God has revealed in His Word that He has made Himself known infallibly to all of His creation. Consider this well-known passage from Romans 1:

          “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures

All men know God. They know their Creator, personally. This is because God has made Himself known to them. It is a very common claim from nonbelievers that they are “waiting for God to show Himself.” However, Scripture says that God has shown Himself. He Has shown Himself to such a great extent that those who find themselves being judged for their unbelief cannot say “I had no evidence.” They cannot say “Where was the proof?” They are without excuse for their unbelief. Why? Because God did show Himself, and the unbelievers didn’t like it. Because of this, they suppressed the truth which was made known to them. They refused to honor their Creator, and so their hearts were darkened.

It is important, here, to note that the word “heart,” in a biblical sense, almost always refers to what we would consider the mind. Therefore, this statement can be understood as referring to the noetic effects of sin as opposed to their emotions. However, it is still an ethical statement, in the same way that the word fool is used.

          “1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1)

This is not to say that the fool is one because of a lack of intelligence, but because of their ethical decision to reject the God they know and suppress it mentally. Therefore, it can be said that all nonbelievers are indeed fools. They have foolishly rejected their God and removed the foundation beneath them, darkening their minds in sin.

This is very introductory information for those who have studied any form of presuppositionalism. However, I would like to write in response to various objections I have encountered in discussing this, ones which you may have similarly encountered. Some are emotional, some are intended to be logical. First, however, I would like to clarify my use of atheist. I agree with people like Sye Ten Bruggencate who say that there is no such thing as a person who believes there is no God. There is likewise no such thing as a person who does not believe in God. Scripture affirms that they actually know God, which goes beyond simple belief. However, I find it entirely unhelpful to simply say “I’m a-atheist.” I think the words do bear connotations which are useful for discussion with nonbelievers, but at the very base of the words, I use atheist as “one who believes they believe there is no God.” I use agnostic to refer to those who believe they do not believe in God nor believe He exists.

“Are you calling me a liar?!”

This is probably the most common first response. They hear us saying they know God, and their conclusion is that we are calling them liars about their beliefs. However, this is simply an emotional response which obstructs productive conversation. We should clarify that we are not calling them dishonest, at least not on a surface, intentional level. They are rather deceived (by themselves) so that they are not easily aware of their knowledge of God because of their refusal to recognize it.

Another challenge which goes along with this is “who are you to say you know my beliefs better than I do?” However, it is not us claiming to have infallible knowledge of their beliefs, but the God who searches the hearts of men, who tests their minds. God knows our hearts infinitely better than we do, and we cannot even understand our own hearts as a result of their absolute sickness (Jer. 17:9).

“That is impossible, because I know what I believe.”

This is typically the first objection made when the discussion moves in a productive direction. However, it has very little strength. To claim that Scripture is not even possibly right about this, that is, their knowledge of God, they must hold that it is impossible for us to be wrong about our knowledge. Knowledge has historically been defined as “justified, true belief.” This is the popular philosophical definition, and only a few serious challenges have been raised against the Platonic definition, none of which affect the scope of the discussion at hand.

For us to know, infallibly, our own knowledge, requires that we are not mistaken about any of these things. That is, justification, truth, and belief. However, for us to know that we do not know a certain proposition, we must only demonstrate that one of these three components of knowledge is not the case. The person stating that their own testimony proves Scripture to be false must demonstrate that they have infallible awareness of one of these components and its falsity. I have never found anyone willing to argue that we as humans have infallible awareness of justification or truth (that is, anyone who is not a revelational epistemologist). Therefore, the claim that it is impossible for them to be wrong about what they don’t know comes down to whether or not they can be mistaken about their beliefs. For the Christian, we say indeed, because Scripture attests to this. For the unbeliever to say their testimony disproves this Scriptural statement, they must demonstrate that their awareness of their beliefs cannot be incorrect.

However, there are many situations in our lives which are perfect examples of us being mistaken about our beliefs. One may say that they belief live has value, but by acting in a certain way display where their true convictions lie, whether they knew it or not. If we can be wrong about the sincerity and extent of our belief, why should we suppose that we cannot be wrong about the belief itself? As Dr. Greg Bahnsen explained, we may also be mistaken in thinking that we do not know how to do a given activity, only to find out that we actually can complete the activity. The response I’ve received upon mentioning this is that to know how is different than to know that. But what does it mean to know how to do something other than to know an aggregate of propositions about the things involved?

“But look at X culture! They have no concept of God!”

This is said very commonly. However, this is simply an external reiteration of the previous objections. Simply saying that they do not use any word for an all-powerful deity does not prove that they have no concept of God. They may not have any linguistic concept of God, if they as a society have hardened themselves in their ways and have not yet received the good news. However, this does not demonstrate that they internally, beneath their suppression in unrighteousness, do not have a concept of God. That would be a much more difficult task, one only God can accomplish. God has searched the heart of man. He knows it intricately, He created it. And He has stated that man does know Him. They know Him, but wish they did not, and so they suppress this knowledge in favor of their evil deeds.

I would like to say one more thing about this idea of self-deception. I do not believe it is best applied in the way that pop apologists such as Sye might apply it. That is not the biblical truth that should be garnered from this passage. It should be something understood by the apologist in every discussion with nonbelievers, but not necessarily something stated outright. If we simply say that they know God and are deceived, they will continue in their deception. We must show them that their claims about their beliefs are inconsistent with their actions. We must show them their deception by demonstrating that every appeal they make to things which are only shown to be intelligible by Christianity (that is, everything) is an implicit demonstration of the knowledge of God that they refuse to acknowledge.

Grace and Peace