The Darkness of Atheism
5/11/2024
Luke 1:78-79 powerfully captures the effect of Jesus’ coming, “the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” He is like a sunrise, giving light and hope to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. That’s a powerful image to think about. The light of the world has appeared, we don’t have to sit in darkness any longer, we can come to the light, we can receive salvation, we are transferred into the Kingdom of His beloved Son when we were once in the domain of darkness when we trust in Jesus by faith. (Colossians 1:13) On the opposite end of this statement is the sad reality that those who do not trust in Jesus currently sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
The logical conclusions of atheism leads to sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. The implications of a life without God are incredibly dark. I would summarize the beliefs of atheism in the following statements:
1.) There is no God and no higher being
2.) There is no such thing as the supernatural and there is no higher power at work in the world when events occur in human history
3.) There is no afterlife
4.) The material world is all there is and after we die we simply return to dust and become nothing
5.) We exist because of random chance, the big bang, millions of years of evolution, and the science of natural selection
For our consideration, let us think about the logical conclusions that proceed from these beliefs:
1. The existential darkness of atheism
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and professor at Harvard. When he pondered the meaning of life, he famously said
“We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because comets struck the earth and wiped out dinosaurs, thereby giving mammals a chance not otherwise available (so thank your lucky stars in a literal sense); because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a “higher” answer — but none exists. This explanation, though superficially troubling, if not terrifying, is ultimately liberating and exhilarating. We cannot read the meaning of life passively in the facts of nature. We must construct these answers for ourselves…”
To say that there is no reason for existence or a higher answer to the question of the meaning of life apart from random chance and millions of years of biological evolution is existentially terrifying, not liberating and exhilarating as Gould claims.
Think about it.
Logically speaking, does it really matter what you do in life if we all will simply stop breathing one day and our bodies rot and decay and are eventually eaten by worms?
Are we simply playing with our imaginations and attaching significance to things that genuinely have no significance apart from convincing ourselves that it is significant? Are we all just deluding ourselves playing a life long game of pretend?
Does it really matter if I live a great life or a life of insignificance if there is no afterlife and no soul and our minds are eventually disintegrated into the darkness of the abyss?
We may be able to convince ourselves for a small stretch of time that our lives are worthwhile as we experience pleasure, relationships, sex, eat good food, enjoy good drink, enjoy good times with friends, keep ourselves occupied, etc. but is this world really all there is? Is there really nothing more?
Solomon was a man in the Bible who tried everything under the sun to find purpose, meaning, and significance outside of God. He was considered one of the richest men who ever lived, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, he ate all the good food and drink available as a king, he did great works, he built great things, he enjoyed great entertainment, he had thousands of slaves, and he had great statues and gardens made in his name and honor.
He reflects on his life and says in Ecclesiasts 2:10-11,
“10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
All was vanity (meaningless) and a striving after wind (like trying to capture wind in a jar) and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
This is the existential darkness of atheism.
2. The moral darkness of atheism
Something that is astonishing and clearly noticeable in human nature is our sense of morality and justice.
We hate when we see injustice and strongly stand up for what is right especially if we are the ones being wronged.
When people are treated unfairly and discriminated on the basis of characteristics that we cannot control such as gender or race, we become morally outraged.
When evil people are not held accountable for their evil deeds and get away with great wrongdoings, we stage protests, we are white-hot and vehement in our anger, and rightfully so. If a cop brutally murdered an innocent man who did nothing wrong and received no jail time, no punishment, or didn’t get fired, we protest in the streets.
We care deeply about social justice for the poor, the weak, the marginalized, those who are unfairly treated, and those less fortunate.
If I only believe in the naturalistic world, who is the one deciding what is morally right and wrong if there is no such thing as absolute truth or absolute right or absolute wrong? If you believe in natural selection where it is all about the survival of the fittest, who cares if weaker people die or are mistreated? Do lions or sharks care about the smaller animals and fish they consume for food? Why should we? That’s just nature.
Furthermore, what happens when somebody disagrees with my idea of “morality” if there is no such thing as good, evil, or absolute truth? Hitler and Nazi Germany believed that homosexuals, people with disabilities, jews, people with disorders or mental illnesses, or anyone who was considered idle or weak in their eyes as worthy of death. As a result, millions were brutally murdered under the name of Nazi eugenics. If you believe in a world without objective truth/morality/or God, what’s wrong with the idea of eugenics? Isn’t it just the way of nature?
Protests at Columbia University in 2024
Picture credits to ABCNews.com
Perhaps more relevantly, protests across the country are happening especially in college campuses over what many are labeling as a “genocide” against Palestine. If the strong eat the weak and that is the way of nature, why should I care about what’s happening 6000 miles away in some remote country that has no direct impact on me? Why should I care for these people? Why should I care about people starving to death halfway around the world? Why should I care about maniacal dictators and evil world leaders, governments, or even terrorist organizations that brutally mistreat and kill people if there is no such thing as inherent human dignity or if we’re not made in the image of God?
This is the moral darkness of atheism.
3. The scientific darkness of atheism
According to the laws of thermodynamics, you can’t get something out of nothing. Modern science explains the beginnings of our universe as having occurred through the big bang theory.
According to NASA, the big bang theory is summarized in this way, “The big bang is how astronomers explain the way the universe began. It is the idea that the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now—and it is still stretching!”
Isn’t this precisely against the laws of thermodynamics? How can something come out of nothing? How can you get a bang if nothing pre-existed this bang? Who created this single point? How did this single point come into being? Who/What created this single point? How can a single point simply exist? Scientists widely agree today that the universe indeed did have a beginning and didn’t just infinitely exist. What started the universe? Why are we here?
Science does not hold the answer to these questions.
This is the scientific darkness of atheism.
There is hope in God.
A life without God is like sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Through the Bible, we learn that man was created in the image of God and that there is such a thing as absolute wrong/right/morality/conscience and that God has given purpose, meaning, and significance to all things. Through the Bible, we learn that the creator of all things, the one who pre-existed all things even creation itself, is God Himself. Through the Bible, we learn that Jesus came to earth so that we may have life and have it in abundance. (John 10:10)
Come to the light.