Showing posts with label Greg Bahnsen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greg Bahnsen. Show all posts

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Why the Resurrection Must Be Argued Presuppositionally

Why The Resurrection Must Be Argued Presuppositionally

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, February 5, 2026 (Donate)

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7, NKJV)

Introduction

God is the absolute authority on all matters. God’s Word comes with the authority of God Himself. Thus, when we look at the resurrection of Christ, we must first start with what God says about it. The Bible—God’s Holy Word—repeatedly affirms that Jesus resurrected. The resurrection is therefore 100% factually true. Anyone who disagrees is wrong—per God. 

Yet we live in a culture that elevates man’s ideas as an attempt to supersede and usurp God’s authority. Like Satan (e.g., Isaiah 14:12-15), man’s attempts at putting themselves above God and His throne, are met with utter failure (e.g., Isaiah 2:22; Proverbs 14:12). Finite man cannot compete with the Almighty, who is the omnipotent (all-powerful) God.

But still, people resist and try to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We see this in false religions like Islam and atheism—and so many more! But here’s what gets me. In some cases, there are Christians who, strangely, take the tact of man and try to argue for the resurrection.

What do I mean by this? Well, they take God’s Word and set it aside and try to argue for the resurrection all the while leaving the Bible out of it! If that sounds strange—it should!

In some cases, they try to calculate the odds of the resurrection (based on data they oddly enough draw from the Bible) for instance and when they arrive at numbers over 99%, they think did great job. Meanwhile, they went from 100% to 99% and now leave open the possibility that Christ didn’t resurrect! Did you notice that?

I would humbly suggest a tact like this, is not the best. Instead, we should stand on the authority of God’s Word and look at the resurrection from God’s perspective—never giving up the absolute authority of God’s Word in the discussion. From a presuppositional perspective, the resurrection of Jesus Christ must be argued beginning with God’s Word because all reasoning already rests on ultimate authorities.

Consider Cornelius Van Til

Theologian, pastor, and philosopher Dr. Cornelius Van Til argued that the resurrection must be viewed as a revelational and covenantal fact, not as a brute historical event waiting for neutral human interpretation. For him, all facts receive their meaning from God.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31, NKJV)

Therefore, the resurrection is authoritative and meaningful because God has interpreted it in Scripture. It is not something that gains authority by passing the tests of autonomous human reason (i.e., man’s fallible reason apart from God) or secular historical analysis.

Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987)

According to Van Til, there is no neutral ground that the believer and unbeliever can jointly evaluate the resurrection. You are either for Christ or against Him.

Any demand that the resurrection be proven according to allegedly neutral standards already assumes principles such as logic, causality, historical reliability, and the uniformity of nature. Van Til points out that these principles only make sense within the Christian worldview! When unbelievers appeal to them while rejecting God, they are borrowing ground from Christianity while denying its foundation (often called common ground, not neutral ground).

So why would Christians move away from God’s Word to use these errant human methods?

Van Til taught that the resurrection should not be presented as a mere probability or hypothesis. Christianity does not rest on likelihoods but on divine certainty. The resurrection is part of God’s redemptive plan of history, not an isolated anomaly. To treat it as a bare fact detached from God’s revelation is to strip it of its true meaning—sadly, that is how many try to look at the resurrection today.

Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:27-29, NKJV)

Even so, Van Til further says that unbelief is not primarily an intellectual problem but a moral and spiritual one. People may acknowledge the historical data surrounding the resurrection and still reject its significance because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Consider that Thomas himself doubted until he touched the hands of Christ. Some of the other disciples doubted even when Christ ascended in to heaven.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16-17, NKJV)

The resurrection should get every person to realize that it is not merely with evidence but with the risen Christ Himself, who has the absolute authority and calls all people to repentance and the Holy Spirit who convert them. These disciples had a heart change when the Holy Spirit came upon them not long after this. 

Van Til puts the resurrection directly connected to the self-attesting authority of Christ. One can appeal to no higher authority than God! To accept the resurrection rightly is to receive Christ as Lord. Any apologetic method that seeks to argue for the resurrection while neglecting that Christ is stated to have resurrected in the Bible has already compromised the biblical position.

Van Til taught that the resurrection must be viewed presuppositionally because there are no uninterpreted facts, God alone provides the correct interpretation of history. This framework later shaped and informed the more explicit resurrection apologetics developed by Greg Bahnsen.

