THE BIBLE BEGINS WITH A DECLARATION OF GOD,

NOT A DEFENSE OF GOD

 

By Jay Wegter

 

INTRODUCTION

The Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas, 1224-1274) approach to apologetics makes its appeal to natural theology.  Aquinas employed the empirical tradition in philosophy which can be traced back to Aristotle.  Apologetic thinkers who subscribe to the Thomistic approach do not deny the doctrine of original sin, but they seldom question the basic competency of human reason in philosophy.  Of all the apologetic groups, clearly those who are of the Thomistic (natural theology) group have the most “cheerful” view of human reason (A. T.  Hoover, “Apologetics” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter A. Elwell, Ed., p. 69).

Aquinas claimed that God’s existence could be established philosophically.  His famous “five ways” of proof (teleological, cosmological etc.) are a posteriori arguments based upon God’s effects in the world.  The “five ways” represent a natural, rational preamble.  Aquinas saw a sharp distinction between nature (data open and accessible to all men), and grace (derived from revelation).  A key feature that distinguishes Aquinas from presuppositional apologists is as follows: Aquinas saw the religious conclusions derived from revelation to be the perfecting, not the repudiation of the conclusions of human reason (Paul Helm, “Thomas Aquinas” The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, J. D. Douglas, Ed., p. 61).

In 1 Corinthians 1:20-22; 2:1-6, Paul emphatically declares that the knowledge of God through Christ does not rest upon the methodology followed by the philosophers (see Bernard Ramm, “Apologetics, Bible” ISBE, 1:191).  The person who knows God is one who has “become as a little child.”  His starting point is the Bible’s “declaration of God.”  He has presupposed the existence of the God of Scripture and consequently he believes in the infallibility of God’s Word. 

The arguments for the existence of God that are used by the natural school of theology assume that man’s reason is neutral.  By contrast, Scripture states that human reason is corrupted by depravity (see lessons in this syllabus on The Myth of Neutrality and The Nature of Faith).   

 

I. The Creator’s relationship to the creation.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  The Bible teaches that God created the universe in six days.

 

   A. (Gen. 1).  God created the universe out of nothing.  He did not use any pre- 

        existing material or energy.

 

1.      God did not create the universe because He was lonely or because He had to.

2.      The work of creation was a free act of His will for His own good pleasure and glory (Rev. 4:11).

 

3.      Time, space, matter, energy, spiritual beings (e.g., angels) and earthly

      creatures (e.g., mankind) were all created by God and owe their existence     

      to Him.  All created reality is totally and utterly dependent upon God at 

      every moment (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17).

 

   B. After God created the universe He declared it to be very good (Gen. 1:3).   

        Therefore death, calamity, sin and evil were not original to God’s created  

        order.

 

   C. God’s creation of the universe teaches us that there are two completely  

        different and separate forms of being: uncreated Being (God), and created    

        being.  There is a Creator-creature distinction.  There is an inseparable gulf

        between created and uncreated reality.

 

        1.  God is uncreated, independent and self-sufficient.  He is in need of

             nothing outside of Himself.  Man was created.  He is a creature.  Man is          

             totally, continually and always dependent upon God for his existence.

 

        2.  God is infinite, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing and immutable (i.e.,

             God being perfect, cannot change.)  Man if finite, temporal (i.e., a creature    

             in time), limited in power, limited in knowledge and mutable (i.e., man  

             grows and develops; man learns; and man can sin and do evil).

 

   D. Because God is perfect, unchanging, infinite, and all-knowing, He cannot

        make mistakes.  He is infallible.  Therefore, God must be man’s source for all   

        truth, knowledge and ethics. 

 

        1.  “In Your light we see light” (Ps. 36:9).  What is true, what is good and

             what is right is what God says is true, good and right.

 

        2.  God’s creation of the universe teaches us that God is the sovereign Lord 

             of everything that exists.

 

        3.  God created the universe from nothing; therefore, God owns and has

             absolute authority over all reality.  God owns every human being.  God            

             has absolute authority and total jurisdiction over all mankind.  His claims

             upon His creatures are absolute.

