Discussing Christianity

Atheism Vs. TheismHeretical Vs. Orthodox

Fiction Vs. RealityBy Robert Young

Disclaimers

• I myself am an Agnostic Atheist. This means I don’t believe in a god, but I also do not claim to know the truth about it either. I am open to changing my mind.

• Don’t take my word as fact. I am not a spiritual adviser and I do not know everything.

• I am trying to be as objective as possible here by attempting to leave out my personal biases.

• My goal here is to have a friendly discussion about a big topic in most peoples’ lives.

Theism (Belief of a god)

• Christianity will be used for this discussion.• Uses the Bible as it’s standard for Christian

followers.• Many different types of Christianity exist, they

are called Denominations.• Believes in a god that created our universe.

Arguments for Theism

• The universe is so complex, an omnipotent being must have created it.

• Many historical accounts speak of Jesus.• The Bible matches up historically with other

documents, making it a bit more credible as a historical source.

• Christianity gives peoples’ lives a purpose.

Arguments against Theism

• How is a Christian god different than Greek or Roman gods?

• The Bible is not proof god exists.• Religion has been the cause of much of the

war and suffering in this world.• If god were real, why does he watch those

who he supposedly loves die everyday.• There is no physical proof that god exists.

Atheism (The lack of belief in a god)

• Many forms and degrees of Atheism.• Atheism is not a religion, it is a lack of religion.• Atheism is not always on purpose.• Atheists do not believe in sin, as sin is biblical.• Do not believe in any sort of deity.

Variations of Atheism and Theism

Arguments against Atheism

• If you are a Theist and are wrong, you will simply die. However, if you are wrong as an Atheist, you will spend eternity in hell.

• Where do you get your morals from if you believe in no god?

• Without god, what is the point of life? (Causes Nihilist point of view) (1)

Arguments for Atheism

• Religion was simply a way to explain things humans didn’t understand before science could understand them. (Sun worship, etc.)

• There is no physical evidence of a god existing; only an ancient book that could have been altered by anyone in the last 2,000 years.

• It should not be up to Atheists to disprove god, rather Theists should have evidence for their claims.

My thoughts

• I want the truth, I will not believe in any sort of god unless there is substantial evidence that it exists.

• Used to be a Christian, spent 16 years praying and never got a response back.

• There are 41,000+ denominations of Christianity alone. How could I pick only one of them and believe in it with no evidence? (2)

• The Bible promotes slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46), kidnapping , murder, rape (Judges 21:10-24)(3), misogyny (I Timothy 2:11-14) and human sacrifice (Deuteronomy 13:13-19). I cannot with good conscience believe anything this book says.

The End• If anyone wants to have a discussion about

religion, talk to me about it.

• I hope you enjoyed my presentation!

Works Cited• 1 - Benedict, Pope. "Shameless Popery: Three Arguments Against Atheism

from Pope Benedict." Shameless Popery: Three Arguments Against Atheism from Pope Benedict. N.p., 18 July 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2012/07/three-arguments-against-atheism-from.html>.

• 2 - "List of Christian Denominations." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations>.

• 3 - "Slavery in the Bible." Slavery in the Bible. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.evilbible.com/Slavery.htm>.

• 4 - NLT Study Bible. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2008. Print.• 5 - "Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

<http://images.google.com/>.