The Case For A Creator

The Case For A Creator
Lee Strobel makes the case for the existence of an intelligent designer
by Lee Strobel

This article is a very condensed synopsis of Lee Strobel’s book - The Case For A Creator.

THE ISSUE: Does current scientific data support the theory that the universe was created with intelligent design?

WHAT SKEPTICS SAY: Belief in an intelligent designer is a religious theory that has no basis in science. Scientific data supports evolutionary theory, and everyone knows it.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Psalms 19:1).

THE DESIGN HYPOTHESIS

"A big, fundamental question, like belief in God (or disbelief), is not settled by a single argument," said physicist-turned-theologian John Polkinghorne in Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity. "It’s too complicated for that. What one has to do is to consider lots of different issues and see whether or not the answers one gets add up to a total picture that makes sense."

That’s the approach I took in my investigation. I probed six different scientific disciplines to see whether they point toward ar away from the existence of an intelligent designer.

When I opened my mind to the possibility of an explanation beyond naturalism, the theory denying any supernatural existence in the universe, I found that the design hypothesis - that says there is a purposeful, intelligent, created order to the universe - most clearly accounted for the evidence of science. Consider some of the facts from my investigation:

The Evidence of Cosmology

Thanks to scientific discoveries of the past 50 years, the ancient kalam cosmological argument has taken on a powerful and persuasive new force. As described by William Lane Craig, the argument is simple yet elegant: First, whatever begins to exist has a cause.

Second, the universe has a beginning. Based on the data, virtually all cosmologists now agree the universe began in the Big Bang at some specific point in the past. Craig stressed that even alternate theories for the origin of the universe require a beginning.

The conclusion then follows from the two premises: Therefore, the universe has a cause. Even once-agnostic astronomer Robert Jastrow conceded the essential elements of Christianity and modern cosmology are the same: "The chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply, at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy."

The Evidence of Physics

One of the most striking discoveries of modern science has been that the laws and constants of physics unexpectedly conspire in an extraordinary way to make the universe habitable for life. For instance, said physicist-philosopher Robin Collins, gravity is fine-tuned to one part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion.

The cosmological constant, which represents the energy density of space, is as precise as throwing a dart from space and hitting a bull’s eye just a trillionth of a trillionth of an inch in diameter on Earth. One expert said there are more than 30 physical or cosmological parameters that require precise calibration in order to produce a universe that can sustain life.

The Evidence of Astronomy

Similar to the fine tuning of physics, Earth’s position in the universe and its intricately choreographed geological and chemical processes work together with exquisite efficiency to create a safe place for humans to live.

For example, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and science philosopher Jay Wesley Richards said it would take a star with the highly unusual properties of our sun - the right mass, the right light, the right age, the right distance, the right orbit, the right galaxy, the right location - to nurture living organisms on a circling planet. Numerous factors make our solar system and our location in the universe just right for a habitable environment.

What’s more, the exceptional conditions that make life possible also happen to make our planet strangely well-suited for viewing and analyzing the universe and our environment. All of this suggest our planet may be rare, if not unique, and that the Creator wanted us to be able to explore the cosmos.

"If the universe had not been made with the most exacting precision, we could never have come into existence, " said Harvard-educated astrophysicist John A. O’Keefe of NASA. "It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in."

The Evidence of Biochemistry

Darwin said, "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." Biochemist Michael Behe has demonstrated exactly that through his description of "irreducibly complex" molecular machines.

These complicated, microscopic contraptions, such as cilia and bacterial flagella, are extremely unlikely to have been built piece-by-piece through Darwinian processes, because they had to be fully present in order to function. Other examples include the incredible system of transporting proteins within cells and the intricate process of blood clotting.

More than just a devastating challenge to Darwinism, these amazing biological systems which far exceed the capacity of human technology point toward a transcendent Creator. "My conclusion." said Behe, "can be summed up in a single word: design. I say that based on science. I believe that irreducibly complex systems are strong evidence of a purposeful, intentional design by an intelligent agent."

The Evidence of Biological Information

The six feet of DNA coiled inside of every one of our body’s one hundred trillion cells contain a four-letter chemical alphabet that spells out precise assembly instructions for all the proteins from which our bodies are made. Cambridge-educated Stephen Meyer demonstrated that no hypothesis has come close to explaining how information got into biological matter by naturalistic means.

