What are the doubts of atheism?

Hmm · Jan 18, 2021

I think that the need for absolute certainty is ironically a major cause of doubt.

When I was younger I was adverse to religion in all capacities because it couldn't be proved. But then I remember asking Well can I prove that my own belief in atheism is true? I felt that atheism was self-evidently true and that the onus was on anyone who believe in God to prove that.

So by asking this of Christians (I'm in the Western world) I gradually began to ask this of myself. What proof do I have for my own atheistic belief? And I easily realised that I couldn't prove my atheism, that that was also a question of belief/faith.

So I wondered if religion might not have something to offer me. Do all the questions we have about life, death and meaning need a religious answer rather than no answer which is effectively the answer that a strictly scientific approach can give (which is my background)?

So the question I was asking was Do I need certainty or should I take things on trust? Did I experience uncertainty because I hadn't yet discovered the absolute truth that was out there just waiting to be found or did I need to embrace uncertainty?

Then I learnt something about the philosophy of science and realised that there were limits to scientific understanding. Not everything has an scientific explanation, and the most important things in our lives such as love, beauty and morals do not. I've yet to find a scientific theory that accounts for any of the feelings I had in any of my relationships! But this means letting go of scientific certainty and replacing words like "certainty" with more personal words like "trust" and above all "love".

So that was one reason that led me to religion and ultimately Christianity, coming from a very atheistic background.

So I'd like to ask any former atheists here, was there anything in particular that threw you off atheism and made you think differently?

com7fy8 · Jan 18, 2021

Below, I offer things I have about this. But I think God wants you to simply trust Him to do what He wants with you.

Hmm - you said:
Do I need certainty or should I take things on trust?

I think it is wise to base your trust on how someone has proven oneself. Blind trust is not wise.

And I personally believe God does prove Himself to people. And we know He is, because He has somehow proven Himself to us.

And you said:
I've yet to find a scientific theory that accounts for any of the feelings I had in any of my relationships!

I don't think DNA and molecules have produced our experience of God and sharing in love with people.

But there is a difference between pleasure feelings and God's love. So, we need how God brings us to live in His way of loving. And His word can help us with this, along with submitting to Him and discovering

And here is something else that you said:
So I'd like to ask any former atheists here, was there anything in particular that threw you off atheism and made you think differently?

For a while I was a religious person not experiencing God. And I wondered if He might not really exist; after all, I was going by blind faith. So, I apologetically excused myself from Him, in order to evaluate if He exists or not. Then was when I got into wondering if I myself exist or not! I had no answer for this.

In my case, I say God has gotten through to me and He has used His word and example people to bring me to Himself and all His word means that He desires to do with us.

BobRyan · Jan 19, 2021

Hmm said:
I think that the need for absolute certainty is ironically a major cause of doubt.

True.

And take a look at page one on this thread with atheists here on CF: Common ground Creationists and Atheists "can" agree with - without too much effort

As well as this thread with Creationists that has a few implications for atheists:

Why do Creationists enjoy quoting Collin Patterson when it comes to flaws in evolution?

Jesse Dornfeld · Jan 19, 2021

Hmm said:
I think that the need for absolute certainty is ironically a major cause of doubt.

When I was younger I was adverse to religion in all capacities because it couldn't be proved. But then I remember asking Well can I prove that my own belief in atheism is true? I felt that atheism was self-evidently true and that the onus was on anyone who believe in God to prove that.

So by asking this of Christians (I'm in the Western world) I gradually began to ask this of myself. What proof do I have for my own atheistic belief? And I easily realised that I couldn't prove my atheism, that that was also a question of belief/faith.

So I wondered if religion might not have something to offer me. Do all the questions we have about life, death and meaning need a religious answer rather than no answer which is effectively the answer that a strictly scientific approach can give (which is my background)?

So the question I was asking was Do I need certainty or should I take things on trust? Did I experience uncertainty because I hadn't yet discovered the absolute truth that was out there just waiting to be found or did I need to embrace uncertainty?

Then I learnt something about the philosophy of science and realised that there were limits to scientific understanding. Not everything has an scientific explanation, and the most important things in our lives such as love, beauty and morals do not. I've yet to find a scientific theory that accounts for any of the feelings I had in any of my relationships! But this means letting go of scientific certainty and replacing words like "certainty" with more personal words like "trust" and above all "love".

So that was one reason that led me to religion and ultimately Christianity, coming from a very atheistic background.

So I'd like to ask any former atheists here, was there anything in particular that threw you off atheism and made you think differently?

This is awesome, dude! I don't come from an atheist background but there was a period of time I called myself an atheist. I quickly turned to pantheism because it seemed that even consuming secular literature that I couldn't deny there was some god out there somewhere controlling things. I was heavily into psychology at the time and couldn't get myself to believe that all these mechanisms in our mind just came from nothing.

Thanks for sharing!

Hawkins · Jan 20, 2021

Hmm said:
I think that the need for absolute certainty is ironically a major cause of doubt.

Not exactly. When atheists read newspapers, history books etc. they never ask for evidence. They swallow them as facts as everyone else does. They are however brainwashed to think that they should look for evidence when the subject happens to be about religion.

Humans seldom rely on evidence to get to a truth. They almost exclusively rely on faith in human testimonies to get to a truth. This is our reality. Scientific facts to humans in majority are testimonies from the few scientists professed in a particular field. Only they maintain a close contact with a particular science but not the rest 7 billion humans in this planet. The 7 billion humans have to rely on these extremely few scientists' close contact of a fact to get to such a fact. This is how this reality operates but failed to be brought to the atheists' consciousness, though they take it for granted when reading newspapers and history books.

It is so because atheists believe with faith that they are "scientifically equipped" but they are not. Instead, they are educated with a fallacious and out of reality mindset of "seeking evidence". In the end, it's Satan who planted all this by manipulating our secular education system which humans are forced into since their very early childhood.

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What are the doubts of atheism?

Hmm

Hey, I'm just this guy, you know

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com7fy8

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BobRyan

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Jesse Dornfeld

Slave to Christ

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Hawkins

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