Consider Greg Bahnsen

Theologian, pastor, and philosopher Dr. Greg Bahnsen also repeatedly pointed out that there is no neutral intellectual ground between belief and unbelief. Every person interprets facts through foundational presuppositions about reality, knowledge, logic, truth, and morality. To argue the resurrection as though human autonomy or neutral historical standards are ultimate is to concede the very point at issue, namely the authority of God over human reasoning.

Greg Bahnsen (1948-1995)

Bahnsen argued that Christianity is not one hypothesis among many, but the "precondition of intelligibility" itself. Facts do not interpret themselves; they require a worldview framework that we use to look at facts and evidence. The resurrection, therefore, cannot be treated as a brute historical suggestion that needs to be evaluated by autonomous human reason (man’s ideas).

Instead, the resurrection must be understood as a divinely revealed in Scripture. The 66 books of the Bible do not wait for man’s permission to be authoritative; it speaks as God’s self-attesting revelation—from the highest authority.

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:19-21, NKJV)

As a point of note, a presuppositional argument does not deny historical evidence. Rather, it insists that historical evidence can only be properly interpreted within God’s revelation. Bahnsen pointed out that unbelievers routinely borrow Christian presuppositions such as the uniformity of nature, the reliability of testimony, and the laws of logic, while denying the God who makes those things meaningful in the first place. 

When skeptics demand proof of the resurrection according to autonomous standards, they assume the very rational and moral order that only the Christian worldview can justify!

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:18, NKJV)

Like Van Til, Bahnsen did not write a single stand-alone apologetic book devoted exclusively to the resurrection—however, Bahnsen did write a paper on the subject here.

Consider Charles Buck

Theologian and pastor Rev. Charles Buck’s theological dictionary (1802) reflects this presuppositional conviction by defining the resurrection of Christ not merely as a historical claim but as a foundational article of faith upon which Christianity stands. Though the systemic approach to the presuppositional view had not been fully articulated in theological circles yet, Christians often and readily stood on the Bible as the supreme authority on the subject of the resurrection in the past. Buck was no different in this case. 

Charles Buck (1771-1815)

Buck consistently treats Scripture as the final court of appeal in doctrinal matters, not ecclesiastical tradition or human philosophy when dealing with the resurrection. In this framework, the resurrection is known with certainty because God has spoken concerning it, and God cannot lie. Thus, the authority of the resurrection is inseparable from the authority of the Word that declares it.

Saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34, NKJV)

Scripture itself presents the resurrection as a matter of truth, not suggestion. The apostles did not argue as neutral historians appealing to shared assumptions with unbelievers; they proclaimed what God had done and called all people everywhere to repent. 

Christ’s resurrection is presented as God’s public vindication of His Son, interpreted authoritatively by inspired witnesses who recorded the inspired text by the power of the Holy Spirit. The presuppositional approach follows this biblical pattern by submitting human reason to divine revelation rather than placing revelation on trial before human reason.

Moreover, the resurrection is not an isolated miracle but the climax of redemptive history. Buck’s theological understanding showed that doctrines must be understood in their interconnected biblical and theological context. In other words, they were not subject to man’s fallible opinions on the subject.

Conclusion

The resurrection fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. It also proved Christ’s claims of who He was and what He could do. He also proved that He was going to be the final judge. These theological meanings cannot be derived from mere human historical analysis alone—but is predicated on God’s Word.

Bahnsen said that to argue the resurrection apart from Scripture’s authority is to strip it of its true meaning and reduce it to a mere anomaly. The resurrection is not simply an event that we, as fallible being, are in charge of validating; it is a divine act that is to be interpreted through God’s Word—no our imperfect and arbitrary opinions. To receive the resurrection rightly is to submit to the risen Christ as Lord, not merely to acknowledge a curious historical anomaly.

Arguing for the resurrection presuppositionally honors God as the ultimate authority, treats Scripture as self-authenticating absolute revelation. Following the insights of Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen and the theological foundations reflected in Charles Buck, the resurrection must be proclaimed and defended beginning with God’s Word, because only God’s Word provides the necessary preconditions for truth, meaning, and knowledge itself.

□

Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.

 

Friday, May 23, 2025

Atheism Is A Religion

Atheism

(Atheism Is A Religion)

Biblical Authority Ministries, May 23, 2025 (Donate)

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. (Psalm 53:1, NKJV all passages)

The religion of atheism is nothing new. The godly have dealt with it since sin took a foothold in a fallen world (after Genesis 3).[1] King David dealt with it in the Old Testament; the Apostle Paul dealt with it in the New Testament when he argued against the atheistic Epicureans in Acts 17.

