God Existence Proofs Essay, Research Paper

Either God exists or He doesn’t. There is no middle ground. Any attempt to

remain neutral in relation to God’s existence is automatically synonymous with

unbelief. It is far from a "moot" question, for if God does exist,

then nothing else really matters; if He does not exist, then nothing really

matters at all. If He does exist, then there is an eternal heaven to be gained

(Hebrews 11:16) and an eternal Hell to be avoided (Revelation 21:8). The

question for God’s existence is an extremely important one. One might wonder why

it is necessary to present evidence for the existence of God. As Edward Thomson

so beautifully stated it: "…the doctrine of the one living and true God,

Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor of the universe, as it solves so many

problems, resolves so many doubts, banishes so many fears, inspires so many

hopes, gives such sublimity to all things, and such spring to all noble powers,

we might presume would, as soon as it was announced, be received by every

healthy mind." Some, however, contrary to their higher interests, have

refused to have God in their knowledge and thus have become vain in their

reasonings and foolish in their philosophy (Romans 1:21,22,28). They do not see

the folly (Psalm 14:1) of saying there is no God. The Christian has not only the

obligation to "give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning

the hope that is in you…" (I Peter 3:15), but an obligation to carry the

Gospel message to a lost and dying world (Mark 16:15-16, et al.). There will be

times when carrying the Gospel message to the world will entail setting forth

the case for the existence of God. In addition, we need to remember that

Christians are not agnostics. The agnostic is the person who says that God’s

existence is unknowable. As difficult as it is to believe, some Christians take

that same stance in regard to God’s existence. They assert that they

"believe" there is a God, but that they cannot know it. They state

that God’s existence cannot be proved. `This is false!’ God’s existence is both

`knowable’ and `provable.’ Acceptance of God’s existence is not some "blind

leap into the dark" as so many have erroneously asserted. The Christian’s

faith is not a purely emotional, subjective "leap," but instead is a

`firm conviction’ regarding facts based upon reasonable evidence. God’s

existence can be proved to any fair-minded person. Granted, we do not mean by

the word "proved" that God’s existence can be scientifically

demonstrated to human senses as one might, for example, prove that a sack of

potatoes weighs ten pounds. But we need to be reminded (especially in our day of

scientific intimidation) that empirical evidence (that based solely upon

experiment and/or observation) is not the only basis for establishing a provable

case. Legal authorities recognize the validity of a `prima facie’ case. Such a

case exists when adequate evidence is available to establish the presumption of

a fact which, unless such can be refuted, `legally stands as a fact’.

Inferential proof (the culmination of many lines of evidence into only one

possible conclusion) is an invaluable part of a `prima facie’ case which simply

cannot be refuted. But an important question which serves as a

"preface" to the case for God’s existence is this: "From whence

has come the idea of God in man’s mind?" The inclination to be religious is

universally and peculiarly a human trait. As one writer observed, even today the

evidence indicates that "no race or tribe of men, however degraded and

apparently atheistic, lacks that spark of religious capacity which may be fanned

and fed into a mighty flame." If, therefore, man is incurably

religious–and has the idea of God in his mind–and if we assume that the world

is rational, it is impossible that a phenomenon so universal as religion could

be founded upon illusion. The question is highly appropriate therefore: what is

the source of this religious tendency within man? Alexander Campbell, in his

celebrated debate April 13-23, 1829 in Cincinnati, Ohio with Robert Owen,

provided the answer to this question in a very positive fashion. He asked Owen

from whence the idea of God had come in man’s mind. Owen (and all skeptics) had

(have) stated that the idea of God has not come from reason (skeptics hold, of

course, that the concept is unreasonable), and that it has not come from

revelation. Campbell pressed Owen to tell him from whence the idea of God `had’

come. Owen retorted, "by imagination." Campbell then quoted both John

Locke and David Hume, two philosophers who are highly respected in the secular

community. Hume stated that the "creative power of the mind amounts to

nothing more than the faculty of combining, transposing, augmenting and

diminishing the materials afforded to us by sense and experience." The

imagination, it turns out, has `no creative power’. Neither reason nor

imagination create. Reason, like a carpenter’s yardstick, is a measure, not an

originator. Imagination works only on those items already in the mind; it does

not "create" anything new. [Sigmund Freud, German psychoanalyst of the

first part of the 20th century, attempted to explain God's existence by stating

that man had indeed formed the "heavenly father" from the idea in his

mind of his "earthly father." But this idea will not suffice either.

