Chapter 1
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A Basic Biblical Assumption
The Bible assumes God is real. Every verse and poetic prose in the bible forcefully declares God is the center of the universe. Everything alive depends on him, and God is the only being not dependent on anyone, or anything. God is the author of all life. The Bible does not philosophize about God’s existence, it simply declares it. The Bible openly states some will fight against God and attempt to deny him.
8 Intelligent Reasons God is Real
(Taken from William Lane Craig)
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/does-god-exist1
1. God is the best explanation for why anything exists at all
This is still the most powerful argument against atheism and agnosticism, in other words, the enemies of God have yet to win the day.
Here is a simplified understanding of the argument above, it goes like this:
- (a) Everything that is alive has an explanation for why
- (b) The universe can be explained as being alive because of God
- (c) God is the only reason the universe is alive
2. God is the best explanation for the universe
The universe has no eternity past. It is in fact slowly expanding, proving that it had a beginning. Mathematically an expanding universe, by definition means it had a beginning.
3. God is the best explanation for mathematics and the laws of physics
According to William Lane Craig, “Mathematics is the language of nature.” Numbers are not part of the physical world yet govern it. How is that possible? Dr. Craig goes on to say, ” When God created the physical universe he designed it in terms of the mathematical structure which he had in mind.”
4. God is the best explanation for intelligent life
There is nothing in the Big Bang Theory that offers a solid rationale for human intelligence. Human intelligence is witness to a designer who perfectly fine-tuned the universe.
5. God is the best explanation for consciousness
This is the ability to perceive things. This is a profound point. For example, you’re capable of living in the present, yet your mind is also capable of planning the vacation you want to take next year, next year doesn’t yet exist, but you are capable of thinking about it. Humans do this because God has made it so.
6. God is the best explanation for morality
Atheism has no moral justification for action other than its own selfishness. There is no virtue in atheism.
7. The fact that you can think about God proves he is real.
When a person attempts to deny God they prove he is real. One cannot deny God and argue against him, without first accepting he is real.
8. God can be personally known, enjoyed, and experienced.
This the where most believers give personal testimony to knowing God, and knowing God is the testimony of scripture.
7 Verses About Jesus and Creation
John 1:3 – All things were made through him, and without him was nothing made that was made.
John 1:10 – He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
1 Corinthians 8:6 – Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist
Colossians 1:16 – For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or ruler or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Hebrews 1:2 – But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Hebrews 11:3 – By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible
Revelation 4:11 – Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
What The Bible Says About Itself
Romans 1:19-20 – For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.
Psalm 53:1 – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 19 – The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork
Hebrews 11:1, 6 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever must draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him.
What About Science and Scripture?
There is no conflict between science and scripture. Science adjusts its facts to the ongoing revelation of the natural world. The most rational thing a person can do is give their life to Jesus Christ. The second most rational thing a person can do is to become deeply curious about the world God made, how that design works, and the benefits found within.
Rebecca McLaughlin
Rebecca McLaughlin writes, “If a rational God made the universe and endowed humans with an intelligence that echoed his own, perhaps his image bearing creatures would be able to discern his laws” McLaughlin Confronting Christianity page130
Alvin Plantinga
Alvin Plantinga, a premiere Philosophers at the University of Norte Dame, explains it this way, “There is indeed a conflict between science and naturalism (the view that there is no such person as God or anything like God), there is no conflict between science and religion.” …..book knowledge and Christian belief page 8
There are serious errors within philosophic naturalism. One example, as it applies to science, is that the person holding to naturalism as an explanation of the world around them is holding tightly to other beliefs beyond science, and brings those other beliefs into the scientific arena while being unable to admit the bias.
J.P. Moreland
To the surprise of many, as I”‘m writing this, there is no accepted definition of what science is and is not by the scientific community. J.P. Moreland was used by God to lead a modern revival of philosophy, he puts it this way: “For one thing, the statement ‘Only what can be known by science or quantified and empirically tested is rational and true’ is self-refuting. This statement is not a statement of science. It is a philosophic statement about science. How could the statement itself be quantified and empirically tested? And if it cannot, then by the statement’s own standards, it cannot itself be true or rationally tested.”