In our day and age, the atheistic religion is alive and thriving in the wake of declining Christianity in the Western world. Atheists make up about 3.1% of the US population according to the Pew Research Center in 2014.[2] The UK has about 13% who profess the religion of atheism.[3]

Christian philosopher Dr. Greg Bahnsen who famously debated world's leading atheist Dr. Gordon Stein on the existence of God. 

These increases come as no surprise as the government schools in the West teach the religious tenets of atheism without restriction in many classes. One of the founders of modern, atheistic evolutionary views, Charles Darwin, argued that man invented the idea of God.[4][5]Being from England, his views have been imposed on generations of people in the UK and beyond.

What Is Atheism?

Atheism is the king of the secular humanistic religious variations. It is the pinnacle of secular beliefs, taking the position to its extreme.

Atheism is the religious belief system that professes there is no God or gods. While agnostics claim it is not possible to know whether a god exists, atheists are absolute in their insistence that there are no gods. Many people who claim to be atheists will actually acknowledge they are agnostics when pressed.

Inherent to atheism is materialism—the concept that the only material things  exist. The atheist claims there is no immaterial realm (i.e., no spiritual realm), otherwise God could exist in that nonmaterial realm and thus atheism would be refuted. So there is an absolute commitment to the idea that every phenomena can be explained as the result of matter interacting.

The term theism is based in belief in God (theos is “god” in Greek). Atheism means without God (a- without, theos- god). The term has been in use since the 1600s. Atheism is a fancy way of saying that they try to maintain a belief system without any notion of God. Some prefer the moniker non-theist. In reality, these are just different names of the same basic philosophy with slight variations in their outlook.

As with any religious worldview, there are variations in atheism:

o   Classical Atheism (atheism without any flair)

o   New Atheism (evangelistic and aggressive to impose the religion of atheism on people through schools, media, etc.)

o   Non-theism (opposed to God but usually disinterested in discussions; also called soft atheism)

o   Anti-theist (opposed religions other than itself—outspoken and confrontational; also called hard atheism)

o   Church of Satan (LaVeyan Satanism)

o   Epicureanism (among the first atheistic evolutionists, a form of Greek philosophy)

o   Ritual atheists (e.g., Atheist Church which models rituals after Christian elements but without God)

There are several religions that are atheistic in their outlook or act like atheism in practice. Without being exhaustive, two examples are agnosticism and Buddhism. Buddhism has elements of a “transcendental heavens” that lies outside the natural realm, but in practice it is atheistic in denying a being acknowledged as a god.

Though distinct from atheism but still a variation of Secular Humanism, agnosticism receives an honorable mention because many of its adherents act more like practical atheists. Agnostics (a- without; gnosis- knowledge) claim that it is not possible to know if a god or gods exist since they are not part of the natural realm. In his debate with Ken Ham, Bill Nye, a professing agnostic, used and argued for atheistic positions while not claiming to know with certainty whether God exists.

As a reminder, this book series is not arguing for a mere theistic position, but instead for Christian theism. We are unashamed about proclaiming and arguing for the God of the Bible.

Atheists—Seeing through the Facade

Professor Richard Dawkins, a well-known atheist and former professor at Oxford University in England, openly argues against gods —especially the Christian God— and claims that he doesn’t believe in the God of the Bible. Nor does he believe in the Easter Bunny, Dionysus (an alleged Greek god), or the Tooth Fairy![6]

Interestingly enough, Dr. Dawkins doesn’t spend his energy and effort arguing against the Easter Bunny, Dionysus, or the Tooth Fairy. Instead, he has spent much of his life writing books and articles and offering interviews and commentary arguing against the God of the Bible. Why the inconsistency?

Have you ever stopped to think about why Dr. Dawkins and other professing atheists spend so much of their waking hours arguing against God’s existence? It is because in his heart of hearts (innermost part of his mind) Dr. Dawkins knows God exists and he is trying to suppress that knowledge and justify his denial of the obvious. It is an easy task to let go of the alleged existence of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and so on. But the God of the Bible is not so easily cast aside. And there are good reasons.