On the contrary, he said that whenever we find a sequential arrangement that’s complex and corresponds to an independent pattern or function such as books and computer code, this kind of information is always the product of intelligence.

"Information is the hallmark of a mind," Meyer said. "And purely from the evidence of genetics and biology, we can infer the existence of a mind that’s far greater than our own - a conscious, purposeful, rational, intelligent designer who’s amazingly creative."

The Evidence of Consciousness

Many scientists are concluding that the laws of chemistry and physics cannot explain our experience of consciousness. Professor J.P. Moreland defined consciousness as our introspection, sensations, thoughts, emotions, desires, beliefs and free choices that make us alive and aware. The "soul" contains our consciousness and animates our body.

According to a researcher who showed that consciousness can continue after a person’s brain has stopped functioning, current scientific findings "would support the view that ‘mind,’ ‘consciousness,’ or the ‘soul’ is a separate entity from the brain."

As Moreland said, "You can’t get something from nothing." If the universe began with dead matter having no conscious, "how, then, do you get something totally different - consciousness, living, thinking, feeling, believing creatures - from materials that don’t have that?" But if everything started with the mind of God, he said, "we don’t have a problem with explaining the origin of our mind."

How Do We Know God Exists?

How Do We Know God Exists?
Some Good Food
for Thought
by James L. Melton

One of the amazing things about the Bible is that it never attempts to prove the existence of God. His existence is just taken for granted. The first verse in the Bible simply says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." In fact, His existence is so obvious that He considers anyone a fool who doesn’t believe in Him. Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God ..." This may seem like an unfair action on God’s part until one considers some of the obvious proofs for God’s existence. The fool said "in his heart" that there is no God. He didn’t say it in his head because he hasn’t really thought it through. When a man claims to be an atheist, he is simply rebelling in his heart. A thinking person can easily see that God has to exist:

THE SCRIPTURAL PROOF

This is the fact that the Bible professes to be GOD’S revelation of Himself, and no one has ever proven otherwise. You say, "Well, I don’t believe the Bible, so it isn’t proof to me." You’re wrong. Sooner or later, you will have to realize that you can’t discard the Bible that easily. There are some stubborn facts that you must face if you’re an honest person. It’s only fair to allow the Bible to stand as a witness to God’s existence if the Bible itself is proven to be a reliable source. So the issue is trust. Can we trust the Bible?

Well, there are millions and millions of Christians who have placed their trust in it and have found that it never let them down. There are millions who have found great joy and fulfillment by claiming its promises and obeying its commandments. Isn’t that worth something? When you say, "I don’t believe the Bible", you are saying that millions of Christians have lived a lie. Isn’t it true that they found more joy and purpose in the Bible than you’ve found in anything else? Isn’t that worth something?

A person who doesn’t believe the Bible doesn’t know enough about it to realize the foolishness of such a claim. Suppose I said, "I don’t believe George Washington ever lived." Wouldn’t that be rather foolish? The record of history proves that he did live, so I would be expressing my ignorance of American History. If you don’t believe the Bible, please don’t tell anyone, for you’ll only be expressing your ignorance.

What do I mean by this? Friend, do you realize how accurate the Bible has been in the past? Take the life of Jesus Christ alone. Did you know that Genesis 3:15 prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ 4000 years in advance? Did you know that Isaiah 7:14 prophesied His virgin birth 700 years in advance? Did you know that His nationality, His family, and the city of His birth were all foretold hundreds of years in advance? Did you know that His agony and death on Calvary was prophesied hundreds of years in advance? Did you know that Psalm 22:1 (1000 B.C.) actually told us what Christ would say while on the cross? If you take all the prophecies about the life and death of Christ, and then figure the statistical probability of them all coming to pass, do you know what the chances are? Have you ever thought about it? One scientist stated that the chances are 1 out of 10 to the 157th power. That’s one chance of ten with one hundred and fifty seven zeros after it! You’d win the lottery while being struck by lightening for the millionth time before you could beat those odds! I would say that the Bible is a pretty reliable source. Wouldn’t you? If the Bible proclaims the existence of God, then we should give it some serious consideration. We’d be "fools" not to.

