Atheism. Atheism is a false worldview, at the heart of which is the philosophical viewpoint there is no God (or gods). This viewpoint can be considered a religious belief because of two things:

1. It says something about the existence of God – a religious statement.
2. The atheist must believe there is no God; they cannot know there is no God. This is because knowing there is no God is a universal negative; to do so would require omniscience. The atheist would basically have to be God to know there is no God.

Therefore atheism is a belief ultimately based on a philosophical viewpoint, not on any conclusive evidence that God does not exist. Because of the faith required to hold that philosophical viewpoint, atheism has belief at its core, and atheists absolutely require faith to hold their belief. Atheists generally don't like to have it pointed out to them that their atheism is faith based and will often strongly deny it, even when it's clearly explained. This is reflected in the book title You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, But You Can't Make Him Think. Atheism takes more misguided faith than they care to admit, and more faith than it takes to believe that God does exist, as is made clear in the book I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Quite simply, Christianity is far more rational than atheism. The book Christianity for Skeptics puts atheism in perspective:

Atheism is a journey without a destiny, a body without a soul, a religion without reason, life without meaning, a faith without hope, and a universe without God.

Apart from just being a false religious worldview, atheism can also at times be considered a false religion, especially when it takes the form of vehement antitheism. See Is Atheism a Religion? (It also explains why atheism is a blind faith but Christianity is not.) There are several varieties or degrees of atheism, which lie outside the scope of this listing. Atheism is also listed in the Glossary. See CARM's Atheism section for more information, including several videos, or Randy Bailey's story of abandoning atheism to accept Jesus Christ as his saviour. He writes:

The greatest truth that I have learned since I have "come home" again, is that all of the arguments and debates in defense of an atheistic worldview exist for one sole purpose: justification of sin. The reality is that, although I wanted to present my atheism as the result of learned, intellectual inquiry, the reality was that I – just as all atheists do – was defending my choice of refusing God and living a sinful lifestyle.

	False Religion: (Also used for false worldviews.) According to Christian belief Jesus Christ is the only way to God. All other religions fail to deal with the issue of sin, which sets us apart from God. Only Christianity provides forgiveness of sin because of Jesus paying the penalty that we should have paid. The price that Jesus Christ paid is a free gift that we can choose to accept or reject. For more on this read the Pastor Notes pamphlet We All Need Our Sins Forgiven.
	Danger: The group/person or belief/practice is considered dangerous due to mind control or particularly bad doctrine. These groups (or people) have a strong tendency to damage their members/followers.
	Hot Topic: The group/person or belief/practice has recently featured in the secular news media, has generated notable correspondence, is a popular conversation topic, etc. Note that this rating has nothing to do with the "cultishness" of a group.

Printed on 20 January 2021 at www.cults.co.nz.
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