Why Jesus Apologetics

In Part I, we established that atheism is philosophically incoherent and psychologically unnatural. We showed that disbelief is not merely intellectual but rooted in suppression of the innate awareness of God.

Now, in Part II, we move from philosophy to evidence, from the realm of reasoning to the realm of reality. Let’s go there!

The Problem of Beauty, Purpose, and Meaning

Atheism, when taken seriously, must explain a world of striking order, harmony, and beauty — without appeal to any transcendent source. Yet beauty itself poses a profound problem for the atheist. It is unnecessary for survival, useless for reproduction, and inexplicable by purely material processes. Why does a sunrise move us to tears? Why does music stir the soul? Why do we create art, poetry, and architecture that serve no practical biological purpose?

The atheist can describe beauty, but he cannot explain it. Beauty points beyond utility to something — or Someone — who designed the universe not only to function but to delight.

Beauty and the Transcendent

In a purely material world, beauty should be meaningless. Atoms and evolution cannot explain why we call something beautiful or why beauty evokes joy, awe, and longing. Yet beauty is among the most universal human experiences — a silent testimony to transcendence.

The atheist philosopher Roger Scruton, though not religious, admitted this much:

“Through beauty we are brought into contact with the sacred. Beauty speaks to us of something beyond this world.”

Roger Scruton, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 23.

Scruton’s confession illustrates the contradiction: even when denying God, he could not deny that beauty awakens a sense of the sacred, an intuition that reality is infused with divine order.

C.S. Lewis experienced this personally during his transition from atheism to faith. He described beauty as

“the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 29.

That longing — what Lewis called sehnsucht, or “joy” — led him to realize that earthly beauty is not ultimate but a reflection of divine glory.

If atheism were true, beauty would be an accident — a meaningless byproduct of blind physical processes. But our experience of beauty feels purposeful, intentional, and transcendent. Beauty whispers, “This is not all there is.”

The Mystery of Purpose in a Godless Cosmos

If there is no God, then the universe is indifferent to human existence. Our goals, dreams, and moral struggles are insignificant ripples in an ocean of cosmic indifference. Yet humans cannot live this way. We live as though our lives matter, as though we are meant for something.

Atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel, in his candid essay The Absurd, admitted that while he sees no ultimate purpose, he cannot escape the sense of significance:

“Even when we recognize that life is absurd, we cannot avoid living as though it were not.”

Thomas Nagel, “The Absurd,” The Journal of Philosophy 68, no. 20 (1971): 716.

This tension — between belief and behavior — is fatal to atheism. If life has no designed purpose, why do we endlessly seek one? Evolutionary explanations cannot account for humanity’s persistent hunger for meaning. That hunger is not a defect but a design feature — a signal pointing us toward our Creator.

As Blaise Pascal famously wrote,

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be filled by any created thing but only by God the Creator.”

Blaise Pascal, Pensées, trans. A.J. Krailsheimer (London: Penguin, 1995), 113.

Modern psychology affirms this insight. Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, observed that human beings can endure unimaginable suffering if they believe their life has meaning. This longing for purpose is not an illusion; it is a reflection of the moral and spiritual structure of the universe.

Meaning Beyond Materialism

If atheism were true, “meaning” would be nothing more than a psychological illusion — a trick of the brain evolved to keep us alive. But this claim refutes itself. If our thoughts and beliefs are merely products of chemical processes shaped by survival rather than truth, then there is no reason to trust any of them — including the belief in atheism.

As the theist philosopher Alvin Plantinga argues, naturalism combined with evolution leads to a “defeater” for all human knowledge, because it undercuts the reliability of our reasoning faculties. In other words, if atheism is true, you can’t even trust your atheism.

Meaning requires more than molecules; it requires mind. And mind requires a source — a transcendent Mind that grounds truth, logic, and purpose. Theism alone provides that foundation.

Beauty as an Argument for God

Beauty serves not merely as emotional evidence but as empirical evidence for transcendence. Neuroscientific studies reveal that humans respond to beauty with the same brain regions involved in reward, moral judgment, and love — indicating that beauty is deeply tied to our sense of goodness and meaning.

Moreover, the mathematical structure of the universe — from the symmetry of snowflakes to the elegance of Einstein’s equations — suggests an aesthetic dimension built into reality itself. Albert Einstein himself confessed:

“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.”

Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, trans. Sonja Bargmann (New York: Crown, 1954), 131.

This “rational beauty” in the laws of nature echoes Psalm 19:1:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

The universe is not chaotic but ordered, intelligible, and aesthetically rich — qualities that point to an intelligent, creative mind rather than to chance.

