Atheism

C.S Lewis in his book Mere Christianity:

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless -I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning.” (Part 2, Chapter 6) His whole book may be found online by clicking here.

C.S Lewis on Evil:

Christians, then, believe that an evil power has made himself for the present the Prince of this World. And, of course, that raises problems. Is this state of affairs in accordance with God's will, or not? If it is, He is a strange God, you will say: and if it is not, how can anything happen contrary to the will of a being with absolute power?

But anyone who has been in authority knows how a thing can be in accordance with your will in one way and not in another. It may be quite sensible for a mother to say to the children, 'I'm not going to go and make you tidy the schoolroom every night. You've got to learn to keep it tidy on. your, own.' Then she goes up one night and finds the Teddy bear and the ink and the French Grammar all lying in the grate. That is against her will. She would prefer the children to be tidy. But on the other hand, it is her will which has left the children free to be untidy. The same thing arises in any regiment, or trade union, or school. . You make a thing voluntary and then half the people do not do it. That is not what you willed, but your will has made it possible.

It is probably the same in the universe. God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata--of creatures that worked like machines--would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free. Chapter 8. Mere Christianity. Book available online: Click Here

Links:

Strategies for Dialoguing with Atheists—An article by Ron Rhodes.

Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist—An article by Professor Ralph McInerny.

Institute of Biblical Defense

Questions Skeptics Ask

Answers To Tough Life Questions

Online Lectures:

The Absurdity of Life Without God—A lecture given by Dr. William Lane Craig. (Research Professor of Philosophy, 1995; B.A., Wheaton College; M.A., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Ph.D., University of Birmingham England; D.Theol., Ludwig-Maximilliéns-Universität München, Germany. )

Skepticism & Epistemology—A lecture given by Dr. J.P. Moreland. (Dr. J.P. Moreland is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.)

How Can I Know There Is A God?--Evidences for God's existence

Why Would A Good God Allow Suffering?--Finding goodness in trouble

God’s Choice Or Ours?—Predestination and Election

For more lectures click here.

Greg Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein on the Existence of God '85.

Craig-Atkins Debate: Existence of God

For More Reasons Click Here