(November 18, 2016 at 11:46 am)operator Wrote: What do you mean about the "intellectual poverty of atheism?" Atheism is simply a lack of belief in any god or gods, so I'm not sure what you're trying to get at there.If atheism was simply the lack of belief in god(s) then cabbages are atheists. It’s a dodge. Atheism is actually an opinion about the proposition that god(s) exist.
Robvalue retreats from my critique (atheism does not recognize and cannot work with spiritual truths) on the grounds that it was a definitive statement and not a generalization open to qualification. In fact the opinion that god(s) do not exist is overwhelmingly associated with ontological naturalism. If his wife is an exception then she is certainly in the minority.
But back on point, the topics in Exodus are not confined to a slave revolt, inexplicable plagues, and the adventures of an ancient people during migration. When someone who doesn’t believe in God reads Exodus only things such as those are subject to inquiry. Did this happen and if so when? Etc. On the other hand the believer reads the text to learn about things like Divine Providence. If someone doesn’t believe in a spiritual truth like Providence it doesn’t make any sense for him inquire about how it works.