Atheism cannot account for beauty, purpose, or meaning without borrowing from theism. To speak of love, justice, or significance is already to speak the language of God. Beauty moves us because we were created to behold glory. Purpose drives us because we were designed for destiny. Meaning sustains us because our lives are not accidents but stories written by the Author of life.

The Psalmist wrote, “In Your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9). Without that light, all becomes shadow. Atheism tries to live in the light while denying the Sun.

As G.K. Chesterton memorably said,

“The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.”

G.K. Chesterton, St. Francis of Assisi (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1923), 88.

Gratitude, awe, love, and wonder are not evolutionary quirks — they are the fingerprints of God on the human soul.

Empirical Evidence–Why Humans Are Naturally Theistic

Atheists often claim that belief in God is a learned behavior — a product of culture, indoctrination, or fear of the unknown. But research across cognitive science, developmental psychology, and anthropology reveals the opposite: the human mind is naturally disposed toward belief in God or a transcendent agency. Theism is the default state of human cognition; atheism is the exception.

Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR)— Humans Are “Born Believers”

Over the past two decades, the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) has produced overwhelming evidence that religious belief emerges spontaneously in human development — even in children raised without formal religion.

Oxford University cognitive anthropologist Justin L. Barrett, in his landmark book Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief, summarizes decades of research showing that children naturally infer the existence of an all-knowing, purposeful Creator. He writes:

“Children are predisposed to see the natural world as purposefully designed and to see agency behind events in their environment. Belief in God, therefore, comes naturally; disbelief requires effort.”

Justin L. Barrett, Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief (New York: Free Press, 2012), 8.

Barrett’s findings were based on experiments showing that children instinctively attribute design, purpose, and moral order to the world long before being taught theology. They assume mind behind matter — a Creator behind creation.

Similarly, cognitive psychologist Deborah Kelemen of Boston University found that even secularly educated children tend to explain natural phenomena teleologically — that is, in terms of purpose (“rocks are pointy so animals won’t sit on them”). This spontaneous teleology suggests that humans are “intuitive theists.”

Thus, the human brain seems wired for God. Theologian John Calvin called this innate sense the sensus divinitatis — the “sense of the divine” written into every human heart (cf. Romans 1:19–20).

The Universality of Theism in Human Cultures

Anthropological studies reinforce these cognitive findings. Throughout human history, across all continents and civilizations, belief in spiritual beings or a supreme Creator appears universally. Even isolated tribes with no exposure to organized religion exhibit belief in a “high god” — an all-powerful Creator who governs the world.

Oxford anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse, in the Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project, concluded that religion

“appears to be a recurrent feature of human culture because it resonates with deep cognitive tendencies.”

Harvey Whitehouse, “Cognition, Religion, and Theology,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13, no. 6 (2009): 270–277.

This universality defies evolutionary reductionism. If atheism were natural, we would expect to find entire societies built on materialism and unbelief. Yet anthropological evidence shows that fully atheistic cultures are virtually nonexistent outside of modern ideological conditioning.

The data suggest that belief in God is not learned but discovered — arising from the deep structure of human cognition and experience.

Neurological Evidence for Spiritual Awareness

Modern neuroscience also points toward a built-in human capacity for the transcendent. Neurotheological research — the study of how the brain processes spiritual experience — has shown that belief and spiritual awareness activate brain regions associated with meaning, empathy, and moral reasoning.

A 2016 study by Andrew Newberg and colleagues using fMRI imaging found that prayer and meditation significantly engage areas of the brain linked to “moral cognition, emotional regulation, and perception of unity.”

Newberg concluded:

“The brain appears to have specialized mechanisms for spiritual experience. These mechanisms are not accidental; they are integral to what it means to be human.”

Andrew B. Newberg, How God Changes Your Brain (New York: Ballantine Books, 2009), 32.

Far from being an evolutionary by-product, spirituality appears neurologically embedded — a natural faculty for perceiving the divine. Just as the eye is designed for sight and the ear for sound, the mind seems designed for God.

The Persistence of Faith Despite Secularization

Even in societies that promote atheism, belief persists stubbornly. A 2011 international study directed by the University of Oxford’s Ian Barber and Justin Barrett, involving over 40 researchers in 20 countries, found that

“religion is a common fact of human nature” and that “people are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and an afterlife.”

Justin L. Barrett and Ian Barber, The Naturalness of Religious Beliefs: Evidence from the Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project (Oxford University, 2011).

Barrett’s team concluded that atheism requires deliberate cultural suppression of natural cognitive tendencies. In other words, humans don’t need to be taught to believe in God — they need to be taught not to.

