Why I am not a Christian

Christians adore their beloved passage from Psalms 14 where the Psalmist says, "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." Christians are convinced that atheists are total idiots for not believing that their god exists and not believing the claims of their religion. I am often times asked why I am an atheist and why I reject Christianity. In this post I will briefly give the reasons as to why I reject both the existence of God and the validity of Christianity.

The overall gospel message says that God originally created man upright and he disobeyed God (Ecc 7:29). As a result of that disobedience, sin entered the world and that sin along with death spread to all men (Rom 5:12-19). God, in his love, sent his Son to save men from their sin, to be a propitiation for their sins, to die on a cross so men can be forgiven and reconciled to God through faith in the gospel (Matt 1:21, 1 John 2:2, Rom 5:10, Col 1:22). And after he died he was buried and resurrected. The death, burial, and resurrection is the basis for salvation (1 Cor 15:1-4)

I reject this "gospel message" for the following reasons:

1. The message presupposes that a god even exists.

Christians preach their message as if the existence of God is blatantly obvious. Is it? They say it is obvious because of the existence of the cosmos. The argument is that because there is something, instead of nothing, because our universe appears orderly and beautiful then there must be a designer which we call God.

Now, there is a simple category error which virtually every Christian is guilty of commiting. It is in essence one of the major things that separates atheists from theists. When they ask questions such as, "why is there something, instead of nothing?", or "why does the universe act or appear the way it does" they are presupposing that there is a higher cause to such things, something beyond the material.

Since the existence of the material universe is axiomatic, and the existence of God is not, then it is not difficult to recognize that the universe is the First Cause. And if the universe itself is the first cause then not only can we not ask such questions from above but such questions are futile. The fact that there is something, instead of nothing, and that the universe manifests in the way it does, which includes order and beauty, is a necessary fact. It makes no more sense to contradict the rational atheistic worldview by demanding an explanation for the natural world than it would to demand an explanation for the existence of God.

2. The message presupposes that the term 'God' is meaningful.

If you were to ask me what a human being is, I would say that a human is an organism that is composed of hydrogen, carbon, & oxygen. And that we are composed of matter, atoms, electrons, etc. But when the theist is asked, "What is God?" they give an answer that describes things about God, as opposed to saying exactly what God is. Christians will define God as Creator, savior, designer, king, etc.. But if I say that a human being is a leader, am I saying what a human being is? Since theists cannot even define what "God" is, any discussion or claims regarding 'God' is meaningless and invalid.

3. The message presupposes the historical accuracy of the gospels.

It is beyond the scope of this post to cover the details of this point but here are some key points to keep in mind.

A. The pattern that the character and life of Jesus follows is nothing new. Stories of men that walked on water, born of a virgin, etc.. preceded the Jesus story.

B. There is no contemporary historical evidence of the life and events of Jesus Christ. The gospels were recorded decades after Jesus' alleged death.

C. The old favorite argument that nobody will die for a lie knowing is a lie is blatantly false. There are plenty of documented cases of people dying for a lie knowing its a lie for a variety of possible reasons. Appealing to the fact that the apostles died for the faith is not sufficient evidence, even if we assumed that they knew that it was a lie.

4. From the perspective of an outsider, the gospel message is completely absurd.

Though this reason cannot stand alone, it cannot be discarded. From a human perspective, the gospel is barbaric and sadistic. If I have wronged someone, it is my responsibility to make ammends to that person. But what would it look like if some people offended me and instead of me expecting them to make ammends for their crimes, I get my only son and buture him to death and then say that those who wronged me just have to have faith in my act of sacrificing my son and I will forgive their evil deeds. It is absurd from the human's perspective.

5. Assuming that a Creator exists undermines the primary message of the gospel.

Christians claim that the gospel message is the greatest act of love from God. But if God caused the very problem which Christians claim that he is fixing through sending his Son to die then it is no longer an act of love. It is deceit and evil. If there is a sovereign designer, then everything regarding human beings would necessarily have to be determined by God. If it is God that designs the brain, our emotions, our character, our personality, our rationale for choices, our reflexes, our environment, our parents, etc, then it is God who is responsible for all the events that occur on this planet. If this is so, then this nullifies the gospel message.