GOD OF HOPE APOLOGETICS CLASS: LESSON 2
II. The Existence and Nature of God
Questions to be answered:
1. Does God exist?
2. What are the clues of God?
3. What does scripture say about the clues of God’s existence?
4. How do we understand and explain the Trinity?
(1) “Proving” God’s Existence
Cliffe Knechtle is senior pastor at Grace Community Church in New Canaan, Connecticut. He visits college campuses and engages in public dialogue with students and faculty, answering questions they pose about the reasonableness of the Christian faith. Based on these discussions, he has put a together a popular book titled Give Me an Answer: Answers to Your Toughest Questions about Christianity. He also sponsors the “Give Me an Answer” website with an extensive collection of videos of his dialogues and teachings. Here is how he answers the challenge he often gets to “prove to me that God exists”:
Perhaps they suspect that there is no way we can prove it. And they are right. But I ask, “Can you prove to me that your mother loves you or that just because she loves you today that she will still love you tomorrow? Prove to me that she won’t poison your coffee tomorrow morning.”
Can any of us prove that? I doubt it. We don’t have final confirmation that our mother loves us, but we do have the evidence – she has cared for us in the past; she has accepted us; she has taken care of us when we couldn’t take care of ourselves. The evidence is that she will not stop loving us tomorrow. The fact is that you and I can prove almost nothing. Instead, we make our decisions based on evidence. Cliffe Knechtle, Give Me an Answer
Pastor Timothy Keller was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. During his ministry there, Redeemer drew nearly six thousand regular worshipers at five services. He has been called “the C.S. Lewis for the 21st century” because of his ability to present a reasoned defense of the Christian faith to modern audiences. In his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Keller echoes Cliffe Knechtle’s thoughts, writing, “Though there cannot be irrefutable proof for the existence of God, many people have found strong clues for his reality – divine fingerprints – in many places.” Let’s look at some of those clues presented by Keller.
(2) The Clues of God
· The Big Bang – Keller writes, “There’s evidence that the universe is expanding explosively and outwardly from a single point.” He then quotes from scientist Francis Collins’ book The Language of God: “We have this very solid conclusion that the universe had an origin, the Big Bang…. That implies that before that there was nothing. I can’t imagine how nature, in this case the universe, could have created itself. And the very fact that the universe had a beginning implies that someone was able to begin it. And it seems to me that had to be outside of nature.”
· The Cosmic Welcome Mat, a.k.a. The Anthropic Principle – Keller writes, “For organic life to exist, the fundamental regularities and constants of physics – the speed of light, the gravitational constant, the strength of the weak and strong nuclear forces – must all have values that together fall into an extremely narrow range. The probability of this perfect calibration happening by chance is so tiny as to be statistically negligible.” In other words, the universe was prepared uniquely for human beings.
· The Regularity of Nature – Keller writes, “There have been many scholars in the last decades who have argued that modern science arose in its most sustained form out of Christian civilization because of its belief in an all-powerful, personal God who created and sustains an orderly universe.” The regularity of the laws of nature allows us to assume that the way things worked today is the way they will work tomorrow. Imagine what human life would be like if it were otherwise! Order and design do not come by chance – they are the product of an intelligent creator. Or, as Princeton biology professor Edwin Carlston stated, “The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory.”
· Beauty – Keller writes, “If there is no God, and everything in this world is [as one prominent atheist once put it] ‘an accidental collocation of atoms,’ then there is no actual purpose for which we were made – we are accidents. If we are the product of accidental forces, then what we call ‘beauty’ is nothing but a neurological hardwired response to particular data…. If we are the result of blind natural forces, then what we call ‘love’ is simply a biochemical response….”
Keller continues, “We have a longing for joy, love, and beauty that no amount or quality of food, sex, friendship, or success can satisfy. We want something that nothing in this world can fulfill. Isn’t that at least a clue that this ‘something’ we want exists?”
