____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ October 24, 1993 ____________________________________________________ Reasons To Believe by Tom Edwards Many agnostics and atheists seem to be of the opinion that the Bible is opposed to ``thinking''--that Christianity demands a blind leap of faith with all reason being left behind and denounced as ``evil and misleading.'' But does the Bible teach in either the New or the Old Testament that ``Thou shalt not think''? or that one must commit ``intellectual suicide'' in order to be saved? To the contrary, God appeals to man's intellect. According to Isaiah 1:18, the Lord declares, ``Come now, and let us reason together....'' God expects us to be honest with ourselves and with Him as we give serious thought to the evidences He has given. In today's lesson, we shall see that our faith is not a mere ``leap in the dark,'' but rather it is one that is based on certain facts. Peter exhorts the brethren to ''....sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a DEFENSE to everyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you....'' (1 Pet. 3:15, emphasis mine). Just saying ``I accept it by faith'' will not always suffice; we need to be able to clearly explain to others the reason why we do believe. In this passage, the term ``defense'' (translated as ``answer'' in the King James Version) comes from the Greek word ``apologia,'' from which also spring the English words ``apologize,'' ``apology,'' and ``apologetics.'' Bullinger defines this Greek word as ``a defense, speech in defense.'' During the time the New Testament was first written, this word (apologia) was used to express--as indicated in both these versions--today's secondary meaning of apology: ``a defense or justification of a cause or doctrine.'' Apologetics refers specifically to ``the defense or proof of Christianity.'' The Bible instructs the Christian to ``examine everything carefully (1 Thess. 5:20,21) and to ``test the spirits to see whether they are from God'' (1 Jn. 4:1). The Lord would not have His people to be gullible and believe just anything; rather He prefers them to be more like those noble Bereans who had been ``examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so'' (Acts 17:11). In giving a defense, how would you begin teaching the atheist who adamantly states, ``I KNOW there is no God!''? This is where apologetics can play a vital role. Logically speaking, no one can truly make such a statement that God does not exist, for before one could really do so, he would have to be as wise and all knowing as God in order that he could be qualified with the ability to know such. Man, however, is far from having the omniscient mind of the Lord. Through Isaiah, God declares, ``For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'' (55:9). The Bible says, that it is the ``fool'' who has said in his heart that ``there is no God'' (Psa. 14:1). Last week we considered the vastness of our universe as we thought about our closest galaxy, Andromeda, which is 2.2 million light years away. How little we actually know of this immeasurable space, so innumerably filled with its heavenly bodies. Someone once likened this to a ``man looking up at the sky on a clear night.'' He ``sees as much of the universe as a protozoan [one-celled animal] might see of the ocean in which it drifts. The moon, planets, and the few thousand stars which are visible to him are as a single drop of water in the boundless sea of the universe.'' I once read that the universe is so vast that if we wanted to make a scale model of just our own galaxy and represented the earth with a sphere that was one inch in diameter, the closest star (other than the sun), Alpha Centaury, would have to be placed 51,000 miles away. Dr. Edward Kessel states that ``Science proves that our universe had a beginning.'' Actually, one doesn't have to be very scientifically minded in order to make this same deduction by simply observing the creation around him. As he looks, he sees that everything tends to wear out, to die, to decay, to come to nought. Scientists speak of this universal atrophy as ``the second theory of thermodynamics.'' An eternal universe--with no beginning and no creator--could not exist if its atrophy were even extremely slight. Of course, most evolutionists believe that the universe did have a beginning a few billion years ago--but what about the eternity prior to that time? Whatever the particles that supposedly formed, grew, and burst into planets, stars, and all heavenly bodies, we are again confronted with their nature. Were they eternal? and if not what was before them? Are we to think that matter can come from nothing? There is ``NO-THING'' in nothing. Maurer points out that ``In the periodic chart all the elements are grouped according to their atomic numbers. The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. Thus, hydrogen, the simplest element, has one proton in its nucleus; helium, two; lithium, three; and so on...This beautiful arrangement is hardly a matter of chance...What would be the odds of my getting 100 or so different elements, each of their own characteristic arrangement such as we have in the periodic chart?'' I would think virtually impossible. Wouldn't you? How could such an orderly succession come about by a mere unintelligible chance? In apologetics various sound arguments have been made. Though the terms have not been used in the last couple bulletins, we have considered a couple of these: the Cosmological and the Teleological arguments. The former expressing that in a universe that is not eternal, there must be a great First Cause that has always existed. That First Cause is God (Gen. 1:1). The latter argument--referred to as also the ``Design Argument''--indicates that a superior intelligence was required to bring about such orderliness, systematic arrangement, and precision that is seen throughout the universe. Creation demands a Creator on the basis of its design. Has the world been guilty of taking so much for granted that they just assume that such orderliness can arise from nothing? Many an atheist has probably jeered the Christian because of his belief in a God who made the universe and all living things; but is it more reasonable to believe, as some evolutionists teach, that man has evolved from some mud pond? How could this be? How does a non-thinking substance found in the mud ``decide'' that it should have ears, eyes, a nose, lungs, a heart, a circulatory system, bones, tissues, joints, muscles, cartilage, skin, a digestive system, a brain, and so on? The human body alone is so complex that it is extremely bizarre to assume it came about through mere chance--and the human body is just one of many variations of life that indicate the need of an intelligent designer. This Teleological Argument has been described more as a chain-armor than a chain. For even if you could destroy a single link, there are still thousands of others to choose from. The world abounds with such. It has been said that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in a Supreme Being who has created the universe and all things. Not only does it take less faith to believe in God, but it also is more rewarding; and it gives man the proper perspective toward himself, toward his fellowman, and toward all creation. As we view man with his inventive nature, his ability to design and fill the world with modern technologies, should we think it strange that there is a Being greater than man who can also design and make what He wants--but, of course, on a much grander scale? There are many evidences that point to the reality of God: the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy is certainly another one. When we consider all the facts, it is--by far--more reasonable to accept the God of the Bible rather than the contrary speculations of man. Whom or what will you accept? It does make an eternal difference. Turn to the Bible today. Consider the wonders of creation. These are two of the sources that can give you reasons to believe. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________