In a blog I wrote some time ago concerning Why Atheism Is Bad For Mental Health I gave the rock-solid case for how there is no such thing as an atheist. I base my thesis on Romans 1 which says that all people know God exists, yet they are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Even Psalm 14:1 says that only fools say that God does not exist. It is evident in all creation and even in our conscience that there is a God to whom we all are held accountable. What I forgot to mention is where the worldview of atheism logically leads, which is nihilism. What exactly is nihilism, you wonder? According to Dictionary.com nihilism is
"the rejection of all religious or moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless"
Basically, any consistent atheist must be a nihilist. I know that seems like a strong indictment against atheists, but please bear with me. According to the atheistic worldview, we are the result of a random explosion billions of years ago for no apparent reason. Basically, we are cosmic accidents in a world that is spinning around the sun and one day we will die out in a heat death. According to atheism, there cannot be any reason whatsoever for our existence. Most intelligent atheists realize this and that is why they try to say that we "create our own meaning". But, what is the point in "creating our own meaning" when we are just going to die and be forgotten anyway? As King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9,
"What has been will be, and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun"
As you can see from this text, Solomon is basically lamenting over the fact that all that is done in this life has already been done in the past. According to the Wise King, if this is all that life has to offer, then everything is meaningless. He says later in the Ecclesiastes 2:17,
"So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and striving after the wind"
If there truly is no God, then it is true that everything we do is vanity. If there is no God, it ultimately does not matter whether you are a serial killer or Mother Teresa. In the end, the same fate awaits us all. As a matter of fact, if God does not exist, then there is no absolute truth to life. The atheist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche once said,
"There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths"
Mr. Nietzsche was probably the most honest atheist of our day because he realized the logical implications of atheism. I know that this all seems bleak, but how does the Bible answer the problem of nihilism? Fortunately, we are not doomed to a meaningless existence. King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20,
"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and to find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toil under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart"
As you can see from this text, living for God really does give us great meaning in our lives. When we are living for God, we can truly find enjoyment because we are looking at life from an eternal perspective. This means that we know that everything we do on this earth will echo in the halls of eternity. It is for this reason, that we can go on living for His glory. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says,
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
God created each and every one of us for a purpose and that purpose is to glorify Him along with all creation and we are to enjoy fellowship with Him for all eternity too. When we realize this fact of life, it should give us a whole new appreciation for life. Professing atheists have no reason to go on living, but Christians have every reason to continue living.
So, what does all this have anything to do with mental health, you ask? Well, I have thought of three ways nihilism harms mental health: Lack of Purpose, Pessimism, and Hatred For Fellow Man. I will elaborate on each of these points, but first I'd like to say that these are not the only negative impacts nihilism has on mental health. These are just a few ways that I'd like to focus on for the sake of this blog. If you can think of anything more, please feel free to comment below. I will now elaborate on these points.
Lack of Purpose
I have already touched on this point a little at the beginning of the blog, but it is worth reiterating again. From a purely atheistic worldview, there is no purpose to life and no meaning to existence. For this reason, it does not really matter how you live your life. According to atheism, we are here today and gone tomorrow. As the Apostle Paul tells us elsewhere if Christ has not been raised, then we may as well eat and drink for tomorrow we die. What Paul is essentially telling us is that if this life is all we have and that truly Christ has not been raised, then there is no point to life, except to live a gluttonous and hedonistic lifestyle. If there is no God, then a hedonistic life is all we have to look forward to, and yet that is still vanity.
Pessimism
Since the worldview of atheism leads to a lack of purpose in life, it logically follows that people feel pessimism concerning life in general. If there is no purpose to this life, what is the purpose of having any kind of hope? Actually, hope is an unrealistic expectation in a world without God. There is no reason to have any hope from an atheistic worldview. Hope is only a realistic expectation from a Christian perspective. So, when an atheist tries to have any kind of hope, they are borrowing from the Christian worldview, and they are not living consistently with their own presuppositions.
Hatred For Man
As I have said in an earlier blog about how unbelievers are unable to love people. I firmly believe that not only do unbelievers lack love for their fellow man, but they actually feel hatred for them Unbelievers do not even love their own spouses or children. I know that this seems like a strong indictment to make, but I build a strong case for this in my blog titled Do Unbelievers Love People? In that blog, I talk about the biblical reason for how I know unbelievers have only hate in their hearts for other people. Love is a fruit of the Spirit and unbelievers are incapable of demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. As a result, unbelievers have only hate for others, until the Holy Spirit decides to regenerate their hearts. When this happens, the unbeliever is made into a believer who is made a brand new creation who loves the Lord and other people.
