In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
"You shall have no other gods before[1] me.” (Exodus 20:3)
Yesterday,
I did a little debating with an atheist. His argument had three basic points:
He believes in one
fewer god than I do,
People are
basically good,
The differences
between us were “just really philosophical.”
I’ll
quickly note that my response to people being basically good because (he said)
most of us lead normal lives and aren’t murderer or rapists focused on the
definition of good as meaning not committing murder or rape is too narrow, and
that psychological studies are showing how quickly and easily people do
evil things, and how often people lie. And my response to the notion of “just
really philosophical” was to note that how we see the world and what we believe
is far more significant than our skin color. So dismissing philosophical
differences is naïve.
But
the greater part of our discussion focused on the issue of gods. Again, I suggested
that his definition was carefully narrow. I said that a god is that which has
authority in our lives and to which we turn for help. A god doesn’t have to be
an independent being. It can be an idea or collection of ideas, a statue,
money, fame, power, etc. I said that atheists are either mistaken or dishonest
when they say they have no god, because they consider themselves, science, or
something else as the authority in their lives.
He
asked about why I didn’t worship Vishnu, Odin, Ares, Marduk, or Pikkiwocki
instead of Yahweh. My answer was that not all gods are equal. Most of those
listed didn’t involve themselves in human affairs much, and I know of know
historical record of someone who interacted with any of them. Odin, Ares, and Marduk
are not described as having created the universe or us, and thus they can’t be
the ultimate authority. They seem to be a poor choice, but poorer still is
making a god of oneself. Unfortunately, that’s the trend in society. We never got
to the question of the judgment of the gods, or of what they demand in
connection with salvation, or the fulfillment of prophecy, but it was fun.
I’m
not telling you all of this in order to pat myself on the back for what a good
debater I am. The issues deserve consideration. Why do we choose Jehovah over
Jupiter, Marduk, Odin, or Vishnu? What do we treat as a god in our lives, even
if we wouldn’t call it a “god.” I have no doubt that Yahweh is superior in
every way to all those other gods – even all of them put together. But do I
live that way? Which is really more authoritative in my life, His Word or my
word? Just a little to think about for the weekend.
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