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Analysis Of The Article ' On Being An Atheist '

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H.J. McCloskey is an author who expresses his belief in atheism through his work. In 1968, He published an article called, “On Being an Atheist”. His view of God and the Christian belief is well thought out and addressed, however, in this essay I will be responding to some of his atheistic views and will be attempting to respond to them from a theistic worldview approach.

In the article McCloskey, chooses to use the word “proof” instead of the word “theory”. By doing this he is making his argument sound more fact driven and reasonable. He is also in turn making Christianity and the belief that God exists sound more fictitious. However, though his argument sounds appealing we must remember that what he argues is based on facts and concepts
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His argument is if one justifies a cause then it would require a God who created the universe. His argument continues with the statement that even if there was a God, we have no reason to assume that He is all-perfect or all-knowing. However, many know that for one thing to happen something must have caused it. It is like a domino effect, they cannot be knocked down without someone push the first one over. McCloskey claims that the cosmological argument, “does not entitle us to postulate an all-powerful, all-perfect, uncaused cause” (McCloskey, 51).

Though McCloskey’s argument is well-thought out, his arguments outcome does not truly follow the rules of logic. His argument addresses that just because the earth and universe exist, doesn’t mean that anyone caused it to come to be. From this argument McCloskey seems to believe that some type of power from the universe created everything. McCloskey never states or explains where this power might have come from or how it in fact exists. This in itself creates a problem as he is unable to help solidify his argument. In conclusion to this, McCloskey states that due to the world containing evil and problem’s, if there was a creator he would be, “a malevolent powerful being or…a well-intentioned muddler” (McCloskey, 63) McCloskey makes another argument directed towards the Theological Argument. The Theological argument is directed towards intelligence; however there can be some
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