Romans 1:18–25 says:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 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, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

The Bible gives a consistent witness to the fact that God’s existence as the eternal and divine Creator is obvious from the creation He has made, including man himself.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. (Romans 2:15)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1–4)

Dr. Dawkins and others are trying to suppress their knowledge of God, which God has made evident to them. However, they cannot escape it, so they do what they can to hide from it, seeking to justify that God doesn’t exist—with bold, yet bad, arguments no less. But there is no escaping that fact that God exists.

Why Is This Significant?

It means that atheism, though professed, doesn’t really exist. In other words, there are no true atheists, just those who claim to be. If we agree with God we must disagree with atheists. An all-knowing and all-powerful God informs us that all people do have the knowledge of God’s existence. Therefore, atheism is impossible. What you have are 3% of Americans who are openly suppressing that knowledge of God and lying, whether consciously or not, to say they are atheists.[7]

Here is an illustration to help understand the point. Imagine if someone professes that logic doesn’t exist. Then they proceed to use logic to try to prove that logic doesn’t work. Do you really believe them when they claim they don’t believe in logic? No, they demonstrated that their claim was false the moment they used logic to disprove logic.

Furthermore, when atheists spend immense time trying to disprove God , it proves where the battle in their heart is. It is against the God they are trying to suppress.

Atheistic Origins: Big Bang, Millions of Years, and Evolution

Since materialism is one of the core tenets of atheism, naturalistic, evolutionary processes provide the foundation of the belief of origins. So the atheist must try to figure out where universe came from naturalistically, without appealing to a Creator.

Big Bang

In the past, some atheists posited an eternal universe (which most now reject). The second law of thermodynamics destroys this position. If the universe was eternal in the past, there should be no usable energy left whatsoever. So the fact that stars shine disproves this position.

Others have observed that the universe is expanding (which the Bible suggests was the case, e.g., Isaiah 40:22, 44:24; Zechariah 12:1; etc.). But those opposing God proposed that if the expansion of the heavens could be wound backwards (in a general sense), there was a “creation point” or singularity (an almost infinitely hot and dense particle). Then this singularity blew apart (expanded outward in all directions rapidly) and this is where the space, matter, and energy came from to form the universe. But they say there was no God involved—pure naturalism.

This singularity could not have been eternal as the second law of thermodynamics destroys that idea as well. It should have run down to a point where there is no more usable energy as eternity progressed. So the atheistic position is that there was nothing—no time, no space, no matter—and then this singularity just popped into existence from nothing and then expanded. This is essentially what the big bang model promotes.

Based on modern observations of the expansion of the universe and measurements of distance between galaxies, scientists postulated that the expansion could be viewed in reverse. At some point the universe must have been smaller, so the calculations attempted to determine when the universe began. This assumes that God had not created the universe in the recent past or with any initial size.

As time went on, the model was adjusted in light of new findings. But to rescue the model in the face of contrary evidence, ideas like cosmic inflation were added to make the numbers “fit” the model. There have been many changes to the initial concept and so many layers added that it barely resembles the original “cosmic egg” idea. Today, many scientists appeal to the unobserved idea of a multiverse to explain how something came from nothing—the origins fairy tale for the atheist.

The biblical creationist explains these modern observations as well so the observations are not exclusive to the big bang idea. Take note that this whole model is built on pure speculation! The big bang is not repeatable or observable at its very root, which means is it not observational or repeatable science. It is just fairy tale stories to fit with their preconceived religion of atheism and naturalism.

But as a loud and clear point, no God or gods are required in any big bang model. It was always meant to explain the origin of the universe from a totally naturalistic, materialistic, viewpoint. So for Christians who might consider the option that God could have used the Big Bang, then they are essentially adding God to a view that was formulated to explain the universe without God!

Millions of Years

Millions of years (in fact, billions of years) are a prerequisite for an atheistic worldview. We’ve never heard of a young earth atheistic evolutionist. For the earth to form as we know it through naturalistic processes, there must have been billions of years for its evolution, beginning with the big bang.

To the atheist, one must have millions of years for stars to form after the big bang, then millions of years for stars to supposedly make heavier elements, then millions of years for stars to explode, then millions of years for the heavier elements to coalesce into planets and asteroids and so forth. All of these naturalistic evolutionary processes are referred to as cosmological evolution.

Then the atheist needs millions of years for the molten planets to cool. Then one needs millions of years of naturalistic processes to finally arrive at sufficient water and a protective atmosphere for life to form. Then the atheist needs millions of years to for the right planet to be at the just the right size and just the right distance from a stable star. Then they need millions of years of chemical processes to occur so that maybe one of them accidentally produces the first life. As the earth continued to form, geological evolution supposedly produced the rock layers, seas, and landforms that we see today.

