George Smith - Atheism - The Case Against God, ATHEISM - Ateizm
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George H. Smith – ATHEISM: The Case Against God
ATHEISM:
The Case Against God
George H. Smith
VERSION 1.1 (JAN 2003) – Proofed and Formatted by <Bibliophile>.
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George H. Smith – ATHEISM: The Case Against God
Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Part One - Atheism And God ............................................................................................................................................. 6
I - The Scope of Atheism .............................................................................................................................................. 7
1. - The Myths of Atheism ....................................................................................................................................... 7
2. - The Meaning of Atheism.................................................................................................................................... 9
3. - Agnosticism ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
4. - The Varieties of Atheism ................................................................................................................................. 12
5. - Jacques Maritain and the Slander of Atheism .................................................................................................. 15
6. - What Atheism Is Not........................................................................................................................................ 16
7. - The Significance of Atheism............................................................................................................................ 18
8. - Theism on the Defense..................................................................................................................................... 19
II - The Concept of God .............................................................................................................................................. 21
1. - The Meaning of “God”..................................................................................................................................... 21
2. - Atheism and the Concept of God ..................................................................................................................... 26
III - The God of Christianity ....................................................................................................................................... 30
1. - An Escape from Agnosticism........................................................................................................................... 30
2. - Knowing the Christian God.............................................................................................................................. 32
3. - God and Intelligibility ...................................................................................................................................... 37
4. - God, Being and Existence ................................................................................................................................ 38
5. - The Powers of God........................................................................................................................................... 42
6. - God and Goodness ........................................................................................................................................... 45
7. - The Collapse Into Agnosticism ........................................................................................................................ 51
Part Two - Reason, Faith And Revelation........................................................................................................................ 54
IV - Reason Versus Faith ............................................................................................................................................ 55
1. - Clarifying the Issue .......................................................................................................................................... 55
2. - The Attack on Reason ...................................................................................................................................... 57
3. - The Nature of the Conflict ............................................................................................................................... 58
4. - Rejoinders and Arguments ............................................................................................................................... 62
5. - The Dilemma of Faith ...................................................................................................................................... 70
V - The Skepticism of Faith ........................................................................................................................................ 71
1. - Spheres of Influence......................................................................................................................................... 71
2. - Universal Skepticism ....................................................................................................................................... 74
3. - The Contextual Nature of Knowledge.............................................................................................................. 76
4. - Skepticism and the Primacy of Faith................................................................................................................ 79
5. - Skepticism and Sense Perception ..................................................................................................................... 83
VI - The Varieties of Faith .......................................................................................................................................... 91
1. - The Bible, Faith and Misology......................................................................................................................... 91
2. - Faith as Authoritative Trust.............................................................................................................................. 94
3. - Voluntarist Theories of Faith ......................................................................................................................... 100
4. - The End of Faith............................................................................................................................................. 104
VII. - Revelation........................................................................................................................................................ 106
1 - The Bible......................................................................................................................................................... 106
2 - Miracles........................................................................................................................................................... 115
Part Three - The Arguments For God ............................................................................................................................ 121
VIII. - Natural Theology ........................................................................................................................................... 122
1 - The Final Appeal............................................................................................................................................. 122
2 - The Conditions of Proof.................................................................................................................................. 123
3 - “God” as an Explanatory Concept................................................................................................................... 125
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George H. Smith – ATHEISM: The Case Against God
IX. - The Cosmological Arguments .......................................................................................................................... 130
1 - The First Cause Argument .............................................................................................................................. 130
2 - The Sustaining First Cause.............................................................................................................................. 134
3 - The Contingency Argument ............................................................................................................................ 137
4 - The Entropy Argument ................................................................................................................................... 139
X. - The Design Arguments ...................................................................................................................................... 142
1 - The Teleological Argument ............................................................................................................................ 142
2 - The Analogical Argument ............................................................................................................................... 144
3 - The Argument from Life ................................................................................................................................. 148
Part Four - God - The Practical Consequences .............................................................................................................. 151
XI. - Ethics, Rationality, and Religion ...................................................................................................................... 152
1 - Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 152
2 - The Science of Ethics...................................................................................................................................... 154
3 - Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics .................................................................................................................. 159
4 - Rational Morality ............................................................................................................................................ 160
XII. - The Sins of Christianity................................................................................................................................... 163
1 - Religious Morality .......................................................................................................................................... 163
2 - The Conflicting Virtues................................................................................................................................... 167
3 - The Ethics of Jesus.......................................................................................................................................... 171
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George H. Smith – ATHEISM: The Case Against God
Introduction
Does a god exist? This question has undoubtedly been asked, in one form or another, since man has
had the ability to communicate. Men have pondered the question, discussed it, argued it, and killed
over it. It appears to be a simple question calling for a simple answer, but its simplicity is
deceptive. Thousands of volumes have been written on the subject of a god, and the vast majority
have answered the question with a resounding “Yes!”
