...In 1968 H.J. McCloskey wrote an article to his fellow atheists entitled "On Being an Atheist". His purposes for writing this article were to inform other atheists of the supposed inadequacies of theists' belief in God, and to address accusations that the position of atheism is "cold" and "comfortless".[1] The author intends to show that in fact, it is theism that is the cold and comfortless position to hold. Mr. McCloskey is undoubtedly an intelligent and thoughtful man. His article was written in an easy to understand syntax, and was surely embraced by many that hold a similar position. In fact, I think that any Christian would find it easy to wholeheartedly agree with Mr. McCloskey. Atheism is a much better alternative than serving the kind of god he describes in his paper! While McCloskey's arguments sound good, his portrayal of a vengeful, vindictive and manipulating god seems foreign to a discerning Christian. Upon reading his article, one questions the depth of the author's research on the God of the Bible at all. It seems almost as if his only understanding of Him comes from the obviously uninformed theists he quotes in his article. One gets the impression that all theists are either dim-witted or gluttons for punishment, maybe even a little of both! McCloskey attempts to refute three well-known arguments for God’s existence. McCloskey’s arguments in most cases focus in the problem of evil. In his attempt to refute the cosmological argument, McCloskey...
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...H. J. McCloskey's "On Being An Atheist" PHIL 201 - B15 Professor C. Wayne Mayhall Dorothy Thomas Liberty University July 9. 2010 Author H. J. McClosky gives us a negative answer in dealing with the question of God's existence. McClosky attempts to answer a different question. So he does not believe. How we face the world and create meaning for ourselves is the crutch of a divine benefactor. In the literature of disbelief by setting aside argumentation "On Being An Atheist", the article written by McClosky does little more to this reader than confirm a faith in God and the existence His role has in one's life. Granted it is well to know opposing arguments to understand one's own view of a subject. Scores of enlightened men have written declarations of how organized religion is the enemy of humanity. Karl Marx proclaimed religion to be the "opiate of the masses." Battles raged and wars fought, human lives lost over the question of the existence of God. From around 1200BC, after which Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam emerged the notion of a God who is both good and powerful, a recent idea in the in human events. Prior to that time we only had Greco-Roman pantheon, whose members interfered in human events only when their egos are challenged. Yet, in a world without God, our desire for love and compassion is almost nonexistent. We tend to overwhelm ourselves by the very question we seek to answer. Using logic is thoughtful and...
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...A response to H.J. McCloskey's Article, "On Being an Atheist" In 1968 H.J. McCloskey wrote an article to his fellow atheists entitled "On Being an Atheist". His purposes for writing this article were to inform other atheists of the supposed inadequacies of theists' belief in God, and to address accusations that the position of atheism is "cold" and "comfortless”. The author intends to show that in fact, it is theism that is the cold and comfortless position to hold. Mr. McCloskey is undoubtedly an intelligent and thoughtful man. His article was written in an easy to understand syntax, and was surely embraced by many that hold a similar position. In fact, I think that any Christian would find it easy to wholeheartedly agree with Mr. McCloskey. Atheism is a much better alternative than serving the kind of god he describes in his paper! While McCloskey's arguments sound good, his portrayal of a vengeful, vindictive and manipulating god seems foreign to a discerning Christian. Upon reading his article, one questions the depth of the author's research on the God of the Bible at all. It seems almost as if his only understanding of Him comes from the obviously uninformed theists he quotes in his article. One gets the impression that all theists are either dim-witted or gluttons for punishment, maybe even a little of both! McCloskey attempts to refute three well-known arguments for God’s existence. McCloskey’s arguments in most cases focus in the problem of evil. In his...
