Ten Quick Responses to Atheist Claims

A Christian Apologist refers to quick responses for ten "common claims from atheists" by another apologist, namely John Lennox.

I'm not sure how common these claims are (some of them appear to be straw men especially #2) but in any case, I tend to agree with Lennox except for #5 and he's dodged #10.  But mainly he's fairly sensible. My opinions regarding his points are...

1) It's true that the Abrahamic religions are monotheistic whereas Norse and Greek religions are polytheistic. Zeus and Thor are descended from greater entities who sprang from the void (or chaos). The heavens and earth were created by multiple gods rather than one.

2) Science has obviously not explained everything. I'm not aware of anyone making that claim, at least not in the last 120 years. Perhaps it is a reference to Lord Kelvin who said science was pretty much over, just a few years before Max Planck discovered the quantum, and suddenly we realised how little we knew about physics! Obviously if science had explained everything there would be an awful lot of unemployed scientists! I don't believe it will ever happen because as Lennox says, science and religion explain different things (the natural and the supernatural respectively) and therefore it's illogical to have competition between science and religion.

3) To be consistent with point #2 then science should obviously not be opposed to gods (or the supernatural). 

4) Lennox refers to personal experience and that is the best evidence for gods in my opinion.

5) Lennox has fallen into the trap of using the Bible as evidence for God. That's like using The Odyssey as evidence for Zeus.

6) There is a subtle difference between faith and delusion.   A delusion is a belief by an individual, often peculiar to that individual, which is held despite being contradicted by reality or rational argument, and it is often a sign of mental illness.  Faith in this context is defined as: Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.  So I think it's unfair to claim that religious faith (or spiritual conviction) implies mental illness.

7) I like Lennox's use of football as an analogy for denominations and religions. There are actually many variations of the game across the world, with different rules, different shaped balls and goals, different numbers of players. The rules evolve over time. The version one participates in (if any) is predominantly influenced by birthplace, culture, school, family or peers. 

8) It's nonsense to say the bible is immoral. The concept of morality applies to the actions of people. A book can't be immoral or moral. 

9) Some Christians do take the Bible literally. But I think they are in a small minority nowadays at least from a global perspective.

10) If there was evidence for God I would believe in God. But it seems Lennox cannot provide any. He completely dodged the question for some reason.