 

   E.  God’s moral authority over all mankind is expressed in His commands.   

        Therefore, obedience and service to God are not voluntary, trivial or 

        unimportant.

 

        1.   God commands mankind to study, believe and obey His divine

              revelation, the Bible.  The God who created, and who sustains all

              creatures every moment will some day judge all men (Rev. 20:11-15).

 

        2.  God’s creation of the universe shows His kindness and goodness.  God  

             created the earth and proclaimed it to be very good (Gen. 1:31).  The

             beauty of the world God made for us to enjoy is intended to move us to             

             thanksgiving for His incredible creation.

 

        3.  Those who know God thank Him every day for His fantastic and glorious

             creation.  The antitheist attributes the bird’s song, the seasons and the

             stunning wonders of creation to nothing more than atoms floating

             randomly in the void.  The natural man subscribes to the absurd notion of 

             a chance universe where unthinking particles somehow formed galaxies,

             stars, planets, fish, birds, animals and people.

 

   F. The concept of a universe based upon chance is a concept formed by the

       fallen intellect of man. 

 

        1.  “Pseudo-science” believes in much more incredible miracles than any

             Bible-believing Christian does.  It’s just that the world view of 

             evolutionary naturalism postulates that their “miracles” occur very 

             slowly (over billions of years).

 

        2.  Evolution is a religious faith without empirical evidence.  It is a

             philosophical absurdity (that chance and chaos can produce order,            

             complexity, purpose and meaning).[1]

 

        3.  Why is evolution so popular today?  Because people love their sin and do 

             not want to make peace with God.  They prefer to retain their imagined                  

             autonomy, they refuse to submit to their Creator. 

 

II. Male and female are created in the image of God

     The Bible teaches that man and woman were created in the image of God   

     (Gen. 1:26-28).

 

   A.  To be created in the image of God is to be as much like God as a creature  

         could possibly be and yet remain a creature.

 

        1.  As the image of God, man is able to reason, to feel, to solve problems, to

             interpret his environment, to reflect upon his own behavior, to create and      

             to relate.

 

        2.  Man the “namer” of things, man the researcher, man the lover of beauty

             and man the fashioner of culture are all a function of bearing the image of   

             God.

 

   B.  Being made in the image of God has comprehensive holistic implications. 

         The meaning and purpose of the human race is grounded in the truth that

         man is made in the image of God.

 

         1.  Thus, mankind’s existence as the image of God is inseparable from the 

               answer to every ultimate question.  (Ultimate questions concern man’s         

              origin, purpose and destiny – “Why are we here?  Where did we come

              from? Who are we? etc.”) 

 

         2.  Man as the image of God is inseparable from man’s origin and destiny.

             (Carl Sagan, representing the evolutionary world-view, expressed great 

             optimism that the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would answer 

             the ultimate question, “Who are we?”  Isn’t interesting that Sagan, who

             rejects the Creator’s authoritative revelation, would submit his intellect to

             the mind of an E.T.?) 

 

         3.  Being made in the image of God explains who we are.  The image of God 

              first and foremost defines man’s constitution, purpose, significance and 

              existence.

 

         4.  The image of God is the source of man’s dignity.  Man’s honor

              and worth are a function of man having been formed in God’s image.  It  

              is this image that establishes man’s uniqueness, setting him apart from 

              the animal kingdom (Jer. 9:23,24). 

 

   C. Man’s purpose and significance are bound to his identity as the image of

        God. 

 

         1.  The meaning of man flows from God’s definition of man.  Why does man

              matter at all?  Does man make a truly lasting contribution besides

              passing on his genetic code to the next generation?  Is it possible to make

              a contribution that can never be lost?  The answer lies in man’s created 

              purpose.

 

        2.  Man’s design and purpose belong together.  Man is a “covenant” being,

             designed by God to fulfill purposes that are both physical and spiritual. 

             Man’s role and task under God is that of a steward, a subduer, a laborer,                   

             an inventor and a builder.  As prophet, priest and king, man not only

             rules over the works of God’s hands, he also interprets all things by the

             Word of God and dedicates all things to the glory of God (Ps. 8).

