Few debates are as cyclical and fruitless as those between theists and atheists. The same arguments have been exchanged for centuries, with neither side truly convincing the other, as both operate from assumptions they rarely question. The theist often seeks to demonstrate the existence of God through metaphysical or moral arguments, while the atheist dismisses such claims as irrational, insisting on an empirical or materialist worldview. Yet, beneath their opposition, both positions share a common and often unexamined foundation: a belief in nothing.
The Theist’s Half-Resolution to Nihilism
The theist recognizes, in some way, that existence cannot simply be arbitrary or contingent. The idea of a necessary, eternal foundation is embedded in their belief in God. However, the contradiction emerges when the theist conceives of God as a being who ‘creates from nothing’ or stands apart from existence. This assumption unwittingly introduces nihilism into their framework. If God brings existence into being from nothing, then nothingness is given an ontological status it cannot have. The theist, in trying to escape nihilism, paradoxically builds part of their worldview upon it.
Different theological traditions handle this problem in varying ways. Classical theism, as seen in thinkers like Aquinas, attempts to define God as necessary being itself, but still maintains the notion of creation, which implies an initial absence of being. More modern perspectives, such as those of Paul Tillich, argue that God is “being-itself” rather than a separate entity. Yet even these formulations struggle to fully escape the assumption of a time when being was not.
The Atheist’s Belief in the Absurd
The atheist, by contrast, often believes themselves to be the champion of reason, rejecting supernatural explanations in favor of materialist or scientific ones. However, this stance is frequently grounded in an even deeper contradiction. Most atheists accept the premise that things come into existence and pass out of it, that being ultimately emerges from nothing and will return to nothing. But this assumption is far from rational—it is, in fact, a far greater leap of faith than belief in God. The notion that existence arises from non-existence is an absurdity that, when examined closely, collapses under its own weight. The atheist, though rejecting theological constructs, unknowingly embraces the most radical and incoherent form of nihilism.
Furthermore, scientific materialism, often used as the foundation for atheism, relies on the assumption that reality is continuous and governed by laws. However, if all things truly arose from nothing and will vanish into nothing, then the very structure of scientific reasoning becomes unstable. Science assumes the persistence of reality, yet atheism, when pushed to its logical extreme, undermines the very continuity upon which science depends. This contradiction goes largely unnoticed by those who argue from a purely empirical standpoint.
The Stalemate of Opposing Faiths
Both the theist and the atheist, then, build their positions on an implicit faith in nothing—whether through the idea of divine creation ex nihilo or through the assumption that reality is a temporary fluctuation in an abyss of non-being. This shared foundation ensures that their arguments remain locked in endless opposition, each incapable of fully refuting the other because they both operate within the same flawed conceptual framework.
Moving Beyond the Argument
If the debate between theism and atheism is to be transcended, one must first recognize the deeper structure of being that underlies both positions. Rather than seeking to prove or disprove God, one must ask: what is the nature of existence itself? What if being is not something that arises or vanishes but something that cannot not be? If existence is eternal, then the entire problem of ‘coming from nothing’ dissolves, and with it, the foundational contradictions of both theistic and atheistic thought.
The structure of Being, as exposed by philosopher Emanuele Severino and others after him, points toward this realization: being does not emerge from non-being, nor does it vanish into nothingness. Reality, in its essence, is eternal and necessary. The fundamental misunderstanding in both theism and atheism arises from the assumption that things “become”—that is, that they come into existence and cease to exist. But this is an illusion imposed by the way reality appears to us. In truth, every being is eternal; what appears to be change or annihilation is merely a shift in the way being presents itself.
If one accepts that being is necessary and that non-being is impossible, then the very foundation of both theistic and atheistic reasoning collapses. The theist’s notion of creation from nothing is revealed as incoherent, as there was never a time when being was not. Likewise, the atheist’s assumption that things vanish into nothing is equally incoherent, as nothingness is not a possible state. Existence is not something that is granted or revoked—it simply and necessarily is.
A Call to See Beyond
The true resolution does not lie in winning an argument but in seeing the limitations of the framework that makes the argument necessary. By stepping beyond the opposition of theism and atheism, one encounters a deeper coherence—one that does not rely on the presuppositions of becoming, creation, or annihilation. Rather than asking whether God exists or does not exist, one might instead recognize that existence itself is the necessary, inescapable, and self-evident foundation upon which all things appear.
This realization is not just theoretical; it shifts one’s entire relationship to meaning, ethics, and truth. By seeing beyond the debate, one is no longer trapped in the need to defend a position but is free to recognize the eternal necessity of being itself. It is not a matter of choosing between two flawed positions but of seeing beyond the need to choose at all. And in that seeing, one may finally move beyond the empty cycle of debate and into a clearer vision of reality.
It Is What It Is 
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