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Faith in the Age of Doubt

Religious Responses to Modern Atheism
09:49 PM May 28, 2025 IST | Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zargar
Religious Responses to Modern Atheism
faith in the age of doubt
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The question of God’s existence has remained one of the most thoughtful and continuing inquiries in human history. From the ancient philosophical traditions of Greece to the spiritual doctrines of world religions, humanity has grappled with the concept of the Divine, its nature, necessity, and implications. In the modern era, however, this question has been reproduced through the lenses of science, secular philosophy, and rational inquiry, resulting in the widespread phenomenon of disbelief.

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In today’s increasingly secular age, belief in God is often seen not only as outdated but as intellectually doubtful. Modern atheism, especially in its “New Atheist” form, is not merely about personal disbelief; it is a mission to discredit religion entirely. From bestselling books to viral YouTube debates, atheism now stands as a global force, arguing that science has buried God, and that morality, meaning, and truth can flourish without Him.

But the world’s major religions have not remained silent. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, also other religions like Sikhism, especially Islam, have responded with intellectual rigour, spiritual depth, and a renewed commitment to explaining why faith remains not only relevant but essential.

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This is the first article in a new series exploring how different religions, particularly Islam, engage with modern atheism. We begin with a broad look at the argument from atheism and how multiple faiths have pushed back, each in their own distinctive way.

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The Rise of the Godless Worldview

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Atheism today presents itself as a full-fledged worldview — rational, scientific, and ethically self-sufficient. Champions of this movement include names like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens. In recent decades, these thinkers have tried to transform atheism from a relatively passive disbelief into an active ideological movement. This movement is termed “New Atheism.”

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These thinkers argue that belief in God lacks evidence, promotes violence, and hinders progress. Morality, they claim, can be grounded in empathy and evolutionary biology. Meaning is something we invent, not something we discover.

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Atheism seems to be now a cultural force, influencing universities, media, and public policy. But is it a complete vision of human life, or a shallow idea, or merely a reductionist view that deprives existence of deeper meaning?

Let us now see how the major religious traditions of the world have responded to this idea.

Christianity: Faith and the Moral Universe

Christian thinkers argue that without the divine image, human beings lose their inherent worth. Saint Paul’s theology, deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, asserts that human dignity arises from being created in the image of God and redeemed through Christ. As such, ethics in Christianity are not constructed but revealed.

Moreover, Christianity does not evade the reality of suffering. It tries to address it through the Cross. In Jesus Christ, as many biblical scholars emphasise, God does not offer abstract answers to pain but personally enters into human suffering. The Gospel of John presents Christ not merely as a moral teacher but as the Logos—God incarnate—who takes upon Himself the grief and brokenness of humanity.

Hinduism and Buddhism: Consciousness Over Matter

Eastern traditions challenge atheism at a more metaphysical level. Hinduism, particularly in the Vedānta tradition, rejects materialism outright. It teaches that reality is not fundamentally material but spiritual. Consciousness (Ātman) is the true self, and it is ultimately one with the Divine (Brahman).

Swami Vivekananda famously argued that science explains the outer world, but spirituality explores the inner world. Atheism, by focusing only on the physical, ignores the deeper layers of existence accessible through meditation, contemplation, and self-realisation.

Buddhism, though non-theistic, also critiques materialism. The Buddha taught that attachment to sensory reality is the root of suffering. Enlightenment lies not in accumulating knowledge of the world, but in transcending illusion and achieving liberation (nirvāṇa). In this way, even without a personal God, Buddhism affirms a spiritual reality that atheism denies.

Islam: A Coherent Vision of Truth and Meaning

Islam offers one of the most integrated responses to atheism, combining reason, revelation, and spirituality into a unified worldview. The Qur’ān does not shy away from intellectual challenge. It repeatedly asks humans to observe, reflect, and use their reason:

“Do they not then reflect on the Qur’ān, or are there locks upon their hearts?”
(al-Qur’ān, Muḥammad, 47:24)

Islamic civilization has a rich and strong tradition of responding to scepticism and philosophical doubt. The Qur’ān presents numerous arguments against atheism, scepticism, and agnosticism, affirming the existence of God through appeals to observation, logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and rational inference.

From the works of al-Ghazzālī’s Tahāfut al-Falāsifah to Ibn Taymiyyah’s Darʾ Taʿāruḍ al-ʿAql wa al-Naql, Muslim scholars have long engaged with the epistemological and metaphysical problems posed by unbelief.

Al-Ghazzālī argued that true knowledge begins when we question appearances and seek higher certainty—a path that led him from philosophy to spiritual awakening. Ibn Taymiyyah defended the harmony between reason and revelation, warning against both blind imitation and excessive speculation.

Islam teaches that belief in God is not irrational; it is intuitive. The fiṭrah, or natural disposition, inclines every soul toward belief in a Creator. The signs of God are everywhere: in nature, in conscience, in the cosmos itself:

“We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth.”
(al-Qur’ān, Fuṣṣilat, 41:53)

Islam does not fear science; it sees it as a means to discover divine wisdom. Nor does it reject morality without God; it insists that true morality must be rooted in objective truth, not in whatever people agree upon without any reality.

A Global Response to a Global Question

The modern atheist critique is bold, but not without response. Across traditions, faith continues to speak. It speaks not only of belief in a higher power, but of a deeper way of seeing, living, and understanding the world.

This series will explore deeper into key atheist arguments like the problem of evil, the challenge of science, and the morality of religion, and explore how religious traditions, particularly Islam, offer convincing and enduring answers.

Next Column: “Why Do We Suffer? The Problem of Evil Across Faiths”

Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zargar is a scholar of Islamic Sciences and Philosophy, and Comparative Religion, currently working on a comprehensive book addressing atheism from an Islamic perspective. He is a Faculty at Department of Religious Studies, Central University of Kashmir.

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