THE PROOF OF NATURE

Romans 1:20 says, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

Psalms 19:1-6 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."

Simply stated, these verses tell us that you can know that God exists by observing His creation. Since the universe is here, someone must have put it here. If there’s a creation, then there must be a Creator.

Romans 1:20 says that you can see the invisible Creator by observing the visible creation. It says even His eternal power and Godhead. The Bible speaks of God being a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Did you know that God has given us many pictures of the Trinity in nature? Take the sun for instance. It has three rays: alpha, beta, and gamma. Those are chemical rays, heat rays, and light rays, yet they’re all from one sun. Take water for example. It can be a liquid, a frozen solid or a vapor. Human beings have a soul, a body, and a spirit (1 Ths. 5:23). Our soul pictures God the Father. Our body pictures Jesus Christ, Who was here in the flesh. Our spirit pictures the Holy Spirit. Three parts! The whole universe is laid out in threes! In fact, the universe has three parts: time, space, and matter. Time has past, present, and future. Space has length, breadth, and height. Matter has energy, motion, and phenomena. Friend, the whole universe is made in God’s image!

There must also be a designer behind every design. If you have a car that works, then it is because someone designed that car. Someone designed the engine. Someone designed the transmission. Someone designed the body style. Someone designed the brake system. Someone designed the air conditioning system. Someone designed the tires. It would be foolish to think that no one designed it, but that all the parts just came together from nowhere and work together accidentally. If there’s a design, (and there are millions of them in this universe) then there must be a designer.

THE PROOF OF CONSCIENCE

This is the undeniable fact that man has a moral conscience, unlike other life forms. Romans 2:15 says, "Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;" There is a law written upon the heart of man which tells him that certain things are evil. There isn’t any place on earth where people do not have a conscience about murder, theft, and rape. Anywhere you go, you will find laws that men have established to deal with such crimes. Man knows instinctively in his heart that certain things are wrong and worthy of punishment. The law is written in his heart. Well, who wrote the law in his heart? If there’s no God, who told man that it’s wrong to steal, murder, rape, and commit adultery?

A good example of this can be found in Genesis 20:1-5. A heathen king named Abimelech takes Sarah, the wife of Abraham, to be his own wife. God appears to Abimelech in a dream at night and sharply rebukes him for this sin. Abimelech then tells the Lord that he didn’t know she was Abraham’s wife. He then repents of this sin.

Now think about that. Abimelech was a heathen who had no Bible, and no understanding of God and God’s laws. Yet, he knew that adultery was evil. He didn’t say, "Well, I don’t understand. What’s wrong with me having her for a wife?" He KNEW in his heart that he had sinned. He knew because of conscience. The law was written in his heart. Who wrote it there, if there is no God?

THE LIVING PROOF

Psalm 36:9 says, "For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."

Today, there are no new life forms being formed. All life comes from previous existing life. You came from your parents, and they came from their parents. No scientist has been able to produce life without getting it form other life. It just can’t be done. Apple trees come from apple seeds, which come from apples, which come from apple trees. There is no question about which came first, the chicken or the egg. The chicken came first. Life comes from life. Dogs come from dogs. Cats come from cats. Rats come from rats, and bats come from bats. Since no one today can produce life without previous life, would it not stand to reason that life originally came from one all-powerful and all-living Life Source?

THE PROOF OF CONGRUITY

Congruity is the relation of agreement between things. That is, congruity is what you have when all the pieces of your puzzle fit together and give you one complete picture. In a 1000 piece puzzle, you may have 999 pieces together, but it isn’t complete without the last piece. When you pick up the last piece, and you can see that it fits, you are glad and satisfied that your project is complete. You have congruity. It all fits together.

Well, the acceptance of God as Creator works much the same way. Without God, nothing really makes sense. Evolution has too many problems to have congruity. It’s only when we accept God’s existence that things start adding up and making sense. When we accept God’s existence and His revelation of Himself (the written word), the picture starts becoming clear. Evolution can’t explain why people suffer, but God can. Evolution can’t explain why men can’t have peace, but God can. Evolution can’t give you inner peace and promise you eternal joy, but God can. Evolution can’t "even the score" and grant fairness to all men in the end, but God can.