Keep in mind, we’re just hitting the highlights. But see this for what it is: blind faith. This is just one arbitrary story layered upon another with no observable verification or witness.

Chemical and Biological Evolution

Chemical evolution or “abiogenesis” is how matter supposedly gave rise to life from non-living elements. The problem is that this has never been observed. Furthermore, one of the few laws in biology is the law of biogenesis that says life only comes from life. So to blindly believe in abiogenesis is not scientific as it violates this verified law of science. Despite the evidence against it, atheists must believe it happened at least once in the past to be consistent in their materialistic worldview.

At any rate, once life supposedly formed, what did it eat? How did it excrete its waste? How did it protect itself from harsh chemicals all around it? How did it know to reproduce? Where did the coded information in its DNA come from? This complex initial life-form apparently just happened by accident in the atheistic worldview—at least that is how the story goes.

Assuming life happened, this single-celled organism must evolve over billions of years, adding complex information to its genome like a circulatory system, a brain, a nerve system, ears, eyes, hair, immune system, and so forth. Of course, we do not observe these kinds of changes happening in nature today, nor have we been able to repeat this via naturalistic experiments. It is a story based on blind arbitrary assertions and opinions based on what we actually observe today.

From a big-picture perspective, atheism, based on its origins teaches that man (and the universe) is just an accidental mixture of chemicals doing what chemicals do. There is no purpose, no right, and no wrong—everything is ultimately meaningless.

Bahnsen-Stein Debate: When the World’s Leading Atheist Met His Match

Along with Dr. Richard Dawkins, Dr. Gordon Stein (d. 1996) was another well-known champion of atheism. Dr. Stein was a brilliant man. He was an atheist and proud of it.[8]

Dr. Stein was well-versed in the classical arguments for the existence of God (first cause, grand design, etc.) espoused by persons like Thomas Aquinas and Rene Descartes. Each of these arguments began with human reason and tried to derive a position that a god probably exists.

Starting from a possible god, the Christian would then argue that that god might be the God of the Bible. Each classical argument for the existence of God is probabilistic. In other words, the best you can argue is that a god probably exist and it might be the biblical God.

Dr. Stein knew this. He also figured out how to annihilate Christians in debate because of these faults, even writing a book on the subject. This should come as no surprise, since the arguments are flawed from the onset. These arguments rest on the premise that one should leave God out of the argument and stick strictly with human reason as the sole authority.

Why would a Christian, who believes God is the absolute authority, argue on the basis that God isn’t the absolute authority to develop a position based on the premise that man is the absolute authority? The moment that a Christian leaves God’s absolute authority out of the debate, he has already lost the debate over God being the absolute authority!

Dr. Stein, with his string of victories, was set to debate philosopher and pastor Dr. Greg Bahnsen. Dr. Bahnsen didn’t use the flawed classical arguments for the existence of God. Instead, he started with God and His Word as the absolute authority and didn’t waiver.

Dr. Bahnsen argued that all other positions, including atheism, must borrow from God and His Word to make sense of anything—knowledge, logic, truth, morality, and so forth. This is called the Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG for short). Although, it really isn’t an argument as the name seems to imply, but rather a starting point for God being the absolute authority in all arguments.

In other words, Dr. Bahnsen stood on the authority of God’s Word, which is what makes argumentation possible—even Dr. Stein was borrowing from God’s authority and didn’t realize it. This was devastating to Dr. Stein’s case. Dr. Bahnsen pulled the rug out from underneath the atheistic position of Dr. Stein.

Dr. Bahnsen used the subject of logic (as well as absolute morality, and uniformity of nature) to destroy Dr. Stein’s atheistic position. How did he do this? Dr. Stein was a professing atheist who had a materialistic worldview. Thus, when Dr. Stein argued that immaterial entities, like God, don’t exist (based on his professed worldview), Dr. Bahnsen caught him in a trap.

Dr. Bahnsen kindly pointed out that logic, which is not material either, could not exist in Dr. Stein’s atheistic view. Logic is not material. It is abstract, invariant, and universal. Truth, knowledge, information, absolute morality, etc. are not material either. Thus, Dr. Stein couldn’t even make a logical case without presuming his professed religion of atheism was wrong in its materialistic foundations. Dr. Bahnsen pointed out that Dr. Stein must borrow from God’s Word just to argue against it.

