An Atheist Considers God
The recent death of Christopher Hitchens garnered press for his field of expertise, atheism. The belief there is no God was represented well by his sharp mind. It is a subject that minds small and great have grappled with for ages.
Vernher von Braun, a man with the mind of a rocket scientist, addressed the subject on several occasions. For those who don’t know him, he was the German rocket scientist brought to America near the end of World War II who become known as the father of our space program. His research led him to conclude, “One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.”
After commenting on the many scientific evidences of God, he postulated, “They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun.” The line of logic is the sun is so obvious a candle isn’t necessary to see it and the evidences of God are so obvious no scientific experiment is needed to conclude He exists.
Atheists often demand proof there is a God. Turn that. One basic law of logic is you can’t prove a negative. The negative, there is no God, can’t be proven. To prove it one would have to know all there is to know about everything and know that in that body of knowledge there is no God. Does anyone know even ten percent of all there is to know about everything? Atheists can’t prove that in the unknown ninety percent there is no God.
The eternal existence beyond death was also an object of his interest. He averred, “Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me — and continues to teach me — strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.”
Blaise Pascal, a 17th Century philosopher and renowned mathematician, proposed what is known as Pascal’s Wager. This genius made contributions in many scientific fields and is known for developing the schools of hydrodynamics and hydrostatics.
He described the payoff of the gamble of his proposed wager this way: “If God does not exist, then you neither gain nor lose anything from belief or disbelief. In either case, you just die and that’s the end. However, if you choose to believe in God, and you are right, then the reward is infinite: Eternal bliss in heaven. On the other hand, if you chose not to believe in God, and you’re wrong, your payoff is negative infinity: Eternal suffering in hell.”
As a sidebar, isn’t it interesting that advocates of two distinct schools of thought, evolution and atheism, both make the same fallacious claim that no scientists believe in God or creation. Countless scholars with terminal degrees from reputable academic institutions believe there is a God who created.
Reasons vary as to why people are atheists. C. S. Lewis, well known author, was an atheist. He said that he knew that if he ever admitted there was a God he would have to admit his guilt before
Him and he was enjoying his sexual sins too much to do that. Fortunately for him the day came he did make such an admission. It was also fortunate for the world of literature.
To say there is a god is little better than to say there is no god. It only really matters when you can say, “You, Oh God, are my God.”