When you really think about it, the existence of God is the most logical thing you could imagine! He has all the answers. He can solve all the problems. He can meet every need. God is the "missing link" that bridges everything together and gives meaning to life. As the wise King Solomon so rightly said, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, of whether it be evil." (Ecc. 12:13-14)

Would You Like to Be Saved?

Friend, God is real, and His word is real. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is also real, and only through His finished work at Calvary can you be saved and have eternal life. Do you know Jesus as your lord and Savior?

If you’ve never received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, why not do it right now? Jesus said that salvation is a new birth, a spiritual birth from God (John 3:3). The salvation of your soul is entirely a spiritual matter. No amount of outward physical acts, such as church attendance, receiving sacraments, confession or being baptized can save you. You MUST be born again. You must come to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally in your own heart. Friend, you need more than a religion: you need a relationship.

John 1:12 tells us how this personal relationship with Jesus Christ is established: "But as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." You must RECEIVE Jesus Christ! He’s the one who bled and died for your sins! He’s the one who was buried, and then rose again after three days for your justification! Jesus Christ is the one who is currently seated at the right hand of God, waiting for you to repent of your sins (Luke 13:3) and trust Him alone to save you. Acts 4:12 tells us, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." No church, no preacher, no priest, and no creed can save you. You can only be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you trust Him today? "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Rom. 10:13)

For more information about salvation, please send for your free copy of Understanding God’s Salvation Plan. If you have received Christ, please start attending a Bible-believing church (King James Bible), and speak with the pastor about baptism and church membership.

Copyright © 2003
James L. Melton

Additional copies of this tract are available through: Bible Baptist Church, P.O. Box 383, Martin, TN 38237. A ten cent donation per tract is appreciated, but not required.

Over 100 other printed titles are also available, including a free Quarterly bulletin and catalog.

Is there really a God? How would you answer?

Is there really a God? How would you answer?
Far from being a blind faith, Christianity can be logically defended.
By Ken Ham

See this article @ http://www.answersingenesis.org/ for links to much more information.
See Creation Archive > Volume 20 Issue 3: 32-34 June 1998

In our everyday experience, just about everything seems to have a beginning. In fact, the law of science show that even things which look the same through our lifetime, like the sun and other stars, are running down. The sun is using up its fuel at millions of tonnes each second - since, therefore, it cannot last forever, it had to have a beginning. The same can be shown to be true for the entire universe.

So when Christians claim that the God of the Bible created the entire universe, some will ask what seems a logical question, namely ‘Where did God come from?’

The Bible makes it clear in many places that God is outside of time. He is eternal, with no beginning or end - He is infinite! He also knows all things, being infinitely intelligent.1

Is this logical? Can modern science allow for such a notion? And how could you recognize the evidence for an intelligent Creator?

Recognizing intelligence

Scientists get excited about finding stone tools in a cave because these speak of intelligence - a tool maker. They could not have designed themselves. Neither would anyone believe that the carved Presidents’ heads on Mt Rushmore were the product of millions of years of chance erosion. We can recognize design - the evidence of the outworkings of intelligence - in the man-made objects all around us.

Similarly, in William Paley’s famous argument, a watch implies a watchmaker.2 Today, however, a large proportion of people, including many leading scientists, believe that all plants and animals, including the incredibly complex brains of the people who make watches, motor cars, etc., were not designed by an intelligent God but rather came from an unintelligent evolutionary process. But is this a defensible position?

Design in living things

Molecular biologist Dr. Michael Denton, writing as an agnostic, concluded:

‘Alongside the level of ingenuity and complexity exhibited by the molecular machinery of life, even our most advanced [twentieth century technology appears] clumsy ... . It would be an illusion to think that what we are aware of at present is any more than a fraction of the full extent of biological design. In practically every field of fundamental biological research ever-increasing levels of design and complexity are being revealed at an ever-accelerating rate.’3

The world-renown crusader for Darwinism and atheism, Prof. Richard Dawkins, states:

‘We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully "designed" to have come into existence by chance.’4

Thus, even the most ardent atheist concedes that design is all around us. To a Christian, the design we see all around us is totally consistent with the Bible’s explanation that God Created all.

