The Case for a Creator - Lee Strobel [154]
Pantheism, the idea that the Creator and universe are co-existent, also falls short of accounting for the evidence, because it cannot explain how the universe came into existence. After all, if the pantheistic god didn’t exist prior to the physical universe, then it would not be capable of bringing the universe into being.
Also, Craig explained how the scientific principle of Ockham’s razor shaves away the multiple gods of polytheism, leaving us with a single Creator. In addition, the personal nature of the Creator argues against the impersonal divine force that’s at the center of some New Age religions.
In contrast, however, the portrait of the Creator that emerges from the scientific data is uncannily consistent with the description of the God whose identity is spelled out in the pages of the Bible.
• Creator? “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.” 11
• Unique? “You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.” 12
• Uncaused and timeless? “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” 13
• Immaterial? “God is spirit.” 14
• Personal? “I am God Almighty.” 15
• Freedom of will? “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” 16
• Intelligent and rational? “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” 17
• Enormously powerful? “The Lord is . . . great in power.” 18
• Creative? “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” 19
• Caring? “The earth is full of his unfailing love.” 20
• Omnipresent? “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.” 21
• Has given humankind purpose? “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” 22
• Provides for life after death? “He will swallow up death forever.” 23
As the apostle Paul wrote two millennia ago: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made [that is, his creation], so that men are without excuse.” 24
The question of whether these qualities might also describe the deities of any other world religions became moot once I added the evidence that I discovered through the study of ancient history and archaeology.
As I described in my book The Case for Christ—a summary of which is included as an appendix to this book—the convincing evidence establishes the essential reliability of the New Testament, demonstrates the fulfillment of ancient prophecies in the life of Jesus of Nazareth against all odds, and supports Jesus’ resurrection as being an actual event that occurred in time and space. Indeed, his return from the dead is an unprecedented and supernatural feat that authenticated his claim to being the one-and-only Son of God.
To me, the range, the variety, the depth, and the breathtaking persuasive power of the evidence from both science and history affirmed the credibility of Christianity to the degree that my doubts were simply washed away.
Unlike Darwinism, where my faith would have to swim upstream against the strong current of evidence flowing the other way, putting my trust in the God of the Bible was nothing less than the most rational and natural decision I could make. I was merely permitting the torrent of facts to carry me along to their most logical conclusion.
THE FUSION OF SCIENCE AND FAITH
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misunderstanding about faith. Some believe faith actually contradicts facts. “The whole point of faith,” scoffed Michael Shermer, editor of The Skeptical Inquirer,