Understanding the Existence of God

By Dr John S. Weekes

Understanding the Existence of God is the third in the trilogy of Understanding books by Dr. John Weekes. The first in the series was Understanding the Doctrine of the Trinity 1998, followed by Understanding Forgiveness 2002. With the Existence of God, the trilogy is complete and it is the hope that these three books will do much to shed light on the often dark corridors of doubt, controversy and misunderstanding with regard to God's Existence. The Trinity is one of those areas of theology which has driven deep and lasting division within the heart of the body of Christ. It is a field that defies enlightenment save by those in whose heart and over whose understanding the Holy Spirit reigns; for the things of the Spirit must be spiritually discerned. Forgiveness on the other hand is at the very heart of pure religion, since it is that which illuminates Christians as truly the children of God. In Understanding the existence of God the author has drawn on many reservoirs and lifted water from many streams; but the ultimate authority for his thesis is God’s infallible word. The method used is in essence adversarial and critical, written in a simple everyday, matter of fact, common sense style. In so far as the case for God has been put, it is submitted that it has been established with absolute certainty supported not only by words spoken with the very breath of God Himself, but by a cloud of impeccable and unimpeachable witnesses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jun 21, 2010
• ISBN: 9781466937604

Dr John S. Weekes

Dr Weekes is the author of several other books including, Understanding The Doctrine Of The Trinity, Understanding Forgiveness, as well as such books as Self Or Satan, a novel and Voices of My Soul, a compilation of poetry, verses and meditations. He is the Pastor Founder of Gateway To Heaven Church, Inc. a church with an online presence which may be accessed at any time at www.gatewaytoheavenchurch.org, where the Word of God can be heard. Dr Weekes is committed to the principle that without Faith in God life would be indeed an empty dream.

Book preview

Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER ONE

1.   GOD – THE CREATOR

2.   GOD - THE ORIGINATOR

3.   GOD - THE PROVIDER

4.   GOD - THE INSTRUCTOR

5.   GOD - THE LAW GIVER

6.   GOD - THE ADMINISTRATOR

7.   GOD - THE ADJUDICATOR

CHAPTER TWO

1.   TO KNOW

2.   THE NATURE OF GOD.

3.   THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

CHAPTER THREE

1.   GOD IN CREATION

2.   GOD IN BIBLE PROPHESY

CHAPTER FOUR

THE UNIVERSE SPEAKS OF THE CREATOR

1.   THE COSMOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

2.   THE HISORICAL ARGUMENT

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

i)   A Definition of Proof

ii)   The Nature of Proof

iii)   The Standard of Proof

iv)   The Burden of Proof

CHAPTER SEVEN

1.   Biblical Support

2.   Scientific Evidence Compared

3.   Oral Traditions

CHAPTER EIGHT

1.   Direct Evidence

2.   Indirect Evidence

CHAPTER NINE

1.   THE IMPERSONAL VIEW

2.   THE PERSONAL VIEW

3.   POLYTHEISM

4.   MONOTHEISM

5.   SKEPTICISM

6.   INTUITIONISM.

7.   FAITH

FAITH AT WORK

CHAPTER TEN

1.   THE BIG BANG THEORY

2.   EVOLUTION

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1.   THE ROSETTA STONE

2.   THE TEL EL AMARNA LETTERS.

3.   THE STELLA OF MERNEPTAH

4.   THE ELEPHANTINE PAPYRI

5.   THE CODE HAMMURABI

6.   UR OF THE CHALDEES

7.   THE MARl TABLETS

8.   THE MONOLITH OF SHALMANESER

9.   THE BRONZ PLATES OF THE PALACE AT BALAWAT

10.   THE CYLINDER OF SARAGON II

11.   THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

CHAPTER TWELVE

1.   EVOLUTION AND THE BIBLE

2.   EVOLUTION EXAMINED

3.   CHARLES DARWIN

4.   THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

5.   DARWINIAN EXPLANATIONS

6.   A FISH CALLED COELACANTH.

7.   HUMANS

8.   EVOLUTIONARY FRAUDS AND HOAXES

9.   CRA-MAGNON V HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1.   JESUS, HIS LIFE AND TESTIMONY

2.   FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS

3.   THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1.   THE NEW TESTAMENT WITNESS

2.   Hank Hanegraaff,

3.   THE GOSPEL OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE

4.   OTHER WITNESSES OF JESUS

5.   JESUS AND THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1.   JESUS, THE STAR WITNESS

2.   EFFECT OF JESUS’ TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE OLD TESTAMENT

3.   THE NEW TESTAMENT REVEALED

4.   JESUS TESTIFIES OF GOD.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHRIST’S CURCH

THE HOLY SPIRIT

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BEFORE THE VERDICT

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE VERDICT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

Let us begin with ourselves. We as human beings living in the twenty-first century are in a better position to see ourselves and thus all mankind, in a light that no previous generations have hitherto been able to or capable of comprehending. We have reached a level of intellectual, intelligent and scientific development unheard of in centuries gone by. Do we not have evidence that humans are a special creation, creatures like no other?

