Is there really a God?
Dear Editor,
Some ancient Philosophers have argued that the fact mankind can imagine there being a God is a proof that there must be one. While this argument does have some merit, it mainly has limitations. Taken to its natural application this means anything that can be imagined must exist. Based on the nightmares I had as a 3- and 4-year-old boy, I really hope this theory isn’t true or I’m not going to sleep well tonight!
Some people feel that acceptance of God is entirely a matter of faith. But the Scriptures actually claim that it is the truth which is the basis for this faith (Rom. 10:17). Truth is only truth if it is objective truth – that is, it is true for everyone regardless of time or circumstances. Thus, God is either true, and there can be objective proofs to support this, or He is not true and only subjective truth can be offered for proof.
On the other hand, beliefs and truth are sometimes not entirely related. Tertullian once bragged that the main reason he so readily accepted Christianity was that it was fundamentally absurd. Perhaps he was alluding to 1Corinthians 1-2 which talks about human wisdom and divine wisdom being incompatible. Some people are so committed to their beliefs that despite the evidence of truth they refuse to change their beliefs. In this way we observe that what some atheists claim is their scientific basis for unbelief is nothing more than belief in opinions rather than evidence. Thus despite the mass of evidence to the contrary, many atheists refuse to accept that origin of life is best explained by appears to be obvious, a designer/creator.
In 2004 it was announced that renowned British professor and philosopher Andrew Flew, regarded by many as the world’s most acclaimed atheist, had renounced his atheism in favor of theism. One of the reasons cited by Flew was the evidence. He admitted that for a long time the growing problem of Evolution’s inability to explain how life began, or for that matter how anything began, led him to the inevitable conclusion that it was an inadequate answer in the face of the evidence.
Then when the DNA genome code was unraveled the evidence for design became undeniable. These two pieces of evidence: the existence of life demanding a Life-Source; and the scientific evidence of an extremely complex code in the makeup of that life, were enough for Prof. Flew to renounce atheism.
Imposing natural proof tests on supernatural claims is an unreasonable measure and totally inadequate. But where supernatural claims are made which have natural implications, such as “an invisible God created all that we see” (Romans 1:20), proof then takes on the garb of supporting evidence when looking at the natural evidence to support this supernatural claim.
This evidence, or proofs, for the existence of God invites atheists to consider it, especially for those who claim that there is none. At the very least it should be reasonably concluded that atheism, the absolute claim that there is no God, after considering all possible knowledge, is a highly irrational position. Accountability enters the picture now, if there is a God who created me, am I accountable to Him? That is a whole different thought to be considered.
Since there is sufficient evidence to show that the universe began and therefore must have had a beginning, we must also include the dimensions of time and space as part of that beginning. Therefore the “Beginning Cause” must have been outside of time and space. This is one of the central claims of the Bible about God: He is eternal and dwells above the heavens (Heb. 7:26), that is, God is outside time and space. At this point, we could apply these deductions using the scientific method to dismiss the claims of certain religions which present their “God” as being a part of time and space, pantheism. This includes Buddhism and Hinduism.
Within time and space there is moral, evil, corruption and decay. Since the Creator is outside of this He must be holy, immutable and impeccable. This then excludes the concepts of “God” put forward by Islam and Mormonism. But it fits perfectly with the concept of God as portrayed in the Christian Bible.
Perhaps the simplest test for discovering the identity of the Creator-God is to employ the scientific method to Psalm 34:8 and Matthew 7:7.
Psalm 34: 8: “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
David Nowak, Weatherford
Everyone should see ‘Lincoln’
Dear Editor,
My wife and I saw the movie “Lincoln.” It is a superb movie. It not only dissects our greatest president, it also details the greatest moment in American political history.
It does not sanitize the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution ending slavery, it shows the real life passage with all its great men and bribed men coming together to purify our democracy.
Every American from middle school to senility should see it. I hope our schools will soon include it in all American history classes. It is something to be proud of.
Dennis Tilly, Weatherford
