bro. Rushmore I have consulted the works of bro. Woods and Foy e. Wallace jr. and they both say nature will not, cannot prove theres a loving God. They say it takes revelation, the Bible, to prove there’s a God. Bro. Wallace says nature corroborates revelation. bro. Woods says it takes the bible to reveal God to man. I was wondering if you ever considered this, and if so, what would be your response.
Unaware of the contexts regarding general statements attributed to brethren Woods and Wallace, men for whom I have the utmost regard respecting their scholarship and faithfulness, let us concern ourselves with the basic question: “Does nature reveal the existence of God?”
The primary foundation of external evidences going by the name of Intelligent Design is that nature evidences intricate design for which there must be a matchless Designer, God if you will. Whereas evolution is a concoction of illogical and ever changing theories for which no evidence exists and no laboratory experiment can validate, Intelligent Design is verifiable upon closer examination of every living thing and many non-living things or circumstances. Therefore, there is a superhuman Designer of the universe and everything in it.
Yes, nature reveals the existence of God, if people pause and give thought to the universe around them. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). However, with Woods we must concur when he writes: “Were it not for the information vouchsafed to mankind upon its sacred pages, we would not know where we came from, why we are here, or where we are going when we pass from the scenes of this existence” (304). We might add that we would not know (1) many of the characteristics of our God (e.g., three persons in one Godhead), (2) how to secure salvation or that we even needed to be saved, (3) how to worship God acceptably or even that we need to worship God (i.e., aside from the seemingly innate tendency for every civilization to worship, howbeit, ignorantly), (4) how to live our lives in such a way that God is pleased, (5) how to serve God in a way he approves, etc.
The created universe is sufficient evidence to humanity that God exists. In my opinion, the created universe has built into it sufficient factors to verify that God is benevolent or loving (i.e., everything of which mankind is nature’s beneficiary far outweighs the occasions of nature’s retribution for the violation of natural law). Further, when the problem of evil is correctly understood and mankind acknowledges culpability for the consequences of evil in the natural world, the great Designer, our God, is seen to be more than benevolent and loving. Yet, without biblical instruction, awareness of Intelligent Design and its Designer (God) is not enough to secure true happiness on earth and eternal happiness after awhile.
Works Cited
Woods, Guy N. Questions and Answers. Henderson: Freed-Hardeman, 1976.
