# Atheism > Claims that come up in conversation about Atheism, with a short answer and the texts to open. Page: https://apologetics.wiki/common-arguments/atheism Hub: https://apologetics.wiki/common-arguments Shelf: https://apologetics.wiki/atheism ## God ### God does not exist, or the public evidence does not justify believing that God exists. What you will hear. Christians say God is the one on whom everything that exists depends. Romans 1:20 says what may be known of God is seen through what has been made. Texts: [Romans 1:20](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/romans/1/20), [Psalm 19:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/19/1), [American Atheists, What is an atheist?](https://atheists.org/what-is-an-atheist/) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/god/does-god-exist) ### Atheism is only the lack of belief in gods. It is not a religion, and it is not the claim that no God exists. What you will hear. American Atheists and Atheist Alliance International define it that way, and they also say some atheists do claim that no gods exist. Christians confess that Jesus is God. Texts: [American Atheists, What is an atheist?](https://atheists.org/what-is-an-atheist/), [Atheist Alliance International, What is atheism?](https://atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism/), [John 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1/1) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/atheism/what-do-atheists-believe) ### There are no good reasons to believe in gods, and suffering counts against the God Christians describe. What you will hear. Atheist Alliance International says the reason is the lack of good reasons. Scripture already records the protest against suffering. Christians answer from what has been made, the cross, and the resurrection. Texts: [Atheist Alliance International, What is atheism?](https://atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism/), [Romans 1:20](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/romans/1/20), [Psalm 13](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/13) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/atheism/what-do-atheists-argue-against-god) ### If God created everything, someone had to create God. What you will hear. Christians say God did not begin. Psalm 90:2 says from everlasting to everlasting he is God, and John 1:3 says all things were made by the Word. Texts: [Psalm 90:2](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/90/2), [Isaiah 43:10](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/43/10), [John 1:1–3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/god/who-created-god) ### Antitheism is just another word for atheism. What you will hear. Atheist organizations say atheism is the lack of belief in gods. The Stanford Encyclopedia says an antitheist, in one common use, hopes that no God exists, and that antitheism is not a variety of atheism. Jesus is God. Texts: [John 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1/1), [Psalm 14:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/14/1), [Stanford Encyclopedia, Atheism and Agnosticism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/atheism/antitheism-vs-atheism) ## Jesus and History ### The New Testament was written hundreds of years after Jesus, so it cannot be history. What you will hear. Paul writes while people he names are still alive, Acts leaves Paul alive in Rome, and a fragment of John was copied in the second century. Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp already use the letters and the Gospel. Texts: [1 Corinthians 15:3–8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-corinthians/15), [Acts 28:30](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/28/30), [John Rylands Greek P 457](https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-GREEK-P-00457/1) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/when-was-the-new-testament-written) ### Jesus of Nazareth never existed. The Gospels are legends written long after the fact. What you will hear. Paul names James the Lord’s brother, Tacitus reports an execution under Pilate, and Josephus mentions that same James. The open question is the resurrection, not the man. Texts: [1 Corinthians 15:3–4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-corinthians/15), [Galatians 1:19](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/galatians/1/19), [Tacitus, Annals 15.44](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=15:chapter=44) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/did-jesus-exist) ### Matthew, Mark, and Luke are anonymous books, written too late to know who composed them. What you will hear. The three do not open with the author’s name. Papias says Mark wrote Peter’s preaching, and that Matthew wrote the oracles in Hebrew. Irenaeus names Luke as Paul’s companion. The Muratorian fragment says Luke did not see the Lord in the flesh. Texts: [Luke 1:1–4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/1), [Papias, in Eusebius](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm), [Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-the-gospels) ### The Gospel of John is a late community product, not the work of the apostle. What you will hear. John 21:24 says the beloved disciple wrote these things. Irenaeus names John, who leaned on Jesus’ breast, publishing at Ephesus. Eusebius infers a second John from Papias. The Manchester fragment of John is a second-century copy, not a signature. Texts: [John 