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Guy N. Woods
(c) Did creation result from the action of an all-wise, all-powerful, eternal being? The answer is Yes, a conclusion which the foregoing premises necessitate and the following facts confirm: (1) He who created the worlds and all things therein must be possessed of limitless and inexhaustible wisdom and knowledge; he must know all there is to know about everything. That the Earth and all it contains were made by such a being is obvious in the rich beauty, the orderly operation, and the amazing perfection of creation. The skill and the wisdom requisite to such a task as creation involves, point to one perfect in knowledge, in wisdom and skill. Flawless in content, perfect in operation, harmonious in every detail, it is inevitable that the Universe, and man, sprang from the hand of a being without limitation. (2) The Creator must have been all-powerful. How else could He have made the towering mountains, the mighty oceans, the giant forests, and the vast multitudes of men and of beasts that inhabit the earth? Only one possessed of infinite power could be the cause for which these stupendous works are the effect. Men, with the accumulated knowledge of the ages, are incapable of producing one tiny building block of matterthe atom; deity built, in one mighty fiat, an infinite system of worlds, peopling this Earth with creatures still below the level of angels. Only an all-powerful being could have performed such acts. (3) He who did all this must be eternal. He must always have existed. If ever there was a time when He did not exist, He could not exist now; for as we have seen, in our reasoning regarding material things, that which is without existence cannot make itself to exist; cannot begin by accident; and must be created. Hence, if ever God did not exist, He could not have begun by chance, and He could not have been created by some other supreme being, because there was no other! God, therefore, must have always existed. By a simple and direct manner, and without appealing to the sacred writings, we have established the existence of Deityan all-powerful, all-wise, eternal Being. This is the God of the Bible, the attributes of Whom must be learned from that sacred volume. Reason, logic, and observation prompt reasonable and thoughtful men to the obvious conclusion that God exists. In the light of these facts, does anyone doubt the existence of a divine being? Yes. David identified such a person in this fashion: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God (Psalm 14:1).
Originally Published In Gospel Advocate October 10, 1974 116:642-646

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD


I have a friend who is an atheist. He rejects the Scriptures as an authoritative revelation. How may I prove to him that God exists other than by an appeal to the Bible? (1) Every effect must have a cause. Rain falls. Rain is condensed moisture. Condensed moisture results from the release of tiny moisture particles lifted into the air from the earth by evaporation. There can be no rain without such suspension of moisture particles. Thus, rain is the effect, of which evaporation of such moisture, and its change into condensed moisture, is the immediate cause. Every effect must have a cause. (2) Every effect must have an adequate and sufficient cause. A watch necessitates a watchmaker; a house implies a builder, an engine must have energy to run it. The watchmaker is the cause, the watch the effect; the builder of the house is the cause, the house he builds is the effect; the engine runs; the energy (fuel) is the cause, which makes the engine to produce power (the effect). Were we to say that the watchmaker is a monkey, reasonable men would reject our affirmation on the grounds that a monkey is incapable of making a watch. Similarly, were it alleged that an infant can design and build a multi-storied building the claim would be denied on the grounds that such is beyond the capability of an infant. Every effect must have an adequate and sufficient cause. This is self-evident truth, recognized and admitted by all thoughtful and observing people. (3) We have sensible evidence of our existence, and of the reality of the material world about us. But one of two conclusions, which follow, can be true: (a) the world, of which we are a part, has always existedin which case it and we are eternal; or (b) in some way and at some time all such began. Our own observations lead us to the conclusion that all material matters are constantly changing; that which undergoes change is not eternal; therefore, neither we, nor the material universe in which we live, is eternal. This conclusion necessarily follows from the fact that it is self-evident that all eternal matters are self-existent. Thus, all matters which we see, including ourselves, began to exist. (4) Things that have begun to exist must have done so in one of three, and only three, possible ways: (a) they are their own makers, having created themselves; or, (b) they began by accident, or chance; or (c) they were brought into existence by some all-wise, all-powerful, eternal Being. (a) Are we our own creators? Did the Earth and all it contains, make itself? The answer is obvious: Of course not. Such a conclusion, that the creature is its own creator, is palpably false. (1) We did not exist before we existed; (2) we could not have acted before we were actors; and (3) we could not produce an effect until we first existed as a cause. Self creation is thus an utter impossibilityan obvious contradiction of terms. If we made ourselves we were made before we were madean absurdity. (b) Did the Earth and its inhabitants begin by accident or chance? Here again, the answer is clearly and obviously No. To affirm that it thus began, is to resort to the ridiculous conclusion that an effect can exist without any cause cause whatsoever; it is to say that a thing can be an effect which is effected by nothing, that is, without being effected at all. That which is not effected does not exist; therefore, material matters and human life did not begin by chance or accident.

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