This aligns with Romans 1:21–22, which says,

“For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him… claiming to be wise, they became fools.”

The empirical data confirm the biblical claim: humanity instinctively knows God but suppresses that knowledge for moral or philosophical reasons, not because of lack of evidence.

Atheism as a Cognitive Anomaly

Given the overwhelming natural inclination toward belief, atheism is best understood not as a neutral position, but as a cognitive anomaly — a suppression of our innate spiritual awareness.

Cognitive scientist Ara Norenzayan, in Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict, acknowledges that religious belief fosters social cohesion, moral behavior, and psychological resilience — functions deeply woven into the human condition. Atheism, by contrast, must actively resist these natural cognitive and social patterns.

As philosopher Paul Copan notes,

“Atheism is parasitic upon theism; it can only exist in contrast to something it seeks to deny, and it cannot sustain itself apart from the framework it borrows.”

Paul Copan, True for You, But Not for Me: Deflating the Slogans of Relativism (Grand Rapids, MI: Bethany House, 1998), 82.

Thus, atheism is not the default human state but a rebellion against it — an intellectual suppression of a spiritual instinct.

The evidence from cognitive science, anthropology, and neuroscience converges on one conclusion:

Humans are theistic by nature.

Belief in God is not a relic of ignorance but a reflection of how the human mind is designed to perceive reality. Atheism, therefore, is not an alternative explanation of existence but a psychological resistance to the one explanation that makes sense of it.

As Blaise Pascal said centuries ago, “Faith is not contrary to reason, but beyond it.” Science now echoes that truth: our very biology bears witness to belief.

Or, as the Psalmist wrote:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

Modern science shows that such denial is not wisdom but dissonance — the rejection of what both the heart and the mind already know.

Atheism Is Not an Absence, but a Denial

Atheism is not an absence, but a denial. Atheism presents itself as the rejection of superstition — a brave stand for reason and evidence in a supposedly disenchanted universe. But when examined deeply, atheism collapses under the weight of its own claims. It is not an absence of belief, but a suppression of truth; not an alternative worldview, but a borrowed one.

Every aspect of human experience — morality, rationality, meaning, love, beauty, and even cognition — points toward the divine. To live as though God does not exist is to live at war with the deepest intuitions of the mind, the heart, and the fabric of reality itself.

The Parasitic Nature of Atheism

Atheism cannot sustain itself without borrowing from theism. It depends on the very categories that only make sense if God exists — objective morality, rational order, logical consistency, and intrinsic human worth.

As Cornelius Van Til argued,

“The atheist must sit in God’s lap to slap Him in the face.”

Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1955), 30.

Every time the atheist appeals to reason, morality, or justice, he unwittingly acknowledges the divine foundation that makes those concepts intelligible.

Atheism, therefore, is parasitic — it survives by feeding on the moral and rational capital of the worldview it denies.

The Inescapable God

The apostle Paul declared in Romans 1:19–20:

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes… have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world.”

This statement is not merely theological; it is anthropological, psychological, and scientific. From the moment of birth, humans perceive order, agency, and moral meaning. To be human is to be aware of God.

Atheism is therefore not ignorance, but suppression — a willful refusal to acknowledge the obvious. As philosopher Alvin Plantinga puts it, unbelief is “a disorder of the cognitive faculties caused by sin,” not a rational discovery.

This explains why, throughout history, belief in God has been universal while atheism remains a late and fragile phenomenon — flourishing only in cultures that actively suppress the natural religious impulse.

The Emotional and Moral Cost of Denial

While atheism claims to liberate humanity, it ultimately imprisons the soul in meaninglessness. Bertrand Russell’s vision of man “destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system” is not courage — it is despair masquerading as reason.

By contrast, theism offers coherence:

– Morality has a foundation.

– Reason has a source.

– Beauty has a purpose.

– Love has an origin.

– Life has a meaning.

Atheism denies all of these, yet no human can live without them. Every act of love, every pursuit of justice, every longing for eternity is a contradiction to the atheist creed and a confession of divine truth.

C.S. Lewis, once an atheist himself, described this inner conflict:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen — not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 140.

Atheism sees nothing clearly because it denies the very light by which reality is visible.

The Empirical Verdict

Modern science now echoes what theology has always declared: belief in God is not a cultural artifact but a fundamental aspect of human consciousness. Cognitive and anthropological research confirm that humans are naturally theistic. Atheism must be taught — it must be argued into existence, often through the deliberate exclusion of moral and metaphysical awareness.

The irony is profound: the more we study the human mind, the more evidence we find that it was designed to know God.