A horse is still a horse; a tiger is still a tiger; a chicken, although we have tinkered much with its genetic composition is still a chicken. Do chickens and horses and tigers make intellectual or scientific advancement? What progress have the lower animals including birds, fishes and reptiles made, although they have existed, as long as and scientists say, even longer, than humans have?

The answer is an emphatic none!

What is the difference? God says that He created all things in their own order, to function and behave, to reproduce and continue in accordance with that order, the chasm, into which He has placed them.

Humans, on the other hand, He claims, were made after his likeness. Having intelligence, having the ability to think, to love, to reason, to make intelligent choices and importantly to know their Creator! They are God’s special creation. When we consider the composition of the living frame, whether of a human being or a wild animal, when we stop to examine the intricate details of the circulatory system, the digestive system, the nervous system, in both man and beast and how wonderfully they were made to function in providing and maintaining the mechanics of life, we should truly stand in awe and reverence and confess like the psalmist David has, we are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. (cf. Psalms 119: 14 )

At the risk of overkill, if all life sprang from the same none creative source, how can one sensibly account for the fact of this unbridgeable chasm between man and all other creatures? And how is it that even the most insignificant bug, however closely it resembles its nearest look a like in terms of appearance, size, living environment, feeding and breeding habit, never, ever, cross over or bridge that God-made chasm; but remain constantly and forever, inexorably trapped in that order made! And speaking of creatures is it not blatantly ridiculous that those who deny the existence of a Creator refer to the living creatures? Does not the word creature suggest and can only be indicative of a Creator? Who ever heard of manufactures or manufactured goods that were not manufactured?

And if manufactured, it follows there must be a manufacturer.

While conferring recently with a friend who happens to be a scientist, he was full of searching questions all of which I believe were more than adequately answered by reference to the infallible word of God extracted by a facile mind a steadfast heart and a rational intuition. But wait a minute, he sought to rebut by reference to cloning and what scientists are now able to do in the laboratory.

Hold on! I said, I would like to answer that in two ways. Of course it is not at all unusual for one person to take an invention by another man, change it around a bit, call it by a new name and claim he has created something new. But consider this. When a scientist takes something that God has made and change its molecular structure, or tinkers with it in any way, he is no more a creator than the man who takes the miller’s flour and turns it into bread. The baker can hardly claim that he has made the flour also without which there can be no bread.

Let us take one outstanding abnormality, namely the mule. Most people know that it is a cross between a horse and a donkey. But here is the odd thing about a mule. It cannot reproduce! It cannot break out of that chasm wherein God has separated all living things. For God hath said, every creature after its kind.

He alone has said it and He alone can maintain that unbridgeable order of being in the manner made and in the manner stayed.

On the other hand those who are familiar with that delicious fruit called the mango, (and by mango I do not mean those shriveled up specimens one sees on the fruit aisles in some stores, but the real thing; the mango which is allowed to ripen on the tree before harvesting.) knows that the grafted mango is a most delicious type of mango. The natural mango has a seed in the middle which will grow even if it is just thrown on the ground where it can come into contact with the earth; but the seed of the grafted mango just will not. It cannot grow. Like the mule which is man engineered the grafted mango also man engineered will not reproduce its kind.

The second way to answer the scientists’ claim to knowledge is that whether they choose to acknowledge the fact or not, all their knowledge and all their skills come from God. It is God who made them and it is God who gives them the wisdom and the skill, the knowledge and the understanding to harness energy, to make inventions and to use God’s creation for the use and benefit of mankind and to give Him the glory. For a brutish man who has not reason has not withal to give God glory.

From time immemorial, man has sort, created, or worshipped a Creator. If man came from some other non-created source, such as a heap of horse manure, why then, the pre-occupation with a Creator? And why when the first human being came upon the first pile of horse manure, he turned his face, held his nose and moved on. Why did he not exult and say, Oh there is my grandpapa lying there? Yet he continues to believe, to search for and to find solace in a God, true or false, real or imaginary.

It is submitted that there is an indelible, undeniable connection between, God the Creator and man, the creature; that man knows instinctively that he has a Creator; and that despite his stubbornness and pronouncements of unbelief, mankind will always feel that inevitable pull towards his inner self and the need to seek after, find and worship his creator.

It is the primary intention of this book to prove two things, namely, (1) that this universe, as we know it, has existed from the very beginning; and was created by an intelligent being. That contrary to any other theory concerning its evolution or otherwise, the world came not into being by chance, or owing to some freak accident. That its creation was conceived, designed and executed by a being of exceptional, super human intelligence; an infinite being who knows no equal and whose powers have no parallel.

(2) That the Creator of the universe and of all living things, including human life is the Very God of the Bible; that same God about whom Moses and the Old Testament Prophets wrote; the God whom the New Testament writers proclaimed and whom the God/man Jesus reveals as His Father.

