According to the world’s former foremost atheist, our belief in God is indeed credible. Dr. Antony Flew, a British philosopher who has been the primary voice of atheism for decades, recently converted to theism. I heard this man debate for atheism at the University of Wisconsin campus back in 1998 to the cheers of thousands of college students and area residents. Now, having been confronted with the arguments of brilliant theists, Dr. Flew has claimed that reason has assured him that there is a god. He is not a Christian by any means, at least not yet. But he is not all that far away. And according to Dr. Flew, our belief in a god is assured by reason and our belief in the God of the Bible is perfectly rational and sensible.
We can just believe that God exists, but the problem with that is when confronted by unbelieving intellectuals, we feel completely inferior as if their science is superior to our faith. The fact of the matter is that science is not antithetical to faith. Science, the process of rational inquiry, can actually bolster our faith, which, as Dr. Flew has seen, is what we as theists should expect to happen.
Here is how the scientific process can even be used to lead us to faith, by the grace of God, of course. We begin by making an assumption in our minds that God exists. Well, if God indeed exists then the world around us should point to Him. Psalm 19:1-2 indeed indicates that the creation reveals a Creator when it says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.” Romans 1:18-20 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God has made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Part of God’s design is to reveal Himself in a general fashion through His creation. From His creation we see order, beauty, marvelous intricacies, and extraordinary balance. We can infer attributes about God from these things such as power, supernatural intellect, a regard for details, an all-seeing God, and a God of absolutes, just to name a few things. Unfortunately, this Scripture tells us that men in general suppress this knowledge and ignore God and His truth. But the good news is that as scientific inquiry advances, it can only uncover and discover this handiwork of God. So, we have nothing to fear from science. Science, if done honestly, should indeed point to God’s existence. A simple scientific inquiry as to the evidence in creation must lead us to conclude that there is a creator, as the Bible indicates.
There are several arguments most often used to argue for the existence of God.The first is the cosmological argument. This argument in its simplest form states that since every effect first had a cause, if we travel back in time, we must ultimately discover a first cause, i.e. God. There is no time before God because God created time, and He exists outside of time. Thus, even the beginning of time requires a first cause. The concept of big bang cosmology is closely related to this argument. I do not believe in a chaotic explosion from a piece of matter that we can call creation. I believe that God specifically designed the universe and gave it laws of operation. The big bang cosmologists conclude that since physics tells us that the universe is expanding, it must have billions of years ago been a supercompacted ball of matter. This then “exploded” outward in the act of creation, and thus the universe continues to expand because of this initial force. If such a bang occurred, it absolutely requires God’s sovereign hand over where everything went, including the perfect placement of earth from the sun and so on. I believe that big bang cosmology is not necessary to adhere to in order to come to the belief in God. The universe may be expanding for other reasons that we just don’t understand yet. It could be that several thousands of years ago that God spoke creation into existence and designed it perfectly like an artist’s painting. I believe that this is the more likely Biblical inference. So, I believe that the cosmological argument is useful in that there had to be a beginning event, unless you believe that time went back infinitely. But I do not believe that it is rock solid and convincing. Neither did Dr. Flew.
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