What Is Atheism? 5 Minute Apologetics with Dr Thomas Fretwell
What Is Atheism? Classical vs New Atheism (Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris) | Five Minute Apologetics In this episode of Five Minute Apologetics, Dr. Thomas Fretwell launches a new series on atheism by asking what atheism actually is—mere lack of belief, the conviction that God does not exist, or a broader worldview. He explains why Christians should understand atheists’ real views (1 Peter 3:15) to avoid straw man arguments, and previews topics like the history of atheism, classical vs new atheism, leading thinkers, and shared naturalistic assumptions. He surveys classical influences (Hume, Marx, Nietzsche, Russell and the “celestial teapot”) and the early-2000s “new atheism” (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett), noting its mockery-driven activism and claiming it is now largely “dead” though its ideas persist online. He then contrasts definitions of atheism as “God does not exist” versus “lack of belief,” discussing burden-of-proof issues and arguing the latter is often a semantic shift.
