Atheism

Atheism, from the Greek a ("without") and theos ("deity"), commonly and loosely refers to the theoretical or practical denial of the existence of a deity. The concrete meaning of atheism has varied considerably in history: even the earliest Christians were labeled "atheists" because they denied the existence of the Roman deities. In Western culture, where monotheism has been the dominant mode of religious belief, atheism has generally referred to the denial of the existence of a transcendent, perfect, personal creator of the universe. To be an atheist need not mean that one is nonreligious, for there are "high" religions, such as Buddhism and Taoism, that do not postulate the existence of a supernatural being. Atheism should be distinguished from Agnosticism, which means that one does not know whether or not a deity exists.

Monotheism has been so basic to and compounded with Western moral and philosophical beliefs as well as political institutions that until recently atheism has been widely believed to be both immoral and dangerous to society. Plato not only viewed atheism as irrational but argued that certain atheists deserved the death penalty. When Christianity finally became the dominant religion in the West, atheism and heresy were thought to be worthy of exile or death because, as Thomas Aquinas argued, it was a much more serious matter to corrupt the soul than to damage the body. Atheism was also dangerous to the political authority of Western monarchies that claimed to rest upon divine right.

Even during the Enlightenment when the divine right of kings was challenged and religious toleration defended, John Locke, a staunch advocate of toleration, denied free speech to atheists on the grounds that they undermined and destroyed religion. It was not until 1869 that atheists were permitted to give evidence in an English court of law, largely as a result of the efforts of Charles Bradlaugh, who for a long time had not been permitted to take his seat in the House of Commons because of his beliefs.

The believability of atheism seems directly proportionate to the growth of the sciences and the emergence of humanism since the Renaissance. In the 19th century the biological sciences seemed to make theological explanations of the origins of the universe and of the emergence of humankind unnecessary. Particularly important were the writings of David Hume and Immanuel Kant, which established that attempts to prove the existence of God from the world order were invalid. In the mid 19th century, explicitly atheistic and humanistic systems of philosophy appeared. Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche were not only atheists but also militant critics of religion generally and of Christianity particularly. In the 20th century there have been influential atheistic thinkers who were Marxists, existentialists, Freudians, and logical positivists, although one may be any of these and not necessarily also an atheist.

Modern philosophical atheism is based on both theoretical and practical reasons. Theoretically, atheists argue either that there are no good arguments for believing in the existence of a personal deity, whether this deity be conceived of anthropomorphically or metaphysically, or that the statement God exists is incoherent or meaningless. The last type of logical criticism of theism is characteristic of logical positivism and analytic and linguistic philosophy. Practically, some atheists have argued, as did Nietzsche, that belief in a supernatural and supreme being requires a devaluation of this life; or, as Freud did, that the belief is an expression of infantile helplessness.

Van A Harvey

Bibliography:
D Berman, A History of Atheism in Britain (1987); M J Buckley, At the Origins of Modern Atheism (1987); L Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (1957); A Flew, God and Philosophy (1966); S Freud, The Future of an Illusion (1964); F Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1974); J Turner, Without God, Without Creed: the Origins of Unbelief in America (1986).

Atheism

The Greek word atheos, "without God," is found only once in the NT (Eph. 2:12). There it is used in the plural form to designate the condition of being without the true God. It refers to the deepest state of heathen misery (cf. Rom. 1:28). It is not found in either the LXX or the Apocrypha. Both the OT and NT begin with or assume the reality of God, not as some speculative premise, but as universally manifest in nature, man's reason and conscience, and divine revelation. The normal human state includes the knowledge of God; atheism is thus viewed as abnormal. Hebrew has no equivalent word for atheism. In the OT the form of atheism that one encounters is practical atheism, human conduct that is carried out without consideration of God (Pss. 10:4; 14;1; 53:1; cf. Isa. 31:1; Jer. 2:13, 17 - 18; 5:12; 18:13 - 15).

The Greeks used "atheism" in three senses: (1) impious or godless; (2) without supernatural help; (3) not believing in any god or the Greek conception of god. Because Christians denied the popular gods of the day, they were often accused of atheism by the pagans. Protestants at times have been called atheists because of their refusal to deify Mary and to worship saints. More and more in speculative circles the term came to mean a denial of God or the negation of the spiritual idea.

Just as the first century introduced a devotion to theism unique in its scope and depth, so the twentieth century has produced a somewhat parallel commitment to atheism. This century has seen the development of communism with its devotion to atheism, as well as the establishment in 1925 of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism. The latter organization was formed to attack all religions through the distribution of atheistic literature. In 1929 its successor was formed, the League of Militant Atheists, with goals of the undermining of the religious foundations of Western society, the establishment of centers for atheistic lectures, the placement of atheistic professors, and the sponsorship of lectureships. By 1932 this organization claimed a membership of five and a half million.

Twentieth century atheism may be contrasted with older forms in two ways. (1) Today atheism is claimed to be the logical consequence of a rational system that accounts for all human experience without the need to appeal to God. Communism is such an organized and integrated system. At its heart is a materialistic view of history and the complete secularization of life. (2) Earlier atheists were thought to be vulgar and depraved. Today many serve on the faculties of the most prestigious universities, and more often than not the theist seems to be the obscurantist.

Thus, in modern usage four senses of "atheism" may be identified: (1) Classical atheism. This is not a general denial of God's existence but the rejection of the god of a particular nation. Christians were repeatedly called atheists in this sense because they refused to acknowledge heathen gods. It was also in this sense that Cicero called Socrates and Diagoras of Athens atheists. (2) Philosophical atheism. This position may be contrasted with theism, which affirms a personal, self conscious deity (not a principle, first cause, or force). (3) Dogmatic atheism. This is the absolute denial of God's existence. This position is more rare than one might think, as people have more often declared themselves agnostics or secularists. There have, however, been those who claimed to hold this view (the eighteenth century French atheists). (4) Practical atheism. While God is not denied, life is lived as if there is no God. There is complete indifference to his claims, and often there is outspoken and defiant wickedness (Ps. 14:1). This form of atheism is widely prevalent, as can be seen from the Scriptures cited above.

Numerous arguments for atheism have been given. Some of the more important are: (1) The onus of proof is on the theist, since atheism is prima facie a more reasonable position. (2) Closely related is the belief that theistic proofs are inadequate. (3) Theism is harmful to society, as it leads to intolerance and persecution. (4) With the advances in modern science there is no need for God as an explanatory hypothesis. The supernatural is unneeded. (5) Belief in God is psychologically explainable. (6) The logical positivists argue that theism is neither true nor false because it is unverifiable (e.g., nothing counts for or against it) by public sense experience. (7) Classical theism is logically contradictory or incoherent.

For instance, it has been claimed that the notion of necessary existence is incoherent and that the existence of an omnipotent, perfectly good God is inconsistent with the presence of evil in the world. Finally, objections have been raised to atheism in its theoretical form: (1) It is against reason. The existence of something rather than nothing requires God. (2) It is contrary to human experience, where some knowledge of God, no matter how suppressed and distorted, has universally existed. (3) Atheism cannot account for design, order, and regularity in the universe. (4) It cannot explain the existence of man and mind.

P D Feinberg

Bibliography.
E Borne, Atheism; A Flew, God and Philosophy and The Presumption of Atheism; J Lacroix, Meaning of Modern Atheism; A MacIntyre and P Ricoeur, Religious Significance of Atheism; I Lepp, Atheism in Our Time; C Fabro, God in Exile.