However, evolutionists like Dawkins reject the idea of a Designer. He comments (emphasis added):

‘All appearance to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind force of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way. A true watchmaker has foresight: he designs his cogs and springs, and plans their interconnections, with future purpose in his mind’s eye. Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind ... . It has no mind ... . It does not plan for the future ... it is the blind watchmaker.’5

Selection and design

Life is built on information, contained in that molecule of heredity, DNA. Dawkins believes that natural selection6 and mutations (blind, purposeless copying mistakes in this DNA) together provide the mechanism for producing the vast amounts of information responsible for the design in living things.7

Natural selection is a logical process that can be observed. However, selection can only operate on the information already contained in the genes - it does not produce new information.8 Actually, this is consistent with the Bible’s account of origins; God created distinct kinds of animals and plants, each to reproduce after its own kind.

One can observe great variation in a kind, and see the results of natural selection. For instance, dingoes, wolves, and coyotes have developed over time as a result of natural selection operating on the information in the genes of the wolf/dog kind.

But no new information was produced - these varieties have resulted from rearrangement, and sorting out, of the information in the original dog kind. One kind has never been observed to change into a totally different kind with new information that previously did not exist!

Without a way to increase information, natural selection will not work as a mechanism for evolution. Evolutionists agree with this, but they believe that mutations somehow provide the new information for natural selection to act upon.


Can mutations produce new information?

Actually, it is now clear that the answer is no! Dr. Lee Spetner, a highly qualified scientist who taught information and communication theory at John Hopkins University, makes this abundantly clear in his recent book:

‘In this chapter I’ll bring several examples of evolution, [i.e., instances alleged to be examples of evolution] particularly mutations, and show that information is not increased ... But in all the reading I’ve done in the life-sciences literature, I’ve never found a mutation that added information.9
‘All point mutations that have been studied on the molecular level turn out to reduce the genetic information and not to increase it.10
‘The NDT [neo-Darwin theory] is supposed to explain how the information of life has been built up by evolution. The essential biological differences between a human and a bacterium is in the information they contain. All other biological differences follow from that. The human genome has much more information than does the bacterial genome. Information can not be built up by mutations that lose it. A business can’t make money by losing it a little at a time.’11

Evolutionary scientists have no way around the conclusions that many scientists, including Dr. Spetner, have come to. Mutations do not work as a mechanism to fuel the evolutionary process.

More problems!

Scientists have found that within the cell, there are thousands of what can be called ‘biochemical machines.’ All of their parts have to be in place simultaneously or the cell can’t function. Things which were thought to be simple machines, such as being able to sense light and turn it into electrical impulses, are in fact highly complicated.

Since life is built on these ‘machines,’ the idea that natural processes could have made a living system is untenable. Biochemist Dr. Michael Behe (see The mousetrap man) uses the term ‘irreducible complexity’ in describing such biochemical ‘machines.’

‘... systems of horrendous, irreducible complexity inhabit the cell. The resulting realization that life was designed by an intelligence is a shock to us in the twentieth century who have gotten used to thinking of life as the result of simple natural laws. But other centuries have had their shocks, and there is no reason to suppose that we should escape them.’12

Richard Dawkins recognizes this problem of needing ‘machinery’ to start with when he states:

‘The theory of the blind watchmaker is extremely powerful given that we are allowed to assume replication and hence cumulative selection. But if replication needs complex machinery, since the only way we know for complex machinery ultimately to come into existence is cumulative selection, we have a problem.’13

A problem indeed! The more we look into the workings of life, the more complicated it gets, and the more we see that life could not arise by itself. Not only is a source of information needed, but the complex ‘machines’ of the chemistry of life need to be in existence right from the start!

A greater problem still!

Some still try to insist that the machinery of the first cell could have arisen by pure chance. For instance, they say, by randomly drawing alphabet letters in sequence from a hat, sometimes you will get a simple word like ‘BAT.’14 So given long time periods, why couldn’t even more complex information arise by chance?

However, what would the word ‘BAT’ mean to a German or Chinese speaker? The point is that an order of letters is meaningless unless there is a language convention and a translation system in place which makes it meaningful!

In a cell, there is such a system (other molecules) that makes the order on the DNA meaningful. DNA without the language/translation system is meaningless, and these systems without the DNA wouldn’t work either.

