Introduction: Not too long ago I was reading the transcript of the
“Intelligent Design” (“ID”)trial which took place in federal court in
Pennsylvania about a year and a half ago. Intelligent design is a
scientific theory that our creation came about as the result of an
intelligence, rather than Darwin’s theory of change through chance.
What struck me while reading the cross-examination (and the
statements of the judge) was that the defense of Darwinism was not
based so much on proving it was true or logical, but rather based on
whether the leading scientific minds, scientific associations and
journals accepted Darwinism as true. There is some sense to this
approach because judges are not experts in science. The scientific
community embraces Darwinism and (largely) rejects ID. Thus,
Darwinism won. The readers of these lessons know I’m a lawyer and a
logician not a scientist. Instead of scientific journals, what does
your common sense, your life experience, and your logic say about the
existence of God and the truth of His word? Let’s plunge into this
fascinating topic!
- Fools?
- The leading scientists of 300-500 years ago were
supporters of the idea of a Creator God. Today, the
majority seem hostile or indifferent. Read Psalms 14:1.
Assume you and I are in a debate over some important
issue. My argument is that you are a fool, and your
argument goes to the merits of the question. Who should
win? (Name-calling is no substitute for a reasonable
argument.) - I say that if you are not a (Republican, Democrat,
Independent – you fill in the blank) you are a fool.
Are you convinced? - Is God just calling those who do not believe in Him
names? Or, is there something more to what God is
saying? (When you see the word “fool” in the Bible,
it is generally referring to someone who lacks
“wisdom.” God is not saying a fool is stupid. God is
saying that a fool lacks wisdom – a much different
thing.) - Look again at the last part of Psalms 14:1. Is this
more name-calling? (Yes! Just as the Judge in the ID
trial looked at what experts said, rather than
scientifically determine what was true, so God says
look at the results of believing in Me. The fool
lives life as if God did not exist. God’s will and
God’s judgment are not part of the “equation” in this
person’s decision-making. Thus, this person’s deeds
are corrupt and vile.) - I’m sure there are plenty of people who do not
believe in God who would protest that they do
not live corrupt and vile lives. What do you say
to those people? (If they do not believe in a
power outside of themselves, then their
decision-making must inevitably turn on what
they think is best for them.) - Do you think a scientist can validly say that there is no
proof that God exists or that He created the universe? - If not, why not?(There is no clear proof of the
absence of God. Stephen Hawking is reputed to be one
of the smartest men alive. One of the things that I
love about his popular scientific writing is his
humility. He will often say (to paraphrase), “This is
our theory right now. We’ve been wrong in the past
and when we get better evidence we may discard this
theory.” His writings often refer to a god (meaning
some unexplained power behind all of science). I’ve
never read anything that makes me think Hawking
believes in the Bible’s Creator God, but at least
Hawking is wise enough to write so as not to preclude
such a possibility.) - You all know the story of Job. Most comments that I hear
about Job overlook some of the tough things Job says about
God. Read Job 9:32-35. What is Job requesting? (He thinks
God is being unfair to him. He wants to “sue God” (haul
God into court before a judge) so that he can have a fair
hearing about what God is doing to him.) - Does Job believe in God? (Yes!)
- What is Job challenging? (God’s fairness.)
- Now let’s read Job 38:1-3. How does God respond to a
challenge to His fairness (and not His existence)? (God
says Job does not know what he is talking about.) - Read Job 38:4-7. On what does God place His claim to
superior knowledge? (Being the Creator of the earth.) - Read Job 38:19-21. How does God compare Himself to humans?
- Read Job 38:31-36. In all of these verses in Job 38, God
is making a very specific argument about who and what He
is. On what is God’s argument based? (Science. God says
look at the heavens, look at the earth look at you. Did
you create these things? Do you understand these things?
