This is the first in a three part series.
Please don’t get upset until you have seen all three parts.
God is not possible.
A great many people believe this. They don’t come right out and say it……….that would not be “open minded”. But, if you pursue atheism back to its roots, that is where you wind up.
Why is God not possible? Ironically, it is because of the very traits that make him God.
God is not possible………because he does things that we cannot explain.
God is not possible………because he does things that we cannot do.
Good is not possible………because he does things that we cannot see and measure.
God is not possible………because he operates outside of the bounds of current science.
God is not possible……….because he is superior to us. He is “the boss”.
God is not possible………..because he has expectations of us……. expectations that interfere with our appetites. The only way to escape God’s expectations is to prove that he does not exist.
The very characteristics that make God God are the reasons that cause many of us to reject him.
Ironic isn’t it?
There is another irony. There is a very good correlation between people who consider themselves to be open minded or tolerant and people who reject God.
So….why do we deny the existence of God? There are many reasons:
We believe that our understanding is complete.
We believe that the body of knowledge that we call science is complete.
It’s easier to go along with the secular humanists than to argue with them.
The secular humanists will call us names: naive, superstitious, “little people”, fools, childish, judgemental……and we don’t like being called names.
We find the Bible, God, to be restrictive.
The Bible is old fashioned, out of date. Today we are much smarter than the old guys who wrote it. The old rules…….some would say the old truths……..just aren’t relevant in our modern culture.
We simply cannot abide a God who would send Aunt Thelma to hell…….a God who could send me to hell.
In a word……..God interferes with our pursuit of our appetites.
So, at best, we avoid the fight. We go along with the culture rather than going along with God. We take the path of least resistance. At worst, we attack those who worship God and actively sell the scientific, Darwinian, story of how we got here.
It’s an easy habit to fall into. It is in our nature to examine critically those ideas that we don’t like…….ideas that interfere with our wants and needs. It is in our nature to casually accept those ideas that we like…….ideas that free us to do what we want. This is true for both sides of the God/science argument. The secular humanist spends a lot of time tearing apart the creation story in the Bible. The creationist spends a lot of time attacking the scientific explanation. But, if you are honest, you must critically examine both arguments. If you really want the truth, you must be just as hard on the scientist/Darwinist as you are on the Christian.
Stay tuned……….next week the scientist goes under the magnifying glass.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible .”
Jesus, NIV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Solomon, NIV
“Take all that you can of this book upon reason, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier man.” (When a skeptic expressed surprise to see him reading a Bible)
Lincoln