atheism self-refuting?

here's something I came across reading Zacharias… i’l l try to put it in more rigorous form:

1. Atheism is the positive assertion of God’s non-existence.
2. The positive assertion of God’s non-existence is an absolute negation.
3. Making an absolute negation requires infinite knowledge.
4. Only God has infinite knowledge.
5. Thus, infinite knowledge is required to make the assertion that there is no Being with infinite knowledge, and thus atheism is false. (this does not imply that theism is true, btw.)

well, though it sounds promising, I have some reservations abt this argument. maybe there is a weak link in point 3. what do you guys think?

[edit: I think point 3 is very questionable and point 2 as well. Suppose God tells me that there are no unicorns. Since I believe in God's testimony, I make the positive assertion of the non-existence of unicorns. Either that is an absolute negation or it is not. If it is, then obviously point 3 is false, since I don't need infinite knowledge to make that assertion. If it is not an absolute negation, then why should the positive assertion of God's non-existence be an absolute negation?

Thus, it is not surprising that this argument isn't convincing.]

song recommendation

"Jesus, I Lift Up My Eyes" by Jars of Clay
traditional words by Anne Steele (alt. by Jars of Clay)
music by Jars of Clay

When sins and fears prevailing rise
And fainting hope almost expires
Jesus to Thee I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul's desires

Are You not mine, my living Lord
And can my hope, my comfort die
Fixed on the everlasting word
That word which built the earth and sky

Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul's desires
O Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I lift my eyes

Here let my faith unshaken dwell
Immovable the promise stands
Not all the powers of earth or hell
Can e'er dissolve the sacred bands
Jesus to Thee I lift my eyes

Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul's desires
Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I lift my eyes

Here oh my soul
Thy trust repose
If Jesus is forever mine
Not death itself that last of foes
Can break a union so divine

Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul's desires
Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul's desires

Taken from the new album Redemption Songs, this is a wonderful hymn on the soul's ultimate satisfaction, Christ Himself. Not many bands can take an obscure hymn and make it both modern, upbeat and full of real, solid hope that shines through while retaining the spirit of the lyrics.

finding time

'At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.' Luke 4:42-44

'Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. ' Luke 5:15-16

Was reading Ordering Your Private World by Gordon Macdonald, on how to recapture and prioritise our time. The best example has to be Jesus Himself. According to Macdonald, He understood perfectly why he was on earth, what His mission was, and used His time according to the criteria of His mission. And He budgeted time for the gathering of inner strengh and resolve in order to prepare for spiritual warfare. He spent 30 years before beginning His public mission. He spent 40 days praying in the wilderness before starting His ministry. He prayed before the choosing of the twelve.

Some inspiration, hopefully, for those of us for whom time still slips through our grasp. And I believe that the truly non-negotiable aspect of everyday is really communion with God through the Word and prayer. Yet is the most easy to forsake, because no one ever protests or cries out when we fail in our QT.

finding joy

been encountering Jonathan Edwards quite a bit lately... first through reading Desiring God by John Piper, then this evening at the Stephen Tong expository preaching... perhaps I should read this esteemed theologian myself. Interestingly, the sermon just now was given by another Reformed preacher from Indonesia today-and it touched on the balance that Christians should have between truth and emotion.

too oft we have seen the extremes: emotional expression almost to the point of fanaticism without the anchor of truth; or the dry and empty formalism of mere concepts and creeds, true though they be.... but how do we strike a balance?

like Piper, the preacher today also quoted Jonathan Edwards freely: and the main point seems to be: real joy and right feelings come only from the knowledge and understanding of the truth (this does not mean a mere logical understanding, but a real perceving of the truth). A Christian, having access to the truth through the Word, should apprehend it with real feeling through the Spirit who enlightens us to the truth. That is to say, no less - a Christian should be the happiest person today, because he has the most profoundly satisfying Object in the universe: God. (This kind of thinking rings throughout John Piper's words.)

But how then, really, does joy come?

1. Understanding and appreciating the sovereignty of God.
2. Knowing the most terrible obstacle to everlasting and infinite joy - not poverty, not suffering, not injustice, not those hurts we get from others - but sin against God.
3. Cultivating a life of thanksgiving and counting our blessings.
4. Submission to God's truth and His will. (I think in the psalms, we can see the sheer unabashed delight in obedience to God's law. Not dutiful submission, but DELIGHT.)

guess it's not for this little 1st post to elaborate on the above points. But i think that it's really worth thinking abt. Sometimes we fall into the trap of simply doing out of duty - but recently i'm being challenged that this is simply not enough. (which is why i think Aristotle is closer to the Bible than Kant as far as moral philosophy and an understanding of human virtue goes. But more of this next time, if I ever get down to doing such a comparison.)

meanwhile, i hope i havent scared away all potential readers. :)