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Evolution didn't come up as a theory until Darwin

That is simply not true.

Atheism is not dependent on any knowledge of science whatsoever, just a lack of belief in gods.

I don't believe in gods either and I'm not an atheist. But ontologically speaking, either the universe is eternal or it isn't. It is either the result of Intelligent purpose or it isn't. If it is not eternal then it had a beginning and then the question is, what is the sufficient cause of it? There are only a few possiblities. What choice other than some materialist explantion does a good atheist have to try to account for the existence of the universe?

Someone might be a practical atheist and may never have given the issue a thought, but I'm referring to the problem itself, not anyone's lack of thought about it.

Cordially,

That is simply not true.

You are simply wrong. I assumed we would all understand that I meant the "Theory of Evolution" as initally proposed by Darwin by "Evolution". Excuse me for assuming too much thinking on your part. At any rate, it really doesn't matter who proposed it or when, because there will always have been atheists before that point. How do you explain that?

I don't believe in gods either and I'm not an atheist.

Huh. I had assumed you were Christian which I assumed meant that you believed in a god. I guess we've all been doing too much assuming today.

But ontologically speaking, either the universe is eternal or it isn't.

Sure. But that doesn't mean from your perspective that either you're right or the atheists are right. Thankfully, Jack Chick's version of the world is not representative of reality. You realize how many other religions there are out there, right?

What choice other than some materialist explantion does a good atheist have to try to account for the existence of the universe?

"Some materialist explanation"? By definition, an atheist would only accept "some materialistic explanation". Darwin's TOE is not the only materialistic explanation that could ever be proposed. You could have thought that the universe had "some materialistic explanation" long before Darwin. You just wouldn't have known the mechanism.