Questions About God
Answering Atheism
Atheists United in Los Angeles had a lot of questions for us. Thirty-seven to be exact! Get our answers by clicking here: http://fishfoodbooks.blogspot.com/2005/07/answering-atheism-pt-1.html
Is There A God?
It has been said that there are two things you must understand if you hope to succeed in life: First, you should know that there is a God. Second, you had better understand that it's not you!
But is this first axiom true? Is there a God? The Bible assumes that everyone knows the answer to that. It begins, not with an argument for His existence, but with the assumption of it, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1.1). The only ink biblical writers expended on the atheist is one statement, given in two psalms: "The FOOL has said in his heart, 'there is no God'" (Psalm 14.1; 53.1). Is the atheist's assertion really foolish? It is, indeed!
In the first place, it is self-defeating. It is an argument that dies from self-inflicted wounds! Consider this:
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In order to say that something (God, for instance) does not exist, you must know everything that does exist. For unless you know everything that is, you could never be sure that the something whose existence you were denying did not exist just outside the boundaries of your knowledge. You must be omniscient (all-knowing)!
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In order to say that something (God, for instance) does not exist, you must be in every corner of the cosmos at every moment in time. For if you are not in a place at a particular time, how could you know that the one whose existence you are denying is not in that very place where you aren't? You must be omnipresent (everywhere at once)!
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So, only if you are omniscient and omnipresent are you qualified to say that something does not exist. But if you were omniscient and omnipresent, you still could not say that God does not exist, for. . . you would be God! The statement dies of suicide!
In the second place, the atheist's assertion flies in the face of a number of logical and philosophical principles that we know to be true in every other area of life. For instance:
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"Out of nothing, nothing comes" is an ancient philosophical truism. As Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music, "Nothing comes from nothing; nothing always will." And, yet, we look around and we see something, not nothing! We know that what we see is not eternal. It began with a bang! If it had an origin, then it had an Eternal Originator.
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Not only do we see something, instead of nothing, but the something we see has obvious design and purpose. Is it dumb luck that we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide while the plant world takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen? One might be tempted to think so if there were not a million similar "lucky coincidences." No, the cosmos is ordered (that's the meaning of the word). Everything in it has a design, a purpose. If there is a design for the universe, then there must be a Designer.
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"That's not fair!" "You can't do that!" "That's not right!" "Ah-oo-ooh, I'm telling!" Playground noise. Every parent has heard exclamations like these and, at least in their younger days, made such statements themselves. Why? Because we instinctively know that some things are right and some things are wrong. We don't always agree about where the line is drawn, but we know there is a line. We know that there is justice and injustice. In other words, there is such a thing as moral law. And if there is such a thing as moral law, then there must be a Moral Lawgiver (and a Judge!). If you protest that there is no such thing as right and wrong, I have but one question for you: "Is that right?"
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When almost everybody, almost everywhere, in almost every imaginable circumstance, believes the same thing about something, it is extremely reckless to dismiss that belief without thinking long and hard about it. Theism (the belief in God's existence) is just such a conviction. Civilized and primatives, genuises and morons, scholars and illiterates, Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets (GA football fans will get it!), all classes of people have the unshakeable knowledge that an Eternal One exists. They didn't come to that conclusion from reading the same books, going to the same schools, growing up in the same cultures. So where does this central tenet of nearly everyone's worldview come from? The Bible says that God planted that knowledge in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3.11). Can you think of a better explanation?
You no doubt have heard about the agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac who stayed awake nights wondering if there really was a dog. Do you wonder if there really is a God? Do you really? It's the most important thing you could think about, so don't be sloppy. Get a good guide here . Or, for a free online discussion, "How Can I Know There Is a God?," click here.
