A prominent atheist, Todd Steifel responded to questions from people of faith recently. (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/blaze-exclusive-prominent-atheist-activist-answers-your-most-burning-questions-about-faith-secularism/) One of the questions he was asked was "If atheists have no faith, what is your reason for life?"
He responded in an articulate and impressive manner:
“This questions needs to be broken in two. There is the question of ‘what is your reason for life,‘ but an answer also needs to be given to the assumption of ’atheists have no faith.’ To the piece on faith, this depends on what definition of faith you use. If defined as, believing without proof, atheists reject this type of blind faith as dangerous and ignorant. This is the kind kind of faith that allows people to be convinced they will be rewarded with virgins for flying a plane into a building. On the other hand, all atheists have faith in terms of trusting other people. Atheists do not have faith in terms of, believing in gods, but personally I have no problem with people who have this kind of faith so long as they are not fundamentalists and do not try to use the government to spread or legislate their religion.
As to our reason for living, our reasons are even stronger than for those who believe in an afterlife. To atheists, we get one shot, there is no reincarnation or heaven where we get to live on after death. We have to do our best here and now. There is no reason for life, except for the purpose we give it. I am sure each atheist has different reasons they love life, but for me, my reasons for living include the joy of raising my children, the love of being with my family and friends and the fulfillment I get from helping other people. A better question may be what is the reason for living for someone who believes in heaven; why bother living if you could just die and go to heaven? What meaning can you give to this life? My guess is that the answers a religious person has to those questions are very similar to the answer I have for living.”
The question of "why bother living if you could just die and go to heaven?" may seem argumentative, but I believe Mr. Steifel submits a valid question. Why would God create mankind, go to great lengths to make his presence undetectable, and then assign a final and permanent judgement that either saves or damns them? If the choices that people make in this life are so important, and he invests so much in us, why would he not come down immediately and explain that to everyone? Why allow atheists and secularists to mock him and cast doubt on his very existence if faith is required to access his saving grace?
Perhaps other Christians have answers to these questions... I will not speak for them. I do know what answers the Mormon faith provides to these questions however.
The purpose of life is not to get to heaven. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe that the existence of mankind did not begin on earth. It began in heaven.
Many people overlook that the Biblical account in Genesis shows two creations. The more famous is divided into six periods that are called days. The efforts in this time are shown to produce light, land, sea, plants, sun, moon, stars, fish, fowl, beasts, and mankind. After this creation, God then is said to have not made a man to till the earth, and forms a man of the dust of the earth. (Genesis 2:7) After this man is created, plants and rivers are formed in the land, including the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:8-15) After the creation of man and the garden, God points out that the man is alone and creates animals of the dust of the earth. (Genesis 2:19-20) Finally, God creates a wife for the man, Eve. (Genesis 2:23-24) This second creation appears to differ from the first in both scope and order. Latter-Day Saints believe that this second creation represents a physical creation, and that all things, including mankind, were first created spiritually. (Moses 3:5)
These passages highlight an important point. Mankind existed before the physical earth on which we now live was created. It is not rhetorical to call God our Heavenly Father, for we lived with him as his children before we came to earth. The purpose of life cannot be to get to heaven, because we had already achieved that before birth.
Life challenges us to become something greater. Jesus taught, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) The word perfect in this case does not mean flawless. It is the same use of the term when describing the tense in language (i.e. saying 'I have grown' implies that the growth is complete. This is perfect tense.)
This change can be easily identified in the Apostle Peter. He that denied that he knew Jesus (Matthew 26:29-75) became one that boldly declared that he was the Christ. (Acts 4:10-12) Ultimately, his belief in Jesus made him a greater man.
There are numerous other examples of people that gain courage through faith. Faith is a catalyst for improvement. God does not want to come down and prove himself at the request of every atheist or secularist... he wants them to seek him patiently. Scientifically verifiable evidence of his power does not challenge people to become greater. The quest to seek him in the holy scriptures, in the words of prophets, in the sincerity of prayer, and in the humility of repentance, this is what challenges mankind to become something more than they now are.
God provides universal and general guiding principals. Atheism has from ancient times tried to separate God from goodness. Many prominent atheists point out that even devout evangelicals, when pressed, do not say that God is to be obeyed, they say that God is good. If goodness is not tied to God, then they can be good without believing in God.
The real flaw in this belief is the knowledge that without God there can be no justice. If life ends with death, then what does it matter if a man lies, cheats, steals, kills, and does anything he can to get gain? If a murderer can get away with it, and it benefits them, why not murder? If a liar does not get caught, then why not lie? Is it based on some abstract law that people should be good? That is incredibly weak without some method of enforcing the law.
God provides the hope that even when vile offenders get out of worldly justice on technicalities, in the end, those that do wrong will reap the consequences of their actions. In the end, those that do good, and believe in God will be saved by him.
Without God, moral judgement will always fall to culturally relativistic tendencies. If there is no purpose to life other than what we give it, does that mean those that don't do much with their lives have no purpose? If a person doesn't enjoy life as Mr. Steifel does, are they expendable? If a person derives happiness from the misery of others as opposed to helping others as Mr. Steifel does, is cruelty the purpose of their life? Is the value of a purposeful life greater than the value of a life with little or no purpose?
In the end, the answer to the question "why bother living if you could just die and go to heaven?" is probably best handled by an understanding of who we are, why we are here, and what we can become. Because of Jesus Christ, even the most humble life has purpose. Because of Jesus Christ, the poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, they that mourn shall be comforted, the meek shall inherit the earth, they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled, and the merciful shall obtain mercy. Because of Jesus Christ, there is a reason to live right, and a promise that good will triumph over evil in the end. He didn't come to get the simple satisfaction of teaching philosophy or point out a few benefits of kindness; he came to save us all.
