Counterarguments to Common Christian Arguments

You Can't Prove that God Doesn't Exist

                The definition of atheism is "disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods." It is important that an atheist does not believe that no god exists; an atheist does not believe that a god exists. Some atheists may say "no god exists," and in this case, they are making a claim. However, their statement that "no god exists" is not the core belief of atheists).

Some may think that this distinction is splitting hairs, but in theistic debate, it is imperative to understand that an atheist is not making a claim; an atheist is rejecting a claim proposed by a theist. In debate, the party making a positive claim must provide evidence to support the claim. Until the party provides evidence, others can rightfully reject the claim without providing evidence of their own. (Note that we are looking for "evidence" and not "proof").

To illustrate with an example: Johnny says the tooth fairy left a diamond under his pillow. Sarah doesn't believe him. Johnny is using a fallacy if he demands that Sarah give reasons for why she doesn't think there's a diamond under Johnny's pillow—Johnny is expecting Sarah to prove a negative statement, which is widely regarded as impossible. Sarah can dispute the evidence Johnny gives (a diamond would be too heavy for a fairy to carry) to argue that the diamond isn't there, but she can't prove that there certainly is no diamond.

The most poignant quote from the infamous God's Not Dead movie is: "Atheists say, 'No one can prove the existence of God.' And they're right. But I say, 'No one can disprove that God exists.'" The protagonist, Josh, has just shifted the burden of proof onto the party that is not making a claim, and we are now slipping into the dangerous territory of logical fallacies.

Consider for a moment how destructive this train of reasoning is. If we are to accept all claims that we cannot disprove, we are accepting claims without evidence. In other words, because we cannot disprove the existence of mermaids, we have to accept that they exist. Because we cannot disprove the fact that dinosaurs had pink scales, we must accept that they had pink scales. Because we cannot disprove that aliens have visited Earth, we must accept that aliens have visited Earth. Thus, so long as the claimer has not provided adequate evidence for his claim, it is perfectly reasonable for others to reject this claim without providing evidence of their own. The burden of proof belongs to the one making a claim.