In the first three parts of this series on the existence of God we have seen:
- The existence of God is Pivotal. The most pivotal human question.
- The Existence of God is Hotly Debated.
- Two worldviews in contrast: Theism (there is a God). Atheism (no God, there is only physical stuff).
- Three key issues regarding the existence of God: (1) The Nature and Existence of Physical Reality, (2) The Design and Purpose of Physical reality, (3) The explanation of Morality.
- Atheism denies that God is required to explain reality.
- Theism claims that God is required to explain physical existence, the condition and design of life, and the existence of objective morality.
We now turn to examine the claims of Christianity.
Christianity asserts there is only one true God who is: the explanation of all existence; the first mover and cause; the creator of life and its purpose; the definer of mankind’s purpose – loving God and honoring and loving his creation.
The Christian Answer About God
God Is the Basis of All Reality
Christians are obviously theists. But they are also exclusive theists. There is only one God – the God of the Bible who is revealed in the natural revelation of nature through existence and design and morality, but also through the special revelation of coming directly into our human existence and communicating and communing with us. Let’s examine what the scriptures tell us about the three questions about God that we have been examining.
God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe
You will remember that the question of origins is not fully answerable by empirical observation and, in fact, requires us to make metaphysical (beyond physical) arguments and evidence. The major fork in the road is between those who would assert that the stuff of physical material is all there is (materialism) or that there must be something that is not physical in order to explain the physical (a non-material God for example). We discovered that it is in fact impossible for material stuff to be all there is because something must be the unmoved mover and the uncaused cause, and that is not material stuff. Sorry, I know this makes your head hurt.
Christianity gives very clear answers for the origin and sustaining of the physical universe. That is probably not news to you, whether you believe it or not. But what is most significant and even shocking about Christianity is the clear and unique way in which God is described as self-existent. Other religions don’t do this. When God introduces himself to Moses how does he describe himself? He calls himself: “I am who I am”. That is not a statement of ego or superiority; it is a statement of being and a completely unique being at that. God is essentially saying – “Listen, Moses, I am the one being in all of existence who simply is – I simply am. No beginning and no end. No source, not bound by time, not changing. Those categories are meaningless for me.” Many passages in scripture make this clear. I have listed just a few below. Much later the great philosophers started to figure out that there must be an unmoved mover and an uncaused cause and that an infinite number of preceding causing does not allow us to get us to the present time. But God is describing himself to Moses exactly this way. He is self-existent, just as a God would have to be to explain the universe. Scripture goes on to explain that God is a spirit and not material – again right in line with the demands of metaphysical logic. These are very significant and unique Christian claims.
Christianity also clearly asserts that the physical universe had a beginning and that God initiated that beginning. The universe is not something that has always been. Long before science could observe and extrapolate the expansion of the universe back to a first moment in the Big Bang, the scriptures asserted that there was a beginning to the universe and that it emerged from God the first mover and the first cause. In fact, the agent of creation was God the Son who made all things – without exception and sustains the existence of all physical objects directly by his word or decree. Again this is remarkably in line with the arguments of metaphysics, which I commend to you for further study (see the reference in the previous section).
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. ”And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Ex 3:13-14
“For I the Lord do not change;. Mal 3:6
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:2
“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? – declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? – declares the Lord. Jer 23:23-24
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.. Is 44:24
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:1-3
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Heb 1:3
God is the Grand Designer
Recall that theists philosophically argue that design and therefore God is required to explain the fine-tuning of the universe, the very existence of life, and the intricate design and system complexities of life. Atheists conversely see no need for God and argue that material stuff alone is or will explain all the apparent design in the universe.
The Christian scriptures forcefully assert that there is one true God and that He is the creator, sustainer, and designer of the universe. The many assertions to this effect are not scientific in the sense that they have no interest in trying to explain how God formulated these designs. In fact, the closest the scriptures come to the how the question is simply to say that God spoke things into original existence along with all of their amazing complexity and beauty. God’s mind is the direct source of physical design. His creative works display unimaginable intelligence combined with indescribable power. The appeal for us to believe this is based on majesty and authority (God’s) and common sense (ours). We are expected to recognize the wonder of design and purpose around us and ascribe it worshipfully to God. In fact, all of creation is shouting out to us that God is the master builder and artist of the universe. Examples are all around us – the heavens, the animal kingdom, our own bodies, etc. In fact (and this will really anger the atheist), God asserts that his power and nature are so clearly displayed in creation that there is no excuse for not glorifying God for his works of creation and design. No more proof is required beyond our own senses. To deny his existence and glory is an evil act of suppressing the truth and is primarily a moral rather than an intellectual issue. It is the path of foolishness and evil. No fuzzy thinking or excuses are allowed.
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Heb 3:4
My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.
Isaiah 48:13The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm 19:1For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Rom 1:20For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-14
God the Basis of Morality
Recall that theists philosophically argue that God is required to explain objective morality and that without God we are adrift in a subjective sea of preferences and the exercise of power to get our way. Without God truly everything is permissible as Dostoevsky famously noted.
Christianity naturally aligns with this view, but asserts standards of morality based upon the revelation of God’s nature and his declared will for human beings. The natural revelation (through creation) of God’s nature and moral truth are built into us. The apostle Paul tells us that we as creatures naturally recognize the moral law of God as it presents itself in our conscience. Indeed, the law of God is written upon the human heart as a sort of manufacturers seal or stamp. We may ignore it or suppress it, but our acts of lying, stealing, and betrayal are confronted by conscience. In fact, we have a word for those without conscience – sociopath, which recognizes fundamental pathology – deep and improper malfunction of the human psyche. We rightly resist evil as objectively wrong because it denies what we inherently know is true – there is what ought to be and it is defined in us by God. The apostle also tells us as we previously discussed that to deny God as creator and moral ruler is a moral crime that requires intensely evil effort.
But we are not left with conscience alone (which can obviously be distorted), we are given the explicit commands of God in scripture. The most obvious example is the provision of the 10 commandments to the Israelites during the Exodus. These 10 commands are a summary moral code for the human person. They lay out our obligations to God our creator and to our fellow human beings. We are to be dedicated and thorough worshippers of the one and only true God. We are to honor other people and refrain from all forms of social harm, including disrespect, lying, unfaithfulness, murder, stealing, and not coveting what is theirs. But these are not simple rules to be mechanically exercised as some sort of checklist. They are a summary of the healthy human heart. As Jesus summarizes, the entire set of scriptural laws and codes come down to love. We are created to be lovers of God and consequently lovers of people who are made in his image. The moral law of God points to what we are purposed to be and what is true health and wellness in the human personality. The summary commands are not to forsake worship of God, or worship false gods or disregard His name. But what is fundamental and underlying these are that we are made and purposed to love God with every part of our being – heart, soul, and mind. Similarly, to be a murderer is to tragically forsake the healthy love of neighbor. But loving our neighbor is more than the restraint from evil acts; it is to care for them with all the honor and value due one who reflects God’s image – as we care for our own self.
So the source of morality is God. And what is morality? It is God’s created purpose for us. We are to be lovers and worshippers of God and lovers and servants of others. This is the forest. The individual commands are the trees. See the forest! Honor the trees.
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:1-11
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:12-17
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. Romans 2:14-16
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40
Until next time,
Will
