Deaf Preacher Claims “God is an Illusion”
Justin Vollmar is a pastor who has been running the Virtual Deaf Church online for the last four years. Last week he told his online followers Friday that he is now an atheist because there is “NO GOD” and Christianity is “all nonsense.”
I wonder how he knows this. The key word here is “know,” as in, know for sure. The Bible takes a different position. It states:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Rom. 1:18-24).
On the one had we have a conglomeration of atoms called “Justin” who entered this evolved world through two other conglomerations of atoms called “parents” who says there is no God. On the other hand we have God saying that everybody knows the true God and those who deny His existence are actually suppressing the truth.
Who is Justin Vollmar? He looks to be around 40 years old. This makes him a “person” of limited knowledge and experience, and maybe of no knowledge at all.
Here’s some of what he signed on the video. Notice the progression of thought:
“Atheism mean[s] I believe that there is no God. Yes, God is just an illusion or theological concept. Jesus is not the Son of God, He did not rise from the dead. Nor is He born of virgin mother. I completely deny those.”
He begins with a definition of atheism which he admits is a faith: “I BELIEVE there is no God.” From this he moves to “God is just an illusion or a theological concept.” What he should have said is, “I BELIEVE God is just an illusion or a theological concept.” But even that’s too much certainty for a bag of meat and bones animated by electricity.
Why should anybody put their faith in anything an evolved entity named “Justin Vollmar” says? For example, as J.B.S. Haldane famously stated, “If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motion of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”1
C.S. Lewis said something similar:
“If minds are wholly dependent on brains, and brains on bio-chemistry, and bio-chemistry (in the long run) on the meaningless flux of atoms, I cannot understand how the thought of those minds should have any significance than the sound of the wind in the trees. Christian theology can fit in science, art, morality, and the sub-Christian religions. . . . The scientific point of view cannot fit in any of these things, not even science itself.”2
So the person who watches the animated batch of chemicals called “Justin Vollmar” pass air over his evolved vocal cords and make a claim of certainty, has to ask himself how much trust he wants to put in such a thing. Justin Vollmar needs to ask himself the same question. His problem is that given his operating assumptions how can he trust a brain composed only of atoms that evolved from nothingness? Of course, he can’t even be certain of this in his newly adopted worldview.