10 Reasons Why People Don't Believe In God

10 Reasons Why People Don't Believe in God

A previously similar post was 10 Reasons Why People Don't Go to Church, which sparked much readership on petebrookshaw.com. This post takes a different angle. Why do people not believe in God? Let's take this post to mean, 'Why do people not believe in a deity (in whatever form or character that deity has)?' What I am clumsily attempting to say, is that, this post is not about distinguising between the God the Christians follow, from Allah and the Hindu deities for example. That's another complex, interesting, debatable subject for another day. This post is about why some would prefer to believe in no God, than to believe in the existence of a God. 

I must admit the following. I am a follower of Jesus, with a paticular upbringing and viewpoint. This is not a scientific list, but more a discussion starter on why some may choose to not believe in God while others do. The ideas suggested, you may agree with and some may well disagree. That's ok! So here goes, 10 Reasons Why People Don't Believe in God: 

10 Reasons Why People Don't Believe in God

Reason 1 - Why people don't believe in God - Evolution provides a better explanation of 'Creation'.

I am not seeking to ignite the 'Creation' Vs 'Evolution' debate; there is no doubt plenty of material surrounding that discussion. While there are people who are Evolutionary Theists (that is a God created evolution as the process in which humanity evolved), many hold to the view that evolution in itself provides the explanation of life on earth. You could ask, since when does evolution actually describe how bacteria even came to exist? When you take evolution back right to its beginnings, you are still left with the question of whether that process was created, and if so, how and by whom?

Evolution does not provide a better explanation than creation because evolution is in a sense post-creation. To not believe in God because you believe in evolution is then nonsensical. It would make more sense to say you do not believe in God because you believe in the Big Bang (or atleast adhere to one of the many versions of the Big Bang).

Reason 2 - Why people don't believe in God - Agnosticism makes more sense.

Many choose to be agnostic, as they really cannot say, which way or the other, whether there is a God. Agnosticism according to dictionary.com is, 'an intellectual doctrine or attitude affirming the uncertainty of all claims to ultimate knowledge'. Agnostics are not naive to the complexity of the earth in which we live, but they cannot nail down the reasons for that complexity as concretly as religious people. In a sense, agnostics prefer to live with the tension of not knowing, than claiming to know something that they cannot prove.

Reason 3 - Why people don't believe in God - There is no proof of such a God.

Christian apologists would disagree strongly with such an assertion. William Lane Craig would bang on about in the inner witness of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God-followers. William Paley has written extensively on the complexity of nature and how it all points to a Creator (The teleological argument for the existence of God). Thomas Aquinas wrote about the cosmological argument for the existence of God.

Anyway, this is not a post to convince unbelievers to believe in the proof of God, as there is much that has been written to say that God does not exist. The question is, who is right? Either there is a God, or there is not. You cannot have half a creator. The onus lies on you to decide, based on the evidence, whether there is proof or not.

I believe there is.

Reason 4 - Why people don't believe in God - Just because.

You must admit, there are scores of people who don't believe in God; just because. There is no intellectual reason why they don't. Just because.

Reason 5 - Why people don't believe in God - The way it is represented

People have mis-represented God badly over the years. No doubt about that. The Christian God (Yahweh), through Jesus Christ, challenges followers to be on about loving their neighbours, forgiveness and living a holy life. Many Christians have misrepresented that message. Though lets get something clear. Many have represented Christianity, or the Christian faith rather, well. I have loads of friends today, who are trying their darnest to follow Jesus authentically, passionately and with integrity.

Here's the thing for me. If a teacher has a sexual relationship with a student, that teacher is appropriately punished. We do not then give up on the education system. Education is valuable and that teacher has misrepresented education. Why are we so quick to give up on 'believing in God' when someone misrepresents the faith they are meant to be following?

Can I say, it is just easy to knock religion and belief in God if you can find (which is not hard to do), someone who has lived contrary to its beliefs. Though, hear me out for a minute - If someone is absolutely dodgy, does that really change whether there is a God or not? No. The issue of personal or coporate integrity is still separate from nutting out whether there is a God or not.

Reason 6 - Why people don't believe in God - Their belief is merely an extension of their family upbringing

Quite often our religious viewpoints are merely a product of our upbringing. This is of course the same as our economic situation, our view on sexuality, our opinion on politics and the like. What I am challenging in this post, is to not simply let your belief or otherwise in the existence of God simply exist because 'that was the belief of my family.' Consider the topic yourself. Does creation point to a creator? Is evolution a reliable and valid explanation of creation?

