by: Gary L. Hutchens Is it reasonable to believe in God, the supreme being, creator and sustainer of the universe? Atheists say there is no verifiable scientific evidence of God’s existence. At least partially based on that belief, they absolutely do not believe in God. Agnostics tend to not believe in God. While conceding the possibility of God’s existence, they doubt that He exists. Skeptics probably hold more of an open mind than do agnostics, but still doubt God’s existence. It’s easy to see similarities in these various views. The believer quickly points to scripture to demonstrate the reasonableness of faith in God. The scriptures boldly proclaim the existence of God, going so far as to point out the foolishness of disbelief. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Ps. 14:1). Faith is rooted in God’s word. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). But individuals who hold any of the views noted above would reject scripture as a reliable source of evidence. If they don’t believe in God, they certainly don’t believe the Bible.
They have a problem of their own, however. They cannot prove that God does not exist! They might charge believers as having blind faith, but the basis for their disbelief is at least as unprovable as they claim belief in God to be. While they might declare their allegiance to science, science does not disprove the existence of God. Indeed, a strong case can be made that true science supports belief in God. So, is it a standoff? Hardly! Perhaps the most powerful testimony to God’s existence is the creation. Scientifically speaking, nothing comes from nothing. This universe had to have an origin. The believer has no problem explaining the origin of the universe. He explains it in one word- God! The atheist begins with matter but is at a loss to explain where the first matter came from. He is also at a loss to explain how everything, not just the universe but all life, came from that inanimate matter. Oh, he has his theories. But talk about a blind, fanciful leap in the dark… Just zoom in on this planet on which we live. It is a place of tremendous order which, from a logical perspective, demonstrates obvious design. Design does not just happen; it requires a designer. The believer knows immediately the identity of the designer- God! (Gen. 1). The unbeliever, on the other hand, has to explain the illogical- design without a designer- and try to make it sound logical. Recently, I once again found myself in the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee where my wife and I have vacationed more times than we can remember. It is difficult to be there and not believe in God. Each time we find ourselves struck, almost as if for the first time, with the magnificent, natural beauty that abounds in that area. You don’t go to one particular place to observe the beauty; it’s everywhere you look, in every direction. But it’s not just the beauty, it’s the order within the creation, how the systems of nature work together in such harmony, how they complement one another. Truly, one has only to look around himself to observe one of the most powerful demonstrations of the existence of God- the creation itself which He designed (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:18-20)… Comments are closed.
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