THE “A” IN ATHEISM IS FOR “ASSUMPTION”: A CHRISTIAN ARGUMENT TO END ALL ARGUMENTS.
Perhaps, faith is a little more rational than we thought.
Do you ever remember your days as a kid? With those little calculators that we had, and maybe tried entering equations into it, and the calculator would say “syntax error”. Sometimes, it wasn’t that our questions were wrong, it was just that the calculator did not have the processing capacity to answer that particular question accurately so it put it off as an error. What if the same thing applies when it comes to understanding God’s existence with a human mind? Is it possible that the belief in the existence of God, or the refusal to, was not only a matter of choice, but also a matter of capacity? I certainly think so, but to show you why, you’ll need to hear short stories from the lives of Nicodemus and Newton.
Why could Nicodemus not see?
Nicodemus was a member of the Pharisees; a group of religious authorities in ancient Israel who stood against Jesus and His teachings as they believed they were blasphemous and fraudulent. However, Nicodemus was secretly fascinated and interested in them. So one night, Nicodemus approached Jesus to ask Him what he could do to make it to Heaven. Jesus in response said; “Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven”. Nicodemus took what Jesus said quite literally, as in; to see or enter Heaven when you die. However, what most don’t consider is that Jesus didn’t mean “see” from a physical aspect, but perhaps from a mental point of view, as in; to grasp the concept of. So let’s take that verse one more time; “Unless a man be born again, he cannot understand, or perceive the kingdom of Heaven”.
Looking quite different ain’t it? Jesus was pointing out the fact that a man’s unwillingness to understand God’s existence, stems from the fact that he even lacks the ability to. I’m a Christian and I’ll concede that in some ways, the idea of a God doesn’t add up. However, maybe it’s not that it does not make sense, maybe the problem is that it doesn’t make sense to my own human mind.
There are several scriptures that allude to man’s inability to understand God. Here are a few;
“For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts” — “The wisdom of God is foolishness before man” — syntax errors. Seeing a connection here?
Nothing left for Newton
Sir Isaac Newton was said to have spent months in his office, working tirelessly on the secrets and laws of the universe, meditating and documenting all his theories, observations, and principles. Everyday, as he worked, his trusty companion; his dog, lay by his side, resting. One evening, dinner was ready, and as Newton left the office to eat, the dog got up to follow him, but accidentally bumped into the table, causing a lamp to fall and burn almost all of Newton’s work. In a few seconds, the work that took several months to compile, was now a pile of ashes. So Newton sat down and cried, and as he cried, he gently stroked the dog saying; “You’ll never know what you’ve done. You’ll never know”
The point? Newton’s dog didn’t, scratch that, couldn’t understand the depth of the damage it had caused. Even if it was aware that something bad had happened, it still couldn’t be able to fully grasp the significance of that loss. And you really can’t blame it. After all, it’s only a dog right? Newton understood that the dog’s reasoning, or to put more contextually “programming” prevented it from understanding on his level. Like every other animal, it simply couldn’t function beyond it’s programming. But hey, who’s to say humans don’t have a limit to their programming too?
The Atheism Assumption
All atheists albeit unintentionally, must subscribe to one foundational belief; that the human mind is so advanced that it can perceive/comprehend every thing. It seems reasonable on first glance, but upon taking a step back and considering all sentient existence, it becomes an arrogant assumption. It is not a surprising one though. Centuries of existence on Earth have clearly shown that the Homo sapiens are the most intelligent species on earth. And everything we know was perceived through our five senses. Yet can we say with utmost certainty that everything that exists, can be perceived? That is an arrogantly fallacious claim. Yet, it is what atheism is built on. This, is the atheism assumption.
A plant cannot understand the concept of sound because its programming limits it, but a bat can. A bat in turn cannot understand the concept of colors, because its programming limits it, but a bird can. Moreover, a bird cannot understand the concept of quantum physics, because its programming limits it, but a human can. In the same way, a human can’t fully understand the idea of God, because its programming limits it. (Yes, I used “it” to qualify humans, sue me!)
Our perception limits our reality (what is real to us), however reality is clearly not limited to just our perception. And since we cannot perceive everything, we cannot authoritatively disprove God’s existence. There are only two rational ways to react to this information. You can only (I) know that you do not know that a God exists, or (II) assume that He doesn’t. The problem with atheism is that it goes with the (less reasonable) latter option.
So instead of asking; “Does the idea of God even make any sense?” Here’s a more progressive question; “how do we become aware of something we cannot perceive or understand?” Well, the answer to that is easy; It’s the F-word.
And no, not the one you’re thinking of.
You’ve got to have a little Faith!
Here’s a simple definition of Faith from the Merriam-Webster dictionary; “firm belief in something of which there is no proof”. Belief without evidence? Yeah! Sounds dumb to me too. Yet, that’s kind of the deal. Why? Because even if you tried, you still couldn’t process it. Our brains/senses, do not have the processing capacities required for such complex perceptions. So like a basic calculator, we scoff at the idea of God. But instead of using the term “syntax error”, we use words like “Ridiculous”, “Non-existent”, “Stupid”, and of course an all-time favorite; “illogical”.
Conclusion
If there’s one thing I hope this article has been able to do, it’s to open a helpful window of doubt to the limits of, well, your mind. No matter how certain one’s belief in the non-existence of God is, that certainty can be nothing more than an assumption; a (poorly) educated guess at best.
In addition, this realization puts away the need for pointless arguments between theists and atheists. If someone cannot concede to the simple idea that humans are limited in their perception, then they’re probably not worth debating with in the first place. This argument t ends all arguments, as there can be no compromise, it is not a difference in opinion, but capacity.
Humanity is not without hope though. We have the gift of faith, allowing us to take a glimpse into the supernatural from the natural, opening up our processing capacity, and just like that; no more syntax errors.
