Atheists Don't Exist

(This first appeared in The Wheaton Record on November 12th, 2020)

I know, hot take, especially since our culture demands us to regard each person’s self-identification as legitimate. Yet what are we to do when God calls “atheism” a lie? Many in our generation obviously identify as atheists, so in that sense, yes, they exist. And it might sound offensive to deny that atheists are correct about themselves. But what about the Trinity-denying and sola-fide-denying members of the Mormon religion? They identify themselves as Christians. But do Christians take their word for it? Almost never. This is how we need to approach atheism as well.

Paul writes that unbelievers “by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). The word “suppress” is vital here. Consider how Christians condemn the actions of the Nazis; we never try to justify their actions by saying, “Well, they didn’t actually know that the Jewish people were truly human persons.” No. We know that God has given everyone a conscience (Romans 2:15) and that therefore the Nazi’s have no excuse for their actions, even if they are committed in a kind of ignorance (Acts 3:17-19). The reason we can condemn their sins is because they actually knew the truth but suppressed it.

Before I was a believer, I would suppress the truth about the danger of drinking too much in order to have a blast with my friends. Every day we suppress the truth about things we don’t want to face. We know we shouldn’t explode in anger at our roommates… but there’s that split second where we try and justify it to ourselves, or just silence our consciences and allow our emotions to take control. But what is the truth that ‘atheists’ are suppressing?

Paul elaborates: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20). This is called God’s General Revelation, in contrast to Special Revelation, which is the Bible. We also see General Revelation described in Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

We know from these verses that it is evident to all people on the planet that God exists. The Creation itself is like a preacher revealing truth about God that voids the whole world’s excuses for idolatrous atheism. Those who say they don’t have enough evidence to believe in God don’t realize they have nothing BUT evidence of God’s existence. They have more than enough evidence. In fact, notions of evidence, logic, truth, would all be absurd without God, whose existence and revelation to us is the necessary “precondition for the intelligibility of knowledge,” to borrow from Dr. Greg Bahnsen.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. “Although they knew God,” he continues in Romans 1:21-22, “they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” Their atheism is immoral. There is a real hatred and animosity fueling it that leads one to suppress the truth that is evident from the world around us and from our own hearts (John 3:30, Romans 8:7).

So the next time you hear someone say they don’t have enough evidence for God, don’t believe them! But you should recognize that giving them more evidence isn’t going to save them. While General Revelation is sufficient to condemn them, it is insufficient to save them. They need to hear the gospel for that—so, give ‘em the gospel!