10 Answers for Atheists: How to Have an Intelligent Discussion About the Existence of God by Alex McFarland

Author:Alex McFarland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Atheism, Apologetics, Christianity and atheism, Christianity and other religions, God—Proof
ISBN: 9781441266583
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2012-09-27T23:00:00+00:00

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If God exists, then atheism is wrong. If God transcends His creation, then pantheism is false. If God is active in creation, then deism cannot be true. If only one God exists, then polytheism is not correct.

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See how important it is to have a right view of God? If we make one misstep in this area, it’s not an overstatement to say that the possible consequences for our beliefs as a whole can be disastrous.

Special Revelation of God

Christianity says God exists and has chosen to reveal Himself through creation, moral conscience, the Bible and Christ. Broadly speaking, we’re talking here about what theologians call general revelation and special revelation (which we touched on in chapter 1). General revelation, on the one hand, is available to all in a general sense. We can explore and learn about our world and see that evidence of design points to God. We can look within ourselves and know that we have a sense of right and wrong and good and evil. Something must have established this moral law within us. Special revelation, on the other hand, involves God actively revealing Himself and His truths to us in special ways. Specifically, we have the Bible and the Incarnation—Christ on earth teaching ultimate truths (special revelation doesn’t get much more “special” than this!).

Both Romans 1:19-20 and Psalm 19:1, quoted above, are powerful verses that indicate how God has revealed Himself to us in creation. Atheists who unreasonably demand that God instantly show Himself to them in some miraculous appearance are missing the point. God has revealed Himself already! To paraphrase Christian thinker and scientist Blaise Pascal, we have enough light to know there is a God.

Because God exists, the natural universe is not all that exists, and neither is God confined to the “box” of the universe. He’s outside it. As C. S. Lewis said:

[Christians] think God invented and made the universe—like a man making a picture or composing a tune. A painter is not a picture, and he does not die if his picture is destroyed. You may say, “He’s put a lot of himself into it,” but you only mean that all its beauty and interest has come out of his head.1

Moreover, Scripture tells us that God is intimately involved in His creation—not only in maintaining it but also in intervening in history and natural processes according to His will. History has a purpose because it is guided by the overarching purposes of God. It’s not a random, undirected flow of time. As James Sire puts it, within Christian theism, “History is linear, a meaningful sequence of events leading to the fulfillment of God’s purposes for humanity.”2 As a result, deism can’t possibly be true. God didn’t just wind up the watch of the universe and leave. He’s still involved, actively caring about what happens in His creation. Because of this, miracles are possible. God can intervene when He wishes and demonstrate His truly awesome power, which is exactly what He did though the power of Christ’s miracles.

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