Reason 7 - Why people don't believe in God - God does not Exist.

This is the atheist viewpoint (as opposed to agnosticism noted above). Accoring to an extensive 2010 survey from Brittanica, about 2-3% of the population hold to this view. The athiest may well say the onus of proof is on the deist to prove the existence of God. The converse argument is of course, the atheist cannot prove there is not a God. This is naturally a circular argument, that goes no where.

Even with all the philosophical and intellectual arguments for the existence of God, there is still an element of faith involved. This is not to say there are not great arguments for the existence of God, but that is to say that quite often arguments/premises are weighed up against each other, and one must have faith (to lean either way) towards an argument. I believe the 'universe seemed to know we where coming' argument (teleological argument) is one of the best arguments that leans towards believing in the existence of God, though you still must step out in faith to believe that premise (the converse is obviously true for the arguments for atheism).

Atheist - Faith is not a weakness.

Reason 8 - Why people don't believe in God - They can handle life without God

Dictionary.com defines believe as, 'to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so'. If someone does not have confidence in the God they believe in, then they may well be of the belief that they can handle life without God. For some, it is not that they don't believe in the existence of God, but that they do not believe in the omnipotence of God. Some would purport that they lack 'revelation' of the character of God. The Christian God for instance has many Scriptures scattered within its Bible of references to the idea that God would never leave or forsake them. The idea, is that God is not only 'up there in heaven' as some say(transcedent), but that God is close and immanent.

Handling life without God, fails to understand and believe the promises of God.

Reason 9 - Why people don't believe in God - World religions are inconsistent.

One may well mention the inconsistency within the belief systems of major world religions. That point is noted. World religions differ. Contrary to what some might say, Allah (Islam) differs from Yahweh (Christianity). Monotheistic religions differ greatly from Poly-theistic religions like Hinduism. Though to choose to not believe in the existence of God because of the relative inconsistency of beliefs seems nonsensical to me.

You cannot 'not believe' in the Big Bang theory for instance, simply because there are so many different scientific views on how the universe came in to existence. That is nonsensical. You must look at every viewpoint, and make an assertion based on the evidence. The same is with God. Whether a deity exists is the first question. Then the second question is, who is that deity? We are looking at the former question, while the argument listed here is looking at the latter. While the latter question is absolutely important to answer, you should not be disbelieving in God because of that question in and of itself. The nature and character of God is a whole other discussion.

Reason 10 - Why people don't believe in God - ???

Why not comment below and add your reason/s on why people do not believe in God. Maybe you are an atheist and have some fired up viewpoints on the topic. I think I have made my viewpoint clear, and you can find out more scattered within many of the posts on petebrookshaw.com.


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Keep Reading - 10 Reasons Why People Don't Go to Church

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Short Fiery Podcast - Don't Keep Your Faith Bottled Up!

This 2 minute Pod-cast will inspire you!! 

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We must not keep what God is doing within us, to ourselves. If we continually internalize the message of Jesus with never externalising it, then the Christian faith is on a big spiral downwards. Be inspired as you listen to the above short pod-cast.


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John 21:1-14 - Fish, Friends and Fellowship. Guest Blog: David Mackertich

There is something so special about people coming together to share in a meal and fellowship. The more that I have thought about it the more I have come to realise that it is such an important part of life.

Some of the best times of my life have been around a dinner table or a camp fire with friends and family.  You are always guaranteed to have a great laugh. There is just something about that atmosphere. Those that have experienced it might just know what I am talking about.

See, God created us to come together. We were not made to spend our whole lives in isolation from each other.

There is a story in the Bible that I want to share with you about fellowship, found in John 21:1-14. This story begins after Jesus’ death and resurrection. After Jesus had died and risen again, he stayed upon the earth for 40 days to show the disciples that he had conquered death and had in fact been resurrected from the dead.

When we look at the biblical account of John 21:1-14 we see Peter telling a few of the disciples, John being one of them, that he is going fishing. The disciples said that they wanted to join him. During the course of the night they had not caught any fish.

