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God Hides Out In The Open
by L Cruz
III2007
(latest update: 25MAY08)
Below the rocking waves of the ocean's weighty deep, upon mineral-rich mountains of their own design, there live colonies of tiny sea creatures called coral polyps. Despite their minuscule outlines, about 2 millimeters in all, when united they become a mighty force responsible for creating entire underwater ecosystems that have been known to stretch for thousands of miles. More than a quarter of the ocean's inhabitants owe their very existences to these tiny coral polyps.
However, in addition to their obvious importance, some corals are participants
in a spectacular event that many believe is beyond explanation.
Annually, on one such reef in the Gulf of Mexico, just seven or eight
days after August's full moon and one hour after sunset, great billowing clouds
of tiny "somethings" depart from the reef. A smoky haze betrays their presence
in MILLIONS. Their graceful glide through the dark Gulf waters signify the
beginning of something inconceivable...the coral polyps have begun spawning all
at once.
What makes this perfectly choreographed dance of life so
startling is not necessarily the fact that they are animals, but rather not one
of these coral creatures has a single eye to see, ear to hear or brain to
think.
They are tiny creatures who follow an intellect beyond their own.
A plan is their guide and life is the reason. They are the merest followers of a
LAW.
THE ORIGIN OF FIRST POINT
In the article "Is God Real?" we lightly explored
the premise that the "source" of the physical universe is God, and we
accomplished this by means of simple logic. Now that the basics have been
set, let us re-explore that premise through a slightly stronger microscope, then
we will move on.
While the wording here is
different, the logic went something like this...
The source of any thing
has to be something beyond itself. For example a grain of sand could not have
been the source of its own existence any more than a bowl of Jell-O could have
been the source of its own existence. Everything comes from something else.
Apples come from trees, rain comes from clouds, babies come from parents and so
on. It is a simple game of cause and effect where each effect is
simultaneously a cause leading to another effect. It is the overture to which
the universe dances, but that leads us to another question...what exactly is the
universe?
The universe is not just the "spacey stuff", but rather the all
of physical existence. Everything your body can see, hear, smell, taste or touch
is part of the universe; which includes your quite physical body itself. And, if
the additional dimensions scientists claim to have found actually exist, the
universe would include them as well.
When considering the beginning of it
all, it becomes quite obvious that it had to have started with a single physical
thing. For the purpose of this discussion, I will call this first physical
thing, First Point.
Whether First Point was an atom, a quarks, a cosmic
string, a bang, or anything else makes little difference in this discussion. Nor
does it matter how long it was alone in its physicality. All that matters
is that First Point was the first and only physical thing anywhere. It was the
point at which it all began.
Now ask yourself this obvious question.
Keeping in mind that everything comes from something else, from where did First
Point come? It could not have come from another physical thing because there
weren't any. Therefore the very first physical thing had to have come from
something nonphysical.
And what do we call this "something
nonphysical"?
God!
And the nonphysical "somethings" we each
possess are called souls. And the study, discussion and exploration of the whole
nonphysical issue, including the bonds between our souls and God and even the
physical world is called spirituality.
For centuries this brilliant
cosmological line of reasoning (where cause and effect is logically contemplated
in reverse) has been called the "argument from universal causation," the
"argument from first cause," and also the "uncaused cause" argument. However,
you may have heard of it by a different phrase..."All roads lead to
God."
MAKING THE "HE" CONNECTION
As the gifted C.
S. Lewis once wrote, "God loves matter; He invented it."
However, by
referring to God as "He", I am getting somewhat ahead of myself. You see, we
have yet to discuss the concept that God is a Being with an ongoing Nature; that
there was not only an intelligent mind behind the creation of it all, but that
this Mind remains perpetually involved with His creations.
What we will
learn in this article is that the biblical writings that describe God as a
single governing Intellect beyond our own are not ancient misunderstandings, but
rather profound truths that can actually be proven through experiential
logic.
I pray that the weightiness of the matters we are about to explore
in this article will move our lives, the Bible and our interpretations of each
out of the darkness and closer into our fields of True vision.
"I believe
in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen-not just because I see it, but
because by it, I see everything else." CS Lewis
HIS OWN
IMAGE
The Bible has a lot to say about God's Nature. Scripture
states that God is not only the source of the universe, but also a personable
Being with Whom a relationship will bring wonderful results. The Bible basically
says that to honestly believe, honor and worship Him is to enjoy an invitation
to sip from His endless well of rejuvenation, hope, possibility, wisdom and
spiritual life. He is also described as the deepest lover of all mankind as we
are all children of His Divine decision. In fact, forever etched in the first
book of the Bible is this:
"So God created man in his own image,
in
the image of God he created him;
male and female he created
them."
(Genesis 1:27)
However, this concept leads many people to a
theological crossroads, of sorts. They find themselves asking questions like,
"If we were made in the Image of God, and God is the highest unchangeable Good,
then why are we so wicked?"
