CXIII. The Atheist Dilemma

Is God real?  This is the question that actually makes or breaks all life.  If God is real then we need to find out what He wants.  If God is real then we need to understand what our future holds.  If God is real then we need to try and do what we can to follow Him.  If God is real we have all the answers to life that we need.  If God is real then we have purpose.  If God is real we have a relationship.  And there can be more that is added to the list but, if God is not real then to be honest nothing matters.  If all we have is this life and no consciousness after we die then why even live this life?  But because there is a God, all things matter.  This causes a dilemma for the atheist.  Most atheists believe in nature as the ruling essence of existence (although they will not acknowledge that specifically) with science as their religion (although they will argue they have no religion) and evolution as their savior. But the same three things that are the basis of their beliefs are also the same three things that are their biggest obstacles.

They cannot answer three questions, realistically.  Yes, they can rationalize their thoughts and use human logic to disregard religion and belief in God, but it always falls short and they don't even know it.  Here are the three questions:

1. What lies on the other side of the universe?  Or Where does the universe end?
2. What is the hardest thing to believe in about God?
3. Where did all life begin?

What the atheist will do with these questions is they will take the first one and say it is a misleading question.  They will claim that you are limiting them in their choices, or they will say "the question implies there is something beyond the natural world, so it is invalid", or they will give you some pet answer that atheists are now using about multiple universes.  That will be discussed later.  For the second question, they will give you reasons about what they dislike about God or what they dislike about what the Bible says. That is not answering the question being asked.  Sometimes they will say you can't prove a negative so they will not answer.  And of course some may say the pet atheist answer of "who created God if He created everything" and think they have a valid point.  This will be discussed later.  Then the third question they will usually hijack.  This one they will either answer with, "I don't know and neither do you", or they will say "I don't know...but it doesn't take a Creator to have life".  Or they will go the whole evolutionary route starting with conditions of the universe and amino acids, and RNA, and energy sources.  Again this will be discussed later.

WMAP

Raisin Bread Analogy

So what is the answer to the first question?  There are only a two choices in reality.  Either the universe is infinite or the universe is finite.  There is a problem for the atheist here.  If the universe is infinite then it goes against the science they believe in.  NASA says it is not infinite.  Steven Hawking says it has a beginning.  The latest scientific model explains that the universe is conical. Cone Expansion Earlier models say it was like a loaf of bread, expanding where it can pushing the oldest stars and clusters of the universe out to the brim. Raisin Bread Theory  But both of these go against infinity as a choice. Even worse, if the universe is infinite then it actually explains one of the issues atheists have with God.  How can God be infinite?  Who created Him?  How can atheists believe what they do if something natural can be infinite and not believe something that is more powerful than nature not be infinite?  The second answer by atheists to this question says that the universe came from another universe and those came from other universes, called Multiple/Parallel Universes.  But the issue doesn't change.  One of them has to be the original.  One of them has to be the first and therefore it all had a beginning and is still not infinite.  So the second option is the only option.  The universe has to be finite.  So, what lies on the outer side of the universe?  What is on the outside of the cone or raisin bread?  Their answer:  absolutely nothing.  Well, that is exactly what the Bible says. Thought XLV.  Strike one.

So, what about the second question?  There are infinite (see what just happened) answers here.  But what usually comes up are things like: if God is real then why do bad things happen?  Or, if God is real then why does the Bible say this or that?  Well, the problem is, even though these questions may have actual answers, it is not answer to the question being asked.  The question is, what is hard about believing God exists, not what issues you have with God.  Here is this dilemma for the atheist. Atheists can not use the argument of if God is real then why do bad things happen because how can you blame God for things if He is not real?  Nature to an atheist is the all-powerful force driving life. If God is not real, there would still be death, caused by nature (the essence of all living to the atheist). yet they still believe in nature.  So if nature causes death then by the same argument they gave about God, they should not be believing in nature.  This is not to presume that death is good because "God did it" or say that death is OK.  That is an issue even Christians have a hard time with and even people like Job had issues with this topic.  No one knows why God does things at times.  But that is not the question.  God is still an option of existence no matter what or how you feel about God.  If you believe that way then you are an atheist but a better term for you would be anti-Theist, Atheism. You just hate God, but turn it into a disbelief.  The second answer they say for this question is you cannot prove a negative, so the burden is on the believer.  But if that is the case then why do so many atheists go to the internet, forums, and discussion boards just to say, "there is no God"?  Why do they burden themselves by going to these places?  In both cases, they are really acknowledging the existence of God.  The most common answer is, "if God created all things, then who created Him?". The answer to that lies in the first question.  If space, which is natural, can be infinite then so can a super-natural being.  Strike two.

Finally, the third question is one they think they have an answer to.  Where does life begin?  This is where their savior comes in--evolution.  But some of the other answers may be, "I don't know".  That is a good answer but they will feel the need to add, "and neither do you".  Their ego will not just let them say, "I don't know".  Well, we do.  Another answer would be, "a Creator isn't needed for life to begin".  But, that does not answer the question.  Even if evolution was true, it still had to have its start somewhere.  But, it is not true, Evolution.  And for the Christian, evolution is not an option since God did not use it, Theistic Evolution.  Many scientists have stated that life points to a designer.  The atheists now have come up with new theories like RNA World and the Origins of life,  RNA World but again, they only show life itself, not the actual beginning of life.  In the end they can't admit but nevertheless is true, they don't know where life begins.  But we do.  The Beginning.  Strike three.