than just cast doubt. They must prove that God does not exist.

They haven’t done this, because they can’t. And they won’t.

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