Atheists offer alternative theories to explain religion. Atheism rejects the belief that deities exist, so it often assumes religion is invented by man to meet psychological needs.
Prominent atheists never tried to prove God didn’t exist
How do atheists argue against the existence of God? In short, they don’t. Some of the most prominent atheists lived in the nineteenth century, at a time when there was unbridled optimism about the future, brought on by the age of the enlightenment. They believed that God was invented by man to explain the gap in man’s understanding about nature. But with the advent of science, previously unknown matters were becoming increasingly explainable. Before long, they believed, the unknown would be known and a utopian society would emerge. Then, the idea of a God would be unnecessary and the “death of God” would be widely accepted.
The intellectual atheists at that time didn’t feel the need to prove that God didn’t exist because that was already assumed to be true. So, they worked to explain that since there was no God, why was there so much religion in the world.
Atheists charged that faith is a crutch to relieve fears
The general consensus among these atheists was the charge that Christian faith is a crutch to help believers cope with their fears and the pains of life. For example, Freud observed, there are the elements that seem to mock at all human control (e.g., earthquakes, floods, storms, diseases, death). With these forces, nature rises up against us–majestic, cruel, and inexorable. So, how do we deal with impersonal forces that seem to be hostile? He said this is how religion was invented.
Freud’s theory of man’s use of religion to fend off hostile forces
Freud looked at primitive religion and noticed two things: the personalization of nature and sacralization of nature. Man is used to dealing with threats that come from other people. We can use flattery, bribery, or even beg for mercy. But how do we negotiate with a tornado or plead with a flood? We transfer to the impersonal realm the gimmicks that we use to fend off hostile personal forces. So, we personalize nature and imagine the impersonal objects or forces of nature to be inhabited by spirits. Offerings are then made to appease the spirit, and it’s only one step further to making these spirits, or personalities, holy, transcendent, eerie, or divine.
According to Freud, all of these gods and goddesses are the result of man’s creative ability to transfer personal qualities and characteristics into these impersonal forces that exist as clear and present dangers to our well-being.
The problem with Freud’s theory, or any other similar atheistic argument, is that it ignores whether or not God really exists. It only assumes there is no God. I would admit that it could be a plausible theory if God’s existence was disproven, but personal biases against God can’t make Him cease to exist if He really does exist in reality, nor can the hopes and desires of Christians for Him to exist bring about His existence if He really doesn’t exist. We must all deal with the weight of the evidence, whichever way it leads.
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But, if you’re now ready to know what your relationship is before God, Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
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