The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” Psalm 53:1
The simple answer to the above question can be ‘an atheist is a person who does not believe in the existence of any god, spiritual being or power that is higher than human kind.’
Now, the question we need to ask is: “why do so many people hold and love to promote such an anti God belief system?’ The answer is not, mere ignorance. It is not because they don’t know anything else.
The apostle Paul makes this clear in Romans 1:20 - “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.”
In other words, all mankind knows by the magnificent world around us that there is a higher being, a creator, responsible for its existence.
So why are not people flocking to acknowledge and know this God?
I like what an unknown author once wrote on this, “The atheist can’t find God for the same reason that a thief can’t find a police officer.”
In other words, sinful man does not want to be confronted by a Holy and Sovereign God. Though mankind has a revelation of God in creation, because of their rebellious sinful nature, they will do anything and believe anything, rather than acknowledge their sin and submit to this God in repentance and faith. Praise the Lord for the power of the gospel that breaks down sin hardened hearts!
As Octavius Winslow, a puritan, once said as a warning to all - Beware of that practical atheism which excludes God from His own world; which excludes Him from your individual history. He is not only present in His created universe, but He is as much in personal events of life, shaping, guiding, and overruling each and all.” (Grace quotes)