I Do Not Believe in Atheism

This is a response to a previous thread but I think it important enough to post as a main article.

I would say that many of us who are atheists would not view our position as a belief. Rather we would defend it as a fact. There are some atheists, I am sure, that simply believe there is no god. But if you ask them why, they will say, " I don't know it just does not seem like there is one." I might think of that as a belief. I am not certain. I believe it really is "unbelief." But we generally see "belief" as an demonstrated or proven posture. The term used by Christians, "believe (pitis)", is a stance in which there is trust in the object that is believed. If I say, "I believe in you", I am not making a claim of just your existence (which is really secondary and a given), I am stating that I trust in you as a person, car, wife, god, etc. When an atheist states she does not believe in god it is not a statement about "she does not trust god", it is about the existence and not relationship.

Someone who states that she does not believe in god but knows that god exits, is making a statement, "The god that exits is untrustworthy." She is saying, "I do not believe god." It is not when someone believes that "there is a god" which in turns brings about salvation. "Satan believes and trembles." It is when one believes in God ( trust relationship) that one gets to go to heaven. So the misconception, in my opinion, has been the lack of difference made in translating the Greek into English with sufficient meaning to supply variation when the context of its usage does not. It is also a misunderstanding from common English usage. Pistis is faith/belief in the New Testament. We use 'belief' as outlined above in two different senses. One is simply about existence and the other is about relationship.

I contend that when I state that I do not believe there is a god , I believe there is no god( as a concept) is not a belief statement like those of a believer but a statement of fact. Even I if knew there was a god but did not believe in him I would not have "belief." It is this sense in which the arguments go for the atheist. We strain over the gnat and swallow camels when it comes to words in movie narrative, music, games etc. Because we understand it unless we think about it too much. We de-construct an object or an act without reference to its context. But it is the context that gives function and specificity to the meaning.

SO TO ALL WHO WILL HEAR ME MY STATEMENT THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD IS NOT A BELIEF.... I am sure it's a fact.

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