08/03/2026
The Doctrine of God
I. HIS EXISTENCE.
1. TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY THE SCRIPTURE WRITERS:
It does not seem to have occurred to any of the writers of either the Old or
the New Testaments to attempt to prove or to argue for the existence of
God. Everywhere and at all times it is a fact taken for granted. "A God
capable of proof would be no God at all" (Jacobi). He is the self-existent
One (Exod. 3:14) and the Source of all life (John 5:26).
The sublime opening of the Scriptures announces the fact of God and His
existence: "In the beginning God" (Gen. 1:1). Nor is the rise or dawn of the
idea of God in the mind of man depicted. Psa. 14:1: "The fool hath said in
his heart. There is no God," indicates not a disbelief in the existence, but
rather in the active interest of God in the affairs of men—He seemed to hide
Himself from the affairs of men (See Job 22:12-14).
The Scriptures further recognize that men not only know of the existence of
God, but have also a certain circle of ideas as to who and what He is (Rom. 1:18-19).
No one but a "fool" will deny the fact of God. "What! no God? A watch, and no key for it?
A watch with a main-spring broken, and no jeweler to fix
it? A watch, and no repair shop? A time-card and a train, and nobody to run
it? A star lit, and nobody to pour oil in to keep the wick burning? A garden,
and no gardener? Flowers, and no florist? Conditions, and no conditioner?"
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at such absurd atheism.
2. THE ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
[1] These arguments may not prove conclusively that God is, but they do show
that in order to the existence of any knowledge, thought, reason, conscience
in man, we must assume that God is (Strong). It is said of the beautiful, "It
may be shown, but not proved." So we say of the existence of God. These
arguments are probable, not demonstrative. For this reason they supplement
each other, and constitute a series of evidences which is cumulative in its
nature. Though taken singly, none of them can be considered absolutely
decisive, they together furnish a corroboration of our primitive conviction
of God's existence, which is of great practical value, and is in itself
sufficient to bind the moral actions of men. A bundle of rods may not be
broken even though each one separately may; the strength of the bundle is
the strength of the whole. If in practical affairs we were to hesitate to act
until we have absolute and demonstrable certainty, we should never begin
to move at all.
Instead of doubting everything that can be doubted, let us rather doubt
nothing until we are compelled to doubt.
Dr. Orr, of Glasgow, says: What we mean by the proof of God's existence is
simply that there are necessary acts of thought by which we rise from the
finite to the infinite, from the caused to the uncaused, from the contingent to
the necessary, from the reason involved in the structure of the universe to a
universal and eternal reason, which is the ground of all, from morality in
conscience to a moral Lawgiver and Judge. In this connection the
theoretical proofs constitute an inseparable unity—'constitute together,' as
Dr. Stirling declares, "but the undulations of a single wave, which wave is
but a natural rise and ascent to God, on the part of man's own thought, with
man's own experience and consciousness as the object before him."
Religion was not produced by proofs of God's existence, and will not be
destroyed by its insufficiency to some minds. Religion existed before
argument; in fact, it is the preciousness of religion that leads to the seeking
for all possible confirmations of the reality of God.
a) Universality of Belief in the Existence of God.
(1) The fact stated and proven:
Man everywhere believes in the existence of a supreme Being or Beings to
whom he is morally responsible and to whom propitiation needs to be
made.
Such belief may be crudely, even grotesquely stated and manifested, but the
reality of the fact is no more invalidated by such crudeness than the
existence of a father is invalidated by the crude attempts of a child to draw a
picture of its father.
It has been claimed by some that there are or were tribes in inland Africa
that possessed no idea or conception of God. Moffat, Livingstone's fatherin-law, made such a claim, but Livingstone, after a thorough study of the
customs and languages of such tribes, conclusively showed that Moffat was
wrong.
Nor should the existence of such few tribes, even if granted, violate the fact
we are here considering, any more than the existence of some few men who
are blind, lame, deaf, and dumb would make untrue the statement and fact
that man is a seeing, hearing, speaking, and walking creature. The fact that
some nations do not have the multiplication table does no violence to
arithmetic.
Concerning so-called atheists in Christian lands: it may be questioned if
there are really any such beings. Hume, known as a famous sceptic, is
reported to have said to Ferguson, as together they looked up into the starry
sky: "Adam, there is a God." Voltaire, the atheist, prayed to God in a
thunderstorm. Ingersoll, when charged with being an atheist, indignantly
refuted the charge, saying: "I am not an atheist; I do not say that there is no
God; I am an agnostic; I do not know that there is a God." "I thank God that
I am an atheist," were the opening words of an argument to disprove the
existence of God. A new convert to atheism was once heard to say to a
coterie of unbelievers: "I have gotten rid of the idea of a supreme Being,
and I thank God for it."
(2) Whence comes this universal belief in the existence of God?
aa) Not from outside sources, such as reason, tradition, or even the
Scriptures.
Not from reason or argument, for many who believe in God have not given
any time to reasoning and arguing the question; some, indeed, intellectually,
could not. Others who have great powers of intellect, and who have
reasoned and argued on the subject are professed disbelievers in God. Belief
in God is not the result of logical arguments, else the Bible would have
given us proofs.
Nor did this universal belief come from tradition, for "Tradition," says Dr.
Patton, "can perpetuate only what has been originated."
Nor can it be said that this belief came from the Scriptures even, for, as has
been well said, unless a man had a knowledge of the God from whom the
Scriptures came, the Revelation itself could have no authority for him. The
very idea of Scripture as a Revelation, presupposes belief in a God who can
make it.—Newman Smith. Revelation must assume the existence of God.
bb) This universal belief comes from within man.