Dr. Moreland continues, “Another way of putting this is to say that the aims, methodologies, and presuppositions of science cannot be validated by science. One cannot turn to science to justify science any more than one can pull oneself up by his own bootstraps. The validation of science is a philosophical issue, not a scientific one, and any claim to the contrary will be a self-refuting philosophical claim.”
Scaling the secular city page 197
Famous Scientist and Scripture
I am typing these words and you are reading them because God created an ordered universe. This constant has fascinated many and led talented folks to probe the mind of God through science. Unknown to many is the deep devotion to Christ in the founding fathers of modern science.
- Roger Bacon (1214-1294) was a Franciscan Friar. He is considered one of the fathers of the scientific method.
- William of Ockham (1285-1350) was also a Franciscan Friar. He along with Bacon is considered the father of the scientific method still in use today.
- Robert Boyle (1627-1691) has a scientific law named after him – Boyles’s Law – this is a basic law in chemistry describing the behavior of gas when held at a constant temperature. He loved Jesus, bible translation, and evangelism. He became a scientist instead of a gospel preacher/missionary because he believed he could serve Christ better in that capacity.
- Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was not a follower of Christ in the truest sense but held tightly to a biblical worldview and believed deeply in God, writing extensively about God and physics.
- Michael Faraday 1791-1867) has an incredible legacy and is likely the greatest scientist you’ve ever heard of, which should make you sad. A few serious academic conclusions are named after him: The Faraday Constant, The Faraday Effect, and the Faraday Cage. He was a deeply devoted follower of Christ and loved seeing how his faith in Christ developed his scientific skills. His field of expertise is in electromagnetism.
- James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) scientifically unified electricity, magnetism and light. He was a devoted evangelical Presbyterian and an Elder in the Church of Scotland, he viewed his scientific work as an act of worshipping Jesus.
as cited in rebecca mclaughlin book confronting jesus page 112
Let’s Deal With Galileo
Oddly enough, a recent survey of academics and scientists claim Galileo’s torture at the hands of the Catholic Church turned them into atheists. Galileo was bold enough to prove that the Bible had the sun at the center of the universe, and in truth what he was exposing was an unbiblical concept that came from Aristotle. Modern scientist uses this error to justify themselves – but here is the scientific truth – the church never tortured Galileo. His torture is a myth, strong enough to convince otherwise factual people.
Moses Wrote the Book of Genesis
After the resurrection, In Luke 24:27, Jesus walks to Emmaus alongside two others. Here is how the New Testament explains Moses’ authorship of Genesis – “And beginning at Moses (this means Genesis), and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Then Jesus said – “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses (this means Genesis) and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled – then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
Moses Used Ancient Scrolls
There is a consistent phrase found in the book of Genesis, “Theses are the generations…” Studying the length of those sections leads us to believe that is how the ancient scrolls started, and there are 11 different scrolls going back before the flood (Genesis 2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 36:9, and 37:2) . Moses took those scrolls and comprised them into the book of Genesis.
Chapter 1
V. 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
These Are Great Hebrew Words
Many of the words in the Book of Genesis are some of the oldest in human history. The book takes its name from the opening line, the word beginning is Bereshith in Hebrew. The name for God is Elohim, which has strong implications and I will get to that in a moment. Bereshith bara Elohim is the Hebrew translation of the opening line.
Ancient customs often named books from the opening lines, and the book is named after Bereshith – which means beginnings. 250 years before Christ, a group of scholars translated the Hebrew bible into Greek and translated Bereshith as Genesis, which also means beginnings. After the resurrection, both Latin and Greek Bibles adopted the Genesis name, and here we are to this day.