Is the God of the Bible the God man would "invent" if asked to do so?

Hardly. Look around at the "god" man invents when left to his own

devices--the "god" of hedonism, epicurianism, subjectivism, or the

"god" of "if it feels good, do it." The God of the Bible is

not the God man would invent, if left to his own devices. Freud's attempt to

explain the idea of God in man's mind failed miserably.] Campbell pointed out to

Owen, in a very forceful way, that the idea of God in man’s mind could only have

come through revelation. There is no other choice. The concept of God,

therefore, though greatly perverted in heathen hands, is ultimately traceable to

an original communication between the Creator and the creature. There is no

other alternative, all the disclaimers of the atheist notwithstanding. But

suppose the unbeliever objects: "If the idea of God is basic to human

nature, we would not be able to deny it; we do deny it, however; therefore it is

not intuitive." It is sufficient to observe in rebuttal to such a claim

that man, under the enchantment of a deceptive philosophy, can deny the most

obvious of things. Those deluded, for example, by "Christian Science"

religion deny the existence of matter and death. Some today deny that the earth

is spherical or that man has ever been to the moon. But a denial of facts does

not automatically negate the facts. Man’s attitude toward Truth does not change

Truth. Can God’s existence be proven? Can we `know’ God exists? The answer is a

resounding "YES!" The psalmist said, "Be still and `know’ that I

am God" (Psalm 46:10) as he echoed the Creator’s sentiments to man. The

allusions to th e manifestations of Deity in the created world are profuse.

David exclaimed, "O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the

earth, Who has set thy glory upon the heavens?" (Psalm 8:1). In the same

psalm, the inspired writer was constrained to say that the heavens are "the

work of thy fingers" and the moon and stars "thou hast ordained"

(Psalm 8:3). Later David was to utter the beautiful words of Psalm

19:1–"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his

handiwork." Isaiah graphically portrayed the majesty and power of nature’s

God when he wrote that God "hath measured the waters in the hollow of his

hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth

in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a

balance" (40:12). Dr. E.A. Maness once remarked, "If the word God were

written upon every blowing leaf, embossed on every passing cloud, engraved on

every granite rock, the inductive evidence of God in the world would be no

stronger than it is." John C. Monsma, in the text which he edited entitled,

`The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe’ (which is a compilation of

testimony from forty outstanding American scientists), affirmed "that

science can establish, by the observed facts of Nature and intellectual

argumentation, that a super-human power exists." . Dr. A. Cressy Morrison,

former President of the New York Academy of Sciences, affirmed that "so

many essential conditions are necessary for life to exist on our earth that it

is mathematically impossible that all of them could exist in proper relationship

by chance on any one earth at one time." Dr. Arthur H. Compton, Professor

of Physics at the University of Chicago and Nobel laureate, wrote: "It is

not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible that where

there is a plan there is intelligence–an orderly, unfolding universe testifies

to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered–`In the beginning,

God.’" . Louis Agassiz, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard University (and a life-long

