Speaking as a theist

Ironically, the homeground advantage provided by the world which the atheist claims is the only source of knowledge is his weakness.  With the physical universe as the exclusive foundation, he is limited by what he knows of it as he will admit to nothing which does not fit with that and so denies the possibility of knowledge beyond what he can prove with the means at his disposal. He will, though, state, that people of the past had wrong ideas about, for example, physical phenomena, but does not apply that possibility to the system of knowledge in which he believes. He approaches the world with the underlying assumption that there is no explanation which is not physical: tunnel vision accepts only that which is commensurate with its own view.  Having said this, a theist must understand that he is not here to contend against others.  His foundation is a belief: it cannot be proved.  What is required is an explanation for its being held. 

The theist differs from the atheist in that he does not take himself to be the sole author of knowledge.  The atheist puts down a marker which says there is no non-physical reason for existence.  By doing such, he stands at the doorway of life and decides that what he sees now and in time in time will come to see is all there is to know: life is there to analyse.  He is the means of its understanding and its meaning, a meaning which holds no purpose but to exist.  But the theist stands at the doorway of life and believes that what he sees and hears has more meaning than its existence: an animate spirit created matter and has purpose in so doing.  Because of this animating principle, all things have the will to live.  For most creatures this will is mere survival: for human beings it is to find the reason for this world being as it is.

Many theists will consider that the atheistic point of view must stumble when it comes to what are seen as the building blocks of a godless universe, some chemical soup and gaseous matter giving rise to life.  But who made the soup?  Who made the gases? These questions the theist thinks cannot be answered convincingly by an atheist. His response, though, may be that we are always seeing things in our own image: just because it requires a mind to create things here, it does not mean that all matter that exists was formed by a conscious force.  In his view, life could have been formed without consciousness as we know it: it just happened.

With such a viewpoint, the absence of a god means that what is seen as right or wrong, good and evil, just and unjust are human constructs which change over time and have no authority to them but the humanity which fashions them at the time.  As a theist, this is not acceptable because he understands there to be an innate sense of right and wrong within human beings, there because they are made in the image of God, and inextricably tied to the fact that people can choose to act accordingly. This moral sense exists within themselves, independent of the conditions they are born within; it is this which points to there being a purpose and meaning to life and a moral God who created life with the purpose that its creation would come to know and worship it. 

Framing the door of this theistic belief is a sense of unique identity, a sense of morality and a consciousness of choice.  With a knowledge of what is right and wrong comes with the knowledge that he can choose accord-ingly.  A belief in God sees Him as the source of good and that goodness allows every individual the freedom to choose how to act; the act of choosing is the path towards or away from God.  Neither choice will prove His existence or lack of it: following God is a walk of faith as God is not of this world where proofs can be found, but of a spiritual world from which humankind has come as His creation.

That life is a continuous process of choices is evident in that we are fashioned with the consciousness of such.  But there is more that a theist may claim as grounds for his belief.  Considering this planet with its history and its present, its diversity and its changes, the claim that human beings, with their imperfections, limitations and faults, can see themselves as equipped to know all there is to know about life and its origin is unrealistic. The idea that our minds have the potential to grasp all there is to be known of the physical universe is incongruent with the evidence of faulty understandings.  Basing our knowledge of the origins of existence on the manifestations of life in this universe is a one-dimensional approach, made more absurd when that physical analysis is held as proof that no god exists.  If we are seeing only a minute fraction of all there is to be seen in this physical universe, can it then be claimed that a spiritual realm does not exist?

The claim that there is no god does allow an atheist to feel confident in tracking his way in life.  Dispensing with what can be considered spiritual, he can run an operating system according to his likes and dislikes, his priorities and goals, and set about life with the idea that it is his to make as enjoyable and satisfying as possible.  What he needs to do is counter the possible obstacles in his path towards this desired lifestyle. 

Such a view is a realistic way of going about life and some will live this way and fulfil it perhaps.  Closing the shutters on the existence of a power beyond one’s own, and using oneself and the present circumstances as the sole resources through which these goals are to be met may, though, come short when things do not work out according to plan. What needs to be considered is not the solace of some higher power to which one then turns, but the recognition that the self-driven lifestyle can set itself up for problems with the assumption that there is nothing beyond this world which may influence life. If such an approach to life automatically and defensively denies the possibility that some things are not meant to happen, it may aggravate the situation.

As a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. I also believe that we are made in the image of God and that divine goodness works through us. That other beliefs exist and in certain respects and practices run counter to my own is a fact I accept.  My contention is that God exists and my faith believes that He was revealed through the Old Testament and fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

My present life is where the discovery of God has taken and continues to take place. Attempting to follow a spiritual path in this material life is a challenge: my advantage is that my spirit is continuously aware of what I see being not all there is to be seen; my disadvantage is that my physical self seeks satisfaction solely in what it sees and desires.  Because I am so familiar with and good friends with my body, it is easier to meet these desires.  My spiritual self is more of a stranger, encouraging me to depend less on physical comforts and wants and walk more into the unknown, in the faith that there lies the home from which I have come and to which I shall return.