01.03. Chapter 1 God
Chapter 1 God The unseen ‘something’ From earliest times people have recognized that there is more to life than what they see in the material world. Sacred rituals of various kinds were part of the life of primitive bush people and cave-dwellers. In every era of the world’s history, people have been religious.
Today, throughout the many nations, races, languages and cultures of the world, most people have a religion of some sort. They show a belief in a spiritual aspect of human life that is independent of any progress that the human race has made in civilization, knowledge and prosperity. Such a belief seems to be part of human nature. This is true even of people who appear to have no religion and no belief in God. Their attitudes and actions indicate that there is within them an awareness of some unseen power that can influence their lives. For example, people often feel the need for some religion in relation to life’s great turning points, such as birth, marriage and death. Some people, of course, remain totally opposed to religion whatever its form. Yet even things that have nothing to do with religion show people’s concern for that unseen ‘something’ that influences events and that they cannot control. Such things might include the superstitious fear of the number thirteen, the reading of the astrology section of the newspaper, or even the well-meaning wish for good luck. These all indicate people’s acknowledgment that something outside themselves influences the course of events.
Christianity’s explanation of all this is that there is a supreme power who is living and intelligent and who is above all things. Christians call him God.
Seeking after God The reason people are concerned for more than just the physical aspects of life is that they are more than just physical beings. They have something in their make-up that makes them different from all other animals. They have a spiritual capacity, something that makes them seek after more than the physical world can provide. All human beings are, in a sense, like God; or, as the Bible says, they are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). They long for a meaning to life, and this longing can be satisfied ultimately only by God.
Unlike other animals, human beings are not content simply to have food, shelter and the opportunity for reproduction. Because they have a capacity to know God, they have a capacity for the unlimited. That is why, throughout human history, people have consistently tried for greater achievement (even if not always with the best motives), whereas animals are content to remain much as they always were. People have within them a spiritual element that causes them to reach forward for something outside themselves.
Paul, one of the early Christian missionaries, referred to this when he was preaching to some Greeks in Athens. He saw that they were very religious, having many gods and many altars. Among their altars was one that they had built in honour of the ‘unknown God’. Paul pointed out how this indicated that, since humankind was made in God’s image, people would ‘look for God and perhaps find him as they felt about for him’ (Acts 17:27). Paul then introduced them to the God whom they were seeking.
Faith that God exists In another place Paul spoke further of things that point clearly to the existence of God. People everywhere, regardless of their degree of civilization, have always known that certain things are wrong – murder, for example – even though no one may have taught them any particular religion or moral code. The law of God is, as it were, written on their hearts (Romans 2:15). The fact that their consciences make them feel guilty shows thatthey still have an awareness of God’s law within them. They still exist in God’s image, though, because of wrongdoing or ignorance, they may reflect that image very poorly. Not only does the nature of people point to the existence of a God who is over them, but the natural world points to the existence of a God who made it. Paul summarized this well when he wrote, ‘Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made’ (Romans 1:20).
We look at a work of art, a machine, or a building, and we conclude that somebody must have designed it and somebody must have made it. We may even learn from it something of the character and ability of its designer and maker. Likewise we look at the natural world, where everything fits together in an orderly arrangement, and we conclude that someone must have designed it and brought it into being. We may even learn from it something of his character; for example, that he is a person of wisdom, power and love.
None of these examples is an absolute proof of the existence of God. The Bible nowhere attempts such a proof, because no one can give material proof of the existence of a person who is invisible. The Bible refers to people’s sense of right and wrong as evidence of a moral God; it refers to the wonders of the physical universe as evidence of an intelligent and powerful God; but it realizes that ultimately a person acknowledges God by faith. ‘Whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him’ (Hebrews 11:6).
Rather than try to prove the existence of God by argument, the Bible starts from the assumption that people already have some sense of God. It then urges them to acknowledge him. It gives meaning to life by pointing people to him. The creator at work
Sometimes people are puzzled about the creation of the world, because when they read about it in the Bible and compare the biblical account with the statements of scientists, there seems to be some conflict. Much of the misunderstanding occurs when Bible readers try to make the Bible teach what it was never intended to teach, or when scientists claim proof for things that cannot scientifically be proved. The Bible was never intended to be a scientific textbook. It is not concerned with the kind of investigation that modern science is concerned with. If it had been written in the language of modern science, people in former ages would not have understood it, and people in future ages would find it out of date. The purpose of the Bible’s account of creation was not to teach scientific theories. Rather it was to give a short, simple account of the beginning of the world, as an introduction to the story of those who live in the world. It was concerned with God’s dealings with the human race that he created. As in everyday speech today, the Bible uses popular rather than technical language. It speaks of the world as ordinary people see it, where the sun is a ‘great light’ in the sky, and ‘rises’ and ‘sets’ over the earth. Such language is pictorial, and is neither concerned with science nor in conflict with science. It is a kind of language that people in any country or era use and understand.
Science may tell us much about God’s creation, but its viewpoint is different from the Bible’s. The Bible tells us that God is the one who did these things, and scientists offer explanations that suggest how he might have done them. The Bible tells us, for instance, that God sends the rain and God makes the grass grow. When scientists explain how rain falls and how grass grows, they are not in conflict with the Bible. In explaining the ‘laws of nature’, they are describing the way God normally works in nature. The ‘laws of nature’ are God’s laws.
If, however, scientists try to use scientific data to prove the non-existence of God, they are trying to do something that science is not capable of doing. Science may be able to suggest how something was done, but it is not capable of saying who did it.
Once again we come to the point where things cannot be proved or disproved, either by rational argument or by scientific investigation. ‘It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word’ (Hebrews 11:3). Although we accept these things by faith, such faith is neither irrational
nor unscientific. On the contrary, both rational argument and scientific investigation confirm that such faith is reasonable.