Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidius  Quote: |
The debate between atheism versus Christianity is not a matter of reason versus faith. As Cornelius Van Til points out in the quote above, the debate is between a worldview in which the non-rational is ultimate (atheism) and a worldview in which the rational is ultimate (Christianity). There is a formal similarity between the two worldviews. Both include an appeal to faith, mystery and spirituality; but these similar words hide a substantial difference between the two—that the atheist is expressing belief in an ultimately non-rational universe when he uses these words, and the Christian is expressing belief in an ultimately rational universe.
| Could someone explain this to me? He keeps saying that Atheism is an appeal to an ultimate irrationality, but doesn't say how (that I can tell). How is the non-rational ultimate for the Atheist? |
Because the ultimate presuppositions (the foundational assumptions or presuppositions) are arbitrary and unprovable even by their own standard of reason. They can construct elaborate worldviews and theories, use logic to prove many conclusions, but ultimately their worldview is true not because they can prove it, but because they say "that's just the way it is." In other words, the most basic assumptions (universal logic, universal natural laws, moral judgments) are presuppositions for which they cannot account for rationally.
The Christian on the other hand, builds his entire worldview on the revelation of God. We know that logic, inductive reasons, deductive reason, sensory data, etc. are reliable because God created us with the capacity to understand his revelation so long as we submit our minds to him. There are things we cannot understand because of our finite limitations, but everything is known exhaustively by God alone and in him all things consist.
The atheist (and any unbelieving system) builds his worldview on 3 main principles; ultimate chance, brute facts (facts existing without interpretation or meaning), and autonomous (independent) human reason. His belief in chance undermines any confidence he can have in induction. His belief in brute facts undermines any actual purpose or meaning in the universe (or himself). And his belief in autonomous reason undermines any possibility of reliable knowledge since he as a finite being does not have the capacity to know all things at all times, which is required in order to make any universal truth claims.
So ultimately, the atheist worldview is irrational. It is founded upon assumptions which undermine his own worldview, and assumptions which he cannot prove or understand.
The Christian worldview is ultimately rational because God provides the unity, meaning, and purpose to it all. There is no such thing as chance. God created and sustains every molecule and directs everything to accomplish his own glory. There are no brute or meaningless facts because God upholds and directs every fact of the universe for his own glory. The only reason our minds can comprehend anything at all is because God endowed us with the ability to understand his creation and revelation and we can only understand something correctly by recognizing that God sustains the world in a consistent manner and using our reasoning and observational faculties in a manner consistent with how he created us, in submission to him.
