{"id":54892,"date":"2021-02-13T14:08:12","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T18:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=54892"},"modified":"2021-02-13T14:37:48","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T18:37:48","slug":"reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html","title":{"rendered":"Reply to the Nonsense of “Atheists Have No Worldview”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

I recently observed:<\/p>\n

Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself<\/em>\u00a0is, alas, not a formulated\u00a0position<\/em>, but only the\u00a0absence<\/em>\u00a0of a position (belief in God). It\u2019s not a worldview, etc. I wish I had a dime for every time I\u2019ve heard\u00a0that<\/em>. It\u2019s not true, but we\u00a0hear<\/em>\u00a0it all the time. (2-2-21<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lo and behold, on the very next day, Dr. Richard C. Miller<\/a>, put up on the notorious Debunking Christianity<\/em> website (which just banned me again<\/em> for merely noting that I had refuted one of the big shots there: Dr. David Madison, 44 times<\/a>, with no reply back) the article,\u00a0The \u201cAtheist\u201d Misnomer.<\/a> We shall examine his arguments. His words will be in blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Atheist. Let us problematize the term just for a moment, shall we? In classical Greek etymology, the alpha prefix denoted sheer negation, precisely equivalent to the Latin \u201cnon.\u201d \u201cTheos,\u201d of course, meant \u201cdeity\u201d or \u201cgod,\u201d and the Greek suffix \u201c-ismos\u201d became applied in Latin and, as such, pulled up into early English, conveying \u201cadherence toward\u201d or \u201cbelief in.\u201d So, an atheist is one who is not a theist, that is, one who does not hold a belief in the existence of any deity.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one doubts that that is the literal meaning<\/em> of the word. It doesn\u2019t follow, however, that the atheist believes nothing<\/em> in a positive sense, or that he or she possesses no worldview or sets of beliefs. They certainly do<\/em> (as virtually all sentient human beings do, whether they acknowledge it or not). Someone wisely said: \u201cthe most dangerous philosophy is the unacknowledged one.\u201d<\/p>\n

We often find in the false rhetoric of Christian apologists and of Christian pseudo-intellectuals the claim that atheism is itself a belief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Technically, \u201cnon-belief in God\u201d is not a belief, but a rejection of another; I (and we) agree. However<\/strong> <\/em>(and it\u2019s a huge<\/em> \u201chowever\u201d), atheists do highly tend to hold to certain beliefs<\/em>, whether they will acknowledge them or not. And these beliefs do in fact add up to a particular worldview held by the vast majority of atheists. Briefly put, most of them are philosophical materialists<\/a>, empiricists<\/a>, positivists<\/a>, methodological naturalists<\/a>, enraptured with science as supposedly the sole valid epistemology<\/a>: making it essentially their religion (\u201cscientism\u201d<\/a>): all of which are objectively identifiable positions, that can be discussed and either embraced or dismissed.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not so much that we are saying that there is an \u201catheist worldview\u201d per se<\/em>. Rather, we make the observation (from long personal experience<\/em>, if one is an apologist like myself) that every self-described \u201catheist\u201d will overwhelmingly tend to possess a particular worldview (whatever they call it or don\u2019t call it) that is an amalgam of many specific, identifiable things that themselves are worldviews or philosophies or ways of life.<\/p>\n

Whatever one thinks of the above analysis, it remains the case that atheists call themselves atheists, and that it is highly likely that they will hold to one or more the (usually clustered) belief-systems outlined above. And they will often be blind to the fact that they are doing so, and will talk in terms of their simply following \u201cscience\u201d and\/or \u201creason\u201d (with the implication that the non-atheist usually does not do either or is fundamentally irrational or \u201cnaive\u201d or \u201cgullible\u201d simply because they reject atheism). Dr. Miller reflects this annoying and condescending attitude as well, when he writes:<\/p>\n

