Ask the Atheist

I must say that I do not believe in Evolution, it sounds like a religion status, I say that I think in Evolution as the more rational theory so far.

How do I explain creation?, is it important to you?, if it is important you can say evolution if not one day someone is going to explain it, at the moment I really do not care about it.

That doesn,t really answerr the question that was asked does it? A simple I don't know would be a more honest answer.

Just figured I'd add on. I am an Athiest and I do agree with the evolution theory. All other Athiests I know also agree with the theory. I know quite a few Christians who belive in evolution somewhat.

So you believe in evolution - can you explain to me "scientifically" how something (our universe) can come from nothing?

It had to "evolve" from something right?

Nobody gonna jump on this one?

Okay.

You're not looking at this the right way.

Evolution is a biological theory to explain the diversification of organisms through natural selection.

Natural selection is a principle that we can actually see and experiment with. Have you ever eaten a Jonagold apple? They're selectively chosen for size and sweetness. Apples today are many times larger and sweeter than wild apples, and even wild apples today are many times larger and sweeter than they were before humans started choosing and distributing only-the-best seeds.

Evolution, however, as a theory, cannot be called upon to explain non-biological phenomena. There are a handful of theories about how the universe began, most of them highly theoretical and supported by some data. We see that matter seems to be expanding, so we figure "Let's extrapolate the expansion backwards" and poof- big-bang theory.

We might be wrong- we might be right- but the model that is the *least* scientifically plausible is that "God Did It". It doesn't provide testable hypothesis, nor does it really explain anything at all.

The Big Bang theory is more believable to you than the idea that someone created the creation? That's like saying that Art creates itself. The idea that the order that we have now, and the inexplainable events that take place everyday like a woman going into labor (science has yet to prove what makes a woman actually begin going into labor...God is credited to giving "life and breath and everything else"). Please know I'm not attacking you or what you believe, I just don't see the rational thought in terms of evolution. Sure microevolution exists - no argument there. But the idea that something orderly, perfectly fitted together, and intricate came from nothing makes my head hurt.

I have a question for ya, I was thinking about this the other day - maybe you can provide some feedback.

As an atheist, you believe that there is no God right? So to claim that there is no all-knowing deity, it would take infinite knowledge to make that claim. How do you "know" there is no God? Is it provable that He doesn't exist? So for an atheist to say there is no God is to say they have infinite wisdom of all things...thus making an atheist in a sense all-knowing. Kinda like God. For me, that's rational though. Please help me where I'm wrong in this. It's hard for me to understand the whole atheist thing - I can't imagine my life without my relationship with Christ. The hope I have in Him is inexplicable. His grace in my life is so evident, I couldn't imagine ignoring it.

But, the Word does say that "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

Why ignore Him and miss out? I really do appreciate getting to talk about this stuff with ya, I like it. Know you're in my prayers

As an atheist I don't pretend to know everything, but I'd be willing to guess that among all the billions of people alive today and all that have lived before, if there were any scientific proof of the existence of a "supernatural" being it would have been revealed by now. Why do Christians want so badly for us to prove that there is no god/gods. I think they have their own doubts and are hoping for us to confirm, without taking the risk themselves of being wrong, a sort of weird twist on Pascal's Wager.

For those of you that claim to not have evolved from a more primitive life form, all I can say is "be patient".

You're applying the word "evolution" to far too much. Let's pull this to pieces, because there are three phenomena to consider here.

Evolution is the process whereby primitive life gives rise to different and more complex life. That's all it is. It starts with something and produces other somethings, and the better somethings persist. Not too hard to grasp.

Abiogenesis is the process whereby primitive life was created in the first place. We don't know how this happened, though there are hypotheses (one experiment zapped mini-lightning into a sample of primitive Earth's atmosphere and produced amino acids - not life, but quite close).

Abiogenesis was a chemical process, and it could afford to be extremely unlikely because it only had to happen once. Abiogenesis starts with a non-organic compound and produces a one-in-a-zillion organic something, once. Not hard to accept; it's a big, old planet and there were a zillion chances to do it.

As for the beginning of the universe, who have you actually heard say that it came from nothing? The Big Bang was the beginning of this universe, but why couldn't there have been something prior that caused it AND is less complex than a fully formed intelligent being? A previous, dying universe perhaps? Or formless energy that condensed into matter for the first time, and reacted violently?

If a god can have existed forever, why can't the universe have always existed in some form? The universe is a lot simpler than a god must be. And if the universe can't have existed forever, how can you know that a god has, other than by declaring it? Whatever constraints you place on the universe to necessitate God, you immediately have to break them to ALLOW God to exist.

Evolution, abiogenesis and the Big Bang are different points religious people argue over, giving them all the name of "creation". I hope I've shown you that your question is a muddle of all three, so that you can come back with some more specific questions. I look forward to them.

Cheers.
- LX