 

        3.  The image of God is the reason why man cannot be accurately designated

             an advanced animal.  (Man is qualitatively not quantitatively different than    

             the animals.) [2]

 

        4.  As the image of God, man is to reflect the divine attributes – Lev. 11:44ff; 

             1 Pet. 1:15,16 (e.g., attributes of love, righteousness, truth etc.). 

 

             a.) Man only functions as a faithful steward of the world and a truthful

                  interpreter of the universe when he is thinking God’s thoughts after

                  Him (that is by Scripture dominating exceptionally in his intellect).

 

             b.)  Man’s ability to carry out this cultural calling and divine mandate is a

                   function of his submission to God’s revelation, the Bible.

 

   D. Man’s privilege and responsibility are a function of bearing the image of

        God.  It is an inestimable privilege to be the only order of creatures made in

        the image of God.  God’s condescension is seen in His crowning of man with 

        dignity and honor and in His placement of man over the works of His hands

        (Ps. 8).

 

        1.  But man’s greatest responsibility is seen in the fact that the image of God

             is a moral image.  Man is designed to reflect the righteous character of 

             God. 

 

        2.  Man’s effectiveness in reflecting the character of his Creator depends

             upon his willingness to obey God’s commands.  God’s commandments

             form a fence or barrier that mark out man’s moral path on earth (Jer. 6:16;

             18:15).

 

III. Redemption restores man’s ability to glorify God as His image-bearer.

       As the image of God, man was created to receive God’s revelation.  This is   

       the only way that he can know truth with certainty. 

 

  A. Apart from God’s authoritative Word, the Bible, man is set adrift on a sea of

       epistemological uncertainty that leads to despair (i.e., apart from the Bible,  

       man has no hope whatsoever of finding absolute truth).

 

        1.  The Bible stresses that God can only be known through His authoritative

             Word, the Holy Scriptures.

 

        2.   Since God is perfect in holiness and righteousness, He cannot permit

              man’s fallen nature to be the ground of acceptance before Him.

 

        3.  Fallen man is totally incapable of generating a righteous work that is  

             recognized by God as meritorious.  God’s standard of righteousness is

             His own absolute holiness (Rom. 10:1-3).

 

   B. God’s plan of redemption reveals His righteousness, compassion, love and

        justice.  God’s gracious character is revealed in His provision of a perfect   

        Substitute who acts in the room and place of fallen man.

 

        1.  The divinely appointed Substitute supplies the perfect righteousness God

             law requires.  The Substitute gives His life to satisfy the justice demanded                   

             by the law of God.

 

        2.  The key is that the Substitute for fallen man is God’s only begotten Son.  

             He is the perfect, unfallen image of God – very God and very man.  The        

             second Person of the Godhead took on human nature in order to become   

             our Substitute.  In that redemptive role, He restored the broken image of  

             God that was lost in Adam’s fall.  (Those who put their faith in the

             Substitute are set right with God and restored as reflectors of His  

             righteousness and truth.)

 

VI. The cruelty of evolution’s lie is seen in its attempt to overturn the truth of   

       man’s identity as the image of God.

 

   A.  By denying that man is made in the image of God, evolution denies man’s

         only hope.  For God’s plan of redemption involves the restoration of sinful,  

         fallen man by a perfect image-bearer, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

         1.  The divinely appointed Substitute came to restore what was lost in

             Adam.  If evolution is true and man is only an accidental product of          

             mechanistic determinism, then redemption is unnecessary.

 

         2.  By rejecting the truth that man was created in the image of God,

              evolution contradicts the Person, character and commission of the 

              divinely appointed Substitute. 

 

   B. Evolutionary naturalism is religious in nature.

 

         1.  Naturalism may be broadly defined as the world-view which states that

             nature or the material world is all there is.  The origin of life is attributed 

             to impersonal, natural laws and mindless processes. 

 

        2.  Naturalism embraces evolution as its universal.  In other words,

             evolution is seen as the unifying “truth” by which the numerous

             particulars of our existence may be interpreted. (Everything from quasars  

             to ladybugs is attributed to evolution. Evolution is also the interpretive

             “grid” through which the relationship of all things to one another is  

             viewed. ) 

 

   C. Naturalism is the wholesale rejection of God’s revelation (“wholesale,”

        because naturalism rejects the testimony of God’s wise design in nature and  

        it rejects God’s witness in Scripture of man’s sinful condition and need of

        redemption).

