{"id":92271,"date":"2025-11-20T11:47:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=92271"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:47:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:47:51","slug":"nine-types-of-atheism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/nine-types-of-atheism\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Types of Atheism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Emotional Atheism<\/strong>: Many have experienced personal harm in their lives. They are dealing with the “problem of evil”, not from a philosophical perspective, but from daily pain. For example, the loss of a child, parent, or spouse.<\/li>\n
  2. Hypocritical Religious Atheism<\/strong>: This paradox in terminology comes from their experience of judgmentalism within churches. For example, “If that is what God does to you, I don’t want anything to do with your God.” Also, this often leads to changing God: “That might be the way your God is, but my <\/b>God is not like that!”<\/li>\n
  3. Intellectual Scientific Atheism<\/strong>: This approach stems from one steeped in evolutionary Darwinism and related ideas. They might say, “The Bible and Science disagree with one another, and we know science is fact.” (I heard this doing campus evangelism).<\/li>\n
  4. Intellectual Philosophical Atheism<\/strong>: This comes from studying Philosophy, usually at college. Universities often require a “Humanities” class, and one choice is “Philosophy 101”. Many professors are atheists, and they will try to influence their children. My mother would not have claimed to be “smart”, but she what she lacked in higher education she made up for in common sense and wisdom. Intelligence is more than a college degree. My mother commented on a preacher who became an atheist (and later became a believer again): “He studied himself right out of the Bible.” This approach comes from one educated in philosophy. A philosophical approach will include debunking the classical arguments for the existence of God and the “Problem of Evil,” or identifying flaws in the classical arguments for God’s existence, such as the Cosmological or Teleological Arguments.<\/li>\n
  5. Passive Religious Atheism<\/strong>: Families and churches cannot remain passive in biblically responding to current cultural trends. If people hear issues discussed outside the church but are not equipped by the church and their families, this can lead to falling away. Having said that, parents cannot rely upon the church to do all the teaching. Most religious teaching must take place in the home. This is another reason why it is important who we marry. We are marrying someone who will be raising our children!<\/li>\n
  6. Cultural Atheism<\/strong>: With a world turning more and more to a different moral system (i.e., immoral or amoral), people (mostly young people) are thinking, “If I have to believe that gay marriage, transgender living, and such are oppositional to biblical morals, then I choose not to believe in such an intolerant God.” This leads to not believing God exists or not believing the God that exists.<\/li>\n
  7. Mob Mentality Atheism<\/strong>: Some just go along to get along, following what is current, popular, and gets them accepted. Teens might be more affected by this than by most of the other possible reasons. Peer pressure is powerful and can be both negative and positive. Some parents think they have to go to churches with children of their own children’s age. Surrounding ourselves and our children with the right people is no guarantee either. Consider Judas.<\/li>\n
  8. Anthropocentric Atheism<\/strong>: Look at the accomplishments of “Man.” Pride in mankind can lead to the question, “If we can do anything, what do we need God for?”<\/li>\n
  9. Practical Atheism<\/strong>: These people still believe in God, but their lives are lived without thought towards serving God in humility. This can have a profound negative effect on others, especially children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Perry Hall Emotional Atheism: Many have experienced personal harm in their lives. They are dealing with the “problem of evil”, not from a philosophical perspective, but from daily pain. For example, the loss of a child, parent, or spouse. Hypocritical Religious Atheism: This paradox in terminology comes from their experience of judgmentalism within churches.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-92271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-atheism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25548,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-atheists-motives\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":0},"title":"The Atheist’s Motives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Proverbs 4:20-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Consider the offer \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Atheism offers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No absolute morality. Everything is subjective. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No meaning to your life. Life is just a span of time, where you suffer for a while before you are squished into oblivion. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No hope about your future. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Christianity offers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A clear, absolute morality\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/telling-people-they-are-sinning-is-ridiculous\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":1},"title":"Telling people they are sinning is ridiculous","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can you tell people they are sinning when they engage in \"fornication\"? This is complete and utter ridiculousness. Let people do what they want without the guilt of having some mythical, non-existent, perverted, homophobic, misogynistic, megalomaniacal god controlling their lives. We are all just atoms in this complex\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61284,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-atheism\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Atheism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Psalm 14:1 Psalm 53:1","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52775,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-website-was-the-first-step-for-me-to-convert-from-atheism-to-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":3},"title":"Your website was the first step for me to convert from atheism to Christianity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I talked to you around three and a half years ago. I just want to thank you! I grew up an atheist and converted three and a half years ago. Your website was the first step for me to come to faith. I am now training to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56384,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-fruits-and-tendencies-of-evolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":4},"title":"The Fruits and Tendencies of Evolution","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jon Gary Williams Typical of many evolutionists is this statement from\u00a0The Meaning of Evolution, by G. G. Simpson: \"Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind.\" A more recent statement by the famed evolutionist, Julian Huxley, expresses the same sentiment:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94231,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-created-god-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":92271,"position":5},"title":"Who Created God? (Hall)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall In \"The God Delusion\", Richard Dawkins asks the question, \"Who created God?\" This is a favorite \"gotcha\" question of atheists. This is ironic because atheists often believe in abiogenesis, the scientific theory that life originated from non-living matter through natural chemical processes. I say ironic because theists\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}