While the wickedness of man's heart and how
we get that way is a biblically covered truth that deserves further discussion,
I will save that topic for later articles. What I would like for us to focus on
now, however, is the notion that although our hearts are wicked, we were not
originally designed to be that way. Instead, we were made (at least in part) in
His Image. And, because God is non-physical, I believe our similarities would
have to be of a non-physical nature.
Believe it or not, we can prove this
to be true.
THE OTHER "L" WORD
Let us
temporarily touch upon another concept; more specifically the concept of a
Divinely-designed Law.
What I believe the coral polyp spawning phenomenon
demonstrates is that not only does the law they follow guide them to life, but
the Law also gives them abilities (or talents) that reach beyond the reasoning
power of their own intellects...especially since neither one of them has a
brain. The plan they follow...the law...points to a single
mind.
What I find startling is that the
Bible says God burned similar laws onto the hearts of all humanity. So, does
that mean that, like the polyps, we too can be afforded opportunities to be part
of something bigger than ourselves; something life giving; something that may
help us see, create, understand and accomplish things that our own intellects
could have never produced?
The Bible says YES! And, it is the Law that makes this all
possible.
COULD YOU IMAGINE IF...?
Could you
imagine if we actually proved these things to be true? Well, I am convinced
that we can...and all without using the Bible. In this article we will begin
non-biblically confirming:
1.The presence of a universal
Law.
2.The presence of a single Mind (God).
3.An
aspect of God's Nature.
4.We were made in the (nonphysical)
Image of God.
Yes this will hopefully be an exciting article!
And, best of
all, it could not only help prove the validity of the Bible, but it could also
help clarify the lens through which we interpret its contents. Saint Thomas
Aquinas once said that there are many, many examples of the Bible telling us
things we should have already been able to figure out for ourselves. (You
can read more about that here!)
I truly wish this was a topic covered
more frequently in churches.
The Law, the Plan, the Mind.
While we
could easily start our exploration in many places, I would like to begin in one
of the most unlikely of them all; atheism. Believe it or not, openly-atheistic
people often do more to prove the existence and Nature of God than do many
openly-theistic people. Why? It is because atheists are not afraid to ask
the tough questions.
Fortunately, the undeniable answers they seek are usually within the questions themselves. We just have
to know what to look for.
Here is an example.
Meet Alfred
However, as to not
offend any real atheists, let us have a little fun and create an imaginary
atheist who we will name Alfred...Alfred D. Atheist.
While there may be
many nice, charitable and caring atheists around the world, Alfred is not one of them. He does
not "play well" with other people, places or things, for that matter. He attributes
much of his conflict with the rest of the world to his belief
that he is infinitely smarter than everyone else. Just don't ask that blinking
twelve on his VCR.
One day, while mocking Christians for being Christian,
Alfred declared in his loudest, most finely rehearsed heckling voice, "There is
no God! If God did exist, there would not be so much evil in the world!" Then,
as if facial expressions made comments true, he shot a sinister
sneer.
You see, while at first glance Alfred's statement may have seemed like a devastating
blow to theology...a blow that may have forced a Christian from a position
of knowing God exists to a position of believing God exists...in reality
something interesting happened.
Did you catch it? Did you see
the fatal flaw in Alfred's logic? He actually strengthened the case for
God's existence without even knowing it.
You see, in
Alfred's comment he clearly demonstrated that he knows there is evil in
the world. This is significant and I will show you why. But first we
need to introduce another character.
Meet Frankie
Let us leave the confines of our
cozy land-based setting and plunge ourselves deep beneath the surface of
the ocean...past rising blooms of jellyfish and starving sea turtles in hot
pursuit.
Way deep down, swimming in lazy circles around a coral reef,
smugly brandishing his pink, yellow and blue splendor, we find a majestic
looking Spanish Hog Fish otherwise known as the Bodianus rufus.
But we will
call him Frankie.
What I love about Frankie is that he is very, very good
at being a fish; primarily because he has been at it for quite some time. One
could even say he is a natural.
Our little scaly companion can do many
things underwater; things we could never dream of (or WANT to dream of).
However, despite his salty spirit and obvious aquatic talents, Frankie is
missing, what we might consider to be, one very valuable piece of
information.
You see, Frankie, our little colorful comrade, does not know
he is wet! He hasn't the foggiest idea. In fact, he doesn't even know what wet
means.
Why?
Frankie is a fish. He has
always been a fish. He will always be a fish. The all of his
physical and intellectual existence, from the beginning of his little life until now, has
never extended beyond what it means to be a fish. Instead, he spends his
time thinking about things like moving in lazy circles around this particular
reef, eating fish smaller than himself, and hoping that the bigger fish behind
the rock doesn't have the same idea.
You see, it will not be until
Frankie is plucked from the water and subjected to the harsh conditions of air
that he will truly understand the difference between wet and dry.
Frankie
the Fish will never understand one without also understanding the
other.
Let me say that again; he will never understand wetness until he
first understands dryness.
Alfred and Frankie
Like Frankie, Alfred could never have had
knowledge of evil without first having knowledge of good. While this is indeed significant,
there is more.
The Missing Puzzle Piece
In order for accurate recognition of good and bad to take place,
there would have to be a third thing. It would have
to be an unmovable "something" by which to gauge the difference between the
two.