opponent of Darwinian evolution), made these remarks:.. "Though I know

those who hold it to be very unscientific to believe that thinking is not

something inherent in matter, and that there is an essential difference between

inorganic and living and thinking beings, I shall not be prevent ed by any such

pretentions of a false philosophy from expressing my conviction that as long as

it cannot be shown that matter or physical forces do actually reason, I shall

consider any manifestation of physical thought as an evidence of the existence

of a thinking being as the author of such thought, and shall look upon

intelligent and intelligible connection between the facts of nature as direct

proof of a thinking God….` All these facts in their natural connection

proclaim aloud the one God whom man may know, adore, and love, and natural

history must in good time become the analysis of the thoughts of the Creator of

the universe’ as manifested in the animal and vegetable kingdoms." Lord

Kelvin, the famed English thermodynamicist once said, "I cannot admit that,

with regard to the origin of life, science neither affirms nor denies Creative

Power. `Science positively affirms Creative Power’. It is not in dead matter

that we live and move and have our being, but in the creating and directing

Power which science compels us to accept as an article of belief…. There is

nothing between absolute scientific belief in a Creative Power, and the

acceptance of the theory of a fortuitous concourse of atoms…. Forty years ago

I asked Liebig [famed chemist Justus von Liebig--BT], walking some-where in the

country, if he believed that the grass and flowers that we saw around us grew by

mere chemical forces. He answered, `No, no more than I could believe that a book

of botany describing them could grow by mere chemical forces’…. Do not be

afraid of being free thinkers! `If you think strongly enough you will be forced

by science to the belief in God’, which is the foundation all religion. `You

will find science not antagonistic but helpful to religion.’" . One cannot

help but wonder what has caused many of the most prominent and brilliant minds

of both days gone by and of our day to make such statements. No doubt, at least

a partial explanation lies in the fact that they saw a few, or many, of the

thousands of "signposts" or "ensigns" scattered throughout

the natural world which point clearly to the unseen Designer of nature. These

"signposts" are multitudinous in our world, and plainly obvious to

those whose minds have not been blinded by the "god of this world" (II

Corinthians 4:4), "refusing to have God in their knowledge" (Romans

1:28). An examination of these "ensigns" makes for a profitable and

edifying study. NATURE’S HOME: THE UNIVERSE When the writer of Hebrews stated

that, "…every house is builded by someone…" (Hebrews 3:4), he

suggested the well-known principle of cause and effect. Today the Law of

Causality is the fundamental law of science. Every effect must have an adequate

cause. Further indicated is the fact that no effect can be qualitatively

superior to or quantitatively greater than the cause. The universe is here, and

is a tremendous effect. Hence, it must be explained in terms of an adequate

cause. There are four possible explanations for the universe. (1) It is but an

illusion, and does not really exist. This is hardly worthy of consideration. (2)

It spontaneously arose out of nothing. This view is absurd, and cannot be

entertained scientifically. Dr. George E. Davis, prominent physicist, has

declared:"No material thing can create itself." . (3) It has always

existed. This theory, though held by many atheistic scientists of our day, is

scientifically untenable. Many evidences (e.g., the Second Law of

Thermodynamics) reveal that the stars are burning up, the sun is cooling off,

the earth is wearing out, etc. Such facts indicate that the universe had a

beginning; otherwise it would long ago have already reached a state of deadness.

Dr. Robert Jastrow, of NASA, states in his book, `God and the Astronomers :

"I am fascinated by some strange developments going on in astronomy…. The

essence of the strange developments is that the Universe had, in some sense, a

beginning–that it began at a certain moment in time…. And concurrently there

was a great deal of discussion about the fact that the second law of

thermodynamics, applied to the Cosmos, indicates that the Universe is running

down like a clock. If it is running down, there must have been a time when it

was fully wound up….The astronomer comes to a time when the Universe contained

nothing but hydrogen–no carbon, no oxygen, and none of the other elements out

of which planets and life are made. This point in time must have marked the

beginning of the Universe." (4) It was created. This is the only remaining

alternative and the only reasonable view of the origin of the universe. Since

our finite, dependent (and contingent) universe (of matter/energy) did not cause

itself, it was obviously caused by an infinite, independent, eternal Mind. God,

speaking through Moses (Genesis 15:5) and Jeremiah (33:32), mentioned that

"the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea

measured …." Little did we know how true those statements were. Johann

Bayer (1603) devised a system to indicate the brightness, or magnitude, of the

stars, using the Greek and Roman alphabets to denote their brightness. [Remember

Paul's statement to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 15:41): "...for one star

