Do Atheists Just Believe in One Less God Than Christians?

[Randy Carson]

Do Atheists Just Believe in One Less God Than Christians?
By J. Warner Wallace
http://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/do-atheists-believe-in-just-one-less-god-than-christians/

As an atheist, I used to challenge my Christian friends with a common objection heard across the Internet today. Although my formulation of the objection differed from time to time, it was a lot like the popular statement attributed to Stephen F. Roberts:

“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

My point was simple: All of us are atheists to some degree if you really think about it; we just disagree about which gods we reject. Christians are atheistic in their attitude toward, Zeus, Poseidon, Lakshmi, Vishnu, Cheonjiwang, Na Tuk Kong, Achamán, Huixtocihuatl and thousands of other historic gods. When asked, Christians typically offer the same reasons for rejecting these other “deities” that I would have offered for rejecting the God of Christianity. So (as I often claimed), if my believing friends simply approached Yahweh in the same way they approached other mythologies, they would inevitably take the final step toward rationality and reject all false gods.

This objection is still popular. I hear it (or read it) frequently in my efforts to make the case for Christianity now that I’m a believer. While there are certainly several valid responses, I’d like to offer one from my experience as a detective and case maker. I think it provides a brief, but rhetorically powerful rejoinder to this misguided, iconic objection.

In every criminal trial, a jury is asked to evaluate the actions of one defendant related to a particular crime. While there are millions of other people in the world who could have committed the crime under consideration (and indeed, millions of these people were actually available to commit the crime), only one has been charged. If the jury becomes convinced this defendant is the perpetrator, they will convict him based on their beliefs. They will convict the accused even though they haven’t examined the actions (or nature) of millions of other potential suspects. They’ll render a verdict based on the evidence related to this defendant, in spite of the fact they may be ignorant of the history or actions of several million alternatives. If the evidence is persuasive, the jurors will become true believers [emphasis added] in the guilt of this man or woman, even as they reject millions of other options.

Christians are just like the jurors on that trial. We make a decision about Jesus on the basis of the evidence related to Jesus, not the fact there may be many alternative candidates offered by others. If the evidence is persuasive, we can reach our decision in good conscience, even if we are completely unfamiliar with other possibilities. Christianity makes claims of exclusivity; if Christianity is true, all other claims about God are false. If the evidence supporting Christianity is convincing to us as the jury, we need look no further. In the end, our decision will be based on the strength (or weakness) of the case for Christianity, just like the decisions made by jurors related to a particular defendant must be based on the strength (or weakness) of the evidence. At the end of a trail, juries are “unbelievers” when it comes to every other potential suspect, because the evidence confirming the guilt of their particular defendant was sufficient. In a similar way, we can be confident “unbelievers” when it comes to every other potential god because the evidence for Christianity is more than sufficient.

J. Warner Wallace is a Cold-Case Detective, a Former Atheist, and the author of Cold-Case Christianity and God's Crime Scene.

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Should be an interesting discussion. Your thoughts?

[PickelledEggs]

1 or 3, depending on how the christian looks at it.

[Mike Cl]

1 or 3, depending on how the christian looks at it.

Feeding the monkey, eh?????

[PickelledEggs]

Feeding the monkey, eh?????

Lol

-Sent from your mom

[Randy Carson]

1 or 3, depending on how the christian looks at it.

1 = 3, depending on how the christian explains the trinity.

[PickelledEggs]

1 = 3, depending on how the christian explains the trinity.

Your mind is beginning to work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtk1BE3toOg

[Shiranu]

1 = 3, depending on how the christian explains the trinity.

That is just a fancy way of saying, "one or three again" and changes nothing.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Christians are just like the jurors on that trial. We make a decision about Jesus on the basis of the evidence related to Jesus, not the fact there may be many alternative candidates offered by others. If the evidence is persuasive, we can reach our decision in good conscience, even if we are completely unfamiliar with other possibilities. 

The only people who make such decisions are those who switch religions. And I haven't met one who did so based on "evidence".

[Randy Carson]

The only people who make such decisions are those who switch religions. And I haven't met one who did so based on "evidence".

So, does that mean that none ever have?

Or that your definition of "evidence" precludes it?

[SGOS]

Good grief!  When someone points out how much your atheism resembles theirs, I hope you don't bore them to death every time with the likes of that.

[marom1963]

Lol

-Sent from your mom

More like feeding the gremlin after midnight ... What were they called before they became gremlins? -

[leo]

Atheists believe in 3 less gods than trinitarian Christians. 1+1+1 is not 1 . 1+1+1 = 3. Basic math folks.

[Randy Carson]

“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” â€"Stephen F Roberts

Christianity believes in only one God (monotheism). We believe this not simply because we want to have the most powerful being out of the millions, but out of theological and philosophical necessity. We believe that God created all things out of nothing. We believe that existence necessitates a “first cause” or an “unmoved mover.” This first cause is by definition "God". Simply put, whoever started it all (the time, space, matter creation) is the only true God. There cannot be multiple first causers.

God, while able to interact and love mankind, must transcend all that we see and know. He must be outside of our universe holding it all together, not simply the most powerful actor in our current play. We are simply talking about two different species here. One that is transcendently holy, both ontologically (who he is in essence) and morally (what he does) and the other which is but a hair’s breath from us.

In the end, the theistic type of God espoused by Christianity cannot be compared to the pantheon of gods of polytheistic religions. It is comparing apples to oranges.

Let’s look at this statement again:

“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” â€"Stephen F Roberts

I understand perfectly why Stephen F Roberts and Christopher Hitchens reject all the other gods. It is because they reject polytheism. But I don’t understand how this parallels to the rejection of the Christian God. It is a slight of hand to make such a comparison (effective as it may be). People believe in these two completely different things for completely different reasons and, therefore, must reject the two differently. The same arguments used against these gods cannot be used effectively against the Christian God. Once polytheism as a worldview is rejected, all the millions of gods go with it. I don’t have to argue against each, one at a time.

Taken from:

Why the “I Just Believe in One Less God than You” Argument Does not Work
http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2011/04/why-the-i-just-believe-in-one-less-god-than-you-argument-does-not-work/

[Randy Carson]

Atheists believe in 3 less gods than trinitarian Christians. 1+1+1 is not 1 . 1+1+1 = 3. Basic math folks.

Basic misunderstanding, folks.

Trinity - Basics

Understanding the inner life of an infinite, triune God is beyond us, and what we do know is known only because He has chosen to reveal it to us.

There is only one God.
Within that one God are three persons.
They are not three Gods.

How is that possible? Well, consider that a dog is a being but not a person. A man is a being and one person. God is a being and three persons. From this illustration, you can see that while we usually think one being = one person, in fact, the number of persons "in" a being can vary depending on the nature of that being.

We have a human nature. God has a divine nature. The three persons who share the one divine nature are referred to by God Himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All of them are referred to individually or collectively as "He". The Holy Spirit is not an "It".

Unlike human fathers who are older than their sons, God the Father did not exist before God the Son or God the Holy Spirit.

The Father is God.
The Son is God.
The Holy Spirit is God.
The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit.
The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son.

Two graphics that might help:

[Harassed]

Atheists don't have any god delusions.  not one more or less or any.