Atheism

Entomology

Atheism is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄθεος atheos meaning “without gods; godless; secular; refuting or repudiating the existence of gods, especially officially sanctioned gods”.__[Modern translations of classical texts sometimes translate atheos as “atheistic”. As an abstract noun, there was also atheotēs (“atheism”)].

Definition 1

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. ¹Definition from wikipedia ²Harvey, Van A. Agnosticism and Atheism, in Flynn 2007, p. 35: “The terms ATHEISM and AGNOSTICISM lend themselves to two different definitions. The first takes the privative a both before the Greek theos (divinity) and gnosis (to know) to mean that atheism is simply the absence of belief in the gods and agnosticism is simply lack of knowledge of some specified subject matter. The second definition takes atheism to mean the explicit denial of the existence of gods and agnosticism as the position of someone who, because the existence of gods is unknowable, suspends judgment regarding them … The first is the more inclusive and recognizes only two alternatives: Either one believes in the gods or one does not. Consequently, there is no third alternative, as those who call themselves agnostics sometimes claim. Insofar as they lack belief, they are really atheists. Moreover, since the absence of belief is the cognitive position in which everyone is born, the burden of proof falls on those who advocate religious belief. The proponents of the second definition, by contrast, regard the first definition as too broad because it includes uninformed children along with aggressive and explicit atheists. Consequently, it is unlikely that the public will adopt it.” ³Simon Blackburn, ed. (2008). “atheism”. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (2008 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954143-0. Retrieved 21 November 2013. Either the lack of belief that there exists a god, or the belief that there exists none. Sometimes thought itself to be more dogmatic than mere agnosticism, although atheists retort that everyone is an atheist about most gods, so they merely advance one step further”. ⁴Rowe 1998: “As commonly understood, atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. So an atheist is someone who disbelieves in God, whereas a theist is someone who believes in God. Another meaning of ‘atheism’ is simply nonbelief in the existence of God, rather than positive belief in the nonexistence of God. … an atheist, in the broader sense of the term, is someone who disbelieves in every form of deity, not just the God of traditional Western theology.” (Rowe, William L. (1998). “Atheism”. In Edward Craig (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-07310-3. Retrieved 9 April 2011.) In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities and any statements to the contrary are false ones.   The English term ‘atheist’ was used at least as early as the sixteenth century and atheistic ideas and their influence have a longer history. (Source: wikipedia)

Definition 2:

Atheism is a worldview [ A worldview is a perspective that someone has with which he interprets experience.] (or at least part of a worldview) because atheists have presuppositions with which they interpret the world. An atheist’s presuppositions necessarily include a conscious decision to exclude God as a possible explanation for experience. So, when seeking to answer questions related to our existence, rationality, purpose, morality, etc., atheists must automatically negate God as an explanatory option. This has huge philosophical implications. Therefore, atheism is a worldview since it is a perspective, or part of a larger one, with which a person interprets experience. (Source: CARM)

1) Origins

The term atheism grew in popularity in the 16th century. Before the 16th century, the concepts of atheism were there but not pronounced as they are today in our postmodern culture. Predominantly, there is no proof of atheism in traditional cultures and most traditional cultures are contrary to such a world view. In Africa, atheism like many other modern cultural nuances was adopted from the west. There is no original African atheist, therefore, atheism is a “white mans concept or irreligion”.

According to the 2019 census, about 755,000 Kenyans identify as irreligious or atheist. ⁵Source: Wikipedia

2) History and Growth.

At the heart of the enlightenment was the idea that humans are a law unto themselves and that reason is king. This double emphasis on human autonomy and rationality carried over into the Western thought of the 19th century in the works of Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. Van Wyk summarises the various strands of Atheism as follows:

In Kenya, Atheists in Kenya are the major organised society pushing a similar agenda. They have been receiving popular airing on television and radio stations, for their seemingly “non-conventional” views. Additionally, they have been pushing for the retreat of religion from the public square. Yet what is clear from their interviews and our engagements with them is that they have merely imported a Western idea of irreligion or Asourcetheism. In Nigeria, Atheists are organised under the Atheist Society of Nigeria and in South Africa, Atheist Movement of South Africa.

1. Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) viewed the idea of God as wish fulfilment and a projection of the human mind.
2. Karl Marx (1818-1883) argued that religion is the opium of the people.
3. Friedrich Nietzsche (1840-1900) declared triumphantly that the (metaphysical) God is dead.
4. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) considered religious faith in God an illusion and a projection of infantile desires.
5. New Atheism
   These views of God spilled into all fields of study and affected entire societies. We can clearly see a resurgence of Atheism in contemporary life. In the 2000s, a movement dubbed “new Atheism” gained momentum through the work of “The Four Horsemen” – Daniel Dennett’s Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life (1995), Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion (2006), Sam Harris’ The End of Faith (2004), and the late Christopher Hitchens’ God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007). The underlying views of new Atheism are that evolution explains the origin of the world, while science and reason alone can deal with life’s realities, as opposed to religion.
6. Atheism in Africa
   In Kenya, Atheists in Kenya are the major organised society pushing a similar agenda. They have been receiving popular airing on television and radio stations, for their seemingly “non-conventional” views. Additionally, they have been pushing for the retreat of religion from the public square. Yet what is clear from their interviews and our engagements with them is that they have merely imported a Western idea of irreligion or Asourcetheism. In Nigeria, Atheists are organised under the Atheist Society of Nigeria and in South Africa, Atheist Movement of South Africa.

(Source: The Gospel Coalition: African Edition Article by: Dr. Kevin Muriithi)

3) Beliefs

Atheists simply believe there is no God or gods.

4) Some basic tenets of atheism & key difference between atheism and Christianity

Presuppositions are important to us all.  We look at the world through them.  The atheist has a set of presuppositions, too.  As I said, there is no definitive atheist organization that defines the absolutes of atheism, but there are basic principles that atheists, as a whole, tend to adopt.  I’ve tried to list some of them below.  Please note, however, that not all atheists accept all of these tenets.  The only absolute common one to which they hold is that they do not believe in a God or gods.

1. There is no God or devil.
2. There is no supernatural realm.
3. Miracles cannot occur.
4. There is no such thing as sin as a violation of God’s will.
5. Generally, the universe is materialistic and measurable.
6. Man is material.
7. Generally, evolution is considered a scientific fact.
8. Ethics and morals are relative.

(Source: Carm.org Article:What is Atheism)

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Footnotes

• 1
  Definition from wikipedia
• 2
  Harvey, Van A. Agnosticism and Atheism, in Flynn 2007, p. 35: “The terms ATHEISM and AGNOSTICISM lend themselves to two different definitions. The first takes the privative a both before the Greek theos (divinity) and gnosis (to know) to mean that atheism is simply the absence of belief in the gods and agnosticism is simply lack of knowledge of some specified subject matter. The second definition takes atheism to mean the explicit denial of the existence of gods and agnosticism as the position of someone who, because the existence of gods is unknowable, suspends judgment regarding them … The first is the more inclusive and recognizes only two alternatives: Either one believes in the gods or one does not. Consequently, there is no third alternative, as those who call themselves agnostics sometimes claim. Insofar as they lack belief, they are really atheists. Moreover, since the absence of belief is the cognitive position in which everyone is born, the burden of proof falls on those who advocate religious belief. The proponents of the second definition, by contrast, regard the first definition as too broad because it includes uninformed children along with aggressive and explicit atheists. Consequently, it is unlikely that the public will adopt it.”
• 3
  Simon Blackburn, ed. (2008). “atheism”. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (2008 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954143-0. Retrieved 21 November 2013. Either the lack of belief that there exists a god, or the belief that there exists none. Sometimes thought itself to be more dogmatic than mere agnosticism, although atheists retort that everyone is an atheist about most gods, so they merely advance one step further”.
• 4
  Rowe 1998: “As commonly understood, atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. So an atheist is someone who disbelieves in God, whereas a theist is someone who believes in God. Another meaning of ‘atheism’ is simply nonbelief in the existence of God, rather than positive belief in the nonexistence of God. … an atheist, in the broader sense of the term, is someone who disbelieves in every form of deity, not just the God of traditional Western theology.” (Rowe, William L. (1998). “Atheism”. In Edward Craig (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-07310-3. Retrieved 9 April 2011.)
• 5
  Source: Wikipedia