differeth from another star in glory."] Men before and after Bayer tried to

count the stars. Hipparchus the astronomer, in 128 B.C. counted the stars and

said there were 1,026. In 150 A.D., the famous astronomer Ptolemy counted the

stars and arrived at the number of 1,056. Years later, in 1575 A.D., the

renowned Danish astronomer, Tyco Brah, counted the stars and said there were

777. In 1600 A.D. the German astronomer Johannes Kepler counted the stars and

gave the number 1,005. At last counting (and we are nowhere near finished yet)

the number of stars stood at `25 sextillion’. That’s a 25 with twenty-one zeroes

after it! There are an estimated one billion galaxies,. and most of them contain

billions of stars (the Milky Way galaxy in which we live, for example, contains

over `100 billion stars’). It is so large that travelling at the speed of light

(186,317.6 miles per second) it would take you 100,000 years to go across just

the diameter of the galaxy. Light travels in one year approximately 5.87 x

1O.MDSU/12′ miles. In 100,000 years, that would be 5.87 x 1O.MDSU/17′ miles, or

587+ quadrillion miles. Our nearest neighboring galaxy is the Andromeda galaxy,

which is an estimated 2,000,000 light years away. That’s so far that a radio

wave which goes around the earth approximately 8.2 times in one second would

require over 1 million years to get there, and a return message would take

another 1+ million years. The observable universe has an estimated diameter of

20 billion light years. But it isn’t simply the size of the universe that is so

marvelous. The size is important, of course, but so is the `design’. The earth,

for example, in orbiting the sun, departs from a straight line by only one-ninth

of an inch every 18 miles–a very straight line in human terms. If the orbit

changed by one-tenth of an inch every 18 miles, our orbit would be vastly larger

and we would all freeze to death. If it changed by one-eighth of an inch, we

would come so close to the sun w e would all be incinerated.. Are we to believe

that such precision "just happened by accident"? The sun is burning at

approximately 20 million degrees Celsius at its interior.. If we were to move

the earth `away’ 10%, we would soon freeze to death. If we were to move the

earth `closer’ by 10%, we would once again be incinerated. The sun is poised at

93 million miles from earth, which happens to be just right–by accident? The

moon is poised some 240,000 miles from the earth. Move it in just onefifth, and

twice every day there would be 35-50 feet high tidal waves over most of the

earth’s surface. The distance of 240,000 miles happens to he just right–by

accident? And consider these facts: the earth is rotating at 1,000 miles per

hour on its axis at the equator, and moving around the sun at 70,000 miles per

hour (approximately 19 miles per second), while the sun with its solar system is

moving through space at 600,000 miles per hour in an orbit so large it would

take over 220 million years to complete just one orbit. [Remember the psalmist's

statement (Psalm 19:61) about the sun--"his circuit is from the ends of the

heavens."] What would happen if the rotation rate of the earth around the

sun were halved, or doubled? If it were halved, the seasons would be doubled in

length, which over most of the earth would cause such harsh summer heat and

winter cold that not enough food could be grown to feed the world’s population.

If it were doubled, no single season would be long enough to grow the amount of

food necessary to feed the world’s population. [Remember God's words to Moses:

(a) "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from

the night: and let them be for `signs and for seasons', for days and for

years" (Genesis 1:14, emp. added), and; (b) "While the earth remaineth,

seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and

night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).] Then there is this matter: from

where does our day come? It comes from the earth’s rotation once approximately

every 24 hours on its axis. From where do we get our month? It comes from the

moon circling the earth once approximately every 28 days. From where does our

year come? It takes the earth approximately 365.26 days to go around the sun.

`But where do we get our week?’ There is no purely natural explanation for the

week. The explanation, instead, is found in Exodus 20:11 (cf., Exodus 31:17):

"for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in

them is, and rested on the seventh day…." The week is an entirely

universal phenomenon. Yet there is no purely natural explanation for it. Little

wonder Isaiah wrote (40:26): "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who

hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth

them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power;

not one faileth." The fundamental law of science, we repeat, is the Law of

Causality which states that every effect must have an adequate cause. There is

no known exception. The universe is admittedly a known effect. [Note Dr. Robert

Jastrow's statement in his book, `Until The Sun Dies': "The Universe and

everything that has happened in it since the beginning of time, are a grand

effect `without a known cause'." . The question is: `What is the adequate

cause?' The atheist/agnostic has no answer, as Dr. Jastrow has so well

explained. The Christian, of course, does. `God is the First Cause', and has

left the evidences of His existence so evident that they are incontrovertible.