We may as well call ourselves the adrogonists or the alephrechaunists, inasmuch as the very identity \u201catheist\u201d tacitly legitimates the patently ridiculous, as though a genuine rational debate exists between two opposing sides. To carry on with non-belief in fairies, leprechauns, ghouls, gods, angels, genies, or phantoms is merely to be reasonable, not to stake a position in any legitimate debate to be waged in society. The moon is not made of green cheese, and the dismissal of such a \u201cMother-Goose\u201d characterization of reality does not earn one the tag \u201ca-green-cheese-moonist,\u201d but merely one who is \u201creasonable.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For, belief in mythology is and always has been a conscious, willful indulgence, not a compelling, evidence-driven conclusion; the latter we instead properly term \u201cknowledge.\u201d So, when it comes to the matter of deities, in a more honest world we \u201catheists\u201d instead would be known merely as the reasonable (in the most literal sense of the term), that is, those compelled by a mental construction of reality determined rather exclusively by evidence and reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I cannot count how many times and contexts I have come across this ridiculous claim, a claim akin to smokers alleging that non-smokers are also themselves smokers.. Ummm.. huh? No. By very fundamental definition, atheism entails no belief.\u00a0Indeed, the term affirms nothing other than the negation. By comparison, in the phrase \u201cThe man is not a bingo player,\u201d we affirm nothing about the man, except what he is not!<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, the word<\/em> does this, but I\u2019m not discussing a mere word; I\u2019m talking about what atheists do in fact believe, and asserting that atheists hold to beliefs and belief-systems (usually quite predictable<\/em> ones at that). In other words: atheists are just as likely to hold worldviews as anyone else<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In like fashion, the appellation \u201catheist\u201d stamped upon us has served as a rhetorical misnomer,\u00a0the binary recessive determined by exclusion vis-a-vis the dominant group, to follow the parlance of Jacques Derrida.\u00a0Where else do people play such a game with language? Atheism is a non-group, a namespace only by negation.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is downright comical; as if atheists don\u2019t massively choose to call themselves<\/em> this name? They could reject it if they like. They\u2019re free to do so. No one is forcing them at gunpoint to use this name for themselves. They could use \u201cagnostic\u201d (and many do, but it is a less certain and less dogmatic outlook), or they could use a word like \u201chumanist\u201d (which a number of them also do). But the fact remains that lots and lots of atheists show no reversion to the term atheist<\/em>. Quite the contrary, they proudly embrace<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

For heaven\u2019s sake, on the very website where this essay was published, if one looks at the top, we see John Loftus\u2019 books in a photograph: one of which is Why I Became an Atheist<\/em> (which I have critiqued ten times<\/a>: with total silence back from Jittery John: he of explosive disposition on the few occasions where we actually interacted).<\/p>\n

One can peruse book titles with<\/a> \u201catheism\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in them at Amazon. The late Christopher Hitchens (a very famous and influential atheist indeed) edited a book entitled,\u00a0The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever<\/em><\/a>. Loudmouthed anti-theist atheist Dan Barker authored the modestly titled volume,\u00a0<\/span>Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America\u2019s Leading Atheists<\/em><\/a>. I could note a guy like \u201cDagoodS\u201d whom I have met in person and have debated many times<\/a>. He used to be very active also at Debunking Christianity<\/em>. He exhibits no aversion to the term \u201catheist\u201d at all, and write a post there called \u201c<\/span>Why is an atheist an atheist?\u201d<\/a> (1-11-07), in which he opined:<\/p>\n

But ask an atheist why they are an atheist, and most times the person is so ready to respond to why the atheist is incorrect in her reply; they literally cannot wait for the poor person to stop talking. . . .<\/p>\n

But get into this field, and I have people everywhere almost\u00a0giddy<\/b>\u00a0with the joy of informing me why I am an atheist, regardless of what I say. Yes, sirree! . . .<\/p>\n

