What do you say when an Atheist asks you "Who created God?"

[Anglicanorthodoxy]

This seems to be a common question that New Atheists have.( I see it all over the Internet) How do you respond if an Atheist asks "Who created God?" The Atheist philosophers believe that God is logically impossible. They believe time, space, and ex stance are eternal

 

[Andres]

WSC
Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

Since He is infinite and eternal, no one created God. Just because a concept may be difficult for our finite minds to grasp, does not mean it's impossible.

 

[Mikey]

How do you respond if an Atheist asks "Who created God?"

Response: "No one"

 

[Cymro]

The Eternal and the Infinite by definition cannot be created. The uncreated alone, creates.He is alpha and omega, the God who is.

 

[Taylor]

Typically people who ask such a question have no interest in finding truth, therefore even a satisfactory answer would not satisfy their wicked minds; they would simply find another question to ask in order to soothe their consciences. If "no one" does not suffice, there is no use in speaking further, in my opinion. They are not seeking truth, only a cover for their own lusts.

 

[rookie]

I had that discussion with an Atheist a couple of years ago on FB. He flat out asked, "who created him, and why".

To which my response was - by definition, God can't be created, he's self existing, self sufficient and self sustaining. If he's none of these, by definition, he can't be God -

Not sure if this was satisfactory for him, but he did admit, he didn't have an answer to rebut with.

 

[Jack K]

When I teach at camps and such where there are unchurched kids attending, I get this question and the similar question, "When was God born?" fairly often. It used to surprise me. I would think, "Weren't you listening earlier in the week, when I explained that God is eternal and has no beginning or end?"

I've finally come to see that this generation has little concept of eternity. They've been taught that everything must have a beginning and an end. Even when you say otherwise, it remains puzzling and they'll keep coming back to it. It's a serious question; they're not just being troublesome.

So I have to explain eternity with more detail and a lot more patience. But when they begin to grasp it and how it means God is beyond what they ever thought possible, it helps them see that if it is true it means God is worthy of worship—that he's more than just the gruff-but-benevolent dictator they imagined him to be.

Once this summer, I brought up Ecclesiastes 3:11, how God has set eternity in our hearts, yet we are unable to understand all God has done within eternity. We talked about how we all sense that life should go on, that death is wrong, that there must be something more than our existence in time... yet it is hard to grasp. I'm not sure how helpful that was, but it seemed to resonate on an emotional level, which is a good start.

 

[Bill The Baptist]

Regardless of what one believes about God, logic demonstrates that something had to be self-existent or else life could not be possible. Aquinas demonstrated this nicely in his argument from contingency. Given this truth, the question becomes this: which is more plausible, that an all-powerful God could be eternal and self-existent? Or that some indeterminate piece of matter could be eternal and self-existent?

 

[Justified]

Aquinas demonstrated this nicely in his argument from contingency.

Exactly. Contingent being does not contain within in itself the reason for its on existence. There must be a necessary ground to contingent being; otherwise, being at rock bottom is irrational-- which is actually what atheism amounts to. Even if the world had no beginning or end-- like Aristotle thought-- it nonetheless cannot have an infinite series of hierarchical causes-- also what Aristotle thought. Ergo, God as necessary being must contain within himself the reason for his own existence because, otherwise, metaphysical absurdities follow.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

This seems to be a common question that New Atheists have.( I see it all over the Internet) How do you respond if an Atheist asks "Who created God?" The Atheist philosophers believe that God is logically impossible. They believe time, space, and ex stance are eternal

They are asking the wrong question, as they are assuming that God is a creature. By asking such a ridiculous question, New Atheists expose themselves as school-boy philosophers.

 

[StephenG]

To echo Bill and Evan:
In order to avoid an infinite regression of creative forces and/or beings, you must have a force/being that is both self-existent and eternal.
Does every effect have a prior cause? Certainly. Why, however, presuppose that everything must be an effect?