Student: “If God didn’t exist, we’d invent Him anyway. And we did. What do you say to that?”
Dr. Scott Hahn: “I say, if God did exist, we’d invent atheism anyway. And we did.”
Dr. Hahn narrates this exchange with his student in his book, Reasons to Believe
. He tells us that the student’s argument was originally made by philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. For Feuerbach, God and religion were invented to fulfill man’s desires and needs (read more about this on parts 2 and 3).
Dr. Hahn proceeded to remind his student that Christians believe in, and worship a God who is not only Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, but is also All-Holy and commands man to be perfectly holy as well; a God who knows our most innermost thoughts and desires, and can see clearly everything that we do even in the darkest of places (“There’s no place to run and hide from Him, no place where we might secretly indulge a favorite vice”). Dr. Hahn’s point is that if man had really tried to invent a god, we’d probably invent one who is more “congenial to our whims”. Perhaps one who’d give Moses a single commandment instead of ten? Or how about one who would not include “thou shalt not commit adultery” on the list? In other words, if man had really tried to invent a god, we’d surely never invent one such as the Christian God.
Dr. Scott Hahn: “I say, if God did exist, we’d invent atheism anyway. And we did.”
Dr. Hahn narrates this exchange with his student in his book, Reasons to Believe
. He tells us that the student’s argument was originally made by philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. For Feuerbach, God and religion were invented to fulfill man’s desires and needs (read more about this on parts 2 and 3).Dr. Hahn proceeded to remind his student that Christians believe in, and worship a God who is not only Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, but is also All-Holy and commands man to be perfectly holy as well; a God who knows our most innermost thoughts and desires, and can see clearly everything that we do even in the darkest of places (“There’s no place to run and hide from Him, no place where we might secretly indulge a favorite vice”). Dr. Hahn’s point is that if man had really tried to invent a god, we’d probably invent one who is more “congenial to our whims”. Perhaps one who’d give Moses a single commandment instead of ten? Or how about one who would not include “thou shalt not commit adultery” on the list? In other words, if man had really tried to invent a god, we’d surely never invent one such as the Christian God.
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