Dr. Stein kept trying to figure out how to answer and words came out of his mouth, but he left the debate in utter defeat. He and Dr. Bahnsen wrote letters back and forth until they died in 1995 and 1996. To his dying day, Dr. Stein could not answer the devastating case made against his atheism. In subsequent debates, Dr. Bahnsen ultimately earned the name “The Man Most Feared by Atheists”. Let’s look more closely at specific refutations of the religion of atheism.

Arbitrariness

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22)

Would you believe something just because someone tells you to believe it? We should hope not! Next to God, the ideas of man are but a breath. God’s ways are much higher than mans (Isaiah 55:9). This is logical as God is all-knowing (Psalm 147:5) and man isn’t.

When the opinions of man sit as the absolute authority on a subject, then they are arbitrary. Each person sits in the supposed position of authority, so no one is the authority. This is the case for atheism. There is no God or ultimate authority to appeal to in an atheistic mindset. In the absence of God, man is viewed as the final authority on all matters.

Appealing to man’s opinions as the truth is a faulty appeal to authority. Thus, it is illogical. The entire philosophy of atheism is based on man being the ultimate authority on all matters—an arbitrary position that can never provide a source of truth.

Inconsistency and Borrowing from the Bible

Absolute Morality

If everything came from nothing and all things that happen are merely chemical reactions doing what chemicals do, then there is no such thing as right and wrong. In other words, if someone decides to kill all the atheists in the world, from an atheistic position that is okay since they cannot argue that killing atheists is wrong within their own worldview. If people are merely a sack of chemicals interacting, then there is no consistent reason to forbid killing others.

Don’t get me wrong, many atheists want some sort of moral code (i.e., they don’t want to get murdered or be lied to), but that doesn’t come from their religion. Instead, it comes from God who has written the law on their hearts and their consciences know it. Really, the atheist must borrow morality from God’s Word, whether they realize it or not.

The atheist might argue that they could borrow morality from other religions, but that fails too. First, all those other religions are also borrowing morality from the God of the Bible (they all have the law of God written on their hearts too). So the atheist is still ultimately borrowing it from God.

Second, if the atheist opts to borrow morality from other religions who have deviated from the Bible in their morality (like Islam or Eastern religions), it doesn’t help them. Islam is generally fine with the extermination of the atheists (infidels).

Eastern thought says all things are illusion (doctrine of maya)—including people like atheists. If someone kills them it is no big deal since they don’t really exist anyway. It merely changes their karma for the next life.

Absolute morality comes from God as God is the ultimate and final lawgiver (Hebrews 6:13). Only God explains why morality exists in the universe that He created.

Laws of Logic

The atheist holds that all things consist of matter and energy (nature and matter only). They argue with the loudest voice that there is no immaterial, spiritual, or ideal realm. Their position relies on strict materialism.

If an atheist professes that he believes there are immaterial things that exist, then he is not an atheist. He would be a dualist. That is an entirely different religious framework.[9]

The atheist argues against the existence of an immaterial realm. If they left open the idea that the immaterial exists, then God, who is not material, could exist and atheism would be wrong. If this were the case, the atheist would be forced to move to a different religious system like dualism or agnosticism, conceding that atheism would be impossible.

This is why aspects like materialism and naturalism (everything can be explained by natural processes) must be held to unwaveringly in an atheistic religion. As a result, this also makes atheism one of the easiest religions to refute.

Consider things that are immaterial or abstract: truth, logic, knowledge, concepts, dignity, respect, love, care, conclusions, information, and so forth. The logically consistent position is that the atheist cannot believe these exist either. They are not material; they must not exist. To get around this issue they claim that love is an aspect of matter interacting, but they have no way to verify such a claim. They go on using the immaterial laws of logic while adhering to a materialistic worldview.

For example, what is the mass of logic or by what means would we measure it? It is an illogical question to ask what the mass is of something that has no mass because it is an abstract, immaterial concept. Yet logic, which is invariant and universal, exists as the universe even obeys the laws of logic. For example, you cannot have the moon and not the moon at the same time in the same relationship (law of non-contradiction).

Many atheists appeal to reason and logic, but their worldview cannot account for either. So they must step out from under their atheism and borrow the Christian worldview that does make sense of logic. God created all things and He upholds things in a logical fashion. Logic is a tool we use to think God’s thoughts after Him.