John 21:5 tells us early that morning Jesus stands on the shore and calls out to them and asked them if they have caught any fish and they reply they hadn’t. Now, they do not know it was Jesus, as they had not recognised him (John 21:4). Jesus tells them to then cast the net over the other side of the boat. As they do so they begin to pull in many, many fish (John 21:6). The Bible records there were 153 fish (John 21:11). 

Even though there were so many fish the net still did not break. As they are pulling up the fish, John, the disciple whom Jesus loves, has a revelation that this is Jesus, and he tells Peter. Peter puts on outer garment and jumps out of the boat. When Peter and the disciples had all arrived ashore, Jesus tells them to come and bring some of their fish over so that he may cook it and that they may all have breakfast together (John 21:12).

We see here that Jesus is inviting the disciples to come and share a meal (fellowship). Jesus is the host of the meal. This is a very significant thing in Eastern culture. The coming together to share in a meal is more than just the eating of the meal.

The offering of the meal itself is an offering of peace and protection to the guest. When you sit down for a meal, no matter if you are a stranger or even an enemy, this meal is a peace offering. During the time of the meal, the guest is under the protection of the host themselves. If at any time during this meal someone was to try to harm the guest in any way it is customary for the host to protect the guest, even if it is with their own life.

The host is also to be the one to serve the guest and make sure that they have all that they need. There is much shame on a person if they are not great hosts.

The guest of the meal is the one that is honoured and served during this time of fellowship.

How was this offering to share a meal so significant to the disciples? Here we see that they were honoured guests of Jesus. They were the ones being invited by Jesus to share in a meal. He was the host and they were the guests. They are the ones to be served and protected.

Jesus desired to do all of this even after his death and resurrection. This is Jesus showing that after being glorified by God he still desires to serve the disciples, protect them and to have an intimate relationship with them.

If you were to be invited to share in a meal with a King, you would definitely be served. But the King would have servants to do that for you. What King would actually serve their guests himself? The King is the one to be served. But Jesus is different; he is unlike any other King. In the Kingdom of God the greatest is to be a servant to all. This is Jesus, a servant to all. Philippians 2:7 picks up on this, when it says, ‘he made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant.’

Jesus calls us all to come and fellowship with him. Jesus is offering us peace and protection with God, through a relationship with him.

This peace was given to us when Jesus gave his life on the cross and payed for our sin; He died for us so that we could live in this freedom with him. It is so important take up this invitation to come into fellowship with Jesus and find peace with God.

There are a number of ways in which we can fellowship with Jesus in our lives.

Personal Prayer

Jesus has called for us to go and spend time with him by being (focusing) in his presence and talking to Him. I have seen in my life that when I spend time with God in prayer I feel a great sense of peace. I have found that this sense of peace lasts throughout the day and week.

Community Prayer

Jesus also calls us to pray with other people within our church. This is prayer for one another and prayer for the church itself. This is a wonderful time that we can come together to strengthen each other and the church. I have been encouraged so often through this time. I have had prophecy over my life and have been able to help strengthen others.

Fellowship in Community

There is also Fellowship within the church community. This is lived out primarily through small groups in many churches. At Salvos3064, we call them Connect Groups, where we have dinner together and then a time of bible study on a fortnightly basis. God speaks to people through this time. For me, this is a great time to learn more about God through others in the church. God speaks through the people in my group to tell me things that I did not know or things I needed to hear. This is a great time of fellowship with God and with each other.

Worship

Jesus calls us to not only follow him but to worship the Father through Him. This is a time where we can honour him with thanksgiving. For me, worshipping God makes me come alive, I feel as though I connect with Him the most during this time.

Will you notice Jesus calling out to you?

Will you be like John and recognise Jesus?

Jesus brings peace and protection. This counter-cultural as we live in a world where there are so many people living without peace and don’t feel protected.

Jesus is calling you to draw near to him and have even greater fellowship.

You may enjoy dinner with the family, hanging out with mates, and having a good laugh; though nothing beats having that close fellowship with Jesus. You can deepen that fellowship with him and with those around you, through personal prayer, community prayer, fellowship with others and worship.

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Guest Blogger: David (Macca) Mackertich is a candidate in The Salvation Army, hoping to enter Salvation Army Officer Ministry in the near future. He currently serves in ministry at Salvos3064 (Craigieburn, VIC).

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See Pete's Blog that unpacks John 20:19-23 - Another appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples.

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