Is Belief in God Logical?
By Lee Vary

Is the belief in God logical?

French poet Jean La Fontaine wrote, "By the work one knows the workman." Believers have long felt that creation itself reveals the Creator and that even a casual look at the world would suggest the hand of God; that his fingerprint is on it.

Several years ago a scientist wrote an article entitled, "Seven Reasons Why I Believe in God." He said, "Consider the rotation of the earth. Our globe spins on its axis at the rate of one thousand miles an hour. If it were just a hundred miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long. The vegetation would freeze in the long night or it would burn in the long day; and there could be no life."
He said, "Consider the heat of the sun. Twelve thousand degrees at surface temperature, and we're just far enough away to be blessed by that terrific heat. If the sun gave off half its radiation, we would freeze to death. If it gave off one half more, we would all be crispy critters."
He said, "Consider the slant of the earth." I think he said twenty-three degrees. "If it were different than that, the vapors from the oceans would ice over the continents. There could be no life."
He said, "Consider the moon. If the moon were fifty thousand miles away rather than its present distance, twice each day giant tides would inundate every bit of land mass on this earth."
He said, "Think of the crust of the earth. Just a little bit thicker and there could be no life because there would be no oxygen. Or the thinness of the atmosphere. If our atmosphere was just a little thinner, the millions of meteors now burning themselves out in space would plummet this earth into oblivion.
These are reasons," he said, "why I believe in God."

Lets turn to Psalm 19, and lets read the first six verses of this Psalm.
Psalms 19:1 - 6 (NKJV)

{1} The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
{2} Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
{3} There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
{4} Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
{5} Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
{6} Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Our planet is in exactly the right place in conjunction with the sun, the moon, and the other planets for life to exist. If our planet were closer to the sun, it would be a desert. If our planet were farther away from the sun, it would be a frozen waste.

The attraction of the sun and moon is the force that gives our oceans their constant movement, currents, waves, and tides. This is necessary to the life of the seas and to the life of the land. What happens to bodies of water that are not in motion? They become stagnant. Stagnant water is acceptable to very little life except maybe mosquitoes and West Nile Virus The movement of the seas aide in the absorption and discharge of various gases such as Oxygen. Our restless seas are a major source of fresh Oxygen.

The heavens declare the glory of God. The sun brings warmth and life, without it, life could not exist. A necessary vitamin is produced in the skin when it is exposed to the light of the sun, we call it vitamin D. The moon extends its influence not just over the seas, but gives its light to those denizens of the night, the nocturnal hunters that aide in the balance of life The Genesis account says of the stars, very simply, "He made the stars also. But, who of us can stand looking into the starry sky and not be in awe of the magnitude of God's creative genius? And can you imagine that He placed the stars in the night sky for our enjoyment? No matter what other idea man may have about the stars, as we examine the universe and listen as astronomers tell us the composition of the stars, and the extent of the galaxies, we can only guess the purpose of God when He placed them there, but we also know that the vast universe excites our imagination and opens our eyes to the beauty of God's handiwork. And yet, as I watched John Ancherberg a while back, Astronomers and other reputable scientists told us that the placement of every star is critical to the existence of life on this tiny planet we call Earth. God has given the earth the statement of His creative genius in the sun, moon and stars, in the day and the night.

These things speak of the wisdom of God, of the power of God and of the compassion of God. The evidence of God and His character is spoken of by His creation. The cycle of life, the cycle of the celestial bodies. It is found every place on this planet. The sun gives its life giving energy to every living thing (There is nothing hidden from its heat.) And as a consequence of this universal presence of the evidence of God, there is no place on earth one can hide from the truth of God's existence, wisdom, and power.

In Romans 1:20, Paul comments on this very thing.
Romans 1:20 (NKJV)

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

However, we can look at nature and see more than the simple fact that God is the great Creator. We can see more than a Supreme Being behind the creation of the universe. We can see "the invisible things" of God. This means at least two things.

First, we can see the "eternal power," the Supreme Intelligence and Power of God. We can look at the creation of the earth and outer space, of plants and animals, of man and woman; we can look and clearly see their...
- Bodies and Structure.
- Variety and Beauty.
- Arrangement and Order.
- Purpose and Laws.

When we look at such things and reason with an honest spirit, we see clearly that the world was made by a Creator. But, as stated before, we see so much more.
We see that the Creator is a God of supreme...
- Life and Being.
- Beauty and Majesty.
- Intelligence and Knowledge.
- Glory and Honor.
- Energy and Power.
- Value and Worth.
- Purpose and Meaning.
- Mystery (things not understood; secrets undiscovered).
- Design and Order.

Second, we can see the "Godhead," that is, the deity of God. When we look at nature and reason with an honest spirit, we see clearly that the Creator is a God who...
- Cares and provides for what He has created.
- Gives life and has interest in life.
- Regenerates, replenishes, and carries things on.
- Deserves worship and obedience (being the Creator of life and purpose, and being the Supreme Person of law and order demands that all his subjects serve and obey Him).