As Oxford researcher Justin Barrett summarized,

“The naturalness of religious belief suggests that atheism is cognitively unnatural. It takes cultural work to suppress theistic intuitions.”

Justin L. Barrett, Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief (New York: Free Press, 2012), 14.

Atheism, therefore, is not a neutral position of reason but a resistance movement against reality itself.

The reality is this: Atheism, in its purest form, cannot explain why there is something rather than nothing, why we call things good or evil, why reason is trustworthy, why love matters, or why beauty moves us. It is a worldview that borrows fire from the altar of God to light its own darkness and then declares it self-sufficient.

But the flame always betrays its source.

As G.K. Chesterton wrote,

“If there were no God, there would be no atheists.”

G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1925), 126.

The very capacity to question God testifies to the divine image in us – reasoning, moral, longing for truth. Atheism exists only as rebellion within a God-created mind. It is a shadow cast by belief.

The God Who Is There

At the end of all arguments stands a Person. The issue is not intellectual but moral: will we acknowledge the truth that confronts us?

The Bible does not debate God’s existence; it assumes it because deep down, we all know. Psalm 19:1 declares,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Every sunrise, every conscience, every heartbeat testifies: there is a God, and He is near. The question, then, is not “Does God exist?” but “Will we admit it?”

Atheism does not fail because it lacks arguments; it fails because it denies what every heart already knows. Humanity was not made to live without God and every attempt to do so only proves His existence all the more.

The Inescapable Reality of God

Atheism presents itself as reason’s final triumph, a declaration of freedom from the divine. Yet, upon close examination, it collapses not under religious dogma but under its own weight. The very foundations upon which the atheist stands — reason, morality, meaning, and truth — are the foundations he cannot explain without God.

Throughout this two-part study, we have seen that atheism is not a neutral worldview but a borrowed one.

In Part I, we demonstrated philosophically and psychologically that disbelief in God is impossible in principle. The atheist mind must depend upon the very rational and moral order that only theism can make sense of. In Part II, we turned to science, history, and experience to show that atheism is equally impossible in practice: human beings are wired for belief, and every culture, conscience, and civilization bears the fingerprints of transcendence.

The verdict is consistent across disciplines — the human being is an incurably theistic creature.

As Oxford cognitive scientist Justin Barrett observes, “The naturalness of religious belief suggests that atheism is cognitively unnatural.”

From philosophy to psychology, from anthropology to neuroscience, the pattern is the same: man does not simply choose to believe in God; he awakens to a world that already points to Him.

Even the atheist, in his moral outrage, his pursuit of justice, his wonder at beauty, and his longing for meaning, unwittingly confesses the reality he denies. Every moral judgment presupposes an absolute; every appeal to logic assumes an objective order; every act of love assumes intrinsic worth. Atheism borrows all these from the worldview it rejects — it is, as Cornelius Van Til said, “a child sitting on God’s lap to slap Him in the face.”

Atheism therefore is not merely false, it is unlivable. It can neither explain the world we inhabit nor satisfy the heart that inhabits it. As C.S. Lewis wrote,

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.”

Theism illuminates; atheism obscures.

In the end, the denial of God is not an intellectual conclusion but a moral decision — a suppression of the obvious. The apostle Paul declared, “What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:19). The evidence is not hidden; it is ignored.

Thus, atheism does not exist in the way it claims. It is not the absence of belief, but the refusal to acknowledge the belief that is already there — a rebellion against the truth inscribed in reason, conscience, and creation. Humanity was not designed to live without God, and every attempt to do so proves His reality all the more.

The universe is not silent — it sings.

Every star, every conscience, every question of meaning echoes the same eternal affirmation: God is, and we know it.

Atheism does not exist in the way it claims.

– It is not the absence of belief, but the denial of knowledge.

– It is not reason freed from faith, but faith misplaced in reason alone.

– This is not the triumph of the mind, but the suppression of the soul.

The universe is not silent — it sings.

And even the atheist, in every act of love, gratitude, or wonder, hums along with the melody of God.

Other references

Blaise Pascal, Pensées, trans. A.J. Krailsheimer (London: Penguin, 1995), 113.

Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, trans. Ilse Lasch (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006), 104.

Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 312.

Semir Zeki, “Neural Correlates of Beauty,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 366, no. 1571 (2011): 1329–1338.

Andrew B. Newberg et al., “Religious and Spiritual Practices: Neurotheological Implications,” Frontiers in Psychology 7 (2016): 126.

Ara Norenzayan, Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 4.

Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 214.

Bertrand Russell, Mysticism and Logic (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1918), 47.