Chapter One
BELIEF IN GOD JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE FOR ME!
I have heard people make this statement, in different forms, many times through the years. For some it seems to be difficult to grasp the logic of God's existence and involvement in the lives of people. God simply does not fit into their perception of reality.
Over the years I have heard many arguments against God's existence. There are, of course, a great many arguments both for and against the existence of any god. Even more arguments arise pertaining to a living, intelligent, personal, creator, the all-powerful God who is intimately involved in our daily lives. My intent here is not to go into deep theological discussion of the evidences for God's existence and nature but rather to simply examine whether the idea of God's existence even makes sense in terms of logic and things we all know to be true.
To do this we will make the assumption, no matter what you believe to be true, that a personal God may exist - a sort of suppose He does scenario. To examine this assumption we will ask, and answer, from common knowledge and logical analysis a series of questions: What would He be like? What would He do? What would He want? Why doesn't He just show Himself?
MAKE THE QUEST
In approaching the question of God’s existence it is only reasonable to give the matter some SERIOUS thought. After all, whether He exists or not makes a great deal of difference to each of us. If God doesn’t exist, I have no need to worry about sin; morality, right and wrong, good or evil, beyond obedience to the penal and civil codes. I can live for the here and now because death will mean oblivion.
On the other hand, if God does exist, I am faced with a responsibility to consider His requirements upon my life whether I am aware of them or not. How I live now can have profound eternal consequences.
If I am the product of a creator, that creator may make requirements on me and certainly would have both the power and the ultimate right to enforce those requirements, whether I choose to comply or not. Since the question of God’s existence is of such eternal importance to each of us, it would be illogical and very foolish to ignore the issue. It only makes sense to invest a bit of time and ask some basic questions. So, how can we know with reasonable certainty whether God does exist and, if He does, whether He really cares about each of us and gets involved in our day to day lives?
We can start by examining carefully what such a being would really be like, what He might do, or not do, and why:
1. If such a God were to exist what would He be like?
If He, indeed, created all things from nothing He would necessarily possess:
Infinite intelligence and wisdom far beyond our ability to comprehend. When we consider the complexity of the world around us it is mind boggling. We do not understand everything about the earth or the sea and the life it contains - vast areas are yet unexplored and much of what has been explored we don't fully understand. We don't fully understand the weather and we certainly can't control it. We don't even understand our own bodies. Surely we have some understanding of our anatomy but it is very limited. We still have serious health issues that our best science cannot understand or control. Our bodies still hold many mysteries.
If, after seven thousand years we can't understand and control even these things, is it reasonable to assume that our grasp of truth is so firm that we should conclude that there is not wisdom and knowledge outside space and time greater than our own?
Such a being as we are discussing here, capable of creating the heavens and the earth plus all life; plant, insect, aquatic, birds and animals, and all of the systems necessary to sustain them, would necessarily have immense intelligence and wisdom.
Infinite power far beyond our imagination. When we consider the powerful forces at work in the nature of our own planet, and the vastness and power in our solar system, and then consider that there are countless such solar systems in the universe no human mind can comprehend it. We can't even find certain means of surviving earthquakes, storms and tsunamis, let alone control them and these things are minuscule compared to events such as solar flares, super nova’s, and the power of black holes.
Such a God as we are discussing, however, would not only comprehend these forces but control them and even greater forces such as the "big bang" with ease.
Infinite presence. While difficult for us to grasp, no being could have the infinite knowledge and wisdom necessary to create and keep everything in the universe working smoothly, unless He were able to be present everywhere at the same time because perfect knowledge requires instant awareness of everything that is happening everywhere.
If this seems incomprehensible to you consider how we can look into a tiny village in a snow globe or create a virtual world in a computer. To a tiny microscopic creature the idea that someone as large and powerful as we could see and be aware of them and their entire world would seem impossible. Yet here we are. To God we are like the microscopic creatures.
Infinite love. If we are so tiny and weak by comparison the obvious question is why would such a being love us? Why would He even care about us?
This is because a being of infinite knowledge and wisdom would fully understand that life without love is not life but merely existence without purpose or value. It is love that gives life real meaning, purpose, and value. A being such as we are considering would understand that fact and make love a priority.
He would not create something that He would not intend to love because it would not make sense to do so. Having created - He would choose to love His creation because such a being would always do what He intends to do. To do otherwise would be to fail and for a being such as we are discussing failure is not possible.
Absolutely truthfulness. An all knowing, all wise, all powerful being would have no motivation to lie about anything. There would be no purpose - nothing to be gained - by lying. We lie to gain something or out of fear of losing something.
A being such as we are examining would have nothing to gain since all of creation is His and under His control. He could not have anything to lose because no one could be a threat to Him or take anything from Him that He wasn't willing to give. He, therefore, could gain nothing from deception or lies.
Extremely generous and merciful by nature. Unlimited power, since it cannot be threatened, allows for a generous and merciful nature. Of course, in our world it does not always work that way. In fact, we have a saying, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely!" This is because while we may have more power than our neighbor we do not have infinite power. Therefore, we are; always fearful, insecure, seeking more. In addition we lack; perfect knowledge, wisdom and love. We do not have perfect peace and security but a being such as we are examining would have both. Nothing would be beyond His grasp, nothing and no one could challenge or threaten Him, He would have nothing to prove and it would, therefore, be logical for Him to show His love through great generosity.
