PURPOSE: (1) To indoctrinate the membership in the belief in God so well
that each member will be
able to counter-answer the skeptic
and the humanist claim, “There is no God.”
When men reject God, the idea of God and all that God is; then all
that God has given to man must also be rejected.
Thus salvation so badly needed by mankind is rejected and lost
(2)
To counter-act upon the high schools and colleges that are teaching
the students the investigative approach in the physical sciences. They are taught not to accept without evidence any idea or
principles presented in the classroom which cannot be explained
scientifically or through natural reasoning.
(3) To learn that the Bible is truly the Word of God, and is the most perfect record of man’s spiritual as well as physical and natural environment.
JUSTIFICATION:
It is impossible to serve a God or teach a God we do not know. Therefore, the knowledge of God is essential to proper Christian living and service.
****************************
“GOD IS!!”
This picture
was taken from an Australian newspaper and has been reprinted in several
California newspapers in recent years.
It is typical of materials being produced by atheists all over the
world who are engaged in one of the most militant campaigns against the
existence of God that the earth has ever seen.
Another advertisement used in the campaign against the existence of
God shows a skull which has in the left eye the phrase “Religion is born
out of fear, fear of death.” We
live in a world that is not only “Atheistic”
but also “anti-theistic.” God
is not only said not to exist but is also ignored.
It is natural that man should want some proof of the existence of God other than the fact that someone has told him there is such a being. Broadly speaking there are two great lines of study, or sources from which all theological truth is derived, namely, NATURE and the BIBLE.
The Bible, the WORD OF GOD, DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO PROVE THERE IS A GOD, BUT STATES THAT GOD IS. From the opening statement in Genesis 1:1, the question “Is there a God” is answered. The avenues of this each are laid out in four (4) directions:
1. The Physical Universe (Psalms 19, Rom. 1:19-25)
2. The Human Soul (Romans 2:14-15)
3. The Written Word, the Bible (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
4.
The Living Word, Christ (John 1:1,2,14,17; Heb. 1:1-2)
These are the four lines of evidence producing
unanswerable arguments for the fact of God as the One who ordered the
universe, constituted one being, gave us the Scriptures and speaks to us
through Jesus Christ, His Son, via His Holy Spirit.
(Eloheim)
THE PROOF FOR THAT STATEMENT
It is natural that man should want some proof of the
existence of God other than the fact that someone has told him there is
such a being. Through the
years, man has been seeking such proof at times in order to give himself
more certainty, and at other times in order to convince the skeptic,
agnostic, atheist and other philosophical humanist.
As a result of this search many proofs have emerged.
INTERLUDE
The Bible is not a book written to prove that God
exists. It is written to show
man the GOD that DOES EXIST and that He is:
Holy,
Sovereign, Merciful, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Eternal and
Unchangeable. He
created man and loves him to the degree that He sacrificed His Only
Begotten Son to take away the enmity that came between He and His
creation. (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2
Tim. 2:15; I Pet. 3:15; John 4:24, 1:18; Deut. 4:35, 39; Isa. 44:6; Psa.
14:1; Heb. 11:6.)
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
Stated simply this argument states that “everything
begun must have a producing cause equal to its production.”
We do live in a universe that is great beyond our imagination.
(Gen. 1:31; Psa 19:1; Job 26:7; Isa 40:22, Psa 8:8; Gen. 15:5)
Since it does exist, we must understand that one of two things have
happened. Either the
universe, (matter) has always existed or it was produced by some one or
some thing greater that it, and big enough to cause all the power and
immensity of the universe.
THE FIRST
LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. Once
the universe had been created, scientists say its processes were designed
to operate in an orderly fashion. All
the different phenomena of nature were ordered by and sustained by these
forces; and science says these forces continue on and on. No further creation was needed.
God put all the right things together, and then He
stopped…creation ended right there. (Gen. 2:2)
This law of the conservation of mass and energy, uses and re-uses
matter that was once and for all purposes created in the beginning.
