I’ll give defining those words a try, but I cannot confirm that you will be satisfied with my definitions.
Atheist - Someone who does not think that God exists
God - That which atheists do not think exist
Exist - That which atheists do not think God exhibits
But seriously, I will try to give it a go.
God - A transcendent deity who created the universe and involves itself in the universe (still a very ambiguous term, sorry)
Exist - something that could have an a effect on everything else that exists
Atheist - Someone who does not believe that God exists — Georgios Bakalis
Do atheists actively not want God to exist? — Georgios Bakalis
"God does not exist. He is being-itself beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue God exists is to deny Him. It is as atheistic to affirm God as it is to deny Him. God is being-itself, not a being." ~Paul Tillich, theologian-philosopherOf course, I am glad God exists ... — Georgios Bakalis
Do atheists actively not want God to exist? I am aware that many atheists come to their conclusion because they believe God is impossible and other reasons. However, is there ever an element of not wanting God to exists? — Georgios Bakalis
"God does not exist. He is being-itself beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue God exists is to deny Him. It is as atheistic to affirm God as it is to deny Him. God is being-itself, not a being." ~Paul Tillich, theologian-philosopher — 180 Proof
I think it’s often both. Atheists think that there is no good reasons to think god exists but many also recognise how awful it would be if god actually did exist, especially if various horrifying content of the bible were true as well. — DingoJones
My local parish priest says the same thing - God does not exist, that lowly status belongs only to things of the world. God as Tillich's the 'ground of being' fades from my mind the more I consider it. — Tom Storm
I personally don't think the idea of a God as described by theism makes enough coherent sense to be thought of as more than a human construct. — Tom Storm
This, actually, can be due to the fact also, that theists are a somewhat incapable bunch. — god must be atheist
Excellent bad things do happen, — Pfhorrest
I suppose it does. The God of the Old and New Testaments, Qur’an and many others differ greatly, and yet the atheist supposedly believes in none of them. Because of this, I reckon the atheist would need to account more generally, if that makes sense. — Georgios Bakalis
Do atheists actively not want God to exist? — Georgios Bakalis
Hi, I am a theist and I have a question for atheists. I hope this does not cause too much turmoil. Do atheists actively not want God to exist? I am aware that many atheists come to their conclusion because they believe God is impossible and other reasons. However, is there ever an element of not wanting God to exists? I hope this makes sense. — Georgios Bakalis
Would need to?Because of this, I reckon the atheist would need to account more generally, if that makes sense. — Georgios Bakalis
Nowadays, given all these aids that effectively dumb us down, we would be well-advised to check our spellchecker. Which just goes to show....the more things change, the more they stay the same. — Mww
It would be awesome if an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good being existed, because then nothing bad would ever happen. — Pfhorrest
"God does not exist. He is being-itself beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue God exists is to deny Him. It is as atheistic to affirm God as it is to deny Him. God is being-itself, not a being." ~Paul Tillich, theologian-philosopher — 180 Proof
The soul's deeper parts can only be reached through its surface. In this way the eternal forms, that mathematics and philosophy and the other sciences make us acquainted with will, by slow percolation, gradually reach the very core of one's being, and will come to influence our lives; and this they will do, not because they involve truths of merely vital importance, but because they [are] ideal and eternal verities.
Even without God, the idea of a natural sympathy between the deepest truths of nature and the deepest layers of the human mind, which can be exploited to allow gradual development of a truer and truer conception of reality, makes us more at home in the universe than is secularly comfortable. My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind. Darwin enabled modern secular culture to heave a great collective sigh of relief, by apparently providing a way to eliminate purpose, meaning, and design as fundamental features of the world. The thought that the relation between mind and the world is something fundamental makes many people in this day and age nervous. I believe this is one manifestation of a fear of religion which has large and often pernicious consequences for modern intellectual life.
In speaking of the fear of religion, I don't mean to refer to the entirely reasonable hostility toward certain established religions and religious institutions, in virtue of their objectionable moral doctrines, social policies, and political influence. Nor am I referring to the association of many religious beliefs with superstition and the acceptance of evident empirical falsehoods. I am talking about something much deeper - namely, the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself. I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally, hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that.
So this is not the theistic "conception of God" in e.g. Abrahamic religions?The conception of 'God' as any kind of super-director, intelligent designer, or cosmic potentate, which is how he's most often depicted by current atheism, is a 'straw god' argument ... — Wayfarer
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then He is not omnipotent.
Is He able, but not willing?
Then He is malevolent.
Is He both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is He neither able nor willing?
Then why call Him God?
It would be awesome if an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good being existed, because then nothing bad would ever happen. — Pfhorrest
I'd be interested to know which Biblical or other religious texts validate this claim. — Wayfarer
So this is not the theistic "conception of God" in e.g. Abrahamic religions? — 180 Proof
And if there was something with all those omni-properties, that would logically entail that nothing bad would ever happen — Pfhorrest
Only Socrates knows. (IIRC it's a daimon, not a theos ... and, therefore, not an epicurean concern.)So is that complaint of the Epicureans directed at whatever deity Socrates did believe in? — Wayfarer
As Pascal noted: this suggests "the god of philosophy" and not "the God of Abraham"; it's the latter (deity type) that ancient as well as modern "atheism" concerns itself. No one, to my knowledge, has ever lived, sacrificed, sworn, persecuted, killed or died in the name of "the god of philosophy", but only, maybe, to suppress it (e.g. Socrates' "deity"?)But I don’t think that’s what classical theism really believes (and, neither do I).
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