Think Elohim
Genesis is about God from A to Z. God’s name, Elohim, occurs thirty-five times in chapter 1 alone. Writes R. Kent Hughes, “Remarkably, the mystery of the Holy Trinity is embedded in the first three Hebrew words of the text, (Bereshith bara Elohim), because the name of God, Elohim is in the plural, and the verb created (bara) is in the singular so that God (plural) created (singular)”….kent hughes page 18. Robert Alter, a world-renowned scholar in Hebrew Literature explains it this way, “The most common designation of deity is Elohim, a word that is plural in form but is generally treated grammatically as singular.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, translation and commentary page xl
Christians and Jews are monotheists, because scripture says God is one, “Here O Israel the Lord our God is one,” (Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 8:6). The one united God, living as three persons, was activated in creation. God and the Holy Spirit are here in Genesis 1:1-2. Jesus is activated as seen in John 1:1-3, 10, and Colossians 1:15-17.
God Made It
This verse is the genesis of all human dignity and the fountainhead of existence. God is scientific, yet chose romantic words to describe his actions. God intentionally chose to limit his scientific explanations. Instead, he invites us to his banqueting table, to enjoy the celebration of his love, where our inner soulful conflicts and psychological despairs find rest. Who am I? Why am I alive? What does God have to say to me? In answering these questions, God reaches low and brings tender kisses to our needs.
No parent tucks their small children in bed at night quoting scientific facts. Parental love at that moment is not biological but spiritual.
The Beginning
When children ask who made God, the answer is no one. God has always existed, that is why he is God. The universe however had a beginning, and for the most part, that is where the debate is.
- The Big Bang Theory now has many nuances to it, but the basic acceptable scientific concept says that in a moment of time, the physical universe began, and then expanded to what we have today. The debate rages around the actual age of the earth, and the mechanisms by which the big bang took place.
- The existence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics points to the earth having a beginning. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is the scientific explanation for why you cannot unscramble an egg. The conversion and transfer of heat and energy are always irreversible and lead to disorder – not order. Our physical universe lives with this constant.
- There is something called Irreducible Complexity, and it is not that hard to understand. There are many biological systems in nature and in the body defying evolution because they are too complex. Take one part of the equation away and the entire system dies or doesn’t work. Michael Behe made this famous in his book Darwin’s Black Box. In that book Behe devoted a whole chapter to blood clotting, using it as an illustration to make his point – evolution has no answer for irreducible complexity. Behe noted that the blood clotting mechanism in the body, known as a cascade, is a big problem for Darwinian evolutionists – take one part of the cascading clotting mechanism away, and the body bleeds out and dies a quick death.
About God’s Existence
- This is a highly simplified version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument, and it’s entirely biblical. It’s sometimes called “First Cause” thinking. Here is what we know, everything that is alive (exists) has a beginning (was born). The universe is alive (exists), so it was born (had a beginning). In order for that to take place, someone had to exist who has always existed. God has always existed, and he is the first cause.
- Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist, so the universe must have a cause that itself was not caused. This ultimate first cause is God.
V.2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Interesting Debate
At this point, the world is uninhabitable. In verse 1 the debate revolves around God’s existence and his ability to create ex nihlo – out of nothing. The debate in verse 2 revolves around the age of the earth. Some think there was a world before, and that world is not habitable because God judged Satan, in effect turning the lights out on him, making this a re-creation. Others see this merely as God’s next step in making all we know.
Emptiness
The phrase without form and void is Tohu wabohu in Hebrew. It’s found only here and two other places pointing to this reference. According to Rober Alter, Tohu by itself mean emptiness of futility. R. Kent Hughes arrives at a similar conclusion, “it is an expression for a place that is disordered and empty.” hughes page 21 alter page11
Know The Hebrew Word Panim (Paw-Neem)
Adama (GEn 2:7), Moses, David (Ps 27), Aaronic blessing, Jacob – all saw God’s presence/face…genesis 32:24
revelation 22:3…John says God’s children will see his face
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3447&context=pubs
V. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
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