Energy affects matter, and matter affects energy, but nothing is
being created (Neh 9:6; Isa 40:26; Eccl. 1:9-10, 3:14a, 15a)
Origin implies an originating power, the cause being
sufficient to produce the effect. Everywhere, nature reveals marvelous evidence of design or
adaptation of means to an end, and as design implies a designer;
and since design in nature is far superior to anything man is
capable of, the designer of the universe must be someone much
greater than man. (Col. 1:13-19)
THE SECOND
LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS.
This law, simply stated, says that the universe is running down and
as it is doing this it is loosing energy which cannot be recovered or
re-used. This law came into
existence because of SIN. (Gen. 3:17; Romans 8:20-22).
HYDROLOGY
is the science which deals with the waters of the earth.
Water evaporated into the atmosphere, collected in clouds,
redeposited on earth. This
cycle of hydrology puzzled the world until 17th century modern
concept discovered by men like Mariotte, Perrault and Halley.
It was in the Bible hundreds of years before Christ was born.
(Isa. 55:10-11; Eccl. 1:6-7; Job 36:27-28; 26:8, 28:10a)
DOES GOD
EXISTS? Philosophical and scientific affirmations which hold
true through the discoveries of man discounts the theory of EVOLUTION.
DEFINITION OF ARGUMENTS AND GLOSSARY
OF TERMS
The Anthropological Argument. The Moral Law. (Anthropo, Gk. Man)
1. Moral qualities declare a moral lawgiver, with personality, intelligence.
2. Man has a conscience, conception of right and wrong.
3.
Beast in the field have no sense of moral values, sin, forgiveness.
Biblical proof: Rom.
2:12-15, Eccl. 12:7, Job 32:8, Gen. 1:27, 9:6.
The Cosmological Argument. Cause and effect. (Cosmo-Gk. Order)
1. Origin implies originating power, the cause being sufficient or greater than the effect.
2. All matter put in the right place when it began.
3. No new energy in the universe. Nor matter.
4.
Systematic creation demands same type of creation.
Biblical proof: Gen. 1 & 2, Heb. 11:3, Rom. 1:18-25, Psa 104, 19:1-3
The Teleological Argument. Design demands a designer. Final causes. Design and adaptation, arrangement and order presupposes an architect and builder and sustainer.
1. The earth as part of its solar system is designed for its inhabitants.
2. The human body bears witness of the Almighty Designer.
3. The moral and physical elements bare the signature of one Provider, (the Flood, Death)
Biblical proof: Isa. 40:22, earth a sphere; Psa 8:8, paths in the sea, Job 26:7, earth hangs on nothing; Job 38:12-14, earth revolves, Eccl. 1:5-7, the sun rises and goes down, the wind whirleth about the earth, the rivers flow into the sea, and yet the sea is not full.
Job 28:25-28, air has weight, Job 25:3, the moon does not shine, Psa. 19:4-6, the sun moves in a circuit, Jer. 33:22, the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea cannot be numbered.
The Ontological Argument. Intuition of man. (Ontos, Gk. Being) The Idea.
1. Educated or uneducated, man is incurably religious.
2. Man’s instincts tell him there is someone superior to himself and must be obeyed.
3.
The “idea of God”
even in the fool’s heart is contradictory in itself. Biblical Proof: John
4:22-24, Psa. 14:1, Deut. 11:16.
SOVEREIGN – A King, one
in authority with all powers. 1 Cor. 8:4-6, Deut. 4:35-39
HOLY
– Pure. Free from all evil.
His Being, His Essence, His Character.
Ex. 15:11, Psa. 99:9, Isa.
6:3, Rev. 15:4
UNCHANGEABLE
– Unalterable. Without
a degree of change. James
1:17; Mal. 3:6.
ETERNAL
– Without beginning or ending. Psa.
