June 15, 2004, Vol.4, No.12.
Two new articles every two weeks.
Bible Question? E-mail
us.
THIS ISSUE: "Reasons
Why I Believe in God" (see
below)
and "Design Demands a
Designer"
Series: Evidence for Faith
Reasons Why I Believe
in God
guest article by Wayne S. Walker
"And He has made from one blood every nation of men
to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their
preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation."
(Acts 17:26)
As we have noticed in previous articles, a study of evidences
includes those things which pertain to our faith in the existence
of the one true God as an immanent, transcendent, personal being.
It is interesting that the Bible itself really makes no formal
argument to prove God's existence. It just begins with the fact
of God and then assumes that those who will read it already have
seen the evidence and believe that He does exist. However, as
we take what we read in God's word and then compare it to what
we see around us in nature, we find bits and pieces of information
that tend to confirm our conclusion that there must be a God.
The fact is that man exists and possesses a unique nature
which sets him apart from all other life forms. It is impossible
to deny that man has something that plants and animals do not.
There are only two possible explanations. Either man, starting
as a non-conscious, non-responsible, non-moral, and non-rational
animal, somehow reached his present state solely by evolutional
development, assimilating these characteristics from his environment
and passing them on to his offspring through reproduction. Or,
man is the product of divine creation. So, can we determine which
is the actual case, and if so, how do we go about it? The truth
is that all we have to do is to look at the evidence and see
which is more reasonable. Some of the reasons why I believe in
God relate to the mind of man.
Man has a sense of morals. We usually call it the conscience
(John 8:9; Romans 2:14-15). Even though some might question this
with all the immorality that is rampant in our world, the fact
that history vindicates the right, that human society is based
on a moral order, and that there are natural consequences of
wrongdoing all prove the moral argument. Man everywhere draws
a line between what he considers right and wrong. Even the most
primitive societies have a set of standards of some kind, a code
of living that must be adhered to by every member. In addition,
on a personal level each individual has a sense of "ought"
and that "little inner voice" to tell him whether he
is following it or not.
C.S. Lewis called this "the law of human nature,"
because there is no such thing as crime among cats, and dogs
do not have any prisons for wrongdoers. Only man has the capacity
to be shocked and blushed at that which he considers indecent
or to feel guilty when he has done something wrong. So if you
have ever come across something that you felt ashamed of, you
displayed a quality that is unknown in animals.
Also, man is capable of rational thought. He has the ability
to think, reason, learn, make choices, and then transmit knowledge
by effective communication. "For as he thinks in his heart,
so is he..." (Proverbs 23:7; cf. Mark 2:6-7). The heart
here is not the blood pump, but the mind, the seat of intellect.
The French philosopher Rene Descartes said, "I think; therefore,
I am."
Animals possess only instinct and can be trained by rote repetition,
but they can never be taught as humans can. Cows and horses do
not establish schools for themselves. In spite of all the experiments
with dolphins and gorillas, they have not been able to communicate
above the level of instinct and rote. Only man has the capability
of asking himself, "To be, or not to be; that is the question."
Our next article will contain more
reasons why I believe in God.
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