Proof of God

By Rod Martin, Jr

Long have atheists tempted God with demands that He show Himself. But proving Himself would be egoistic -- the opposite of God. And atheists have no way of seeing the hole they dig for themselves. Yet this book offers solid proof -- not as an end unto itself, but as a springboard for the fulfillment of God's purpose.

Proof requires that we have either evidence or solid reasoning -- or both. And this book includes both, with discussions of cause and effect, form following function, theistic evolution, heroism versus cowardice and other forms of precision reasoning. This slender volume also includes evidence of our own spiritual nature, the conditions which govern our distance from God, and the fact that distance from God is reduced by matching His constant attributes -- unconditional love, perfect responsibility, utter humility and fearless confidence.

Each chapter includes a key concept, discussed in depth, plus arguments against the key concept, philosophical considerations and biblical considerations (including passages from scripture and how they are relevant).

Proof of God lives up to its name, but also gives the reader a foundational understanding of miracles and how they work to validate our relationship with the Heavenly Father.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tharsis Highlands
• Release date: Sep 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463535363

Rod Martin, Jr

Rod Martin, Jr. was born in West Texas, United States. He has been a Hollywood artist, a software engineer with a degree summa cum laude, a writer, web designer and a college professor.Rod Martin's interests have ranged from astronomy to ancient history, physics to geology, and graphics arts to motion pictures.He has studied comparative religion, worked as a lay minister and spiritual counselor, and taught ethics in college.While doing graphic arts in Hollywood, he also studied electronic engineering. In 1983, as Carl Martin, he published his first novel, "Touch the Stars: Emergence," co-authored by John Dalmas (Tor Books, NY). He continues to write science fiction under that pen name.Later, switching careers to computers and information technology, Mr. Martin worked for Control Data, Ceridian Payroll, Bank of America, Global Database Marketing and IPRO Tech. He also created "Stars in the NeighborHood" 3D astronomy space software.He currently resides in the Philippines with his wife, Juvy. He has taught information technology, mathematics and professional ethics at Benedicto College, in Cebu. He continues to teach online and to write books and blogs.

Book preview

Proof of God

Rod Martin, Jr.

"I see a clock, but I cannot envision the clockmaker. The human mind is unable to conceive of the four dimensions, so how can it conceive of a God, before whom a thousand years and a thousand dimensions are as one?"—from Cosmic Religion: with Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931), Albert Einstein, pub. Covici-Friede.

Smashwords Edition

November 2018

Published by Tharsis Highlands Publishing

https://tharsishighlands.wordpress.com/books/

Copyright 2018 Rod Martin, Jr.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form.

Acknowledgements

Photo: NGC 346 by Hubble/ESA. Cover design by Rod Martin, Jr.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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from Chapter 4: Miracles on Wilshire Boulevard

I felt relaxed. And suddenly, my destination was no longer important. Ego had evaporated along with the negative emotions. All I wanted was to get closer to God. I could feel Him. And the feeling was more delicious than a sumptuous meal to someone who had been starving to death, or more delightful than a sweet drink of cool water to someone who had been dying of thirst.

In fact, my body, my car and my life were no longer important. The other drivers could have smashed their cars into mine, destroying my body, and I would not have cared. Not then; not in that blissful state of divine release. Somehow, I knew that God would take care of me. My one tiny body on this small planet, in a modest star system in a medium-sized galaxy—seemed unimportant compared to the entire physical universe, and to the loving, Heavenly Father who created it all.

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Contents

Introduction: Chaos or Intent?

Chapter 1: Atheists’ Temptation and the Nature of God

Chapter 2: Proof of Spiritual Awareness

Chapter 3: Proof of Spiritual Action

Chapter 4: Miracles on Wilshire Boulevard

Chapter 5: Memories of Earlier Vehicles

Chapter 6: The Meaning of Suffering

Chapter 7: God’s Traits, Evidence, Reasoning and Proof

Appendix

References

About Rod Martin, Jr.

Other Books by Rod Martin, Jr.

Connect with Rod Martin, Jr.

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Introduction: Chaos or Intent?

Is the universe the product of random, accidental chaos? Or is it the result of conscious, directed intent? Cause always comes before effect. But did a bird’s wings come before the need for flight; or did the need come before the wings, bringing about developmental changes by life’s intent to survive and thrive?