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...doing so? The question of God’s very existence has been discussed throughout time. H.J. McCloskey, an atheist, expounds on this matter in his article “On Being an Atheist.” Of course this article is from the atheist point of view. McCloskey alleges that atheism is a more agreeable explanation of the world than theism, and the very existence of God must be dismissed. He believes this because of the presence of evil in the world and states that without definitive “proofs” God therefore cannot exist. McCloskey refers to arguments for God’s existence as “proofs.” I believe that McCloskey stresses this word to much. The term “proof” comes from the field of mathematics and it implicates certainty. For example 5 + 2 = 7 and 2 + 5 = 7 is a math formula that can be proved. It is a formula that can be proven according to the addition property of mathematics. The reality of God is not that simple. One should not look to prove his existence, but one should look to present the ideal that God is the best explanation for the world and life itself. A theist could do this by overlapping multiple ideas and together there is enough strength to present an argument for God being the best explanation for the world. McCloskey presents the following on the cosmological argument: He claims that “the mere existence of the world constitutes no reason for believing in such a being” (McCloskey, H.J., 1968, pg. 51). C. Stephen Evans and R. Zachary Manis present a non-temporal form of the...
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...1 RESPONSE TO H.J. M CCLOSKEY’S “ON BEING AN ATHEIST” Tarnell Brown Student # L22657685 PHIL201_D44_200940 Sean Turchin Liberty University, December 14, 2009 Response_Paper_Tarnell_Brown.docx 2 It has long been the contention of the atheist that there are no good arguments for the existence of God. In his article “On Being an Atheist,” H.J. McCloskey seeks to nullify the classical arguments for God’s existence by contending that they are not rationally sound. He further holds that the existence of evil proves the impossibility of an omnipotent, all-good necessary being who has created the universe. This missive is an attempt to give refutation to Mr. McCloskey’s argument, also by means of reason and logic. It is the presupposition of the author that God does in fact exist, that He is a necessary being, and that the existence of evil in no way poses a problem to the logic of His existence. Mr. McCloskey essentially begins his argument by implying that the known arguments for the existence of a theistic God are made up of a series of proofs, none of which can be definitively proven. In fact, he is dismissive of such proofs, contending that “most theists do not come to believe in God as a result of reflecting on the proofs, but come to religion as a result of other reasons and factors.”1 While this statement is most likely true, it is erroneous to dismiss the theist’s belief on the basis of its origins. In doing so, McCloskey commits the fallacy of genetics. At...
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...or spiritual beings. Nielsen states atheism, in its simplest form, is defined as an overall disbelief in or denial of godly or spiritual beliefs and beings, however, Nielsen clarifies that all atheists do not wholeheartedly or similarly reject the existence of said godly or spiritual beliefs and beings. Atheism branches into three major subcategories: fallibilistic atheism, aprioristic atheism, and dogmatic atheism. Fallibilistic atheists believe their knowledge and beliefs concerning godly or spiritual beings could be mistaken. Fallibilistic atheists are usually deemed as agnostics, however, they are distinguished by the fact they presently do not believe in any godly or spiritual being. They remain conscious they may, at some point in the future, be presented with evidence which may alter their beliefs. Fallibilistic atheists are often considered empiricists—those whom believe that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience—for they need to be presented with clear evidence in order to believe in any godly or spiritual beings. Aprioristic atheists do not believe in any godly or spiritual being due to their logical interpretations. Aprioristic atheists reject the existence of any godly or spiritual being because they consider their existence to be incomprehensible and illogical. The existence of a godly or spiritual being, especially in the forms portrayed by popular religions, is unintelligible and ridiculous in the eyes of an aprioristic atheist. Aprioristic...
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...idea of there being no God that does not mean that it cannot be considered a religion, although in some “sub-ideas” of this belief, it is thought to be the religion of no religion, which obviously contradicts itself. But, this thought is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Atheism is a belief that there is no god at all so this could not possibly be a religion, right? World renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is a confirmed atheist who is not afraid to state his beliefs. Some say he almost oppresses people with his slightly radical beliefs. He was recently on a...
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...of the universe, the existence of human beings, and deities. Religion is usually related to the cultural beliefs systems, which are connected to humankind, spirituality, and the moral values. There are different types of religions in the world that have different signs, beliefs, descriptions, ethnicity, and, sanctified accounts that explain the meaning and origin of life and the universe. Through the accounts ideas, principals, morals, sacred laws, and the way of life are generated in addition to the existence of the universe and the human nature. Examples of religions include Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and atheism. Among all the religions, atheism tends to be different from the others as it is not similar from any of the others. I watched a program on atheist and this encouraged me to conduct a research on atheism through interviewing an atheist and through books to gain a complete understanding of atheism. According Neilson (1985), atheism is said to have a great connection in the lack of beliefs of God’s existence. This situation occurs due to a purposeful choice of not believing or from a natural failure to believe the religious teachings of a certain religion, which literally seems unbelievable. For the past few years, I have had a misconception concerning atheism, whereby I believed that atheism occurs as a result of personal ignorance particularly on the religious teachings. I watched a program known as Atheist Experience on May 27 that has been on air...