The other complication is that the translation machinery which reads the order of the ‘letters’ in the DNA is itself specified by the DNA! This is another one of those ‘machines’ that needs to be fully-formed or life won’t work.

Can information arise from non-information?

Dr. Werner Gitt, Director and Professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology, makes it clear that one of the things we know absolutely for sure from science, is that information cannot arise from disorder by chance. It always takes (greater) information to produce information, and ultimately information is the result of intelligence:

‘A code system is always the result of a mental process (it requires an intelligent origin or inventor) ... It should be emphasized that matter as such is unable to generate any code. All experiences indicate that a thinking being voluntarily exercising his own free will, cognition, and creativity, is required.15

‘There is no known natural law through which matter can give rise to information, neither is any physical process or material phenomenon known that can do this.’16

What is the source of the information?

We can therefore deduce that the huge amount of information in living things must originally have come from an intelligence, which had to have been far superior to ours, as scientists are revealing every day. But then, some will say that such a source would have to be caused by something with even greater information/intelligence.

However, if they reason like this, one could ask where this greater information/intelligence came from? And then where did that one come from ... one could extrapolate to infinity, for ever, unless ...

Unless there was a source of infinite intelligence, beyond our finite understanding. But isn’t this what the Bible indicates when we read, ‘In the beginning God ... ‘? The God of the Bible is an infinite being not bound by limitations of time, space, knowledge, or anything else.

So which is the logically defensible position? - that matter eternally existed (or came into existence by itself for no reason), and then by itself arranged itself into information systems against everything observed in real science? Or that a being with infinite intelligence,17 created information systems for life to exist, agreeing with real science?

The answer seems obvious, so why don’t all intelligent scientists accept this? Michael Behe answers:

‘Many people, including many important and well-respected scientists, just don’t want there to be anything beyond nature. They don’t want a supernatural being to affect nature, no matter how brief or constructive the interaction may have been. In other words ... they bring an a priori philosophical commitment to their science that restricts what kinds of explanations they will accept about the physical world. Sometimes this leads to rather odd behavior.’18

The crux of the matter is this: If one accepts there is a God who created us, then that God also owns us. He thus has a right to set the rules by which we must live. In the Bible, He has revealed to us that we are in rebellion against our Creator. Because of this rebellion called sin, our physical bodies are sentenced to death - but we will live on, either with God, or without Him in a place of judgment.

But the good news is that our Creator provided, through the cross of Jesus Christ, a means of deliverance for our sin of rebellion, so that those who come to Him in faith, in repentance for their sin, can receive the forgiveness of a Holy God and spend forever with their Lord.

So who created God?

By definition, an infinite, eternal being has always existed - no one created God. He is the self-existing one - the great "I am" of the Bible.19 He is outside of time - in fact, He created time. You might say, ‘But that means I have to accept this by faith, as I can’t understand it.’

We read in the book of Hebrews, ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him’ (Hebrews 11:6).

But this is not blind faith, as some think. In fact, the evolutionists who deny God have a blind faith - they have to believe something that is against real science - namely, that information can arise from disorder by chance.

The Christian faith is not a blind faith - it is a logically defensible faith. This is why the Bible makes it clear that anyone who does not believe in God is without excuse:
‘For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even hs eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20).

Recommended Resources

References and notes

1. Psalm 90:2; 106:48; 147:5. Notice that it is only things which have a beginning which have to have a cause. See J. Sarfati, If God created the universe, then who created God?, CEN Technical Journal 12(1) 20-22, 1998.

2. W. Paley, Natural Theology, 1802. Reprinted in 1972 by St. Thomas Press, Houston, Texas.

3. M. Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Adler and Adler, Maryland, p. 342, 1986.

4. R. Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, W.W. Norton & Co., N.Y., p. 43, 1987.

5. Ref. 4, p.5.

6. Natural selection - the concept that some variants in a population will be less ‘fit’ to survive and/or produce offspring than others in a given environment.

7. See C. Wieland, Stones and Bones, Creation Science Foundation Ltd., Australia, 1995, and G. Parker, Creation: Facts of Life, Master Books, Green Forest, Arkansas, 1996.

