The Atheist’s Explanation

First Published: 30th of October, 2021 by Patrick Carpen.

I was talking to an old acquaintance a few nights ago – someone whom I had known from living in the street where I grew up, and somehow, the conversation bumped into the topic of God. I’m not sure how exactly this happened, but he had called me from the USA and we were chatting about all sorts of things. Perhaps I told him that something wouldn’t be right in the sight of God – then he offered his explanation. “God does not exist,” he says. “There is no God,” he reiterated it. And from over the phone, it was almost as though I could “hear” his eyes widen and his eyebrow raise slightly in deep conviction of his “belief.”

The atheist then began to explain his reasons for not believing in God. “There is no God,” he said. “Look at that street where you grew up, for example. Look how beautiful it was when you were a child. And now, about 30 years later, it is still beautiful – but in a different way. And about twenty years before you were born, before your parents came to live there, the street was just as beautiful – but in a different way. And that’s how life is – it is always evolving – always rising and falling like the ocean waves. The rivers are always flowing and emptying. As old waters empties, new ones come to take its place. In the same way, look at us how we were once young, and now we are adults, and children are now rising up to take our place. It’s the ever evolving, ever present, cycle of life. And look how beautiful these kids are, just as we were. And then they will grow older and new ones will come.”

I must say that the atheist sounded a bit like the biblical King Solomon when he wrote certain parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, but not exactly like him. And further, King Solomon did believe in God, although it appears that towards the end of his life, he wasn’t sure which God he believed in.

“Religion,” the atheist continued, “is like someone wrote a book – and convinced people, and got followers. And look at me. I’m now about 40 years old, and I’m here living a good life, drinking about 40 beers every Friday night, and I work for a fat salary – more than I can use. And if I wanted, I too can write a book and convince people, and say, in the next 20 years – by the time I’m 60, look how many followers I can get!”

The atheist spoke with deep conviction as though he truly “believed” what he was saying. And I must say that I was tempted to believe the atheists’ explanation. Maybe I would have…that is, if I hadn’t myself experienced the power of God firsthand.