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...Catholicism For some reason or another Atheists feel they need to beat you over the head with their view of creation, laws, the Bible, God, the Constitution and more. They consistently tell Christians that they are wrong. Atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers will always seem to quote science, scientists, NASA and others. Using scientific theory to disprove the Bible is like using gasoline to put out a fire, The reverse of that would be using the Bible to prove the existence of UFO’s, it cannot be done. The Bible is “the” source of explanatory information about all of the things that the Atheists attempt to debunk with scientific theory. Atheists seem to have a mental block about the reality of the real truth about who is responsible for even their own existence. They are more than willing to put their trust in Charles Darwin who wrote a book 150 years ago titled “On the Origin of Species” and is now commonly known as the Theory of Evolution. Atheists have no problem putting their full trust in the fact that we all descended from a common ancestor, which is what Darwin’s book was really about. Even though there is no proof to this date that Darwin was correct 150 years ago, when labs and science were in their infancy; Atheists believe he was right but they just cannot believe the Bible. The Bible is filled with witnesses to the events describe in it. Additionally, it is filled with witnesses to prophecy; both to prophecy as it was being fulfilled as well as witnessing...
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...the atheist to provide sufficient proof that God exists. However, McCloskey is not the only person who is unsure and asks questions God’s existence based on personal beliefs or influence. From the beginning many people have had questions about God and his existence. He wrote numerous books on atheism between 1960 and 1980 including the famous book, God and Evil. This paper evaluates the credibility of McCloskey’s article “On being an Atheist”. One of the McCloskey’s core arguments against theism is his demand for any proof that ascertains theists’ beliefs on God’s existence. He believed that atheism is more comforting than theism because most Christians do not believe in God because of proof but because of certain reasons and factors, he is looking for more solid evidence in God’s existence. However, there are several reasons why a person should believe in the existence of God. Firstly, theists believe that God is the creator of all things and of nature. Therefore, God is the creator of all things in existence and that affect both the atheists and theists are affected by this. The Bible also states, that Koran and other religious literatures all communicate the existence of a high power with some similar characteristics. These writings have been in existence for several years without any alteration of which both theists and atheists draw their arguments. Therefore, to some point, atheists have to believe that God exists in order to make their decisions on being atheists, which...
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...Roxanne Coley Phil-intro Mrs. Timko Atheist/Theist Atheist Not to my surprise I don’t know any atheists. I struggled trying to think of one of my friends who doesn’t believe but I found none. So the only thing I can do is tell you what an atheist is. Atheist simply means non- believer in a deity or deities. There are several kinds of atheist, which are, ethical, psychological, sociological, pragmatic, metaphysical, and epistemological. The only thing an atheist has in common with another atheist is the fact they both don’t believe in a deity or deities. You could never make a statement like she is a good atheist or a true atheist because the only credential needed to for atheist(ism) is for someone not to believe in a deity or deities. Theist The theist I interviewed was my former Youth Pastor and Current Associate Pastor: Pastor Melanie Davis. Me: Does God exist? Pastor Mel: Yes he does exist. She answered with any hesitation or pausing. She was confident with her statement no explanation needed. She said as if it was a fact. Me: How do you know God exist? Pastor Mel: I know this because I’ve seen him work in my life. He has done things that neither man/woman nor myself could have done. I was happy with that answer, but I still had to ask one more question. Me: If God exist like you say he does, then why is there evil in the world? Pastor Mel: There is evil in the world because of our own choices. God gives us free will, and we have to choice to do right...