NATURE'S HUMAN INHABITANT: MAN "Men go abroad to wonder at the height of

mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at

the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they

pass by themselves without wondering." So stated Augustine many years ago.

So many people fail to see one of the most powerful arguments possible for God's

existence--their own selves! Consider, for example, the "earthly

tabernacle" (II Corinthians 5:1) that we call the human body. It is comp

osed of 30+ different kinds of cells, totalling over `100 trillion' cells when

all added together to make up the human adult.. These cells come in all

different sizes and shapes, with different functions and life expectancies. For

example, some cells (e.g., male spermatozoa) are so small that 20,000 would fit

inside a capital "O" from a standard typewriter, each being only

1/20th mm long. Some cells, put end-to-end, would make only one inch if 6,000

were assembled together. Yet all the cells of the human body, if set end-

to-end, would encircle the earth over 200 times. Even the largest cell of the

human body, the female ovum, is unbelievably small, being only 1/1OOth of an

inch in diameter. Yet each cell is composed of a lipo- protein membrane lining

(lipids/proteins/lipids) which is approximately 6/100-8/100 fm (4 atoms) thick.

Yet it allows selective transport outside the cell of those things that ought to

go out, and selective transport into the cell of those things that ought to go

in. Inside the cell's three-dimensional cytoplasm there are over 20 different

chemical reactions going on at any one time, with each cell containing five

major systems: (1) communication; (2) waste disposal; (3) nutrition; (4) repair,

and; (5) reproduction. The endoplasmic reticulum of the cell serves as a

transport system. The ribosomes produce protein, which is then distributed

around the body as needed by the Golgi bodies. The mitochondria (over 1,000 per

cell) are the "powerhouses" of the cell, producing the energy needed

by the body. The nucleus, of course, carries the genetic code in its DNA

(deoxyribonucleic acid). Red blood cells (there are approximately 30 trillion of

them) live about 120 days; white blood cells (the blood's defense system) live

about 13 days; platelets (which help blood to clot) live about 4 days; nerve

cells may live over 100 years. In any given 60-second period, approximately 3

billion cells die and are replaced in the human body through the process we call

`mitosis', whereby the standard chromosome number (in the human, 46) is

faithfully reproduced. A single cell contains a strip of DNA (placed in the nuc

leus in a spiral-staircase configuration) which is about one yard long, and

which contains `over 6 billion biochemical steps'. Every cell of the body

contains such DNA--over a billion miles total in one human. How powerful is the

DNA? It provides, in coded form, `every physical characteristic of every living

person'. How many people are there on the face of the earth? There are a few

more than 5 billion. It took two cells (a male spermatozoan and a female ovum)

to make each one of these people. If there are roughly 5 billion people on the

earth, and it took two cells to make each of them, that's approximately 10

billion cells (remember: this is the DNA it took to give every living person

every physical characteristic he or she has), and that DNA would fit into no

more than `1/8th of a cubic inch'! Does that tell you how powerful the DNA is?

Are we to then understand that this kind of design came "by accident"?

Hardly! The Hebrew writer was correct when he said, "For every house is

builded by someone; but he that built all things is God"(3:4). Consider the

skin of the human. It is a nearly waterproof layer, enclosing the body's

contents, almost 60% of which is water. It prevents the exit or entrance of too

much moisture, and acts as a protector for the rest of the body. At the same

time it is both a radiator and retainer of heat, helping to regulate the body's

temperature in conjunction with the two hypothalamus glands in the brain. Skin

may be as thick as 5/16th of an inch (e.g., the eyelid). The skin contains over

2,000 sweat glands which form one of the most ingenious air-conditioning systems

ever known to man. Skin acts as a barrier to protect the sensitive internal

organs, and even has the power to regenerate itself. Consider the skeletal

system of the body. It is composed of 206 bones, more durable and longer lasting

than man's best steel. Each joint produces its own lubrication and the system as

a whole is able to provide not only structure, but great protection (e.g., the

24 ribs guarding the internal viscera). There are 29 skull bones, 26 spinal

vertebrae, 24 ribs, 2 girdle bones, and 120 other bones scattered over the body.