Consider truth, information, love, etc. These things cannot exist in a purely materialistic worldview. Even argumentations, reasons, conclusions and so forth cannot exist in an atheistic worldview. The atheist cannot, based on his own professed worldview, make an argument for atheism without first giving up his atheism.

Uniformity of Nature

Doing scientific inquiry is predicated on the Bible being true. God upholds the world in a consistent fashion and has promised to do so (Genesis 8:22). So the Christian can do observable and repeatable science knowing the result will be the same day to day.

God, who knows all things past, present, and future, has promised the future will be like the past—not in the conditions of course but in the way God upholds things. To clarify, the wind may not blow at the same speed each day, but the laws of that govern the wind will be the same each day, allowing predictions about the future.

In an atheistic worldview, laws of nature changed in the past (i.e., the big bang defies the laws of physics; there were no laws, now there are laws). In the future they may change again. Since no one really knows the future in the atheistic framework, the laws of nature could change as early as tomorrow. Why do science if the laws of science might change tomorrow?

The atheist might argue that we know the future will be like the past, because in the past the future was like the past. But this is circular reasoning. It begs the very question we are asking.

Unless God reveals to us that the future will be like the past, science is impossible. It makes sense that leading scientists held a Christian worldview  (Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Gregor Mendel, Michael Faraday, Robert Boyle, Raymond Damadian, etc.). Secular scientists are still resting on the shoulders of great Christians and their scientific works.

A Path to Absurdity

Let’s assume for a moment the atheistic position could make sense of logic. To say there is no God would logically require someone to look everywhere in the entire universe at the exact same time and for all time, past and future, and find no God.

Furthermore, the atheist would have to be powerful enough to look in the immaterial, spiritual realm for all time too. They would also have to be powerful enough to supersede God to make sure God was not cloaking Himself from their search. In other words, for an atheist to say, “there is no God”, would require the atheist to be omnipresent and omnipotent. The atheist would essentially have to be all-knowing to say God doesn’t exist (omniscience).

Thus, for an atheist to claim there is no God, would require them to be God! Thus, it is an absurd and self-refuting worldview.

Regarding the Atheist

Do atheists get tired of all the evil associated with the philosophy of atheism—Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and so on?[10] After all, most murderers, tyrants, and rapists are not biblical Christians, and most have rejected the God of the Bible. Even if they claim to believe in the God of the Bible, they are not really living like a true Christ follower (who strives to follow God’s Word), are they?

Does an atheist feel conflicted about the fact that atheism has no basis in morality (i.e., no absolute right and wrong; no good, no bad)? If someone stabs an atheist in the back, treats them like nothing, steals from them, or lies to them, it doesn’t ultimately matter in an atheistic worldview where everything and everyone are just chemical reactions doing what chemicals do. And further, knowing that a person is essentially no different from a cockroach in an atheistic worldview (since people are just animals) must be disheartening.

Do atheists struggle with the fact that atheism has no basis for logic and reasoning?[11] Wouldn’t it be tough to get up every day thinking that truth, which is immaterial, really doesn’t exist? Would the atheist be bothered by the fact that atheism cannot account for uniformity in nature[12] (the basis by which we can do real science)? Why would everything expand from nothing and, by pure chance, form beautiful laws like E=MC2 or F=MA?[13]

Perhaps the atheist would like a weekend to recoup and think about these things. Interestingly, the concept of a weekend is really meaningless in an atheistic worldview since animals, like bees, don’t take a day of rest or have weekends. Why do atheists borrow a workweek and weekend that comes from the pages of Scriptures, which are despised by atheists? A consistent atheist should just work every day until they die.

Weeks and weekends come from God creating in six literal days and resting for a literal day; then the Lord Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week (Sunday). And why look forward to time off for a holiday (i.e., holy day), when nothing is holy in an atheistic worldview?

Does the atheist feel conflicted about proselytizing the faith of atheism, considering that if atheism were true then who cares about proselytizing? Let’s face it, life seems tough enough as an atheist without having to deal with other minor concerns like not having a basis to wear clothes, or no basis for marriage, no consistent reason to be clean (snails don’t wake up in the morning and clean themselves or follow other cleanliness guidelines based on Levitical laws), and no objective reason to believe in love.