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...Corey Rivera Dr. Matthew Arbo Phil 201-D20 December 7, 2013 Response Paper Does a belief in an all-knowing, all-good, all-perfect, and all-powerful God provide one with all the answers to life’s inexplicable questions? Conversely, does a belief in atheism offer any insight into life’s inexplicable questions? According to an article titled “On Being an Atheist,” written by the Australian philosopher H.J. McCloskey, atheism seems to do just that. In fact in his article, McCloskey not only bashes the classical arguments for God’s existence using the problem of evil, but also offers it as the reason why one should not hold to the belief in all-knowing, all-good, all-perfect, all-powerful God. However, as seen in the arguments against McCloskey’s beliefs in atheism, such a belief is not only a sin against God, but has devastating effects to all of mankind. McCloskey claims that arguments, named “proofs” in his article, offer no significant evidence to establish a case for an omnibenevolent God, and therefore should be disregarded.1 However, McCloskey is using the classical arguments the wrong way and in a manner they were not designed to be used. The problem with referring to the classical arguments for God’s existence as “proofs” implies a sense of certainty. These arguments were not meant to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of God, as McCloskey believes. Rather these arguments take a best explanation approach for the existence of God. They simply argue the best...
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...first individuals to identify themselves using the word "atheist" lived in the 18th century. Atheism can be defined in two ways- in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is definitely the perception that there are no deities. Atheism is basically the lack of faith that any deities exist. Atheism is distinguished with theism, which in its most universal form is the faith that minimum one deity exists. Disagreements for atheism vary from the philosophical to social and historical methodologies. Excuses for not having faith in in any supernatural deity comprise the lack of observed sign of god, tricks of sinful object, disagreement from inconsistent exposures, denial of thoughts which cannot be fabricated, and the dispute from atheism. Many atheists claim that atheism is more prudent view than theism. As a result, the liability to disprove the existence of God does not go on the atheists, but on the theists to make available a justification for theism. New Atheism is the term specified to a drive of some early-21st-century atheist writers who have promoted the opinion that the religions should not just be obeyed but also should be argued, evaluated, and uncovered by logical argument wherever its influence arises (Hooper, 2010). Atheists are getting both more numerous and louder. According to WIN-Gallup International, a network of pollsters, atheists have been increased to 5% of the population in the past...
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...Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary The Existence of God; Science As Justification Submitted to Dr. michael chiavone Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For THEO 626 D02 By Daniel Martin Student ID: L25178504 New Orleans, LA December 12, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Introduction 1 a. Thesis and introductory explanation b. Historical development of doctrine II. Arguments for the Existence of God 3 c. Cosmological Argument d. Teleological Argument e. Anthropological III. Atheism Versus Existence of God 11 f. Evidence used to disprove God’s existence g. The believers evidence to counter IV. Conclusion 13 h. Summary of the arguments i. Applications in the church today V. Introduction The existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, monotheistic God has come up against enormous resistance from the beginning of time. Early believers such as Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Peter all had to demonstrate that their God is the one true God at times. These believers even encountered persecution and ridicule for holding on to these beliefs at times. Nevertheless the challenges to these early believers tended to be demonstrating that their God was greater than their accuser’s god or gods. At times, it was through the words of men that the God of the Bible was shown to be greater, and other...
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...PAPER: Examining the Atheist Belief and Defending the Christian Faith Rhonda Rigsby APOL 500 7/7/13 Target Audience The selected target audience for this paper is atheists. Atheists are defined as “a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of God or gods”, according to the Random House College dictionary. The first order of business within the atheist argument is that atheism is not a belief at all. Many Christians cringe when they hear the word atheism or that someone is an atheist, while some become angry, others consider it an opportunity to convert a lost soul. Statistics have shown an increase in atheism, which was predicted in the bible, and many tend to think that atheists all come from a scientific background and that as many as ninety-five percent of scientists are atheists. A study by Curry concludes differently reporting that seven percent of scientists are Christians and twenty-one percent are agnostic, while seventy-two percent report they do not believe they have a personal god.However, during this study it appears some skewness existed in the sense people were asked if they believed that God was affective and communicates with mankind. With this a part of the equation, most based their response on the fact they did not think God, if they believe He does exist, actually tried to communicate with mankind. At the end of the study, they concluded that thirty four participants actually were atheists by the above mentioned...
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