By Mike Willis
I suppose that every age has a group which professes to be “free thinkers’.’ or “enlightened” because they have reached the conclusion that there is no God. Our age is no different from those which preceded us. Our “free thinkers” (as if to imply that no others are “free thinkers” or “enlightened”) have organized themselves under the name of “humanism” and have published several documents detailing their beliefs. They confidently affirm that there is no God. They assert:
We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a supernatural; it is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of the survival and fulfillment of the human race (Humanist Manifesto H, p. 16).
Whereas the percentage of Americans who consider themselves humanists is relatively small, many Americans have accepted the main tenets of the humanist movement. Some consider themselves to be atheists or agnostics; many live as atheists and agnostics-wholly disregarding the claims of God upon their lives.
Those leaders in the anti-God movement are working to establish state supported atheism or secularism. Their concept of the ideal relationship of religion and the schools is a school system in which state supported teachers can attack the Bible, deny the existence of God, belittle Christians and Christianity, and actively work to re-shape the moral values of our children so that Christian ethics are replaced with humanist ethics. The same school system must not permit voluntary prayer, the public display of the Ten Commandments, any reference to God and the Bible, and any instruction regarding biblical morals. While they say that they want the state separated from religion, what they desire is state supported atheism, agnosticism, and secularism. If we create a system in which God is systematically eliminated from our schools, our public events, our courts, our Congress, and everything else related to the government, we will effectively have produced an atheistic state! Those who believe in state supported atheism are hiding under the guise of “separation of church and state”!
In view of what is happening in our society, we need to be reminded that God exists and, as our Creator and Sustainer, has the right to govern us.
Evidence of God
The Bible nowhere makes an argument to prove the existence of God. The Bible assumes that God exists. However, there are a number of evidences for the existence of God.
1. There is no logical explanation of the creation without the existence of God. Our creation is a cosmos, not a chaos. Whether we consider the most intricate workings of the eye or the movements of the heavenly bodies, there is order manifested everywhere. The design that exists points us toward a designer. There is no explanation of the orderly arrangement of the universe without the belief that God designed it.
The existence of life itself points to the existence of God. No man has been able to show that life can come from the random collision of nonliving elements. Science has shown many times that all life comes from previously living things. A rock cannot produce a worm; helium gas does not produce an amoeba. All living things come from previously living things. If there was ever a time when there was no life, there would always be no life because something (life) cannot come from nothing (non-life). The existence of a living God is the most logical explanation of the creation which exists.
The conscience of man and moral values point to the existence of God. All men have a conscience. From whence did it originate? Did man’s conscience originate from a rock, a turkey, or even a monkey? Man is the only part of God’s creation which has aconscience. Where did it come from? The most logical explanation of the conscience of man is the belief in a living God.
Hence, the creation which exists points toward the existence of God. There is no logical explanation of the universe without the belief in the existence of God.
2. The Bible points toward the existence of God. The Bible exists. No one can deny this. The Bible contains things beyond the capability of unguided men.
The Bible was written by 40 different men from different, backgrounds and educational levels, on three continents, in three languages, and over a period of 1600 years. Yet there is a remarkable unity in this book. The thread which ties the Bible together is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to this earth to make atonement for sin. The first book of the Bible points to the coming of one who is the son of Abraham through whom all families of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3). The rest of the Old Testament develops this messianic expectation of a deliverer. The New Testament announces that the Messiah has come; He was Jesus of Nazareth. The book tells of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. It closes with the promise that He will return to take those who have been faithful to Him to Heaven. Truly, the Bible manifests a remarkable unity-a unity which cannot be explained on a purely natural basis.
The Bible also contains prophecy. No man is able to foretell the future. Yet the Bible foretells the future. Copies of Isaiah exist which were written approximately 200 years before Jesus was born. The prophecies of the book of Isaiah announce that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (7:14), considered deity (9:6), made an atonement for sin (53:46), put to death (53:8), and raised from the dead (53:8). How did the author of this book know these things about the Messiah? He could know them only because God revealed them to him. Indeed, the Bible points to the existence of God.
3. Jesus points to the existence of God. No one can deny that Jesus lived. Historical evidence is too extensive for anyone who is honest with the evidence to deny that Jesus lived and died on a cross at the time in history recorded in the Bible. The New Testament documents are the eyewitness accounts of His contemporaries-men who testified that Jesus worked miracles and was raised from the dead. These documents and these men’s testimony cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
Can you imagine a situation in which a popular public figure was killed and three days later the report is out that he is raised from the dead? Documents are written within 20-30 years of his death which report his resurrection. To demonstrate how impossible these facts would be to believe, if Jesus were not raised from the dead, consider the death of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Can you imagine me writing a document to our contemporaries reporting the resurrection of Kennedy? How many would believe it? How many disciples of Kennedy could we make in A short period of time?
Yet, in the case of Jesus, His resurrection was reported within three days of His death in the very city in which He was crucified and buried. Within fifty days of His death, 3000 were baptized in His name to receive the forgiveness of their sins. How can this be explained without admitting that Jesus was actually raised from the dead?
If Jesus were raised from the dead, then He is the Son of God. In that case, there is a God. Therefore, I argue that Jesus demonstrates the existence of God.
Conclusion
The psalmist wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14: 1). The Hebrew word nabal (fool) refers to more than mental ignorance; it refers to a man who has “no perception of ethical and religious claims . . . ignoble,
disgraceful. ” The men who are denying the existence of God are still this kind of men-men who see nothing wrong with fornication, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, pornography, situation ethics, and other forms of immorality. Their denial of the existence of God is directly related to their unwillingness to submit themselves to God’s ethical standard. Yes, my brethren, there is a God!
Guardian of Truth XXIX: 4, pp. 98, 116
February 21, 1985