The traditional arguments for seeing God in creation have been severely criticized, but ultimately they still raise difficult questions that those who deny the existence of God need to answer. The first question is why something rather then nothing exists and how it came into being without a Creator. Some would see an endless chain of causes stretching back to eternity, none of which is really first or fundamental. But if this is so, the question comes why this chain with no reason to exist exists at all. Or some would trace everything back to matter and energy. But matter and energy are just the stuff the universe is made of; where do we get the pattern, the shape matter and energy are in? It would be an awfully dull universe with just an unformed batch of matter and energy lying around and nothing happening. Besides, science tells us that things are running down, that even the stars and galaxies will one day burn out-- and if they have an end they must have had a beginning. There are those who say everything came into being out of pure chance. (This comes from quantum mechanics, which is a whole story in itself). But how can something come into existence as a result of a coin toss, when there are no time, no space, and no coins?
Another argument for the existence of God is the design we see in the
universe. The common way to get around this is, of course, the theory of
evolution. But there are problems with this. The individual cell is a
complex organism, a tiny factory. And there is no clear explanation of
how it came into being from a random pool of amino acids (supposedly
produced by some accident). Further, until there is a large part of the
mechanism already in place, the standard (and highly questionable)
evolutionary process of selection as a result of genetic mutation cannot
work. There are also many complex structures in living organisms that
are useless until they are completely evolved. What good is a partially
evolved eye or a partly evolved wing? Such things would be a hindrance
to the survival of the creature that possessed them.
There is
also the question of human beings. Could just the random workings of
chance have produced consciousness and thought? And if our thought is
the result of random processes, can we know anything? If what we think
is based on our heredity and environment rather than what is true, than
it is meaningless. And why do we have this stubborn tendency to believe
in right and wrong? Even those who reject all conventional morality then
turn around and preach forcibly on our duty to help the poor or save
the earth.
As I look at God’s creation I am forced to the conclusion
that, whether in nature or in human beings, there is evidence for an
original Creator (Romans 1:19,20).
prayer for change in hard times
6 hours ago
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