Are Babies Atheists?

Are we all born atheists?

One of the most common topics in discussion between Christians and atheists is the question of what atheism actually is.

For a long time, the word has been defined as the view that there is no God–i.e., the claim “God does not exist.”

More recently, some atheists have begun to define it differently.

According to them, atheism is simply a lack of belief in the existence of God. On this view, a person would be an atheist if he thought there was no God, thought it unlikely that there is a God, or didn’t know if there is a God.

Simply not agreeing with the claim “There is a God” would make you an atheist.

Some atheists have claimed that this is the natural state of humanity. On this view, we all start out as atheists and we have to learn belief in God.

In other words: Babies are atheists.

Are they right?

 

What’s the Attraction?

I understand why the atheists who make this claim would be attracted to it. At least, I understand why I would find it attractive if I were an atheist:

  1. It can be plausibly claimed that babies do not have a belief in God, which makes one of the premises of the argument seem true.
  2. If every position other than outright assertion of God’s existence falls under my banner, my position would seem larger and more popular.
  3. I could claim atheism as mankind’s natural state, thus creating an implicit argument for it. Being in accord with human nature is good, right?
  4. I could claim atheism as the default human belief, and thus relieve me of the burden of proof in arguing with others. I could then claim that the burden of proof is on those who want to believe in God. Until I’m satisfied by their arguments, I’m entitled to act on the assumption that God does not exist.

But consider this . . .

KEEP READING.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

3 thoughts on “Are Babies Atheists?”

    2. Page 1: ” Science proves the Bible wrong. ” Why? I guess because they say so. (Hint, dug: No Catholic is required to believe in a literal 6 24-hour days of creation. You might try reading a little so you don’t embarrass yourself by revealing you don’t know what you’re talking about.)

      “Parts of the Bible were removed because of contradictions”. Name them(because the producers of the video sure didn’t). Tell us who made these changes and when(because the producers of the video sure didn’t).

      And that’s just page one of the video!

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