Psalm 10:4 “In
his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room
for God.”
Of course, Psychology is literally the study of the “Soul”,
which is the mind, will and emotion of man, and precisely where “psychological
prejudice” can enter the equation of the God debate. French
scientist-philosopher Blasé Pascal defined man as a paradox, stating that man
finds himself between the poles of infinity and nothingness. Man is acutely
aware of his condition as he experiences the threat of nothingness. For God has
put eternity in the heart of man; existence after this life, not cease to
exist. Man’s grandeur lies in the ability to contemplate his own existence and
a better future existence than he presently enjoys. Thoughts of “something more
than this life” and/or “some higher Power” abound. But this side of heaven, he
is never able to actualize the possibilities he contemplates. It is precisely
this ability to contemplate a better existence that lies behind most
psychological theories for the origin of religion. The notion of a heaven where
there will be no death, no pain, no suffering, no tears, and no darkness can be
enormously appealing. In this study of “Theism” and “Atheism”, Sproul points
out that this undeniable appeal has been the rallying point for many opponents
of religious beliefs. Here are some of these attacks.
John 3:3 Jesus
declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again.”
Atheist Sigmund Freud wrestled with the question, “If there
is no God, why is there religion?” Freud looked not to text books on religion
but to the complexities of the human psyche for the answer. Starting from the
view of “No God” and “no Sin”, Freud concluded that restrictions imposed on
individuals by civilization as critical factors in the emergence of religion.
Without societal restrictions, man is left in the brutal state of nature where
only the strongest can survive. Freud stated, “In the face of nature, society is born. That these forces (quakes,
deluges, diseases, and death, etc.) nature rises up against us, majestic,
cruel, inexorable; she brings to our mind once more our weakness and
helplessness, which we thought to escape through the work of civilization.” His
answer is the projection of religious character on nature itself, in the
humanization of nature, saying “If everything in nature there are Beings around
us of a kind that we know in our own society, then we can deal by psychical
means with our senseless anxiety.” Persons can be deal with in a way that
impersonal forces cannot. Freud traces the development of religion from a
simple animism to a complex monotheism that culminates in belief in a
benevolent Providence who manifests father-like characteristics.
Atheist Ludwig Feuerbach saw theology being as nothing more
than anthropology. Starting from the view of “No God” and “no Sin”, Feuerbach
analysis was that man has religion because he has self-conscientiousness and
the ability to think abstractly and project his abstractions to ideal form. He
believed that God is the projection of “Absolute Personality”. Feuerbach believes
that God is important to man as He provides a means to reach immortality,
therefore death would be the catalyst for religion. He felt that the
resurrection of Christ was the realized wish of man to immediate certainty of
his personal continuity of existence.”
That is, Feuerbach thinks that man created gods in man’s image, because
our gods are mere mental projections of ourselves; that man’s deities express
his egoism. HE felt that the consciousness of God was self-consciousness,
knowledge of God was self-knowledge. He claimed that by one’s God you know the
man, and by the man his God; that the two are identical because Feuerbach could
not accept a Creator and Lord.
Atheist Karl Marx claimed that religion has its roots in
egoism and fantasy. Starting from the view of “No God” and “no Sin”, Marx believed
that man seeks a superman who mirrors himself. That religion creates the
fantasy that provides man with comfort, with an opium for the masses. Marx saw
religious documents (Holy Scriptures, Church Creeds and laws, etc.) as human
fabrications invented by the ruling class for the purpose of economic
exploitation. That the poor worker is told by the “religious” ruler that
poverty is a virtue and the gods offered as the bearers of future bliss; that
the land beyond the grave is promised to the productive and obedient worker as
a future reward in heaven. So Marx, who knew no God, saw religion being due to
the devious imagination of a particular segment of mankind only.
Atheist Friedrich
Nietzsche saw religion as having its roots in man’s fear of facing the
struggles of, and burdens of existence, being locked in combat, resulting from
mutual lust for power. Starting from the view of “No God” and “no Sin”, saw
religions, particularly Christianity, as invented and perpetrated by weak men
who could not face a universe where there are in fact no ultimate goals, no
ultimate truths, and no ultimate meaning. Nietzsche saw Christianity as a
negation and devaluation of all that is natural; the moral enemy of natural
ethics. To Nietzsche, religion endured because weak men need it.
Atheist Bertand Russell based religion upon fear; partly on
the fear of the unknown, and partly on the wish to feel that you have a kind of
elder brother who will stand with you. Starting from the view of “No God” and “no
Sin”, thought that science had forced its way step by step against the
Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the
old precepts, stating: “ Science can teach us, and I think our hearts can teach
us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer invent allies in
the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a
fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all
these centuries have made it.” Science
was Russell’s weapon against religion.
Isaiah 28:15 You
boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made
an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for
we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
These are their philosophical and psychological claims to
the origin of man’s religion, but let’s look next post at the problem of these
claims in proving the non-existence of God. Have a blessed Sunday!
In Christ, Brian
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