I cannot, however, accept you view of, "objectivity." It would mean a person could not be objective without believing in God and what the Bible teaches. I happen to believe a person has to be capable of objective thought and to reason objectively before he can believe in God or understand the Bible.
I'm not questioning your view, or making an argument, just pointing out our basic difference on this point.
Athiests always have one basic problem, I think we can agree on. It is impossible for them to admit that if this life is all there is, at some point in their life, they are going to have to ask the question, what's the point, and they won't have an answer. Those who admit it usually become exhistentialist, and settle for their philosophy of despair. It is what Paul meant by "having no hope, and [being] without God in the world."
Hank
On a practical level, I think we would be for the very same thing, I agree.
I cannot, however, accept you view of, "objectivity." It would mean a person could not be objective without believing in God and what the Bible teaches. I happen to believe a person has to be capable of objective thought and to reason objectively before he can believe in God or understand the Bible.
I'm not questioning your view, or making an argument, just pointing out our basic difference on this point.
Athiests always have one basic problem, I think we can agree on. It is impossible for them to admit that if this life is all there is, at some point in their life, they are going to have to ask the question, what's the point, and they won't have an answer. Those who admit it usually become exhistentialist, and settle for their philosophy of despair. It is what Paul meant by "having no hope, and [being] without God in the world."
I generally agree with you more than you probably think. It is possible for one not to believe in God and still view things in ways close to as God does. And men as a whole, whether they believe in God or not, rarely tend to be COMPLETELY objective anyway. I have probably met some atheists who are more objective than some theists!
I think your assessment that honest atheists must eventually, if they are being completely reasonable and objective, come to atheistic existentialism. The mathematician Blaise Pascal made very good use of this in his Pensees (I'd strongly suggest him to anyone looking for a good thought provoking read... I find his arguments in favor of theism to be the most convincing).
Thanks for the interesting dialog. :)