Many Fundamentalists will have a problem with this discussion. The foundational philosophy which proves God also demands theistic evolution, as well as an old universe. For the Fundamentalist, this should not be cause for distress. Quite the contrary. Anything which brings us closer to Truth should produce joy, if Truth is what we are after.

Any perceived problem between reality (science) and scripture (religion) is merely one of wrong interpretation in one, the other or both. Humility (skepticism) demands that we consider both as possible culprits. I cover some of the logical considerations for this in my book The Bible’s Hidden Wisdom: God’s Reason for Noah’s Flood.

For decades, scientists debated the idea whether or not form follows function on the topic of evolution. This notion was also a popular maxim in modern architecture, inspired by the work of late 19th century building designer, Louis Sullivan.

Early 19th century French naturalist, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck held the view that the shapes of animals came about as a way to fulfill some need—like the giraffe’s neck was long so the creature could reach the leaves of trees. This is contrary to the neo-Darwinian take on evolution—that form (haphazard variation within a species) comes before function—that circumstances select the randomly created forms which are more capable of survival. There is no doubt that such natural selection takes place. There is also no doubt that some random mutations occur. But the blind belief that structural changes are normally random, and that this drives evolution, is sheer nonsense.

First of all, random-mutation-driven evolution would likely result in all manner of changes that would have neutral impact on survival, but we see no sign of this type of change in the fossil record.

More importantly, science is full of examples of punctuated equilibrium—where new species suddenly appear and then remain stable for geologically long periods of time. The neo-Darwinians would have us believe that random change is suddenly active, then quiet for millions of years. Good luck explaining that.

Punctuated equilibrium argues against random and necessarily gradual change. As we’ve said, the gradualism demanded by Darwin’s natural selection doesn’t appear in the fossil record to any meaningful extent. This can only be true if organisms, in need, directly cause their own solutions, rather than evolution being the effect of random accident. This would require that species are feeling their way toward a solution, on a genetic level, to some immediate problem. Naturally, those solutions which work well will end up surviving, so natural selection will play a part during such a transition. But the transition itself is driven by intent and not by accidental, random mutation—essentially chaos.

Obviously, intention-driven evolution is far more efficient and favorable to survival than is accident-driven evolution. Intention puts life in the driver’s seat, with greater control over its own survival. Again, function (intent, cause) drives form (result, effect).

While the less efficient approach is logically compatible with the overall effect of evolving species, it remains far less compatible with the empirical evidence. In other words, random accident is far less likely to be the cause than is directed intent.

Though some proclaim Lamarck’s work to have been long discredited, such a belief appears to be more a result of egoistic dogma, than logic, reason and observation. Science has long been plagued by egoism and belief, despite any protests to the contrary. Skepticism has been used nearly as much to ridicule and dismiss as it has been to forward discovery. And not every scientist accepts evidence against the prevailing doctrine. Einstein’s relativity met with opposition for decades, some scientists holding out against the Jewish upstart until the evidence was simply too overwhelming. The Clovis First dogma held sway in North American anthropology for far too long, with too much egoistic mockery and not enough humble restraint to Truth.

This question of source is a bit like the chicken and the egg discussion. For that popular philosophical question—Which came first, the chicken or the egg?—the answer is pretty simple. The egg came first. That which laid the egg was an almost chicken—a 99.999% chicken on its way to evolving into a 100% chicken.

Looking at evolution from a theistic perspective proves to be, at the very least, an enlightening exercise in creativity and critical thinking. But as we will see in this short book, proving God has already been accomplished, and theistic evolution is merely an extension of this foundational, cause-and-effect pattern.

Imagine God creating the template for the universe and then resting from that creation. We would now be living in the 13+ billion year day of rest. This is similar to the architect’s blueprint followed by the building and use of the structure. It’s also similar to the object-oriented software engineer’s development of a class followed by the instantiation of that class as an object or set of objects in a running computer program. Imagine, also, the intelligence God built into physical matter and life so that it could intend its way toward greater complexity and survival.

Experiments conducted a couple of decades ago by Dr. Jennifer Blank, et al, discovered that impacts at meteoric velocities can convert amino acids on comets into more