 

        1.  Naturalism views man’s mind as ultimate (thus able to answer ultimate

            questions without divine assistance). 

 

        2.  By rejecting God’s truth about the creation of man and the universe,

             naturalism posits a radically different “reality” that is materialistic. [3]

 

    D. As a consequence of denying God’s revelation, man must find counterfeit

         sources of dignity, purpose, significance, responsibility and ethics.

 

        1.  As man looks to material sources for his ontological needs, he inevitably

             worships and serves the creature and the creation (Rom. 1:25). 

 

        2.  When man gives credit to nature for creating itself, the processes of the 

             physical world are “deified.”  Chaos, time and chance become the pagan

             trinity responsible for all existence. 

 

    E. The Bible exposes naturalism as a lie chosen by men seeking to give

         intellectual credence to their rebellion against God. 

 

        1.  Those who seek refuge in naturalism are attempting to nullify the

             Creator’s claims upon their lives (Rom. 1:18-23).

 

        2.  The foundational issue in the debate between creation and evolution is  

             not about vast ages, mutations or natural selection.  The real issue in the

             conflict concerns the nature of reality.  Naturalism contradicts the whole 

             idea of a theistic universe ruled by an almighty personal God.  The actual

             crux of the debate is, “God is” versus “God isn’t.” 

 

        3.  Naturalism’s proponent’s often hold to an agnostic or soft form of

             atheism.  This entails an acknowledgement that a god exists, but his 

             deeds are inconsequential.  He never did anything that really matters.  He

             is not creator, nor is he intimately involved with mankind.  The god of

             naturalism is finite and merely a part of the universe.

 

V. Naturalism has left mankind a legacy of immoral fallout. 

 

   A. Man in charge of his own meaning, morals and significance has left a terrible

        legacy.  A number of oppressive regimes have expressed their gratitude to  

        Darwin for providing an ideology to sanction their butchery (e.g., Stalin,

        Hitler and Pol Pot among others).  When God is dead, “Survival of the  

        fittest” as a credo can be a deadly bludgeon in the hands of the state, history   

        has proven it so.

 

    B. Naturalism’s approach to morality is the polar opposite of biblical theism. 

        The God of the Bible asserts that His moral code is universal and eternal. 

        Naturalism views morals as merely social convention. 

 

       1.  Public opinion becomes the source of ethics, not God.  The Ten    

            Commandments are not regarded as God’s moral authority, but are 

            viewed as a tribal or cultural custom of the Jews.  By way of example,

            naturalism would see marriage as a human invention, not as a universal

            institution ordained by God.

 

       2.  Since moral values are viewed as inventions, they can evolve. 

            Pragmatism or expediency provides the test of viability for a moral value.  

            Naturalism sees law and ethics as a way of protecting people from each

            other as they seek to get what they want.  (A world full of individuals

            with competing self-interest must be governed by law.)

 

       3.  Having eliminated the sovereign Creator (and the purpose of life as living

            unto Him), naturalism is left with nothing but the creature’s wants.  

            Naturalism is a philosophy that extols human independence from God.     

            “What people want” is the guide.  Naturalism vaunts itself as true  

           freedom when in reality it is a prescription for paganism.

 

  C. Naturalism was central in Enlightenment thinking.  The goal of the “age of

       reason” was to set free the culture from religion and tradition.  Philosophers

       sought a scientific understanding of reality.  Enlightenment thinkers hoped

       to usher in an age in which science could solve the greatest problems and

       answer the toughest questions faced by mankind.

 

      1.  The legitimate role of true science is to investigate and explain

           physical/material phenomena.  When science arrogates to itself the mantle   

           of philosophy, ethics and theology, it is no longer empirical. 

 

      2.  In seeking a “scientific” understanding of all things, naturalism  

           constructed a whole new view of reality.  Morals were regarded as merely 

           social mores.  With the loss of the absolutes and categories that flow from

           theism, naturalism was left with moral relativism. 