Simply stated, our appreciation of beauty and harmony is a clue that there is a God who created these values and allows us to recognize and appreciate them.
· Moral Obligation/Conscience – Keller writes, “All human beings have moral feelings. We call it a conscience. When considering doing something that we feel would be wrong, we tend to refrain. Our moral sense does not stop there, however. We also believe that there are standards ‘that exist apart from us’ by which we evaluate moral feelings. Moral obligation is a belief that some things ought not to be done regardless of how a person feels about them within herself, regardless of what the rest of her community and culture says, and regardless of whether it is in her self-interest or not.” For example, we all know that genocide is wrong, as is any violation of the equal human dignity of others.
Let’s look at this another way, as did philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: If God is dead, he argued, any and all morality of love and human rights is baseless. If there is no God, there can be no good reason to be kind, to be loving, or to work for peace.
Similarly, Yale law professor Arthur Leff famously wrote of “The Grand Sez Who.” In the absence of God, who gets to declare what laws ought to be obeyed? “As things are now, everything is up for grabs. Nevertheless: napalming babies is bad. Starving the poor is wicked. Buying and selling each other is depraved…. There is such a thing as evil. All together now: Sez Who? God help us.”
Keller’s powerful conclusion: “If a premise (‘There is no God’) leads to a conclusion you know isn’t true (‘Napalming babies is culturally relative’) then why not change the premise?
(3) Relevant Scripture
Not surprisingly, the Bible tells us that everyone, not just those in an apologetics class, can see the “clues of God.” Psalm 19 tells us of the way that creation itself speaks of its Maker:
19 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a
bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Similarly, in our New Testament, Paul argued in his letter to the church in Rome that no one has any excuse for not knowing God because “the entire natural world bears witness to God through its beauty, complexity, design, and usefulness…. No one should complain that God has left insufficient evidence of his existence and character.” ESV Study Bible, footnote to Romans 1:19-20
Romans 1:18-23
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Excursus [a digression]: Psalm 19 and Romans 1:18-23 speak to the knowledge of God that all people have through what is called “general revelation.” We could not know anything at all about God unless God revealed himself to us. General revelation is the self-disclosure of God that all people can perceive by contemplating the evidence of God’s presence in the world of nature.
However, as Paul’s argument in Romans makes clear, salvation does not come through general revelation alone; in fact, it can wrongly lead people to worship created things rather than the Creator himself. We also need what is known as “special revelation.” This is not God revealing himself to us because we are “special;” rather, it is God’s unique self-revelation through God’s word and action in the history of Israel and above all in Jesus Christ. That is, God has specially (more specifically) revealed himself in the Bible.
A good way to see the way general and special revelation work together (and to remember which is which!) is to consider the story of the magi (wise men) who came to Jerusalem “from the east” (possibly Babylon) to worship Jesus, the new-born king of the Jews. In chapter 2 of his gospel, Matthew tells us that these wise men found their way to Jerusalem by following a star which had risen. This star would be an aspect of general revelation, a phenomenon appearing in nature (albeit a “supernatural” one) which all could see. But general revelation could only get them so far. When King Herod heard about this star from the wise men “he was troubled.” (In fact, he was so troubled by the thought of a rival to his kingship that he sought to kill the baby Jesus!) He needed to know the exact location of the child and his family. For this more specific information, the chief priests and scribes (the official interpreters of the Old Testament) had to go to scripture – special revelation. There they found that it was in the town of Bethlehem of Judea that the future ruler “who will shepherd my people Israel” would come. (Micah 5:2)
To summarize: General revelation gives everyone “clues of God.” However, to learn of the amazing love of God that saved us while we were yet sinners, we need special revelation – the biblical record as it culminates in Jesus Christ. If we really want to know God, and know him well, we need to meet the one who came to show us God: Jesus, his son. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus said. (John 14:9)
(4) The Trinity: Do Christians Believe in One God or Three?