I hope that this blog helps you to understand more how nihilism (which is the only logical conclusion to atheism) is actually very detrimental to mental health. I hope that you can see my line of reasoning when I say this. Nihilism is a horrible worldview for anyone to hold to. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
"the rejection of all religious or moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless"
Basically, any consistent atheist must be a nihilist. I know that seems like a strong indictment against atheists, but please bear with me. According to the atheistic worldview, we are the result of a random explosion billions of years ago for no apparent reason. Basically, we are cosmic accidents in a world that is spinning around the sun and one day we will die out in a heat death. According to atheism, there cannot be any reason whatsoever for our existence. Most intelligent atheists realize this and that is why they try to say that we "create our own meaning". But, what is the point in "creating our own meaning" when we are just going to die and be forgotten anyway? As King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9,
"What has been will be, and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun"
As you can see from this text, Solomon is basically lamenting over the fact that all that is done in this life has already been done in the past. According to the Wise King, if this is all that life has to offer, then everything is meaningless. He says later in the Ecclesiastes 2:17,
"So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and striving after the wind"
If there truly is no God, then it is true that everything we do is vanity. If there is no God, it ultimately does not matter whether you are a serial killer or Mother Teresa. In the end, the same fate awaits us all. As a matter of fact, if God does not exist, then there is no absolute truth to life. The atheist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche once said,
"There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths"
Mr. Nietzsche was probably the most honest atheist of our day because he realized the logical implications of atheism. I know that this all seems bleak, but how does the Bible answer the problem of nihilism? Fortunately, we are not doomed to a meaningless existence. King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20,
"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and to find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toil under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart"
As you can see from this text, living for God really does give us great meaning in our lives. When we are living for God, we can truly find enjoyment because we are looking at life from an eternal perspective. This means that we know that everything we do on this earth will echo in the halls of eternity. It is for this reason, that we can go on living for His glory. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says,
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
God created each and every one of us for a purpose and that purpose is to glorify Him along with all creation and we are to enjoy fellowship with Him for all eternity too. When we realize this fact of life, it should give us a whole new appreciation for life. Professing atheists have no reason to go on living, but Christians have every reason to continue living.
So, what does all this have anything to do with mental health, you ask? Well, I have thought of three ways nihilism harms mental health: Lack of Purpose, Pessimism, and Hatred For Fellow Man. I will elaborate on each of these points, but first I'd like to say that these are not the only negative impacts nihilism has on mental health. These are just a few ways that I'd like to focus on for the sake of this blog. If you can think of anything more, please feel free to comment below. I will now elaborate on these points.
Lack of Purpose
I have already touched on this point a little at the beginning of the blog, but it is worth reiterating again. From a purely atheistic worldview, there is no purpose to life and no meaning to existence. For this reason, it does not really matter how you live your life. According to atheism, we are here today and gone tomorrow. As the Apostle Paul tells us elsewhere if Christ has not been raised, then we may as well eat and drink for tomorrow we die. What Paul is essentially telling us is that if this life is all we have and that truly Christ has not been raised, then there is no point to life, except to live a gluttonous and hedonistic lifestyle. If there is no God, then a hedonistic life is all we have to look forward to, and yet that is still vanity.
Pessimism
Since the worldview of atheism leads to a lack of purpose in life, it logically follows that people feel pessimism concerning life in general. If there is no purpose to this life, what is the purpose of having any kind of hope? Actually, hope is an unrealistic expectation in a world without God. There is no reason to have any hope from an atheistic worldview. Hope is only a realistic expectation from a Christian perspective. So, when an atheist tries to have any kind of hope, they are borrowing from the Christian worldview, and they are not living consistently with their own presuppositions.
Hatred For Man
As I have said in an earlier blog about how unbelievers are unable to love people. I firmly believe that not only do unbelievers lack love for their fellow man, but they actually feel hatred for them Unbelievers do not even love their own spouses or children. I know that this seems like a strong indictment to make, but I build a strong case for this in my blog titled Do Unbelievers Love People? In that blog, I talk about the biblical reason for how I know unbelievers have only hate in their hearts for other people. Love is a fruit of the Spirit and unbelievers are incapable of demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. As a result, unbelievers have only hate for others, until the Holy Spirit decides to regenerate their hearts. When this happens, the unbeliever is made into a believer who is made a brand new creation who loves the Lord and other people.
I hope that this blog helps you to understand more how nihilism (which is the only logical conclusion to atheism) is actually very detrimental to mental health. I hope that you can see my line of reasoning when I say this. Nihilism is a horrible worldview for anyone to hold to. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Well said Bro.
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