 

  D. Moral relativism, the corrupt fruit of naturalism - Relativism states that truth

       is relative to the individual and the time and place in which he acts.  Without   

       universally applicable truth, knowledge and ethics are different for each

       individual under different situations (i.e., situation ethics).  Values are only

       cultural – based upon personal interests.  All value systems are equally valid.

 

       1.  Under relativism, values come from commonly expressed needs, not from

            God’s universal laws.  The classroom teacher is then shouldered with the

            task of teaching the new morality of relativism (i.e., “value clarification”).

 

       2.  In the cultural/moral vacuum produced by naturalism, students are to be

            imbued with the new morality of relativistic tolerance, pluralism and

            inclusivism.  (e.g., Homosexual couples have as legitimate a relationship as

           married heterosexuals.  Atheists are the moral equivalent of Christian leaders).

 

       3.  Naturalism comes in the disguise of tolerance, but is filled with

            intolerance.  Naturalism has its own categories of bigotry, evil and  

            oppression.  Those who would teach sexual morality are viewed as  

            authoritarian and dangerous.  Those who subscribe to a universal moral  

            order that issues from God’s moral authority are seen as backward

            enemies of human freedom.  Those who affirm that God’s absolute truth is  

            true for all are labeled intolerant bigots. 

 

       4.  Christianity asserts that sexual morality is connected with the will of the

            Creator.  The Bible affirms that the knowledge of absolute right and  

            wrong issues from the authority of God.   

 

VI. Naturalism is tantamount to a declaration of war upon God and His    

       rightful authority.

 

   A. Naturalism is seeking to erect an understanding of reality that makes man’s

        mind ultimate (i.e., man becomes the measure of all things and by

        autonomous reason he shapes and determines reality apart from God). [4]

 

        1.  Naturalism is patently anti-God.  It seeks to replace God (the omnipotent,   

             omniscient, purposeful designer) with man.  If there is no personal, all

             wise, purposeful Creator, then there are no sexual absolutes.

 

        2.   Naturalism is not simply pressing for scientific terminology.  It

              promulgates an agenda of moral relativism.  

 

        3.  God is ultimate reality.  He determines all truth and all categories.  He

             holds the future and He holds the definition of all things.  “The beginning 

             of wisdom is the fear of the LORD” (Prov. 1:7).

 

        4.  In the 1^st century, Christianity was hated because it contradicted man-

             centered emperor worship and idolatry.  In the 21^st century, Christianity

             is hated because it dethrones man and enthrones God the Creator. 

 

        5.  Because we are created in God’s image, we have rationality.  Man’s

             faculties, including the laws of logic, are planted by God that man may be                    

             able to receive His revelation and interpret all things by His revelation.

 

   B. When man uses his reasoning faculties as a final authority instead of as the

        tool of divine revelation, he descends into futility and irrationality (Eph. 

        4:17-19).

 

       1.  The issue is authority in the realm of truth and knowledge.  God has

           declared His authority.  He has announced that creation testifies to His

           power and wisdom so clearly that men are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20).

 

       2.  When men use their God-given intellect to reject God’s testimony, their

            willful misinterpretation of God’s witness in creation renders them guilty

            before Him. 

 

       3.  The truths of the Bible are not simply religious ideas held in the heads of 

            religious people.  They are the truths by which the universe is to be

            interpreted.  They are absolute universal truths that are constantly in 

            force.  They constitute reality because they are God’s thoughts and God is

            ultimate reality.

 

   C. Naturalism hides behind the disguise of empirical science, but it is shot

        through with the presuppositions of an anti-theistic universe.

 

        1.  The theory of evolution masquerades as science.  Its philosophical

             purpose is to legitimize the anti-God assumptions of naturalism.

 

        2.  Wearing a lab coat as its costume, naturalism’s real intent is to give man 

             permission to govern by his own will rather than by the law of God. 

             When man denies the claims of God upon the creature, his bondage to sin

             is strengthened.  True freedom is to know God and enjoy Him forever.     

             “And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (Jn. 8:32).