· Why we need to know and be able to explain the doctrine of the Trinity
The God in whom Christians believe, and the God to whom we seek to introduce unbelievers, is a Trinitarian (Triune) God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also believe that this triune God is one: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) This can be confusing to others – and to us! Is it three or is it one? How can it be both?
As defenders of the faith, we need to be able to do better in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity than what we often hear: “It’s a mystery no one can understand. You have to accept it by faith.” As theologian Shirley Guthrie writes in his classic work Christian Doctrine, we “have to contend with the charge of Jews and other ‘monotheists’ who believe that we Christians are ‘polytheists’ who believe in three gods.”
Moreover, as another distinguished theologian writes, “The doctrine of the Trinity is not an explanation but a definition of the being of God and the life of God.” (Donald Bloesch, Essentials of Christian Theology) If the Trinity is the very definition of the God that we are hoping to persuade others to put their faith in, shouldn’t we be prepared to offer a reasonable - and comprehensible - explanation of it?
· Scripture References
Though the Bible does not use the word “Trinity” to speak of God, it does speak of the one God who is present and at work in three ways. There are numerous passages in the New Testament where the three persons we call the Trinity are found together:
Matthew 28 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
2 Corinthians 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Ephesians 4 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
· Unsatisfactory Explanations
In Christian Doctrine, Shirley Guthrie examines four typical, yet erroneous, modern explanations of the doctrine of the Trinity.
(1) “God is like a heavenly board of directors of a corporation made up of three equal partners, each of whom has a particular responsibility.” This sounds like three gods who perform three different tasks, rather than one God whose works may be distinguished but not separated from each other.
(2) “God is like a committee or board in which there is one big boss and two subordinates who go out to do what the boss orders.” This suggests that the Son and the Spirit are somehow less than God, rather than “God with us.”
(3) “God is like three players on a football team sitting on the sidelines and waiting their turn to get into the game….” Again, this sounds like three gods doing three different (perhaps even contradictory) things. In truth, all of God is involved in all that God does.
(4) “God is like a man or woman who ‘wears three hats’ or fulfills several functions at the same time….” However, we can only perform one of our roles in life at a time, and may have to choose one to the neglect of another. God, on the other hand, is always at the same time with all people.
· The Early Church’s Answer
The Athanasian Creed (named for Athanasius, the 4th century’s great defender of trinitarian faith) puts it this way: “Now this is the catholic faith: That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons, nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit, still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.” In short, God is one divine essence (or substance) in three persons.
· The Divine Dance of Love
That God exists eternally as one being in three persons means that God is, in essence, relational. “God is love” (1 John 4:8), after all, and we do not love alone! There was eternal love between the persons of the Trinity even before the world began. In John 17:24, Jesus prays, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
As Timothy Keller writes in The Reason for God:
The life of the Trinity is characterized not by self-centeredness but by mutually self-giving love. When we delight and serve someone else, we enter into a dynamic orbit around him or her, we center on the interests and desires of the other. That creates a dance, particularly if there are three persons, each of whom moves around the other two. So it is, the Bible tells us. Each of the divine persons centers upon the others. None demands that the others revolve around him. Each voluntarily circles the other two, pouring love, delight, and adoration into them. Each person of the Trinity loves, adores, defers to, and rejoices in the other. That creates a dynamic, pulsating dance of joy and love.
This divine dance of love was given a name by a 7th century Greek theologian named John of Damascus: perichoresis. Combining peri (as in “perimeter”) and choresis (as in “choreography”), produces a Greek word meaning “to dance or flow around.” With this image in mind, we can say that the “oneness of God is not the oneness of a distinct, self-contained individual; it is the unity of a community of persons who love each other and live together in harmony.” (Guthrie, Christian Doctrine) The beauty of this explanation of the Trinity is that it serves as the model for genuine human community. As people made in God’s image, doesn’t it make sense that we, too, are relational beings, living with and for one another in mutual self-giving love?