Selected Essays And Book Reviews

In his paper, entitled On Being An Atheist, Mr. H. L. McCloskey argued against Christianity and tried to show that atheism is a more reasonable and more comfortable belief. He attacked three theistic proofs, pointed out the existence of evil in the world that God created, and mentioned the irrationality and foolishness of faith. He said that there are many examples relative to creation that can be explained away by evolution, but he did not identify any of those examples. Mr. McCloskey talked a lot about the existence of evil, but in so doing, he did not look at the total picture of evil in our universe. He also did not consider biblical teachings. When one examines all the evidence, Christianity comes out far ahead of any of the other beliefs and theories.

In his paper, entitled On Being An Atheist, Mr. H. L. McCloskey argued against Christianity and tried to show that atheism is a more reasonable and more comfortable belief. To justify his conclusions, he emphasized the following main points:

In this paper, each of these five points shall be addressed. However, his three points that talk about the existence of evil and its consequences, which are numbers (2), (4), and (5) above, will be grouped together and discussed in Section III below.

Mr. McCloskey said that the cosmological proof, the teleological proof, and the argument from design are seriously flawed and that they, at best, only show the existence of a weak or mean God. His criticisms of each proof are given below along with this Christian's response.

A. The Cosmological Proof. Concerning the cosmological proof, Mr. McCloskey argued that believing in an uncaused first cause is, itself, a problem because nothing about our current universe forces one to such a conclusion. Next, he indicated that the existence of an uncaused first cause does not mean that that first cause was either perfect or all-powerful, and finally, he used the existence of evil as his reasoning for rejecting a perfect, all-powerful God.

To respond to Mr. McCloskey, one can present the three premises of the Kalam Cosmological argument. First, either the universe had a beginning, or it did not. Second, either the beginning had a cause, or it did not. Third, either that cause was personal, or it was not. The best scientific evidence supports the existence of a finite earth and seriously challenges the validity of anything close to macroevolution [1]. If this data can be trusted, then it means that the universe had a beginning, that the beginning was caused, and that the cause was personal.

Next, Mr. McCloskey argued that the existence of evil means that God cannot be perfect and all-powerful. However, this remark about evil does not disprove the cosmological argument. It only identifies evil as an entity in the universe that God created.

B. The Teleological Proof and the Argument From Design. Concerning each of these proofs for the existence of God, Mr. McCloskey rejected both by suggesting that mankind does not yet know everything that there is to know about creation. He pointed out that many examples of creation, which would have once been identified as design and purpose, are now easily explained away by evolution.

To respond to this objection, one should mention that Mr. McCloskey did not identify any of the examples that are now so easily resolved by evolution. He also did not volunteer whether those examples would have been explained away by macroevolution or microevolution. If they could have been explained away by macroevolution, then one can easily counter that macroevolution has as many and probably many more holes as any of the above proofs for the existence of God. If, on the other hand, he was suggesting that these examples could have been explained away by microevolution, then he has not said anything to show that God does not exist. If progressive creationism is true, then God exists and microevolution is also very possibly true [2].

Mr. McCloskey stated that believing in God is irrational and foolish because one can only believe in Him through His alleged works and those works show that He is not perfect. Unfortunately, in this part of his paper, Mr. McCloskey has continued to base his remarks on what he said earlier concerning the three proofs for the existence of God. Because those remarks failed to show that God is not perfect and not all-powerful, he does not have sufficient grounds here, either, to say that having faith is irrational and foolish. He has arrived at his conclusions based on statements that he cannot really defend.

Throughout his paper, Mr. McCloskey mentioned that the existence of a perfect, all-powerful God and the existence of evil are mutually exclusive. He indicated that the existence of evil causes grave consequences for those who believe in the existence of God, and he said that Christians cannot find genuine comfort and security in a God that permits or even causes so much evil. However, in making these remarks, Mr. McCloskey failed to look at the total picture of evil in our universe. He also failed to consider biblical teachings.

