Evidence · Case 09 · Atheism
The logic of claims and defaults
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
God exists and God does not exist are both statements about reality, and both can be argued well or badly. Redefining atheism as a mere absence treats one side as a default, but there is no neutral default about the deepest question there is. Agnosticism is the position of withholding judgment, and it too can be examined.
Sources
On how atheism is defined and where the burden of proof falls.
Objections & responses
- You still cannot prove a universal negative, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The believer is claiming an invisible being, so the burden is theirs.
Believers are glad to give reasons, which is the point of a case like this. But two things. You can argue for a negative; atheists do it with the problem of evil. And extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence is itself a contested principle that cuts both ways: that a finely tuned, law-governed, conscious-life-bearing universe came from nothing with no cause is not an ordinary claim either. The fair rule is that everyone brings evidence.