90:2, Deut. 33:27
MERCIFUL
– Fully compassionate, forebearing, longsuffering, forgiving.
Psa. 103:8, 11; 2 Pet. 3:9.
LOVE
– The reality of God’s expression for mankind found in Christ.
1 John 4:8-20; Rom. 8:35-39; John 3:16-17
OMNIPOTENT
– All powerful. Infinite,
unbounded or unlimited. Matt.
19:26; Lk. 1:37; Psa 115:3; 1 Cor. 1:27-29
OMNISCIENCE
– All knowing. Psa.
139:2-4, 147:5; Job 26:6, 31:4, 43:21; Heb. 4:13, 1 John 3:20.
OMNIPRESENCE
– In all places at all times. Psa. 139:7-10; Prov. 15:3, Isa. 66:1; Jer.
23:24; I Pet. 3:12.
ATHEIST
– is one who denies the existence of a Divine Being or Diety.
ATHEISM
– the doctrine that there is no God.
DEITY
– divine character or nature.
AGNOSTIC
– one who believes it is impossible to know anything about God or
about the creation of the universe.
SKEPTIC
– a doubter and an extremely critical person of accepted doctrines
and creeds.
ANTI-THEISTIC
– against God even if He does exist.
THEOLOGICAL
– the study of God as related to faith and practice.
PHILOSOPHICAL
– a critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for them.
THEOPHANIES
– spiritual beings appearing in human form.
WHO SAYS, “THERE IS NO GOD?”
All the wonders of nature,
the atheist says, are accidental, that is, in their original creation and
in their operation. No
almighty hand made a thousand billion stars?
They made themselves? No
power keeps them on their steady courses?
The earth magnetized itself to keep the oceans from falling off
toward the sun? How can these
phenomena be explained except for a Creator?
Our land has a topsoil
layer without which we would have no vegetation for man or beast.
The wind carries delicate seedlings to a fertile place.
The inexhaustible envelope of air, fifty miles deep, is exactly the
right density to support human life.
There are bank deposits of coal, oil, iron and uranium inside the
earth, energy sources for man’s use and survival.
Water expands when it
freezes, while other substances contract.
This makes ice lighter than water and keeps it floating on the
surface. Otherwise, lakes
would be solid ice down to the bottom all year as a result of which no
fish could survive. The earth
spins at a given speed without ever slowing up so that we have day and
night. It is tilted so that
we get seasons. And then
there are magnetic poles – important, no doubt, but little understood
thus far.
The human body is a most
intricate and complex creation. As
an illustration, the sugar thermostat located below the pancreas maintains
a level of sugar in the blood sufficient for energy; except for this, all
of us would fall into a coma and death would result.
The human heart beats for 70 to 80 years normally without
faltering, getting its rest between beats.
A kidney will filter poison from the blood without harming its good
elements. The human tongue
has power and flexibility to form words which the brain can understand.
Illnesses have specific symptoms which are means of warnings.
Not many illnesses carry identical symptoms. A
womb keeps splitting a tiny ovum until a baby is formed with the right
number of fingers, ears and eyes and when it is strong enough to be
sustained, it enters the world.
In the heavens, clouds
bring rain and shade. They
vaporize and pick up fresh water and carry it to needed places.
Snow is not just a winter decoration.
It stays on mountaintops waiting for the warm spring sun to melt it
into rains needed for streams and farms below.
A tree provides man shelter. For
countless centuries in countless places, the forests and vegetation
perpetuate themselves without man’s help despite blight, flame and
neglect. A young bird will
migrate from Canada in a given course at a certain speed.
Swallows return on a given day as though by a calendar.
Some men say there is “no God” while others will worship “an unknown God” based only on evidence of perfection in nature. Christians know of a truth there is a God. They know from the Holy Spirit’s witness through the word of God, the Bible, God is love and that Jesus Christ came to earth, God manifest in human form. He died for our sins upon the cross. Because He is God, He arose from the grave. To those who believe, He gives peace, forgiveness, and life eternal. IN JESSU CHRIST WE KNOW THERE IS A GOD!