A. God Loves Us And Lets Us Make Choices. Theologians have done their homework over the years by investigating the Canon and by verifying the integrity of Scriptures. Because of that, Christians can accept the Old and New Testaments as the literal, inerrant, inspired Word of God. Consequently, to understand a major source of the evil in the universe, one can simply examine the Bible. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." II Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

These two verses provide an important insight into God's nature, and they also explain a big part of the problem of evil. John 3:16 says that God provided a way such that no one has to perish. II Peter 3:9 says that God does not want anyone to perish. However, despite God's provision and despite His desires, people still perish because they choose to not establish a saving relationship with Him through Jesus. What these verses teach is that God loves humanity enough to give each of us a way to avoid eternal doom, but He also loves us enough to not make any of us accept that provision. In the matter of evil, the same loving God lets people choose whether they will do good or evil. A loving God will let someone shoot someone else with a gun, and all the time, maintain His same steadfast love for both the assailant and the victim. He will let an individual hurt another by slanderous remarks, on the one hand, while letting a burgler break into someone’s house and steal their belongings, on the other. But, while God does allow evil to exist in our present world, He is not the Author of that evil. He could control our actions. He could even make us repent and be saved. But because He loves us, He lets us make many decisions for ourselves, even when those decisions are wrong and hurtful to ourselves and others.

B. The Devil Is Our Adversary. Another verse that identifies a source of evil in our world is I Peter 5:8, which says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" In short, the Bible teaches that we have an adversary and that our adversary is constantly trying to make trouble for all of those who are trusting in the Lord. When a Christian stumbles, Satan rejoices. As a side note, the devil is also trying to cause trouble for those who have not come to Christ. When a non-Christian is turned from the Lord, because of the existence of evil in the world for example, then the devil has accomplished his purpose.

C. We Have A Comforter. God does not often intervene into human affairs. For that reason, we many times suffer at the hands of ourselves and others and also through the devices of the devil. In addition, there are many natural disasters, like earthquakes, tornados, and hurricanes, that create pain, too. Does God’s choice to not intervene mean that He is either weak or evil? No. It means that He loves us and wants us to have the freedom to reject Him, even if that freedom sometimes leads to evil consequences. Do we suffer because of the evil situations that we experience? Of course we do, but we are not without our Comforter. John 14:16-18 says, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." When we are experiencing difficulties in this world, we are not alone. Mr. McCloskey was definitely not correct when he assumed that the Christian is left alone and comfortless to ponder all the trials and tribulations of this life.

Mr. McCloskey mentioned a Christian colleague who said that most Christians come to religion based on reasons other than the theistic proofs that are offered for the existence of God. I would heartily agree with that colleague. I became a Christian a number of years ago when I was confronted by my sins and realized that I could not resolve them for myself. At the time, I did not know anything about the theistic proofs for the existence of God, and I did not know anything about the indwelling Holy Spirit, about God’s love, or even about all that was entailed by Jesus’ death on the cross. For me, this Christian journey has occurred over a lot of years and been an educational adventure.

In his paper, Mr. McCloskey attacked three theistic proofs, pointed out the existence of evil in the world that God created, and mentioned the irrationality and foolishness of faith. What he did not consider is the vast amount of evidence that would show him to be dead wrong. He did not consider the reliability of the Old and New Testaments, nor did he deal with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. He did not say anything about the empty tomb, nor about the fact that all but one of the disciples gave up their lives rather than admit that the resurrection was a hoax.

My faith in Christ is not based on any of the theistic proofs. It is not based on or affected by the obvious evil in the world, and it is not hindered by those who would call me irrational and foolish. I believe in God, and I know that Jesus died for my sins and arose from His grave. For me, the evidence to believe these things, plus to accept the Bible as God’s inerrant, inspired Word, is far, far greater than any evidence to the contrary.

My opinion is that Mr. McCloskey based most of his conclusions on the existence of evil in the world, but he did not tell the whole story about evil. When one examines all the evidence, Christianity comes out far ahead of any of the other beliefs and theories.

1. James P. Moreland, Scaling The Secular City (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), pp. 38 and 71.

2. Ibid, pp. 215-216.

Denton, Michael. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Chevy Chase, MD: Adler & Adler, Publishers, Inc., 1986.

Moreland, James P. Scaling The Secular City. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987.

				Tom of Spotswood

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