Summary Of On Being An Atheist By H. J Mccloskey
H.J. McCloskey, in his article, “On Being an Atheist,” presents a series of arguments to defend and justify his atheist beliefs. He debates arguments for God’s existence including the cosmological argument and the teleological argument; stating that these arguments are false and argues that without “proof,” the idea of God should be rejected entirely. He is critical of the arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil to be a major concern and reason why one should not believe in the existence of God. Ultimately, his main objection to the idea of God is the evil in the world and how a perfect, all-knowing creator would allow evil in the world to occur (McCloskey 63). McCloskey scrutinizes specific claims made by those who support
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In Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig argues: “If life ends at the grave, then it makes no difference whether one has lived as a Stalin or a saint. Since one’s destiny is ultimately unrelated to one’s behavior, you may as well live as you please” (74). He argues that existence without God has no reason and result in death. Craig is arguing the idea that morality exists because of God, rather than the malevolence of His existence. I could not agree with his stance more, without God mankind is “doomed” (Craig 72). Ultimately, without a God to define morality and help man discern right from wrong, we have no value or purpose. So, for McCloskey to conclude that atheism is comforting is troubling because he is referring to comfort in the since of evils occurring, placing blame on God for morally evil acts and accidents (67). Whereas, Craig presents the counter argument that discusses how life is meaningful if the God of the Bible does exist, but if He doesn’t then “life is futile” (Craig 86). Craig goes on to say that life without God lacks purpose. He specifically states: “If there is no God, then our life is not fundamentally different from that of a dog” (Craig 76). God created man to glorify Him and mankind is the highpoint of His creation. If we are simply the result of a non-guided evolutionary process, then we lack any real significance or purpose. Therefore, everything we will do or have done would ultimately contribute to a meaningless race of organisms and be eliminated in the
In Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig argues: “If life ends at the grave, then it makes no difference whether one has lived as a Stalin or a saint. Since one’s destiny is ultimately unrelated to one’s behavior, you may as well live as you please” (74). He argues that existence without God has no reason and result in death. Craig is arguing the idea that morality exists because of God, rather than the malevolence of His existence. I could not agree with his stance more, without God mankind is “doomed” (Craig 72). Ultimately, without a God to define morality and help man discern right from wrong, we have no value or purpose. So, for McCloskey to conclude that atheism is comforting is troubling because he is referring to comfort in the since of evils occurring, placing blame on God for morally evil acts and accidents (67). Whereas, Craig presents the counter argument that discusses how life is meaningful if the God of the Bible does exist, but if He doesn’t then “life is futile” (Craig 86). Craig goes on to say that life without God lacks purpose. He specifically states: “If there is no God, then our life is not fundamentally different from that of a dog” (Craig 76). God created man to glorify Him and mankind is the highpoint of His creation. If we are simply the result of a non-guided evolutionary process, then we lack any real significance or purpose. Therefore, everything we will do or have done would ultimately contribute to a meaningless race of organisms and be eliminated in the