It follows, therefore, that the Bible must be accepted as God’s Holy Word and that therein is set out His personal ordinances, laws and statutes, which constitute his manual for Godly living. However, in so far as the Bible will be called into account in order that its credibility and authenticity may be affirmed, it will be examined with the same rigorous scrutiny and analytical objectivity, as any other evidence examined for the purpose of accepting or rejecting its evidential cogency or lack of it. In other words, the Bible will not be put on any higher plain than any other testimony examined in support of either of the two premises outlined above for the purpose of this critical analysis.

On the other hand, the writer wishes to make it clear that God’s existence does not depend, in any way whatsoever, on whether the author succeeds or fails in his quest. It is postulated that God’s existence is a fact that stands alone, without the need for proof. Nevertheless, in light of those who have problems through ignorance, stubbornness or otherwise with accepting God’s existence, those who through folly deny His existence, or those who seem to think that God’s existence can only be known and experienced through faith, this book would seek to demonstrate, that God’s existence can be proved with the accuracy of mathematics; and while faith has its role in matters of salvation, Godly living and holiness, faith is not a pre-requisite to belief in God’s existence simpliciter.

The truth is, from speaking to hundreds of persons over many years, I am convinced that for the most part people who deny the existence of God do so on the basis that His standards are too high for them. Since to believe in God also requires believers to live holy lives in accordance with God’s commandments, they often find it a lot easier to simply deny Him, thereby providing themselves a sort of license to live careless if not sinful and wayward lives.

I do not believe in God; hence I can steal, cheat, commit murder, abortion, fornication, adultery, debauchery, buggery and all the other venal and carnal sins that are practiced every day. Significantly, that is why the All-Knowing, ALL-Seeing God proclaims, The fool sayeth, in his heart, there is no God. (Psalm 14:1_)

Clearly, God is saying here, it is one thing to say with your lips; there is no God; but it is quite another thing to say in your heart, there is no God. In other words, when a person says, there is no God what he is really saying is, No God for me. I do not wish to be subject to His laws or His standards. I wish to be left alone to order and regulate my own life free from Godly interference and free from Godly obligations.

There are many illustrations of this point but one may truly suffice. When God sent Moses to the Pharaoh of Egypt with a command to let His people the Israelites go, Pharaoh’s response was, Who is the LORD that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not your LORD, neither will I take orders from Him to let Israel go.

The Pharaoh knew in the sense of having intellectual knowledge of the God of Israel. He would have heard that he was a Mighty God, a terrible fierce and awesome God who was well known throughout the then known world. But he was not the God of Egypt. He was not Pharaoh’s God. To the Pharaoh’s way of thinking he owed neither allegiance nor fear to the God of heaven. Indeed Egypt had many gods. So why should he be afraid of the One God of the Israelites? Besides, the gods of Egypt were made to serve the Pharaoh. Not the reverse. So why should he the Pharaoh obey the voice of a foreign God?

So the Pharaoh said, no Israelite God for me. His stubborn pride was to cost him dearly. But until he was brought to his knees at the bedside of his dead son, his response remained the same, no God for me.

It is submitted that even as he spoke with his lips, his heart was very much afraid. But his stubborn pride would not let him yield. Who is your LORD that I should obey him? So the fool sayeth in his heart, There is no God.

The Bible speaks volumes about fools and the foolish. He despiseth wisdom, (Pro. 1:7); a prating fool shall fall;( Pro. 10:8); the fool die for lack of wisdom. (Pro.10: 21) Not insignificantly, foolishness is likened to childishness. For it is written, Much foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. (Pro. 22: 15)

Be that as it may, God’s existence does not depend on fads or fancies. It does not matter whether we believe or not believe. God can force belief on us. But that is not His purpose or His style. He does not want us to believe in Him, or to love Him because He has forced obedience on us. He wants us to respond to Him lovingly and with reverence, because He has given us sufficient intelligence that, if we use it wisely, we can know Him to the fullest extent possible. If we choose not to know Him, if we choose to be foolish, then that is a matter of choice. For in God’s own words, the fool says in his heart, no God for me.

However, when we remember that God’s very word admonishes us not to call any man a fool, we are bound to stop and ponder the words, the fool sayeth in his heart. We note that it is not the stubborn, not the ignorant, not the savage, not the illiterate, and not the heathen either. It is the fool! Does not this statement suggest that God knows that His knowledge is in the heart of every man? How else would a man be a fool for not knowing God? And why in his heart? This could only be that God knows the heart of every man, and further that every man has an innate, inborn, connection with God. That God consciousness is at the very core of every man’s existence. Accordingly only by deliberately and consciously turning his heart away from God, could man arrive at such a state as to lead him to deny the very quintessence of his existence. Only thus could he be spoken of as a fool.

The cold stark truth is, the things of this world, money, power and pleasure, seem more attractive than the things of God; but sayeth the word, "there is a way that seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof, are the ways of death." (Pro.12:14)

The Apostle Paul by inspiration of God understood this when he wrote:

For the invisible things of Him from