Consider the universe. Scientists are continually confronted with new facts the make it mandatory for them to change their theories. And yet, the universe remains as it was, so to speak. It's not that the universe changed, the theories were wrong. A hard pill to swallow for some arrogant people.

From the evidence I have seen in news papers, on TV, and the Internet, astronomers are continually reducing the age of the universe. And this is challenging every other scientific discipline. Paleontologists cannot have dinosaur fossils older than the universe. Geologists cannot have the earth older than the universe.

I found it quite interesting that an article in the Denver Post concerning astronomers having to change the age of the universe after the repair of the Hubble Telescope has disappeared. Parallel articles in other papers have similarly vanished from other papers as well. Why do you suppose this is? This vast universe has the marks of the Creator in every star, every galaxy, every corner of what we can see and what we can't see.

Consider a single dandelion. From the puff ball, that every little boy loves to pick and blow, comes a myriad of seeds, each one given, by God, a little sailplane to take it far and wide. This hardy seed eventually finds its way into the earth and from it grows a mature plant. It gives its humble beauty to the world and then comes the puff ball again. Pull the plant out of the ground, and the very little bit of root that is left will grow again, and resume the cycle of life. The seed will patiently wait until the conditions are right for it to grow. It will wait out the ice and snow. Then in the sun and rain that God gives the flower, it will break ground and give its life giving powers to the world. This humble little plant is part of the cycle of air renewal. And it does have a beauty all it own. Examine every aspect of the dandelion and you will see the workmanship of the master of life, the hand of the creator.

Look at the beauty and joy of the gifts God has given humanity. The bodies of the male and female, how they are perfectly fit for each other, this cannot be an accident. The differences in the male and female emotional, intellectual and natural strengths, and abilities make for the perfect system. As the differences in the male and female brain make for a perfectly complementary union to work together as a team to accomplish veritable miracles. We can see these things have been distorted by the fall of Adam and Eve, but the careful design is still obvious.

Is the belief in God logical?

Sue Kidd in Today's Christian Woman, in her article titled "Heart to Heart" wrote this short witness.

One August night, my children dragged me to the backyard to watch a meteor shower. I reluctantly joined them thinking, I have so many details to tend to before we leave on vacation. I don't have time for idleness. Suddenly, golden fire balls streaked across the blackness. "God made this," I whispered. It was a rare moment. Not because of the sight, but because I stepped beyond my familiar world into one of wonder and discovered the Creator in the midst. Could it be God filled the world with such beauty to lift people like me away from our obsession with details--to touch our lives with a magnificent awareness of himself?

This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God.

Something is wrong in the man to whom the sunrise is not a divine glory, for therein is embodied the truth, the simplicity, and the might of the Maker.
... Alongside the gentle meeting of earth and sky,
... the great burst of a new morning, the sordid affairs of mammon sink to the bottom of things and have little more interest.

Human footprints had been found associated with dinosaur tracks along Paluxy River near Glen Rose. Texas. This was reported in the book, The Genesis Flood by Whitcomb and Morris. It was reported photographically in the National Geographic Magazine of May 1954, but nothing was said about the human footprints. The footprints of both man and dinosaurs give evidence that they lived contemporaneously. In the evolutionary geological time scale man is supposed to have appeared in the Pliocene period one million years ago, while dinosaurs are supposed to have become extinct with the end of the Cretaceous period a supposed 125 million years before man. But the footprints of both man and dinosaur are in the cretaceous sediment along Paluxy River. Actually, human footprints keep showing up in the various strata, and a human skull has been found in the coal measures of the Carboniferous period which is guessed to be 250 million years before man was supposed to have appeared.

Is belief in God logical?

Given the facts, unquestioned scientific data, it is unreasonable to believe otherwise.

So why do our schools teach a Godless evolution? Why do our courts rules against the only real and plausible explanation for the existence of the universe and everything in it?
The answer is in Scripture, Psalm 14:1 and 53:1
Psalms 14:1 (NKJV)

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.

{19} For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";
{20} and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

There have been a number of serious mathematical computations which have to do with evolution, and its improbability. Probably the best known case is the symposium on the Mathematical Challenge to Evolution, held at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia in 1966. It was there that a French mathematician told that when a computer was programmed to give the probability of an evolutionary advance, it jammed. The interpretation of this was that the probability was less than one chance in ten to the one thousandth power! Now ten to the second power is 100. Ten to the third power is 1,000. Ten to the fourth power is 10,000. Ten to the fifth power is 100,000. And ten to the sixth power is one million. Imagine then, a 1 with a thousand zeros after it. The probability of the truth of evolution then is 1 in 10 to the one thousandth power.
(Oren's two minnows: The probability of sentient life evolving has been calculated at 1 in 10^10^70. This far exceeds the number of quarks in the universe.)

In his closing remarks the french mathematician said, "Thus, to conclude, we believe that there is a considerable gap in the theory of evolution, and we believe this gap to be of such a nature that it cannot be bridged within the current biology."

Believing in God, under these circumstances is quite logical.

We, here, believe that God created our universe, so why do I bother to bring all this up?
Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15,
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

AMEN!

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Pastor Lee Vary
June 3, 2006