The bones range in size, from the tiny pisiform bone in the hand, to the great

femur (over 20 inches long in the thigh of an average man). Yet in a man

weighing 160 pounds, the bones weigh only 29 pounds. [Remember Paul's comment

about "all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every

joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part,

making the increase of the body into the building up of itself..."

(Ephesians 4:16).] And consider, of course, the muscles. There are over 600 of

them in the human, with the function of contraction and release. From the smile

on the face of the newborn baby to the legs of the marathon runner, the muscles

are in charge. They are placed, however, into two systems–the `voluntary

system’ over which you have control (reach out and grab a ball), and the

`involuntary system’ over which you have little or no control (try stopping a

kidney). Are we to believe that the skeletal and muscle systems, in all their

complexity, "just happened"? No one could ever convince you that, for

example, a Cadillac limousine "just happened." Yet something

infinitely greater in design and structure– the human body–we are asked to

believe "just happened." What kind of incongruous logic is that, to

reach such a conclusion? As G.K. Chesterton once said: "When men stop

believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing. They believe in

`anything!’" How true. One does not get a poem without a poet, or a law

without a lawgiver. One does not get a painting without a painter, or a musical

score without a composer. And just as surely, `one does not get purposeful

design without a designer!’ Consider, for example, the human ear and the human

eye. The average piano can distinguish the sounds of 88 keys; the human ear can

distinguish over 2,500 different key tones. In fact, the human ear can detect

sound frequencies that flutter the ear drums as faintly as one- billionth of a

centimeter (a distance one-tenth the diameter of a hydrogen atom).. The ear is

so sensitive that it could even hear, were the body placed in a completely

soundproof room, the blood coursing through the veins. Over 100,000 hearing

receptors in the ears are sending impulses to the brain to be decoded and

answered. The human eye is the most perfect camera ever known to man. So perfect

is it that its very presence caused Charles Darwin to say, "That the eye

with all its inimitable contrivances…could have been formed by natural

selection seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree." Darwin

also commented: "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ

existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive,

slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." The eye, as

it turns out, is such an organ, and Darwin’s theory, as such, has broken down.

Each human eye is composed of over 107 million cells with 7 million cones

(allowing the eye to see in full, living color) and 100 million rods (allowing

the eye to see in blacks, whites, and greys). The eyes are connected to the

brain by over 300,000 nerves, and can detect light as feeble as 1/100 trillionth

of a watt. How is the eye supposed to have "evolved"? What

"intermediate state" between no eye and a perfect eye could nature

have "selected" to be passed on to successive generations? As Mark

Twain once c ommented, "It’s amazing what men will believe, so long as it’s

not in the Bible!" There are so many systems in the human body that could

be discussed, but since space precludes discussing them all, it is now to the

brain that we turn our attention. The brain, of course, regulates the rest of

the body. It contains over 10 billion nerve cells, and 100 billion glia cells

(which provide the biological "batteries" for brain activity). These

cells float in a jellied mass, sifting through information, storing memories,

creating what we call consciousness, etc.. Over 120 trillion connections tie

these cells together. The brain sends out electrical impulses at a speed of 393

feet per second (270 mph), and receives nerve impulses being produced at a rate

of over 2,000/second. The brain receives signals continuously from 130,000 light

receptors in the eyes, 100,000 hearing receptors in the ears, 3,000 tastebuds,

30,000 heat spots on the skin, 250,000 cold spots, and 500,000 touch spots. The

brain does not move, yet consumes 25% of the blood’s oxygen supply. It is

constantly bathed in blood, its vessels receiving 20% of all the blood pumped

from the heart. If the blood flow is interrupted for 15-30 seconds,

unconsciousness results. If blood is cut off to the brain for longer than 4

minutes, brain damage results. Four major arteries carry blood to the brain as a

sort of "fail-safe" system. And, the brain is protected from damage by

not one, but three major systems: (1) the outer skull bone; (2) the `dura mater’