In fact, why would an atheist care to live one moment longer in a broken universe where one is merely rearranged pond scum and all you have to look forward to is…death, which can be around any corner? And in 467 trillion years, no one will care one iota about what an atheist did or who they were or how and when they died—because death is the ultimate “hero” in an atheistic, evolutionary worldview.

The religion of atheism is a lie (Romans 1:25). As Christians, we understand that truth exists because God who is the Truth exists (John 14:6), and we are made in His image.[14] Unlike an atheist, whose worldview doesn’t allow him to believe in truth or lies, the Bible-believer has a foundation that enables him to speak about truth and lies. This is because believers in God and His Word have an authority, the ultimate authority on the subject, to base their beliefs upon.

Atheists have no consistent reason to proselytize their faith, but Christians do have a reason—Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, commands us to (Matthew 28:19). We want to see people repent of their evil deeds and be saved from death to worship the God who created them (Acts 8:22, 17:30).

Where atheists have no basis for logic and reason (or even for truth, since truth is immaterial), Bible believers can understand that mankind is made in the image of a logical and reasoning God who is the truth. Hence, Christians can make sense of things because in Christ are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”(Colossians 2:3). Christians also have a basis to explain why people sometimes don’t think logically due to the Fall of mankind in Genesis 3. The most logical response is to give up atheism and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to rescue you from sin and death (Romans 10:13). Instead of death, God promises believers eternal life (1 John 2:25; John 10:28) and in 467 trillion years, you will still have value in contrast to the secular view of nothingness.

Christians do have a basis to wear clothes (to cover shame due to sin; see Genesis 2:25; 3:7), a reason to uphold marriage (God made a man and a woman; see Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4–6), a reason to be clean (Leviticus contains many provisions to counter diseases in a sin-cursed world), and a source of real love (since God made us in His loving image; see 1 John 4:8). As Christians, we have a solid foundation for saying things like back-stabbing, theft, and lies are wrong (see the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20).

The day is coming when we all will give an account before God for our actions and thoughts (Romans 14:12). For those who are atheistic and reading this, I invite you personally to become an ex-atheist, join the ranks of the saved through Jesus Christ and become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) as we continue to advance with the gospel in peace that only God can provide (Romans 5:1). 

Originally here: https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/atheism/atheism-is-religion/; by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge; Republished by permission.


[1] Consider the very thoughts of the Pre-Flood world. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

[2] “America's Changing Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life, May 12, 2015, http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape.

[3] “Brits among the least religious in the world: UK comes 59th in poll of 65 countries after only 30% of population say they have a faith,” DailyMail.com, April 12, 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3036133/Brits-religious-world-UK-comes-59th-poll-65-countries-30-population-say-faith.html.

[4] Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, reprinted from the 2nd ed., (New York: A.L. Burt, 1919), pp. 105–109.

[5] Some may object and suggest that Darwin was a theist because the name God does appear in few times in On the Origin of Species, the 6th and final edition.  However, Darwin’s fist edition had no mention of God. Due to his views being attacked for years by those who believed in God; Darwin’s later editions added “God” as a possibility, though Darwin only ever described himself as an agnostic at best in his correspondence.  His final book Descent of Man showed where his view of God truly was—that man invented the idea of God. For more see Randall Hedtke, Secrets of the Sixth Edition, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2010.

[6] Although, Dawkins gets nervous about being critical of the Allah of the Koran.

[7] It is also possible that many of these professing atheists simply don’t know what atheism is either.

[8] In the famous debate with Greg Bahnsen, Gordon Stein had a strange definition of atheism that was more akin to the definition of agnosticism (i.e., that an atheist just doesn’t know if God exists.) Perhaps this was a debate ploy because atheism is rather easy to debunk.

[9] See refutations of the religion of  dualism.

[10] Bodie Hodge, “The Results of Evolution,” Answers in Genesis, July 13, 2009, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/07/13/results-evolution-bloodiest-religion-ever.

[11] Jason Lisle, “Atheism: An Irrational Worldview,” Answers in Genesis, October 10, 2007, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v2/n1/atheism-irrational.

[12] Jason Lisle, “Evolution: The Anti-science,” Answers in Genesis, February 13, 2008, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v3/n1/evolution-anti-science.

[13] Ham K., Gen. Ed., New Answers Book 1, Jason Lisle, “Don’t creationists deny the laws of nature?” (Green Forest AR: Master Books, 2006), pp. 39–46,http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/creationists-deny-laws-of-nature.

[14] Keep in mind that Christians do fall short due to sin and the Curse, but God never fails.

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