8. L. Lester and R. Bohlin, The Natural Limits to Biological Change, Probe Books, Dallas, Texas, pp. 175-6, 1989.

9. L. Spetner, Not by Chance, The Judaica Press Inc., Brooklyn, New York, pp. 131-2.

10. Ref. 9, p. 138.

11. Ref. 9, p. 143.

12. M. Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, The Free Press, New York, 1996, pp. 252-253.

13. Ref. 4, pp. 139-140.

14. Actually, generating words is far simpler than sentences or paragraphs. Simple calculations show that even a billion years would not be enough time to generate even one protein ‘sentence.’

15. W. Gitt, In the Beginning was Information, CLV, Bielenfeld, Germany, pp. 64-7.

16. Ref. 15, p. 79.

17. Thus, capable of generating infinite information, and certainly the enormous, though finite, information of life.

18. Ref. 12, p. 243.

19. Exodus 3:14; Job 38:4; John 8:58, 11:25 et al.

Is There a God?

Is There a God?
Published by the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

Is there a God? Is there a Supreme being or Ruler of the universe? How can I be certain? The answer to this question is of utmost importance because, if there is a God and I ignore Him, what will the consequences be?

There are searching questions that demand an answer. Why am I here? From where did I come? What will happen after death? What is the purpose for my life? There must be a reason for my existence.

Throughout the ages of time people have felt compelled to worship something or someone greater than themselves. Ancient cultures had sun gods, moon gods, thunder gods, and many others. Some native Americans, when discovered by the Europeans, were worshiping what they called the Great Spirit. The ancient Jewish nation worshiped Yahweh, Creator of the earth. It is apparent that inside every person is something that longs to relate to a higher power.

How can the harmony and balance of nature be explained? Think of the seemingly endless food chains, both on the land and in the water. One animal is food for another, which in turn feeds another. This cycle goes on and on, and always there is food for yet another.

Who put the calendar in the heads of the wild birds so they know when it is time to migrate to a warmer climate? How do they know that spring is returning to the land thousands of miles away? One may say it is instinct. That is true, but who placed the instinct there?

Consider one of the fish of the sea. Who put the map in the brain of the salmon that tells it how to leave its ocean home and find the river and the very stream where its life began? There it lays its eggs, and soon after dies, making room in the cycle of life for its offspring who will follow the exact pattern of all its ancestors. Do you think this all just happened by chance?

We know the universe is so well ordered that clocks are set by the rotation of the earth and the various stars and planets. So precise is the movement of these bodies that eclipses and passage of comets can be accurately foretold. Who or what set this precise rhythm of the universe in motion? Is it only chance that among the hostile environments of the heavenly bodies this earth has the right mixture of those elements necessary for plant and animal life? There must be a master plan!

The plan for the universe, for nature, for our bodies and our inner personal needs has been set in order by the great God of heaven. No mortal man, past or present, begins to have such power. The precision and detail of His plan shows us that He takes great interest in man and his happiness.

Faith is believing something we cannot see. We cannot see God but we see indications all around us that point to His existence. God has intended that we could not see Him but rather that we could accept His existence by the obvious evidences which testify of Him. God reveals Himself to us as we accept His existence.

One of the most convincing evidences that there is a God is the change that takes place in a person’s life as he becomes intimately acquainted with Him. Those who had the nature of a lion become like a lamb. Where there was hate, there is now love. Where there was fighting, there is now peace. Where there was turmoil within, there is now a quiet rest. Where there were endless questions, there is now confidence. He changes the selfish person into one who cares about others.

Dear reader, do you feel a restlessness inside or a longing for something, but you are not sure what it is? Do not stifle that feeling or try to cover it up. It is your soul reaching out to God. The same God that created the earth can be your God. If you have faith and believe in the God of heaven, your life also can be changed. Instead of resenting the trying circumstances of life, you can rest in the knowledge that God sees and hears and cares.

God reveals Himself through His Word, the Bible. The Bible is history; it is prophecy; it is instruction for life. But, it is also the love of God to us, and gives direction for the inner needs of the soul. Read the Bible. Start with Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1-5. Read Psalms 23 and 51. Pray to God. He promises He will hear you.

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Suffering - Why?