You are about to read a minority viewpoint.
This book is a presentation and defense of atheism. This is not a sympathetic examination or
interpretation of religious doctrines; it is a straightforward critique, philosophically and
psychologically, of the belief in a god, especially as manifested in Christianity.
The subtitle—
The Case Against God
—has a twofold meaning: first, it refers to the philosophical
case against the concept god; and, secondly, it refers to the psychological case against the belief in
a god. As a philosopher, I am continually amazed by the credence given to religious claims in the
intellectual community; and, as a human being, I am appalled by the psychological damage caused
by religious teachings—damage that often takes years to counteract.
Atheism, even in today’s “liberal” atmosphere, is still somewhat unacceptable.
Simply being an atheist may be acceptable—if, that is, one keeps it to oneself. What is frequently
considered inappropriate is to advertise this fact, or openly to attack religious doctrines. Thus, some
excellent critiques of theistic belief have been written by philosophers who, for reasons known best
to themselves, refuse to acknowledge that what they are advocating is, in fact, atheism. And we
also have the unfortunate spectacle of the philosopher who, after demolishing the idea of god
philosophically, goes on to assure his audience, with a gesture of glib modesty, that he has merely
presented his own opinion, and that he is not so presumptuous as to suggest that his listeners should
abandon their belief in god. Finally, there is the philosopher or psychologist who, while openly
admitting the irrationality of theistic belief, actually recommends it as a kind of therapeutic device
designed to give emotional aid and comfort to mankind—thus lending support to the myth that the
average man is emotionally incapable of facing facts.
It is my firm conviction that man has nothing to gain, emotionally or otherwise, by adhering to a
falsehood, regardless of how comfortable or sacred that falsehood may appear. Anyone who claims,
on the one hand, that he is concerned with human welfare, and who demands, on the other hand,
that man must suspend or renounce the use of his reason, is contradicting himself. There can be no
knowledge of what is good for man apart from knowledge of reality and human nature—and there
is no manner in which this knowledge can be acquired except through reason. To advocate
irrationality is to advocate that which is destructive to human life.
It is not my purpose to convert people to atheism; such efforts are usually futile. It is my purpose,
however, to demonstrate that the belief in god is irrational to the point of absurdity; and that this
irrationality, when manifested in specific religions such as Christianity, is extremely harmful. In
other words, I have attempted to remove the veneer of intellectual and moral respectability that
often enshrouds the notion of a god. If a person wishes to continue believing in a god, that is his
prerogative, but he can no longer excuse his belief in the name of reason and moral necessity.
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George H. Smith – ATHEISM: The Case Against God
Although this book is intended primarily for laymen, it is impossible to avoid some degree of
technicality due to the complexity of many religious doctrines. A writer cannot make an issue
simpler than it really is; all he can do—and what I have attempted to do—is to present the relevant
issues as succinctly and clearly as possible, discussing them in terms of their fundamentals, while
remaining fair to the various sides under consideration. It is also impossible, within the scope of
one book, to consider every argument ever presented in favor of theistic belief, or to answer every
objection that might be raised against atheism, so I have necessarily restricted this discussion to
those issues which I consider most important.
This book is divided into four major parts. In Part One, I discuss the nature of theism, atheism
and agnosticism, and I present the insurmountable problems and contradictions entailed by the
concept of god. In Part Two, I discuss the nature of reason, demonstrating its incompatibility with
faith and revelation. In Part Three, I consider the most significant attempts to demonstrate the
existence of a supernatural being through an appeal to reason, showing how each alleged proof fails
totally to make its case. In Part Four, I discuss the harmful effects of religion in general, and
Christianity in particular, upon morality and the attainment of man’s happiness and well-being on
earth.
My approach to atheism is eclectic in the sense that I draw from many different sources in
defense of various positions. In no instance, however, should it be assumed that my use of a source
implies an agreement with the atheistic position by that source. Similarly, my use of an author in
support of a particular position implies my agreement to that extent only, and in no case should
further agreement be assumed.
Also, it is necessary to mention that I employ the term “god” in two different ways. I use it with a
lower case “g” (god) to refer to the generic idea of a god, i.e., the general notion of a supernatural
being, apart from any specific characteristics. I use the term “God” (with an upper case “G”) to
refer specifically to the God of Christianity, along with its various attributes, such as omnipotence,
omniscience and so forth. This unusual method provides me with a simple means of indicating, in
any given context, whether I am referring to the idea of god in general or to the idea of the
Christian God in particular.
Finally, I wish to thank the many people who aided in the preparation of this book, who are
unfortunately too numerous to be listed individually. I wish, however, to express my appreciation
to two people who were especially instrumental in the writing of this book: Roy Childs, without
whom the first line would never have been written; and Sylvia Cross, my editor, without whom the
last line would never have been written.
George H. Smith
April 1973
Los Angeles
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