CS Lewis once pointed out in his
book Mere Christianity, that this third thing can be seen when people argue. That's
right...argue.
People say things like, "That was my seat, I was there first!", or,
"Leave him alone, he's not bothering you!", or "Come on, you promised!" What
is fascinating about these arguments is that the offender rarely if ever questions
the accuser's understanding of right and wrong. Rather he or she makes
excuses for the offending behavior.
What does this mean? This means that
there is a third unspoken, non-physical thing or standard
upon which they both
agree. Without it they would never be able to identify fair and unfair,
right and wrong or good and evil.
Now, when we stop to consider the fact that these
types of arguments happen in every demographic, in every culture, on ever continent on
the entire planet, we begin to see that this unspoken, non-physical standard is
singular and universally understood by mankind.
It is burned within us
all. One could say it is burned upon our hearts. Sound familiar? (Romans
2:15)
We have just identified the presence of a law. In fact, it is
called the Moral Law. The moral law is a point of reference (a tool) that
helps us differentiate between good and evil; right and wrong; fair and
unfair.
Because it is a single universally understood Law, it points
to an intent or a plan for the way things ought to be. This plan, in turn, points to
a single deciding intellect...or a plan maker. And, we call this plan maker God. Yes, the
moral law points to the mind and intent of God.
The
Logical Breakdown.
All
this may sound confusing at first, but it really isn't if you break it down.
Let us revisit Alfred's angry statement, "There
is no God! If God did exist, there wouldn't be so much evil in the
world!"
We can now track his flawed reasoning more
easily.
*If there was no God,
there would be no Moral law.
*If there was no Moral Law,
we would never know good.
*If we never knew good, we would
never know evil.
*Alfred would never have been able to
make his comment.
*Alfred thereby contradicted himself and proved the existence of
the Moral Law and a Moral Law maker...God.
Suddenly, the validity of Alfred's
statement disappears into a puff of smokeless logic as understanding loudly and
proudly makes itself known.
His Image, His Nature, Our
Connection.
Although we now understand that God
is the author of the Moral Law and therefore a Moral God, up to this point we
have yet to discover whether God is morally good or morally bad. This is
because, though intelligent, we have only identified an point of moral
reference devoid of moral oughts. In other words, how ought we live;
on the side of good or evil?
The Bible say that we were made inthe Image of God. Therefore
an answer to His moral nature should somehow be infused into our own. Right?
Right!
Back to Frankie
and Alfred
To answer this question, let us begin by returning to the salty deep
and Frankie the fish.
When we first met our aquatic
friend, he was completely unaware that he was wet. That was until we rudely
removed him from the ocean, at which point he came to understand
both concepts of wet and dry.
However, something else
happened.
Something very,
very interesting.
You see, in the presence of dryness, Frankie suffered! That's right...he
suffered!
Once we returned him to the water he was likely relieved
beyond belief. This is because he cannot breath without water. To drop him back
into the ocean was to give him his life back.
The whole experience taught Frankie that water is his
home because he is a fish, and fish were designed to be creatures of the
water.
Similarly, by
complaining about evil in the world, Alfred the atheist also demonstrated a very
important thing.
He demonstrated that he understands, as we all
subconsciously do, that he is human, and humans were designed to be creatures of
the GOOD! In fact, we suffer in good's absense.
We were created with a single
nonphysical goal in mind...good!
- A Quick Note on Evil:
During Saint Augustine's search for the origin of evil, he discovered that evil was not a force, but rather an absence of God. He likened it to a hole in a shirt where the shirt (the cloth) ought to be.
A
Summary
The human race is a planet of varying intellects.
Nevertheless, the presence of a single moral law that helps us differentiate
between good and evil points to a plan designed by a single intellect beyond our
own. That intelect is God.
We are also, despite our
differences, united by our gravitation towards good. The fact
that we suffer in the presence of evil means that evil is against our
nature. Just like fish were designed to be creatures of water,
we were designed to be creatures of good. Therefore, each of us is
unified by a single universal order of good that exists beyond our own
intelectual reach. (Even people who do not believe in a universal good
complain in its absense.) This once again points to God.
And,
because the Bible says we were made in the image of God, and we can see the
pressence of a single moral law that originated beyond ourselves and a need for
good that also originated beyond ourselves, we can deduce that God is
morally good.
And finally, because noone can give what they do not
posess, and because good comes in varying degrees, God would have to be the
greatest good possible. And what do we call that greatest good?
Love!
"God is love."
1 John 4:8
We have just confirmed the validity of the
Bible.
Glory to
God!
Thank You
Thank you for reading this theosophical exploration into the
foundation of God's existence and his extreme relevance in our
lives. As more and more people today the globe try fighting for joy
(a logical impossibility) the further they drift from the truth and thirst for
good that is within them and everyone around them. Therefore, I
envite you to e-mail links to this article to as many people as you
like.
If you feel a pull in your heart to support
ExploringChrist.com's mission, please consider offering a secure
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Thank you again for reading this article!
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)