SUFFERING - WHY?
Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Sometimes we suffer because of the sins, or decisions, of others and not just because of our own sins or decisions. The first man, Adam, was created perfect without any flaws, diseases or disorders. The whole world was perfect without any suffering, pain, deterioration or death, but man’s sin ( his rebellion against God or going against God’s command ) - the first sin or original sin - caused many changes.

Genesis 3:14 describes many changes which were caused by man’s sin: men, women and the entire animal kingdom would now endure pain, suffering, and death. These things too were now to be present upon earth: thorns, thistles, diseases, disorders, decay and deterioration.

Eventually mutations in organisms would have begun causing genetic defects, creating germs, diseases and cancers. Generation after generation some of these problems have been passed down through the genes of organisms including man. Therefore many people get disorders every year from chance encounters with harmful organisms or their own defective genetic makeup.

Even natural disasters, as tornadoes, hurricanes, winds, local floods, lightning, earthquakes, and volcanoes, are indirect results of Adam’s sin. Ever since Adam, man in general has tried to live his own life apart from God. By the time of Noah, humanity had become so corrupt and immoral that God destroyed all life on earth except some animals of the water and the animals saved on the ark. Noah’s flood would have caused major permanent changes in our weather patterns, climates, atmosphere, geological activity, continental positioning and landscape. There were probably no natural disasters before the flood, but ever since the beginning of the world-wide flood, our earth has had natural disasters.

Ever since the fall of man, man’s decisions and actions have caused suffering on themselves and others. Some decisions are intentional, as shooting sprees and drunk driving, while others are strictly accidental, as running a red light or skidding off the road in loose gravel. We live in a sinful world and society. Life itself is a risk. Every time we leave the house, we put our life at risk due to the consequences of decisions we and others make.

So, bad things can happen to good people because of chance encounters with germs and defective genes, because of our destructive lifestyles as drinking, drugs, and crime, or because of accidents caused by bad decisions by man. All of these things are ultimately results of the fall of man and man’s sinful nature.

But why does God allow good Christian people to suffer? Can’t He stop or prevent situations which cause pain, suffering and death? God has the ability to do anything He desires, but His ways are not our ways and His ways are far beyond our understanding. But we do know that He loves us so much that He gives us freedom to make our own decisions. He gave Adam that same freedom. Since man has a sinful nature, he often chooses to use his freedom to sin and to make his own decisions separate from God. God, as a parent, does not want any of His children to suffer, but He knows that we must accept our consequences and the consequences of other’s decisions (even all the consequences of Adam’s decision - his sin).

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Before Adam and Eve sinned, they were perfect and therefore God walked amongst them. But once they sinned, being no longer perfect, they could no longer enjoy a perfect relationship with God. Immediately there was spiritual death, separation from God, due to man’s desire to be as God and do things his own way and not obey God’s instructions.

God also declared that the price for sin is death (Romans 6:23). So the first death in God’s creation occurred when God sacrificed an animal to clothe Adam and Eve. He was showing them that sin is serious and deserves death, but instead of having Adam die physically, God made provisions for a substitute. The spilling of blood of a flawless animal served as the most appropriate substitute for man, until the death of a perfect man, Jesus Christ, redeemed man from his sins. The sacrificial animal was God’s way of allowing people back into a relationship with Him. And now, accepting Jesus’s sacrificial death is the way we develop that relationship.

Romans 3:23 states that we are all sinners and are separated from God (spiritually and physically). Therefore since the price for sin is death, we all are dead spiritually and in need of a savior, and we must all eventually die a physical death.

We all fall short of the standards of God’s perfection and therefore we cannot enjoy a personal relationship with God without accepting Jesus as our savior. Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross paid the price of all the sins of all those who accept Jesus as their savior. Jesus became the sacrificial animal which allows us to enjoy God’s presence in our lives, forever.

Fortunately, when we are reunited with God in the new heaven and new earth, there will no longer be any suffering, tears, sorrow or pain. This is God’s promise to those who truly believe in Him. Therefore if you have doubts as to the existence of God or of the gospel of Jesus Christ, do what you can to learn the truth, be saved, and share in the hope of heaven.

See Web Articles on Suffering in the article "Evidence for Biblical Reliability" on this blog.