Do you control these things?) - What an interesting conflict. When God is called upon to
argue His superior wisdom He points to the science of the
creation. The scientists of today, “defeat” Intelligent
Design theory by pointing to the creation. Let’s test this
in the next sections. - Testing the Logic of Fools
- Consider your hand. To your knowledge, can humans
perfectly recreate the operation of the hand? (No. Not
even close.) - What is the logical conclusion to be reached
from that? (If humans cannot recreate the
operation of the hand, the idea that hands came
into being by chance is irrational.) - Consider the operation of your brain and your eye. Humans
can easily distinguish one face from another. Can
computers do this? (No. There is a great deal of work in
this area to try to create camera/computers which will
“recognize” known terrorists in airports. Computer
technology has a long way to go.) - Notice again Job 38:33. Stephen Hawking writes about our
observation that the universe is slowly expanding. This is
an important fact for the “Big Bang” theory of the origin
of the universe. We can see that the universe is slowly
expanding in all directions. Therefore, some scientists
conclude that the universe began with an explosion. - Think about this and the theory of gravitational pull
for just a moment. What should we, logically, be
concerned about? (If the universe is expanding, it is
weakening the gravitational attraction. Thus, if the
expansion is too fast, the universe should fly apart
at some point. If it is too slow, gravitational
attraction will pull the universe towards the center
and it will implode.) - What does our survival depend upon? (That the
expansion takes place at precisely the correct
rate.) - Would that logically, be a matter of
chance? A matter of experiment? Or, would
that be one “of the law’s of the heavens”
spoken of in Job 38:33? - Proof in Our Life
- Read Psalms 119:105. What claim is being made for the
Bible? (That you should direct your life by its precepts.
It shows the way to walk in life.) - Given this text, if you could show that following
God’s advice measurably improved the quality of life,
would that would be scientific proof of the
trustworthiness of God’s word? (Yes.) - Is there a difference in the divorce rate between
Christians and the world? (I have read there is not, but
these studies do not distinguish observant Christians from
those who call themselves Christians. According to P.
Fagan, “Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of
Religious Practice on Social Stability,” (Dec. 18, 2006
Heritage Foundation Backgrounder series) (hereafter
“Fagan”) “Marriages in which both spouses attend religious
services frequently are 2.4 times less likely to end in
divorce [than when spouses do not attend].” (Fagan, p. 3.)
Those who stopped attending church divorced 2.5 times more
frequently than those who continued to attend. Fagan, pp.
3-4) - What would you think is the most important predictor
of marital stability? (Religious attendance. Id.) - Will living together before marriage, giving marriage a
“test run,” improve your chances of staying married? (No.
Couples who lived together before marriage were 59% more
likely to divorce than those who did not. Fagan, p. 4) - Does church attendance affect mother/daughter
relationships? (Mothers who consider religion important
get along better with their daughters. Mothers and
daughters who attend church with the same regularity have
significantly better relationships. Even the grandmother’s
church attendance has an impact on her descendants. “The
more religious a mother’s mother is, the more likely the
mother has a good relationship with the child.” Fagan, p.
5) - How does church attendance affect father/child
relationships? (Greater religious practice makes better
father/child relationships. Fagan, pp. 5-6.) - Thirty-seven percent of births in the United States now
occur outside of marriage! (Fagan p. 7)Is this proof of
the failure of religion? (No. Regular religious practice
is one of the most powerful factors in preventing out-of-wedlock births. Young woman who did not consider
themselves “very religious” had 2-3 times more out-of-wedlock births than those who considered themselves “very
religious.” Fagan, p. 7) - Read Proverbs 17:22. Will a relationship with God affect
being cheerful? - Church members who suffer from depression or other mental
illnesses have complained to me that people don’t think
they are a “good Christian” if they continue in their
illness. Others suggest that advising prayer for their
situation falls far short of the mark when what they
really need is medical intervention. Is God’s word a
positive or negative factor when it comes to mental
health? (Positive: 81% of 99 studies found “some positive
association … between religious involvement and greater
happiness, life satisfaction, morale, positive affect, or
some other measure of well-being.” (Fagan, p. 9)
“Adolescents who frequently attend religious services and
have a high level of spiritual support from others in
their community have the lowest levels of depression.”
Fagan, p.10) - Friend, look around you. In almost every aspect of our
life we see proof that God’s exists and that His word is
true. Will you choose to follow Him as shown in His word? - Next week: The Word in Our Lives.
