Even if this book has succeeded
in at least neutralizing your charges that the God of the Bible is evil, there remains
the question: “Why do you believe that it was the God of the Bible who created
everything? Perhaps, instead, it had been other gods.” One skeptic challenged:
·
Even if you are correct and all scientific and
"naturalist" explanations eventually lead back to a supernatural accounting,
you have absolutely no basis to determine WHICH supernatural explanation is the
actual truth. All you have is a book that says, "This is the truth,"
among a million other books claiming the same thing but with completely
different explanations.
In response, I think that the
evidence best fits the biblical description of the biblical God. In the same
way that a book requires an author, the universe requires a competent Creator.
Furthermore, this Creator must be all of the following:
ETERNAL AND UNCAUSED
How do we account for anything?
There must be a sufficient, uncaused Causer—who doesn’t require a prior cause—from
whom all else originated. In fact, causation makes no sense without an uncaused,
eternal Causer. Without such a God, there is nothing that possesses an adequate
cause or explanation. If instead, the universe was eternal and uncaused, there
could never be a rational explanation for anything. Why? Because everything
would require a prior cause—which would lead to an illogical, infinite regress
of causation.
Besides all that, if time is
infinite and eternal, it would be impossible for an infinite number of years to
ever arrive in the present.
In addition, only an uncaused
Causer is capable of accounting for how this world of molecules-in-motion is
maintained. For one thing, the immutable and universal laws of science would
need a transcendent explanation if everything else in the universe is in
constant flux.
OMNIPOTENT
The cause must always be greater
than the effect. To create and then to harmoniously hold all things together--including
the immutable and elegant laws of science—requires an all-powerful God. There
are many realities that depend on an omnipotent God: existence, freewill,
consciousness, objective moral truth, life, DNA, the immutable laws of science,
answers to prayer, and the fine-tuning of the universe, to name just a few.
OMNISCIENT
The world requires the design and
harmony that can only come from omniscience. We have no evidence of a god
tampering with the laws of science trying to improve any mistakes. It seems
that, instead, God had an adequate understanding of what He was doing from the very
beginning. This interpretation also puts the kibosh on the possibility that
there are multiple, necessarily finite, gods. Such a panoply of gods would be
unable to account for the stability of the universe and its laws. Multiple gods
would also defy the principle of parsimony, also known as Occam’s Razor, which
requires the simplest explanation. A theory that requires many parts also
requires many leaps of faith, and the more such leaps are required, the less
probable the theory. The biblical understanding of God provides the simplest,
most sensible, and satisfying explanation of how the world was created and how
it continues to be maintained.
RIGHTEOUS
The fact that God is righteous explains
our desire and willingness to do the right thing, even when our emotions tell
us to run. A righteous God provides the only possible basis for objective moral
truth and meaning, the things that our hearts crave. Otherwise, society would
be a competition between many different wills and ideas, all trying to dominate
the others through raw force.
Besides, if our creator is evil,
there would be no reason to be good. Rather, any attempt at goodness might
infuriate him. Instead, the moral laws inscribed upon our conscience tend to
accord with those of the God of the Bible.
JUST
In a world without an omniscient
and supremely moral God of justice, society would need to invent just laws to
maintain order. Parents would still need to teach their children the difference
between right and wrong, good and bad, and just and unjust. In that process,
those same parents would be playing “make-believe” with their kids, teaching
them that these non-existent entities of right and wrong have some sort of authority
over their lives. In the same way, teachers would need to play make-believe and
instruct their students that it is wrong to bully and to cheat. Any laws
enacted in such a society would be no more than reflections of the evolving
social conventions of those in power.
Once the God of the Bible is
rejected, people would have to live disingenuously in many other areas of life. People would have to imagine that all of the
following could exist without believing in God: freewill, human responsibility,
honor, meaning, equality, human rights, and integrity.
ONE
The harmony and immutability we
find in science is best accounted for by the existence of a single God, rather
than in a competition among many gods, which would create insurmountable disorder.
LOVE
Creation as we know it seems to
be incredibly fine-tuned to fulfill our desires and needs. It satisfies all of
our longings for food, drink, family, friendship, sex, and aesthetics—all in a
way that shows us that the Creator loves us. In addition, His love will
eventually satisfy the rest of our needs in His promised heaven.
God’s miraculous answers to our
prayers also confirm His love for us.
TRUTH
God is the one sought-after
unifying principle or cause. God’s truth satisfies our need to know and
systematically understand how all knowledge fits together. Even our planet
seems to be precisely situated in a place that maximizes know-ability.
Consequently, truth is not only knowable but elegant. Just look at the precise
and elegant laws that make science and learning possible!
*****************************
All the above suggests that the
creation, including ourselves, is the product of no less a god than the God of
the Bible. No other Source can better explain the reality that we navigate—even
our own psychology—than the God of the Bible.
Besides everything that I have
mentioned in this chapter, there are many reasons to believe that the Bible is
divinely authored: The miracles of the Bible, fulfilled prophecies, biblical wisdom
which has changed lives and elevated Bible-centered cultures, and internal and
external supportive evidence. We need to remember these truths. Consequently,
Moses continually reminded Israel of all the multiple reasons they had to trust
in their God:
·
…you shall not be afraid of them but you shall
remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great
trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the
outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD
your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. (Deuteronomy 7:18–19)
Fear can control our lives.
Therefore, we must remember our God, who can empower us! It is only when I
recall His truth that I am enabled to stand against adversity and threat.
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