Evangelical Press has just published what it is calling its 'Book of the year', a major treatment of atheism and agnosticism by Christian Ministries evangelist, John Blanchard. Entitled Does God believe in atheists? It traces the development of atheistic thinking from the 'Golden Age' of Greek philosophy to the present day. Here is an edited extract from the book's chapter on secular humanism.
The first article in Humanist Manifesto II includes the words: 'We find insufficient evidence for the existence of a supernatural'. This blunt dismissal of deity is underlined by a promotional leaflet issued by the International Humanist and Ethical Union and which 'presents the case for understanding the world without reference to a god', while in his recent book All in the mind Sir Ludovic Kennedy claims 'definitely to disprove the existence of God'.
The point being made is clear, but is it cogent or coherent? The non-existence of God is being floated not as a possibility, nor as a theory; it is being asserted as an article of faith. Yet nowhere in humanistic literature have I discovered even a remotely credible basis for such a belief. Instead, humanism falls back on old arguments from anthropology, sociology and psychology to explain the universal phenomenon of religion.