21:24](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/21/24), [John 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1/1), [Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-the-gospel-of-john) ### Acts is an anonymous second volume, written to agree with Paul after the fact. What you will hear. Acts 1:1 calls Luke’s Gospel the former treatise to Theophilus. The Muratorian fragment says Luke wrote Acts to Theophilus. The “we” passages are a companion traveling with Paul. Paul is the subject, not the author. Texts: [Acts 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/1/1), [Luke 1:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/1/3), [Acts 16:10](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/16/10) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-the-book-of-acts) ### Revelation was not written by the apostle John. What you will hear. The book names John on Patmos. Justin says John, one of the apostles, received a revelation. Irenaeus places the vision near the end of Domitian’s reign. Dionysius accepts an inspired John and hesitates to call him the son of Zebedee. Texts: [Revelation 1:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/1/9), [Justin, Dialogue 81](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01286.htm), [Dionysius, in Eusebius](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250107.htm) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-revelation) ## The Bible ### The Bible has been changed so many times that the text we have is not the original. What you will hear. The Münster Liste counted 5,700 Greek New Testament entries on 29 September 2023, and called that figure a snapshot. Codex Sinaiticus is a fourth-century New Testament. The Dead Sea Scrolls include Hebrew copies a thousand years older than the medieval text, with variants counted. Texts: [INTF, 29 September 2023](https://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/intfblog/-/blogs/1891824), [Codex Sinaiticus](https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/), [Dead Sea Scrolls introduction](https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/how-many-new-testament-manuscripts-are-there) ### The Bible is a human book with no divine author, assembled late by unknown editors. What you will hear. Second Timothy 3:16 says Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and the books and the early church name Moses, the prophets, the Gospel writers, and Paul. A human writer and a divine author are the Christian claim together. Texts: [2 Timothy 3:16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-timothy/3/16), [2 Peter 1:21](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-peter/1/21), [Luke 24:44](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/24/44) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-the-bible) ### Moses did not write Genesis. The Torah is a late composite of sources. What you will hear. Jesus says Moses wrote of him. Deuteronomy says Moses wrote this law. The documentary hypothesis explains doublets and style as later sources. No separate source manuscript has been found, and the Talmud already assigns the closing verses to Joshua. Texts: [John 5:46](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/5/46), [Deuteronomy 31:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/31/9), [Luke 24:44](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/24/44) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-wrote-genesis) ### The Bible contradicts itself, so it cannot be trusted. What you will hear. Judas, the census numbers, and Matthew’s naming of Jeremy are real differences in the wording. A contradiction is two claims that cannot both be true in the same way. The page shows the verses and does not invent a harmony they do not state. Texts: [Matthew 27:5](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/27/5), [Acts 1:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/1/18), [2 Samuel 24:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-samuel/24/9), [Matthew 27:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/27/9) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/does-the-bible-contradict-itself) ### The Bible teaches a flat earth, with corners, a firmament, and pillars. What you will hear. Isaiah 40:22 says the circle of the earth, and Job 26:7 says God hangs the earth upon nothing. Four corners, a firmament, and pillars are also in the text. The church paragraphs fetched for the page do not teach a flat earth. Texts: [Isaiah 40:22](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/40/22), [Job 26:7](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/job/26/7), [Revelation 7:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/7/1) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/does-the-bible-say-the-earth-is-flat) ### The Bible is not true. It is religious fiction copied too late to trust. What you will hear. Christians receive the books as inspired. Sinaiticus is a fourth-century New Testament, and the Dead Sea Scrolls include Hebrew copies a thousand years older than the medieval text, with variants counted. Jesus treats the law and the prophets as written about him. That is not a lab proof that God exists. Texts: [2 Timothy 3:16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-timothy/3/16), [Luke 24:44](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/24/44), [Codex Sinaiticus](https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/) [Read the Full Answer](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-the-bible-true)