Skip to main content

Atheist 'Completely Destroys' His Own Argument — Pastor Explains Why

Share This article

In less than five minutes, Tim Barnett, a pastor, and apologist from Ontario set the record straight after one atheist tried to sloppily invalidate Christianity.

The tweet, apparently posted by Atheist Republic founder Armin Navabi, reasoned: “Everything has a creator. God is that creator. God does not have a creator. Your solution fails when it violates its own premise.”

Barnett, in his response, said Atheist Republic got off to a “really, really bad start,” noting the very first statement — the claim that Christians believe “everything has a creator” — “is false.”

“No Christian apologist makes that first claim,” the pastor said. “We don’t believe that everything has a creator. We believe that everything that begins to exist has a cause. That’s a fundamental distinction, because if God did not begin to exist, then he doesn’t need a cause or creator.”

So the atheist activist’s argument, Barnett explained, is based entirely off a “complete misunderstanding of what Christians actually believe.”

FAITHWIRE: Five Christian Movies to Watch While You’re at Home This Weekend

Barnett conceded, then, that the second and third premises — “God is that creator” and “God does not have a creator” — are true.

But since Christians don’t really hold to the Atheist Republic’s initial claim, the entire argument can be easily invalidated.

“This is a textbook example of a straw man fallacy,” Barnett said. “When you defeat a defenseless imitation of an argument instead of the real thing. In other words, it’s easier to knock over a straw man than a real man.”

“I find it really hard to believe that Atheist Republic did not know that we believe everything that begins to exist has a cause,” he added. “It’s literally the most popular argument that Christians use.”

Share This article

About The Author

Tré Goins-Phillips Headshot
Tré
Goins-Phillips

Tré Goins-Phillips serves as a host and content creator for CBN News. He hosts the weekly “Faith vs. Culture” show and co-hosts “Quick Start,” a news podcast released every weekday morning. Born and raised in Virginia, Tré now lives along the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he has built his career, often traveling to meet and interview fascinating cultural influencers and entertainers. After working with brands like TheBlaze and Independent Journal Review, Tré began his career at CBN News in 2018 and has a particular passion for bridging the chasm between the secular world and the church