This is a blog written by our brother Arman Wiggins from Hawaii. I enjoyed it tremendously. I know you will as well.
Why is it important what a person believes? The importance lies in the fact that human beings will act in accordance with what they truly believe. Those actions have consequences, both for the person who acts and for others who are affected by someone else’s actions.
Faith, defined as belief in the absence proof, is common to all human beings. Who will go drive on the road if they believe that other drivers will not stay on their own side of the road? We have faith that they will, even though we have no other basis for this other than past experiences. Head-on collisions show us that at least some of the time that faith is misplaced.
Because neither the existence nor the non-existence of YHWH can be proven using methods available to human beings, any belief one way or the other is based on faith. Whose belief takes the greater leap of faith – the atheist or the believer?
In physics there are some natural laws which are foundational. Those that seem to have the greatest bearing upon the above question are: Conservation of mass; conservation of energy; and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Conservation of mass says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Conservation of energy says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. And the Second Law of Thermodynamics says that all things tend to equilibrium. This is thought of in terms of heat or energy and also in terms of order and chaos. Such that that which is warmer will dissipate its heat into surrounding cooler areas, over time, until all are at the same temperature. Or order will become disordered, over time, to the extent required to match the surrounding chaos.
Believers believe that God spoke all of creation into existence as stated in Genesis chapter 1 and
John 1:1-3. Atheists must believe that creation sprang into existence of its own accord out of nothing (a violation of Conservation of mass and energy laws). Or they believe that the universe has always existed without beginning or end which would appear to be a violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics since there is no way to explain its operation in our universe if that were true. In other words our universe could not be “winding down” as we see that it is doing if there were not a beginning (higher state of heat/order) and an end (lower state of heat/order). Some atheists have attempted to get around this by theorizing that the universe is not a closed system but can receive or discharge energy and matter to other places outside our universe. If one believes this it must be taken on faith since it can neither be proved nor disproved.
The scriptures tell us that God exists outside of time. Isaiah 46:10, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, “My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure will I do.” 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, let not this one thing be hidden from you, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. John
8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you: Before Abraham came into being, I AM!’”
Revelations 1:8, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever, Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Psalm 102:25-28, “I say: 'O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days, Thou whose years endure throughout all generations. Of old Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but
Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall pass away. But Thou art the selfsame, and Thy years shall have no end.’”
In conclusion, we can say that a God who is the Creator of the Universe and exists outside and beyond its constraints satisfies the natural laws that we observe and can explain existence without violating any natural laws. The existence of a Creator God is consistent with the natural laws of the universe. The atheist, in order to maintain his atheism, must believe things that are in violation of natural physical laws or admit that he doesn’t know how things came into being. If he admits to ignorance on this subject, it would seem to preclude his making any argument at all about origins of the Universe.
The foregoing does not prove the existence of a Creator God. But it does imply that of all the explanations we have for the existence of the universe, a Creator God is the most plausible. Still, the only way we can come to Him is through faith. And interestingly that is all He requires of us for our salvation. Romans 10:9-11, “Because if you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."
Why is it important what a person believes? The importance lies in the fact that human beings will act in accordance with what they truly believe. Those actions have consequences, both for the person who acts and for others who are affected by someone else’s actions.
Faith, defined as belief in the absence proof, is common to all human beings. Who will go drive on the road if they believe that other drivers will not stay on their own side of the road? We have faith that they will, even though we have no other basis for this other than past experiences. Head-on collisions show us that at least some of the time that faith is misplaced.
Because neither the existence nor the non-existence of YHWH can be proven using methods available to human beings, any belief one way or the other is based on faith. Whose belief takes the greater leap of faith – the atheist or the believer?
In physics there are some natural laws which are foundational. Those that seem to have the greatest bearing upon the above question are: Conservation of mass; conservation of energy; and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Conservation of mass says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Conservation of energy says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. And the Second Law of Thermodynamics says that all things tend to equilibrium. This is thought of in terms of heat or energy and also in terms of order and chaos. Such that that which is warmer will dissipate its heat into surrounding cooler areas, over time, until all are at the same temperature. Or order will become disordered, over time, to the extent required to match the surrounding chaos.
Believers believe that God spoke all of creation into existence as stated in Genesis chapter 1 and
John 1:1-3. Atheists must believe that creation sprang into existence of its own accord out of nothing (a violation of Conservation of mass and energy laws). Or they believe that the universe has always existed without beginning or end which would appear to be a violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics since there is no way to explain its operation in our universe if that were true. In other words our universe could not be “winding down” as we see that it is doing if there were not a beginning (higher state of heat/order) and an end (lower state of heat/order). Some atheists have attempted to get around this by theorizing that the universe is not a closed system but can receive or discharge energy and matter to other places outside our universe. If one believes this it must be taken on faith since it can neither be proved nor disproved.
The scriptures tell us that God exists outside of time. Isaiah 46:10, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, “My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure will I do.” 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, let not this one thing be hidden from you, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. John
8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you: Before Abraham came into being, I AM!’”
Revelations 1:8, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever, Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Psalm 102:25-28, “I say: 'O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days, Thou whose years endure throughout all generations. Of old Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but
Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall pass away. But Thou art the selfsame, and Thy years shall have no end.’”
In conclusion, we can say that a God who is the Creator of the Universe and exists outside and beyond its constraints satisfies the natural laws that we observe and can explain existence without violating any natural laws. The existence of a Creator God is consistent with the natural laws of the universe. The atheist, in order to maintain his atheism, must believe things that are in violation of natural physical laws or admit that he doesn’t know how things came into being. If he admits to ignorance on this subject, it would seem to preclude his making any argument at all about origins of the Universe.
The foregoing does not prove the existence of a Creator God. But it does imply that of all the explanations we have for the existence of the universe, a Creator God is the most plausible. Still, the only way we can come to Him is through faith. And interestingly that is all He requires of us for our salvation. Romans 10:9-11, “Because if you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."
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