THE
DOCTRINE OF GOD
GOD, HIS ATTRIBUTES
e Attributes A. The Attributes of God. The attributes of God are defined by August Strong in his book, “
Systematic Theology,” pg. 244, in the following:
1. The attributes of God are those distinguishing characteristics of the Divine nature which are inseparable from the idea of God and which constitute the basis and ground for His various manifestations to His creatures.
2. We call them
attributes because we are compelled to attribute them to God as
fundamental qualities or powers of His being in order to give rational
account of certain constant facts in God’s self revelations.
B. Classification of God’s Attributes:
1. Absolute – Those elements which respect the
inner being of God, which are involved in His nature independent of His connection with the universe.
a. Spirituality
b. Infinity
c. Perfection
2. Relative or transitive – Those which respect the outward revelation of God’s being, which are involved in God’s relations to the creation.
a. Related to time and space: Eternity, immensity.
b. Related to creation: Omnipresence, Omniscience, omnipotence.
d.
Related to moral beings: veracity,
faithfulness, mercy, goodness, justice and righteousness.
C.
Spirituality
of God:
1. God is a Spirit being as opposed to a material being.
a. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; Romans 1:20; Col. 1:15.
b. As a spirit, God is invisible and indestructible. He is not dependent upon matter for existence.
2. What of “anthropomorphic” revelations?
a. The Bible speaks of God as having a face, eyes, ears, hands, arms, etc. How are these to be harmonized with God as a spirit?
b. It is called “anthropomorphism – The ascription of human attributes, feelings, conduct, or characteristics to God, or any spiritual being, or to the powers of nature.
3. What of those who claim to have seen God? Compare with John 1:18.
a. Many also said they saw an angel of the Lord.
b. Others are called “theophanies” – In these appearances God simply revealed in human form. The greatest of all “theophanies” is Jesus Christ.
D.
The Unity of God:
1. There is One God.
a. The unity of God defined: The Divine Nature is undivided and indivisible. There is one infinite and perfect Spirit.
b. As presented in the Old Testament: Deut. 6:4, 4: 35, 39, Isaiah 43:10, 11, 44:6, 46:9
c.
As presented in the New Testament: Romans 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4,6
2. Yet there are Three who are God.
a. Passages declaring all three: Matthew 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Matt. 3:16-17
b. Three bear record in heaven, 1 John 5:7.
3. The use of the word , One, in Deut 6:4 – The word is not used to express an absolute one, but expresses a united one.
a. Yachid – absolute one, a monad, unit
b. Achid – united one or a compound unit
c.
Examples: Genesis 1:5,
Genesis 2:24, Genesis 11:6.
4.
Our God is said to be “one
Jehovah,” but not an absolute one, not a monad; but a united,
compound one composed of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Verses which attribute
deity to each of the three:
Father Son Holy Spirit
1 Cor. 8:6 Romans 9:5 Acts 5:3,4
Gal. 1:1 Colossians 2:6-9 Matt. 18:19
John 6:27 John 20:18 2 Cor. 13:14
THE RELIGIOUS WORLD BEFORE AND AFTER CHRIST
Christianity did not begin its growth in a religious
vacuum in which it found people blankly waiting for something to believe.
On the contrary, the new faith in Christ had to fight its way
against entrenched religious beliefs that had been in existence for
centuries. Many had
degenerated into feeble superstitions and meaningless rituals; others were
relatively new and vigorous. In
general, there were five distinct types.
The Graeco-Roman Pantheon – the fusion of Greek and
Roman religious cultures.
Pantheon – all the gods of a people.
A temple dedicated to all gods.
Animism – the religion in early Rome. The belief that natural phenomena or inanimate objects possess spirits.