You want to know why an atheist is an atheist. Ask him. . . .<\/p>\n

See, people become atheists for as many and varied reasons as people do just about anything else. Yes, some do because of an emotional reaction. Some are born in atheist homes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One could easily go on and on, with scores of further examples, but it quickly becomes ridiculous and an insult to everyone\u2019s intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, here are some of the many things that atheists en masse<\/em> believe:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
1) that matter exists.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n
2) that he or she exists.<\/div>\n
\n
*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
3) that matter can be observed according to more or less predictable scientific laws (uniformitarianism).<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
4) that we can trust our senses to analyze such observations and what they mean (empiricism).<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
5) in the correctness of mathematics, which starts from axioms as well.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
6) in the laws of logic, in order to even communicate (not to mention argue) anything with any meaning at all.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
7) in presupposing that certain things are absolutely true.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
8) that matter has the inherent \u201cGod-like\u201d \/ in effect \u201comnipotent\u201d capability of organizing itself, evolving, inexorably developing into all that we observe in the entire universe. There is no God or even any sort of immaterial spirit that did or could do this, so it has to fall back onto matter. The belief in this without any reason whatsoever to do so is what I have written at length about as the de facto religion of \u201catomism.\u201d<\/a><\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
9) that the universe began in a Big Bang (for who knows what reason).<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
\n

10) that the universe created itself out of nothing (for who knows what reason), but it\u2019s deemed more rational than the Christian believing that God is an eternal spirit, Who created the universe.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

11) that science is the only method by which we can objectively determine facts and truth (extreme empiricism + scientism).
\n*<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

I\u2019m sure I could come up with many more things if I sat and thought about it a while, but this is more than sufficient to demonstrate my point: atheists (as people) have worldviews, even though the word atheism<\/em> itself merely means \u201crejecting a belief in God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And that\u2019s what we lowly, despised apologists are saying. If it\u2019s disagreed with, then I\u2019m more than happy to interact and defend this paper. Have at it!<\/p>\n

***<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Photo credit:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0geralt\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0(1-23-21)<\/span> [Pixabay<\/a> \/\u00a0Pixabay License<\/a>]<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a formulated\u00a0position, but only the\u00a0absence\u00a0of a position (belief in God). It\u2019s not a worldview, etc. I wish I had a dime for every time I\u2019ve heard\u00a0that. It\u2019s not true, but we\u00a0hear\u00a0it all the time. (2-2-21) Lo and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":54893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[258,13106,13103,5870,13109,237,436,238,189,496,190,191,188,185,477,11360,442,13100,298,187],"class_list":["post-54892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism-agnosticism","tag-atheism","tag-atheism-isnt-a-worldview","tag-atheist-philosophy","tag-atheist-worldview","tag-atheists-have-no-worldview","tag-axioms","tag-empiricism","tag-faith","tag-fideism","tag-humanism","tag-idolatry","tag-idols","tag-irrational-presuppositions","tag-irrationality","tag-materialism","tag-nihilism","tag-positivism","tag-religion-of-science","tag-scientism","tag-unproven-axioms"],"yoast_head":"\nReply to the Nonsense of "Atheists Have No Worldview" Reply to the Nonsense of "Atheists Have No Worldview"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that "atheists have no worldview." They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reply to the Nonsense of "Atheists Have No Worldview" Reply to the Nonsense of "Atheists Have No Worldview"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that "atheists have no worldview." They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-13T18:08:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-13T18:37:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/02\/Atomism.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html\",\"name\":\"Reply to the Nonsense of \\\"Atheists Have No Worldview\\\" Reply to the Nonsense of \\\"Atheists Have No Worldview\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-13T18:08:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-13T18:37:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that \\\"atheists have no worldview.\\\" They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reply to the Nonsense of “Atheists Have No Worldview”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/\",\"name\":\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\",\"description\":\"Catholic biblical apologetics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\",\"name\":\"Dave Armstrong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Armstrong\"},\"description\":\"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\" Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\"","description":"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that \"atheists have no worldview.\" They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\" Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\"","og_description":"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that \"atheists have no worldview.\" They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2021-02-13T18:08:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-13T18:37:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/02\/Atomism.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html","name":"Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\" Reply to the Nonsense of \"Atheists Have No Worldview\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-13T18:08:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-13T18:37:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"I recently observed: Our beloved atheist critics are constantly informing us lowly, ignorant Christians that atheism\u00a0itself\u00a0is, alas, not a It's not true that an atheist believes nothing in a positive sense, or that \"atheists have no worldview.\" They certainly do: as virtually all human beings do, whether acknowledged or not.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/02\/reply-to-the-nonsense-of-atheists-have-no-worldview.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reply to the Nonsense of “Atheists Have No Worldview”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/","name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","description":"Catholic biblical apologetics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e","name":"Dave Armstrong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Armstrong"},"description":"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}