All the evidence points to the conclusive fact that this universal faith in the
existence of God is innate in man, and comes from rational intuition.
(3) The weight and force of this argument.
The fact that all men everywhere believe in the existence of a supreme
Being or beings to whom they are morally responsible, is a strong argument
in favor of its truth. So universal an effect must have a cause as universal,
otherwise we have an effect without any assignable cause. Certain is it that
this argument makes the burden of proof to rest upon those who deny the
existence of God.
b) The Argument from Cause: Cosmological.
When we see a thing we naturally ask for the cause of that thing. We see
this world in which we live, and ask how it came to be. Is it self-originating,
or is the cause of its being outside of itself? Is its cause finite or infinite?
That it could not come into being of itself seems obvious; no more than
nails, brick, mortar, wood, paints, colors, form into a house or building of
themselves; no more than the type composing a book came into order of
itself. When Liebig was asked if he believed that the grass and flowers
which he saw around him grew by mere chemical forces, he replied: "No;
no more than I could believe that the books on botany describing them
could grow by mere chemical forces." No theory of an "eternal series" can
account for this created universe. No matter how long a chain you may
have, you must have a staple somewhere from which it depends. An endless
perpendicular chain is an impossibility. "Every house is builded by some
man," says the Bible; so this world in which we live was built by a
designing mind of infinite power and wisdom.
So is it when we consider man. Man exists; but he owes his existence to
some cause. Is this cause within or without himself, finite or infinite? Trace
our origin back, if you will, to our first parent, Adam; then you must ask,
How did he come into being? The doctrine of the eternity of man cannot be
supported. Fossil remains extend back but 6,000 years. Man is an effect; he
has not always existed. Geology proves this. That the first Cause must have
been an intelligent Being is proven by the fact that we are intelligent beings
ourselves.
c) The Argument from Design: Teleological.
A watch proves not only a maker, an artificer, but also a designer; a watch
is made for a purpose. This is evident in its structure. A thoughtful,
designing mind was back of the watch. So is it with the world in which we
live. These "ends" in nature are not to he attributed to "natural results," or
"natural selection," results which are produced without intelligence, nor are
they "the survival of the fittest," instances in which "accident and fortuity
have done the work of mind." No, they are the results of a superintending
and originating intelligence and will.
d) The Argument from Being: Ontological.
Man has an idea of an infinite and perfect Being. From whence this idea?
From finite and imperfect beings like ourselves? Certainly not. Therefore
this idea argues for the existence of an infinite and perfect Being: such a
Being must exist, as a person, and not a mere thought.
e) The Moral Argument; Anthropological.
Man has an intellectual and a moral nature, hence his Creator must be an
intellectual and moral Being, a Judge, and Lawgiver. Man has an emotional
nature; only a Being of goodness, power, love, wisdom and holiness could
satisfy such a nature, and these things denote the existence of a personal
God.
Conscience in man says: "Thou shalt," and "Thou shalt not," "I ought," and
"I ought not." These mandates are not self-imposed. They imply the
existence of a Moral Governor to whom we are responsible. Conscience,—
there it is in the breast of man, an ideal Moses thundering from an invisible
Sinai the Law of a holy Judge. Said Cardinal Newman: "Were it not for the
voice speaking so clearly in my conscience and my heart, I should be an
atheist, or a pantheist, when I looked into the world." Some things are
wrong, others right: love is right, hatred is wrong. Nor is a thing right
because it pleases, or wrong because it displeases. Where did we get this
standard of right and wrong? Morality is obligatory, not optional. Who
made is obligatory? Who has a right to command my life? We must believe
that there is a God, or believe that the very root of our nature is a lie.
f) The Argument from Congruity.
If we have a key which fits all the wards of the lock, we know that it is the
right key. If we have a theory which fits all the facts in the case, we know
then that we have the right theory. "Belief in a self-existent, personal God is
in harmony with all the facts of our mental and moral nature, as well as
with all the phenomena of the natural world. If God exists, a universal
belief in his existence is natural enough; the irresistible impulse to ask for a
first cause is accounted for; or religious nature has an object; the uniformity
of natural law finds an adequate explanation, and human history is
vindlcated from the charge of being a vast imposture. Atheism leaves all
these matters without an explanation, and makes, not history alone, but our
moral and intellectual nature itself, an imposture and a lie."—Patton.
g) The Argument from Scripture.
A great deal of our knowledge rests upon the testimony of others. Now the
Bible is competent testimony. If the testimony of travelers is enough to
satisfy us as to the habits, customs, and manners of the peoples of the
countries they visit, and which we have never seen, why is not the Bible, if
it is authentic history, be enough to satisfy us with its evidence as to the
existence of God?
Some facts need more evidence than others, we know. This is true of the
fact of the existence of God. But the Bible history is sufficient to satisfy
every reasonable demand. The history of the Jews, prophecy, is not
explainable minus God. If we cannot believe in the existence of God on the
testimony of the Bible we might as well burn our books of history. A man
cannot deny the truth of the testimony of the Bible unless he says plainly:
"No amount of testimony will convince me of the supernatural."
Scripture does not attempt to prove the existence of God; it asserts,
assumes, and declares that the knowledge of God is universal, Rom. 1:19-
21, 28, 33; 2:15. It asserts that God has wrought this great truth in the very
warp and woof of every man's being, so that nowhere is He without this
witness.
The preacher may, therefore, safely follow the example of the
Scripture in assuming that there is a God. Indeed he must unhesitatingly and
explicitly assert it as the Scripture does, believing that "His eternal power
and divinity" are things that are clearly seen and perceived through the
evidences of His handiwork which abound on every hand.
