I am in the middle of reading C.S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity". I plan to sum up my thoughts an post a review on virtual bookshelf. Two very interesting points have arisen so far.
The author mentions that atheism assumes that life had no designer, no single being or mind behind everything we see. Usually, atheists subscribe to creation theory along the lines of the big bang and evolution. First of all, these are not "new" ideas at all. This type of idea has been around since time began. There is simply "new" yet often faulty evidence being cited for these Godless ideas. Atheism then assumes that complex things can be made from chance events occurring over long periods of time. They have to repeat over and over ad infinitum that the earth has been around a very very long time or the theory can be stopped at the start. Yet, carbon dating extrapolation is no more scientific than palm readings.
I like Clive Staples' offensive stance on this. As a former atheist, he can speak from a position of knowing some of the rationale. He sums his viewpoint up by saying that atheism, is just too simple of an explanation. Isn't life more complicated even though we often desire some polly-anna oversimplification to explain how life came to be? I agree.
Another important point he makes is that many people hold to previous paths of thinking and tradition to keep up appearances, to keep a job or career on track, or even keep a worldview like atheism or secular humanism. Yet, if one is heading in the wrong direction, it's the person who reverses direction first that is really ahead. Again, yes, I have often been on a path that was the wrong direction. It's better to turn now than continue the path to "keep up appearances." Turn now, before it is too late.
