Early this week an article in New York Times dated March 23 wrote about the New Atheists and it elicited an outpouring of over 1,330 readers’ comments in the space of less than three days. The comments were diverse, representing both opposing camps. But to me, one gratifying evidence emerging from this discussion is that it proves the interest in God is still very much alive today. As I read with interest, not all the 1330 comments but over half of those at least, a pattern slowly emerged which showed where the knots got tangled and why atheists reject God’s existence. Moreover I realize unless one can untie those knots, it will be nigh impossible to budge in one’sbelief that God does NOT exist.
The First Knot : Confusing God with Religion.
I deeply sympathise with persons who turned from believing in God after they have either encountered or even actually suffered hurt inflicted by certain religion’s doctrines or corrupt malpractices. This is so sad, I mean, so sad to lose one’s relationship with God because of damaging experience with religion. The Bible clearly shows that Judaism is the religion of the Jews and yet it is not totally in line with the intent and spirit of God as manifest in the words of Jesus. Therefore let us not reject God because of our disillusionment with religion.
Second Knot : Demanding Physical Evidence as proof of existence of God
Putting too much weight and your entire trust on physical evidence and scientific proof for everything ( including demanding this to prove the existence of God) is the other grave pitfall of the human race. But please don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the great discoveries and progress that science has made to improve every area of our lives and no doubt will continue to advance. I’m saying not to place your entire trust on scientific, or even physical evidence based on your five senses, and believe that is ultimate and infallible. As one of the comments to the New York Times article said: “…. but as a scientist I often see experts and incredibly intelligent people become utterly convinced about things that turn out to be completely wrong. “
I’m certain you and I know of at least a number of examples where scientific and medical evidence that have been hailed as “scientific facts” but in years later, were completely overturned by further research and scientific tests ? So if science and physical evidence is not infallible even in dealing with subjects within its own area of expertise, why would I insist on it to prove the existence of God which is something far beyond our physical realm or human comprehension?
If your personality is that of a doubting Thomas and you can’t make yourself believe in anything unless there’s “proof” of some kind, then let me suggest, look for evidence of God’s existence among the flesh-and-blood living creatures, big and small, all around you if you care to give them attention and ponder upon their lives. Watch the seasonal migration of the birds and their return without fail yearly… observe the squirrels storing up food for winter…
Are these tiny living creatures simply scattered pieces of the evolutionary Big Bang picture or is there more than what meets our eyes ? As you watch these beautiful videos and images provided in these two links, please contemplate on the mystery of creation and life.
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-do-animals-squirrel-away-for-winter/
And of course, read and ponder over the lives and writings of some of history’s brilliant and prominent men and women who had unwavering trust in God : Corrie ten Boom, Martin Luther King, Jr, Mother Theresa, Lin Yutang, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Francis Schaeffer, Joni Eareckson Tada and others notable for their unwavering faith in the God of Creation.
Again I recall yet another comment posted by a reader in response to the writer Michael Ruse in that New York Times article. The reader commented thus:
Ruse writes: “In parts of the world where people are allowed and encouraged to take these things seriously and to think them through, people increasingly find that they can do without the God factor.”
Yet he provides no support strikes me as an argument from ignorance. In fact, there are many people who are very well educated, have thoughtfully considered the arguments on both sides of the God argument, and have been persuaded that it is reasonable to believe God exists.
Link to the NYtimes article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/why-god-is-a-moral-issue/?_r=0#commentsContainer
It’s also worth noting that historically there have been many well-known scientists and mathematicians among Christians such as Isaac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, Michael Faraday, Pascal, Descartes and others.
Most interesting note even scientist Albert Einstein whom the atheists of the world love to claim as belonging to their camp while ignoring the fact that Einstein had angrily rejected their claim. Look here what Einstein himself wrote:
“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views… I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.”
Hence, Einstein was NOT an atheist as shown above – he had complained he was angry that the atheists had been including him in their camp. Note in an interview by the Saturday Evening Post in 1929, Einstein was asked what he thought of Christianity. Here are some Q and A from the interview with answers by Einstein:
Q. “To what extent are you influenced by Christianity?”
A. “As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.”
Q.”Have you read Emil Ludwig’s book on Jesus?”
A.”Emil Ludwig’s Jesus is shallow. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful.”
Q.”You accept the historical existence of Jesus?”
A.”Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”
So, although Einstein was not a Christian, he did have great respect for Jesus, and recognized that Jesus was an amazing figure in history.
Reference source : http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html
Then see this information on Wikipedia.org about Nobel Prize-winners :
” According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. Overall, Christians have won a total of 78.3% of all the Nobel Prizes in Peace, 72.5% in Chemistry, 65.3% in Physics, 62% in Medicine, 54% in Economics and 49.5% of all Literature awards.
The Third Knot : Our Ego and Pride
Remember in the NY Times article Ruse wrote : “increasingly people are finding that they can do without the God factor.” Don’t we detect the “pride factor” here in this statement? Yes, indeed Pride says you can do without God. Pride is definitely the biggest hurdle and enemy of the human race on the road to our making Peace with God. Why? Because the winning card to finding God is Humility and Pride is the direct adversary of humility. In order to hope to arrive at some form of conviction of God we must first be willing to humble ourselves. Even the brilliant Einstein in the above quote actually said these words : “I, with my limited human mind”. Imagine the great scientist Einstein saying this! I find this very touching coming from Einstein. I’m sure you do too ?
So God is not to be found with our puny human minds as even Einstein admits. Anyone who has strong conviction that God exists will tell you that God can only be found by those who humble themselves and sincerely seek him. And certainly there are many Bible verses in addition to this one that categorically confirms this indispensable spiritual truth :
“… for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. – Hebrews 11:6
The Fourth Knot : The stubborn knot I call this.
This knot sets out to trap many kind-hearted souls who unfortunately have no Biblical knowledge or understanding of God, so they rationalise and question : Well, I can’t believe God exists because if God is supposed to be both all loving and all powerful, why does he/or she allow evil and human suffering to plague our world?
I bet you’ve heard this question uttered often in frustration and innocence. The best advice I can give to anyone who questions God’s existence this way -( simply on account of the existence of evil or suffering in the world) is this:
Don’t stubbornly resist but please attempt to learn to study the Bible with the help of a qualified Bible teacher because the satsifactory answer to your big question can be found there. For the moment, you can take a look a previous blogpost I shared which dealt with issues relating to your big question. To open the blog, simply click on:
Earth Quakes and Mountains Move the Spirit Within
Posted on September 5, 2011
wordknights 