IS THERE A CASE FOR GOD?
Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.
Psalm 93:2
Some people say that God exists only in the minds of men and women who choose to believe in him, or that God is nothing more than a delusion.{1} His existence is imaginary and purely a matter of subjective choice.
But what if God is real?
When the British playwright and author Noel Coward was asked "What do you think about God?" he reportedly replied "We have never been properly introduced".
It sounds like a clever answer, but is it?
We have started by referring to “God”, so before going any further, we should ask, “Who is God?”
Through the ages, there has been a largely universal call on the human psyche of a greater Being or Intelligence that transcends the world. That there is another world beyond this one. That there is the next world, the invisible world. But let it immediately be said that this inner sense in humanity of a supernatural God is not accepted by many people, though it may linger in their conscience.
In this study, we will throughout look at the question of God from a Christian point of view, and not through the lens of any of the other religions of the world.
If this, dear reader, inclines you immediately to set aside this study, I urge you not to do so. It is perhaps not by accident that you are reading this account, and surely, can any harm come of enquiring into some of the fundamental questions of life?
So who is God?
One of the greatest theological statements of all time is contained in the first ten words of the Bible:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Observe in this statement:
The author of creation is God. The text simply asserts the existence of God. It does not introduce him to the reader or try to explain him or qualify him. He is God, who created the heavens and the earth. To have done so, must speak of an infinite power and wisdom that we cannot begin to comprehend. It is not only the creation of a vast universe, but a creation characterised by design, order and harmony.
The work of creation occurred in the beginning. There was a beginning. God, who transcends time, set time in motion in the beginning.
The manner in which the work was undertaken was that God created. The heavens and the earth were created by an all-powerful God. In that they were created, they were made ex nihilo, out of nothing. Bear in mind here that in creating matter out of nothing, the God who created nature is not subject to the laws of nature, which preclude anything from coming out of nothing. Bear in mind further that in creating nature, he who created it is also the author of the laws of nature.
Now the playwright mentioned at the start of this chapter that he had not properly been introduced to God. But had he been attentive? How does the Infinite reveal himself to the finite?
Of course, if he is God, in any way that he chooses.
In the ensuing pages, we will enquire whether God has revealed himself to humankind in any of the following ways:
And if he has, what does that mean for us?