Truthfulness to His own nature. A being such as we are discussing would be absolutely consistent, never wavering. His character would be fully developed and flawless and no power or situation could rattle Him or throw Him off balance. He would always act consistently with His basic nature because He could have no reason to do otherwise. For a being of such power, knowledge, love and wisdom, whatever He speaks IS truth and whatever he does would always be consistent with his basic nature.
2. What would He do?
We will consider various scenarios.
Why would He -
Create the heavens? The earth? Man?
We have already said that if God exists He must love because life without the stimulation of love is merely existence. Mere existence without such stimulation would be unacceptable. We, as mere humans, seek objects for our love outside ourselves in families, friends and pets and we express our love in our actions, in music, art, prose, poetry, sculptures and even the design of buildings*, etc. Wouldn't a God, our creator, do likewise on a far grander scale?
Love requires an object for that love. A God of infinite love would have the capacity and desire to give and receive great quantities of love. It would, therefore, make sense for Him to create expressions of, and objects for, that love.
*Many structures like the Lincoln Memorial, and Taj Mahal have been built as memorials or monuments in expression of honor and affection.
Create mankind with unpredictable emotions and free will? Love is not love unless it is freely given. If we were emotionless and programmed to act lovingly toward God and each other, it wouldn't really be love. A robot programmed to say, "I love you!" will follow its programming but would it warm your heart to hear it?
Love means nothing, and has no value, unless the one giving the love wants to give it and is free to choose not to do so. God could easily force us to obey Him but what would it prove - that He is bigger and more powerful than us? He already knows that! Obedience only shows our love if we obey because we want to.
Get involved in our lives? If God is so great, having all power, all knowledge and wisdom, why would He get involved in our petty, messy, lives and put up with our rebelliousness, our wars, our crime, etc. Why wouldn't He either walk away and leave us to deal with the mess we've created or squash us like fleas?
A God of such power, wisdom and love would know from the beginning all of our frailties, weaknesses and shortcomings. He would not be surprised by our behavior. He would have incorporated it into, and made it a useful part of, His great plan. Just as we sometimes allow our children to throw a tantrum and get it out of their system as we say, such a God just might let us throw our tantrums so that we learn the lessons necessary for us to live in peace eternally.
3. What would He want?
He would have the desire to lavish His love upon the objects of His love. We have already mentioned that a God such as we are discussing would have infinite love and would therefore seek objects for that love. It also follows logically that He would want to be the object of their love as well. How would He accomplish that? By actively revealing the depth of His own love through mercy and grace.
Such a God would naturally want the best of all things for the objects of His love. He would have no desire to see them suffer or lack the things they need. It would make no sense for Him to feel otherwise.
How is it then that we see so much need and suffering in the world? The ugly, hateful, painful problems in this world are the result of our actions - not His. We are selfish, greedy and unresponsive toward the suffering and needs of those around us. He didn’t create the mess we live in – we did! Now we must learn from it.
He would want the objects of His love to be with Him eternally in a perfect environment! A God of wisdom sufficient to truly be God would necessarily look not only at the moment but at the ultimate goal. Even we, as limited and imperfect as we are, if we are wise, sometimes allow others to suffer the consequences of their foolishness so that they can mature in wisdom. Although it is unpleasant, it is often the only way to improve character.
Our children and others we call immature act foolishly because they are selfish and act to acquire what they desire without regard for the consequences of their actions. They haven't learned to control their impulses for the greater good.
In the eyes of an all wise God we would be immature, like children, unable to control our selfish desires and foolish impulses. We would need to spend time in an environment where we could learn self-control by learning sensitivity to His Holy Spirit. Without such experience we would spoil any perfect environment He might put us into just as Adam and Eve spoiled Eden.
4. Why wouldn't He simply show Himself and resolve the question of His existence?
C.S. Lewis explains that a being outside the universe, big enough, powerful enough, to create, sustain and control the universe could not appear in His true form as though He were an object within that universe.
o If there was a controlling power outside the universe, it could not show itself to us as one of the facts inside
the universe -- no more than the architect of a house could actually be a wall or staircase or fireplace in that house. The only way in which we could expect it to show itself would be inside ourselves as an influence or a command trying to get us to behave in a certain way. And that is just what we do find inside ourselves. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, The McMillan Company, New York, N.Y., p.33.
Even if it were possible for God to appear within our universe in His true form, sin cannot exist in the presence of the absolute purity and glory of Almighty God any more than darkness can exist in the presence of light.
Our mortal bodies could not bear the presence of God in His true form. Nevertheless, God did send His son, Jesus, in the form of a man, and mankind rejected and crucified Him. Even in this, God's love made provision for our redemption:
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love : not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-11, NIV (italics mine).
5. Why doesn't He just fill us with love, peace, joy and all of the character qualities he wants us to have?
These are all qualities that are part of God. They are in His nature - not things that He can give out like rewards to anyone. If you want warmth you have to get close to the source of heat or if you want to swim you must get into the water. Likewise, if you want the attributes of God's nature you must get close to God.
Here, we have examined in a logical and reasonable manner the attributes that a being capable of creating the heavens and the earth and all life would necessarily possess. We also examined what such a being would want, what he would do and not do. What we find is that belief in God is not illogical. In fact, it is the only truly logical choice open to us if we look at the world around us with an open heart and mind. Now we will look at the physical evidence.
Text copyright © 2013 Vernon E. Gillispie
All rights reserved