Footpath of Faith
God is…….
We are provided clues to the designers of this world
Not proof, just clues that point you to a decision
The Heaven’s declare the Glory of God. (Ps 19:1)
1. It was created
In 1978, Arno Penzias received a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). That same year in an interview with the New York Times, he said “The best data we have [concerning the Big Bang] are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the bible as a whole.” In a subsequent radio interview, Penzias was asked what there was before the Big Bang: “We don’t know, but we can reasonably say that there was nothing.” An upset listener called immediately, accusing Penzias of being an atheist. He wisely replied: “Madame, I believe you are not aware of the consequences of what I just said. Before the Big Bang there was nothing of what now exists. Had there been something, the question could be: where did it come from?” He continued commenting that if there was nothing and suddenly things began to appear, that was sign that Somebody had taken them from nothing, and concluded saying that his discovery could bring about the overcoming of the historic enmity between science and religion.
2. A universe fine tuned for man
If you look at the universe from the viewpoint of a scientist, it looks as if it knew we were coming. Many things have to be just right for man to thrive on Earth. Fundamental constants of nature have to be fine tuned to allow for life. For example, two constants, the electromagnetic force constant and the universal gravitational force constant have to be so precisely in turn to allow for the existence of galaxies, large and small stars, planets and people. If we re-calibrated just a little the ratio would result in just small stars or just big stars. If we only had big stars in the universe, our world would burn up. If we only had small stars in the universe, the elements to maintain life would never have been developed.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
Our bodies are incredibly complex. Consider DNA, the building block of life. In 1990, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Energy joined with international partners in a quest to sequence all 3 billion letters, or base pairs, in the human genome, which is the complete set of DNA in the human body. This concerted, public effort was the Human Genome Project. In April 2003, researchers successfully completed the Human Genome Project.
Antony Flew, a scientists and for years one of the world’s leading atheists, when faced with the complexity of the human genome and the complexity required to sustain life, says that the biologists investigation of DNA has shown that by the unbelievable complexity of the arrangements needed to support life, “that intelligence must have been involved.” When questioned by his colleagues, Flew remarked, “I go where the facts lead me.”
He has written his law on our hearts (Ro 2:15)
In the animal world, everything is based on survival. All activities and actions can be boiled down into actions and activities to maintain the survival of the tribe, pride, flock or grouping. Man is different. Something has been placed in the heart (or mind of man) that tells him right from wrong.
Humans choose mates not based on survival but on love
A baby child knows that when another takes a toy away from him, stealing is wrong
All societies feel revulsion at the Hitlers, Stalins, Amins, and Pol Pots of the world.
Man has inherent wiring that makes him different from all others.
The arguments against God…
You cannot scientifically prove God.
They’re right. You cannot prove God. But science cannot prove many things. We don’t come to a decision on marriage scientifically. We don’t come to a decision on finances scientifically. Coming to a belief in God is looking at a body of evidence, much like a legal trial, and very similar to a historian’s research. The truth is everything that cannot be replicated in an experiment takes a measure of faith. Trying to discern the intent of George Washington or our founding fathers takes faith in the ability of the historian.
Who created God?
The reasoning is that if Christians believe that everything is created by somebody then who created God? Seems like a reasonable question. How I would answer it:
1. The questions whether you believe in a Creating God or a spontaneous action have to end somewhere. I feel comfortable, if my logic train takes me back to an omnipotent, omniscience, and benevolent God, I can end it there. I will let HIM worry about what came before.
2. The question of who created God is a contradiction logically. If he created everything, how can something create him?
Belief in God as a means to mental survival
The argument is that we have developed, through evolution, a notion of God for survival. The argument leads us to believe that all we think is in the end filtered through our survival instinct. If that is correct, can anything we discern be based on truth? Right and wrong? Honesty and Deception?
If a evolutionary biologist tells me that truth is not knowable than how can we know that evolutionary biology is true? Sorry, personally, I believe truth can be known.
The false dichotomy of faith vs. reason
Decisions and beliefs are never just faith and just reason. Usually they are a combination of the two.
Few decisions in our lives are made by the scientific method. Faith and reason coexists in every non-laboratory decision that is made. Belief in God or an Intelligence Designer or a watchmaker is a reasoned decision.
Our choice
Our choice is not to wait around for someone to prove God. Faith is and must be a key component of our relationship with God as it has to be with all human relationships. The choice is not is there a God or not? The choice is which of the many possibilities out there is the most plausible to you?
I BELIEVE THAT GOD IS.
DISCLAIMER: Please understand these are sermon notes. I am sure there are plagiarized concepts in these notes. Maybe when all is said and done, I will go and footnote the source of much of the information.
