(26 ottobre 2019, Max Tex)
It seems remarkable to notice that the phIlosophical basis of atheism, i.e., the denial of the existence of God, is actually well-known.
In his famous book “Introduction to Christianity” (1) in fact Joseph (at the time Cardinal) Ratzinger points out:
1) first, that there are in principle two ways to (reach) the faith in God, namely the belief that God exists. One is reason (namely rational thinking), and the second is heart (namely the intuitive way of reasoning);
2) second, that – once the way of the reasoning is followed – a conflict may arise between reason and heart.
It must be remarked, however, that the conclusion 2) follows because Ratzinger adopts the point of view of the Enlightenment philosophy. This arises because according to the Enlightenment philosophy (1,2)
– all logical sentences are either true or false.
This is the Aristotile two-way Principle of Non-Contradiction (2-way PNC);- any enlightened person, namely according to Immanuel Kant (see his “Critique to Pure Reason”) a wise and learned person, will be able to state whether the same sentences are true or false.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN REASON AND FAITH
For an enlightened person, in fact, the conflict between reason and heart unavoidably also gives rise to a conflict between reason and faith (in God) itself. Indeed , based on the same 2-way PNC, a so-called enlightened person should be also able to establish the truth or the falsity of the sentence “God exists”, with God to be intended here as the eternal, omniscient and almighty God of Abraham, Joseph and Moses, i.e., the God of Israel and Christianity alike.
However, given the lack of a scientific proof, which should be possible and repeatable by any observer, and the fact that neither the Bible nor the Gospel represent by themself a physical proof of the existence of God, the same enlightened person is unavoidably led to the conclusion that the same sentence is false. The paradox is, however, that also the opposite sentence ” God does not exist” cannot be properly tested (we lack any physical means or experimental measurement apparatus for such a purpose). This points obviously to the possible inconsistency of the 2-way PNC (see below).
ATHEISTIC CRISIS
According to Joseph Ratzinger, after the Enlightenment, in the history of Church even saints have suffered crises of atheism, namely periods in which they had serious difficulties in believing in God. An example he mentions is the famous Saint Therese of Lisieux. Again, according to Joseph Ratzinger, the atheistic crisis can only be overcome believing that reason, somehow, is wrong and believing in God only with our heart.
REFUTATION OF ATHEISM IN THE GOEDEL RATIONALISM
The rational (i.e., logical) refutation of Atheism is surprisingly straightforward and follows from the proof of falsity of the Enlightenment philosophy which can be achieved in the context of the Goedel Rationalism. The latter is based on the new formulation of the Principle of Non-Contradiction (3-way PNC), which follows from the famous Goedel Theorem. According to this principle any logical sentence can be either:- true- false- or undecidable.Indeed, given the fact that the basis of atheism is provided by the Enlightenment, it follows that the refutation of the latter (see (2)) provides at the same time the refutation of the former. The same conclusion applies in principle to any form of Atheism, including the so-called Theology of Modernism.The constructive proof of falsity of the philosophy of Atheism is provided by the 3-way PNC, i.e., the new Principle of Non-Contradiction based on Goedel Theorem. In such a context, in fact, the sentence “God exists” is just undecidable as its negation namely “God does not exist”. The reason is that it is impossible by any (ideal) experiment to ascertain whether God exists or does not exist, namely he is (or he is not) actually eternal, omniscient and almighty.So there is no contradiction between reason and faith in God!
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger , “Introduction to Christianity” (Communio Books, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, first edition 1968, revision 2004).
(2) https://www.facebook.com/100000069109306/posts/2908396805839261/?sfnsn=mo
