Stealing from God

1. Atheism's Arguments Inadvertently Borrow from Theism

Atheists are using aspects of reality to argue against God that wouldn’t exist if atheism were true.

Stealing from God. Atheistic arguments often rely on principles and concepts that are only coherent within a theistic worldview. By using reason, morality, and science to argue against God, atheists inadvertently affirm the very foundation they seek to undermine. This creates a fundamental incoherence in their position.

Intellectual CRIMES. The book identifies six key areas where atheists commit intellectual "crimes" by borrowing from theism:

• Causality: The principle that everything that begins has a cause.
• Reason: The ability to think logically and rationally.
• Information & Intentionality: The presence of coded information and purpose in the universe.
• Morality: The existence of objective moral values.
• Evil: The recognition of objective evil as a real phenomenon.
• Science: The reliance on orderly natural laws and rational minds to understand the universe.

Theistic Foundation. These aspects of reality are not easily explained within a purely materialistic framework. Theism, with its emphasis on a rational, moral, and creative God, provides a more coherent explanation for their existence.

2. Causality: The Universe Requires a Transcendent Cause

To doubt the law of causality is to doubt virtually everything we know about reality, including our ability to reason and do science.

The Cosmological Argument. The universe had a beginning, and everything that begins has a cause. Therefore, the universe must have a cause. This cause cannot be part of the universe itself, as nature cannot cause itself into existence.

Attributes of the First Cause. The cause of the universe must be:

• Spaceless, timeless, and immaterial: Since it created space, time, and matter.
• Powerful: To bring the universe into existence from nothing.
• Personal: To choose to create, as impersonal forces lack the capacity for intentional action.

Atheistic Objections. Atheists often attempt to evade this conclusion by:

• Claiming science will eventually find a natural cause.
• Asserting the universe popped into existence uncaused.
• Redefining "nothing" to include pre-existing quantum fields.

These objections fail because they either rely on faith in future discoveries or redefine terms to avoid the implications of the evidence.

3. Reason: Atheism Undermines the Basis for Rational Thought

The main point of this chapter is not to show that all arguments for atheism fail. The main point of this chapter is to show that all arguments for anything fail if atheism is true.

Laws of Logic. The laws of logic are immaterial, universal, and unchanging. They are not mere human conventions but objective principles that govern rational thought. Atheism, with its emphasis on materialism, struggles to account for the existence of these immaterial laws.

Reliability of the Mind. If the universe is the result of a cosmic accident, as atheists assert, then why should we trust our minds to accurately perceive reality? Why can we use reason, science, and mathematics to understand the world? Theism provides a more satisfying answer: our minds were created by a rational God to know and understand His creation.

Self-Defeating Arguments. Atheistic arguments often undermine themselves. For example, if all thoughts are merely the result of physical processes in the brain, then there is no basis for trusting the validity of those thoughts, including the thought that atheism is true.

4. Information: Biological Complexity Points to Intelligence

God’s signature is not just in the cell, it’s in all of creation.

DNA as Code. DNA contains vast amounts of complex, specified information. This information is analogous to a computer program or a written language. All known codes are the product of intelligence, not random natural processes.

The Cambrian Explosion. The sudden appearance of diverse animal forms in the Cambrian period presents a challenge to evolutionary explanations. The origin of new body plans requires vast amounts of new genetic and epigenetic information, which is difficult to account for through mutation and natural selection alone.

Intelligent Design. The evidence from biology, particularly the complexity of DNA and the Cambrian explosion, points to the activity of a designing intelligence. This conclusion is based on the principle of uniformity: we observe intelligence as the source of complex information in our experience.

5. Morality: Objective Values Need a Divine Foundation

You can know what a book says while denying there’s an author. But there would be no book to know unless there was an author. Likewise, atheists can know objective morality while denying God exists, but there would be no objective morality unless God exists.

Moral Argument. If objective moral values exist, then God exists. Objective moral values are those that are true regardless of human opinion or cultural norms. Atheism, with its emphasis on materialism and relativism, struggles to provide a basis for objective morality.

The Euthyphro Dilemma. This dilemma poses the question: Does God command something because it is good, or is something good because God commands it? The theistic response is that God's nature is the standard of goodness. God's commands are not arbitrary but flow from His unchanging moral character.

Moral Implications of Atheism. Without God, morality becomes subjective and relative. There is no objective basis for condemning evil acts like rape, murder, or genocide. This leads to a morally bankrupt worldview.

6. Evil: Its Existence Argues for God, Not Against Him

Good reason provides all the information we need to see that the very existence of evil is a contradiction for atheism.

The Problem of Evil. The existence of evil is often cited as an argument against the existence of God. How can an all-powerful and all-loving God allow so much suffering in the world? However, the existence of evil actually presupposes the existence of good.

Evil as a Privation. Evil is not a thing in itself but a lack or deficiency in something that is good. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good. Therefore, evil cannot exist without good.

Theodicy. Theists offer various explanations for the existence of evil, including:

• Free will: God gave humans free will, which allows for the possibility of both good and evil choices.
• Soul-making: Suffering can be used by God to refine and develop our character.
• Redemption: God can bring good out of evil, as demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

7. Science: Theism Supports the Scientific Enterprise

Science doesn’t say anything, scientists do.

Methodological Naturalism. Atheists often insist that science must be limited to natural explanations, ruling out intelligent causes a priori. However, this approach can hinder scientific progress by preventing scientists from considering all possible explanations.

Theistic Support for Science. Theism provides a philosophical foundation for science by affirming the existence of:

• Orderly natural laws: Which are necessary for scientific investigation.
• Rational minds: Which are capable of understanding the universe.
• Objective truth: Which is the goal of scientific inquiry.

Junk DNA. The history of "junk DNA" illustrates how materialistic assumptions can stifle scientific inquiry. Evolutionists assumed that non-coding DNA was useless evolutionary baggage, while ID theorists predicted it would have function. Subsequent discoveries have vindicated the ID prediction.

8. Christianity: A Historically Reliable and Fulfilling Faith

We love the truth when it enlightens us. We hate the truth when it convicts us.

The New Testament. The New Testament documents are historically reliable sources for understanding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This reliability is supported by:

• Early Testimony: The documents were written relatively soon after the events they describe.
• Eyewitness Testimony: The authors claimed to be eyewitnesses or relied on eyewitness accounts.
• Elaborate Testimony: Undesigned coincidences between different accounts support their authenticity.
• Embarrassing Testimony: The inclusion of embarrassing details about the authors and Jesus himself lends credibility to the accounts.
• Excruciating Testimony: Many early Christians were willing to suffer and die for their belief in the resurrection.
• Expected Testimony: Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies.
• Extrabiblical Testimony: Non-Christian sources corroborate key details about Jesus and the early church.

The Choice. Ultimately, the decision to accept or reject Christianity is a matter of faith. However, this faith is not blind but based on reason and evidence. God respects our free will and will not force us into heaven against our will.

Last updated: April 1, 2025