(Latin for "hard mother"–the protective lining around the brain),

and; (3) the absorbing fluid, which keeps the brain from hitting the inner

skull. With the brain properly functioning, all the other body systems

(hormones, circulatory, digestive, reproductive, etc.) can be overseen and

controlled. Are we, as Dr. George Gaylord Simpson of Harvard stated some years

ago, "an accident in a universe that did not have us in mind in the first

place"? Or, are we created "in the image of God" (Genesis

1:26,27)? Sir Isaac Newton once said, "In the absence of any other proof,

the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence." How much more, then,

should the cells, the brain, the lungs, the heart, the reproductive system,

etc., be shouting to us that `there is a God, and He is not silent.’ As the

psalmist so well said, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully

made" (Psalm 139:14). Or, as Imogene Fey has observed: "The birth of

every new baby is God’s vote of confidence in the future of man." Dr. Lewis

Thomas, the renowned medical doctor and author of `The Medusa and the Snail’,

commented in that work about the "miracle" of how one sperm cell forms

with one egg cell to produce a single cell that will, nine months later, become

a new human being. His conclusion: "The mere existence of that cell should

be one of the greatest astonishments of the earth. People ought to be walking

around all day, all through their waking hours, calling to each other in endless

wonderment, talking of nothing except that cell…. If anyone does succeed in

explaining it, within my lifetime, I will charter a skywriting airplane, maybe a

whole fleet of them, and send them aloft to write one great exclamation point

after another around the whole sky, until a ll my money runs out." Yet we

are told that such a "miracle" has "just happened." Carl W.

Miller once stated: "To the reverent scientist…the simplest features of

the world about us are in themselves so awe-inspiring that there seems no need

to seek new and greater miracles of God’s care." In order to get a poem,

one must have a poet. In order to have a law, one must have a lawgiver. In order

to have a mathematical diagram, one must have a mathematician. A deduction

commonly made is that order, arrangement, or design in a system suggest

intelligence and purpose on the part of the originating cause. In the universe,

from the vastness of multiplied solar systems to the tiny world of molecules,

marvelous design and purposeful arrangement are evidenced. In the case of man,

from the imposing skeletal system to the impressive genetic code in all of its

intricacy, that same design and purposeful arrangement are evidenced. The only

conclusion that a reasonable, rational, unbiased mind can reach is that the

existing systems of our world, including all life, have been purposefully

designed by an Intelligent Cause. We call that Cause "God." Conclusion

Alan Devoe significantly writes, "Some naturalists have become convinced

that there is an `unknown force’ at work–a force that guides creatures by

influences outside the entire sphere with which science ordinarily works."

We would prayerfully urge those who speak of this `unknown force’ to turn to the

"God that made the world and all things therein" (Acts 17:24), and

ascribe honor and glory to Him. The revelation He has left of Himself in nature

simply could speak no louder of His existence than it already does. Furthermore,

this examination of arguments for God’s existence has not even touched upon the

"historical" arguments which come to bear on the case. For example,

the historical Christ, the resurrection, the Bible, the system of Christianity,

and other such arguments are equally as important. The arguments from historical

fact are additional proof that there is a God, and He is not silent. That Christ

existed cannot he doubted by any rational person. His miracles and other works

are documented, not only in biblical literature, but in profane, secular history

as well. The empty tomb stands as a silent but powerful witness that God does

exist (Acts 2:24; Romans 10:9) and that Christ is His Son. The Bible exists;

therefore, it must be explained. The men who wrote it were either deceivers,

deluded, or telling the truth. What do the evidences say? The internal and

external evidences are enough to tell the story of God’s existence, and the fact

that He has spoken to us from His inspired word. Additional evidences are

available at every turn. Little wonder Paul stated that "in him we live,

and move, and have our being…" (Acts 17:28). Moses’ statement still

stands as inspired testimony to the fact of the existence of God: "In the

beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).