‘No Human Being Can Be An Atheist’ – Pastor Mensa Otabil [Sermon Review]

In a time when it has become popular for people to call themselves agnostics or atheists, Pastor Mensa Otabil has noted that it is impossible for any human being to be an atheist. In his Sunday sermon on Knowing the Holy Spirit (1), the General Overseer of International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) argued strongly against people who claim to deny the existence of God. He said they convince themselves there is no God but it is futile in the sense that it is like saying you deny being a human.

“The Holy Spirit makes us aware of God. There is a God awareness in every human being. There is no real atheist in this world. It is impossible for a human being to be an atheist. Why? Because the knowledge of God is instinctive to man. That is why you have to go to school for a long time and develop a very strong arguments to convince yourself there is no God. You hardly find an uneducated person who doesn’t both know God and acknowledge Him. You find the only people who do that are people who have to make a mental effort to try to deny something they know without any shadow of doubt within them that it is. That is why atheists spend a lot of time arguing there is no God. If there is no God, you shouldn’t even bother.”

– Dr. Mensa Otabil

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, an atheist is “a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods.” An agnostic, on the other hand, is “a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God.”

READ ALSO: How Do You Feel When You Don’t Go To Church?

On their website, the American Atheists association states that,

“Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.”

Pastor Otabil further noted that, “No human being can be an atheist!” Speaking from Psalm 14, he said atheists only convince themselves there is no God.

"The fool has said in his heart, 
“There is no God.” 
They are corrupt, 
They have done abominable works, 
There is none who does good." 
(Psalm 14:1)

In Psalm 19 and Romans 1, both writers agree that God has made Himself known to us through His creation (General Revelation). There is clear evidence of the existence of a supreme being who created all things and we are accountable to Him. Romans 1 further states that the unrighteous rather suppresses the truth of God and incur His wrath. No one can disprove the existence of God. God is the source of everything including those who claim to be atheists.

Have you encountered any atheist before? What happened? Share with us.

Watch the full sermon here:

For further reading:

1. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek
2. Romans 1:18-2:16
3. Psalm 19:1-6