"DEAR GOD, YOU SURE DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE ALIVE" - Day 47

Day 47 – relevant

It always amazes me to think that the omnipotent God, the creator of galaxies light years away, will give us his strength and grace to help us in all of our struggles—in our relationships, in our careers, and even in things that seem insignificant to others.  –PAUL WYLIE

                                                                                                                                              

The Argument from Personal Testimony (5 Reasons, Days 52-55) refers us to the witness of individuals throughout history to the reality of God. It asks us to imagine all the people who have ever believed in God facing all of those who have not and reminds us that the numbers would not be close. Believers would dwarf the nonbelievers like the beach dwarfs the grain of sand. The argument goes on to ask this question: “Could all these people be wrong?” Atheists would say, “Yes, they could.” They would point their fingers at the throng of believers before them and say, “There is no God!” They would argue that theistic belief is merely subjective opinion and that everyone knows the majority opinion is not always right.

What atheists fail to admit, however, is the subjectivity of their own position. And what they fail to acknowledge is the evidence that exists in favor of the existence of God. They would love to be able to disprove all the objective arguments for God, including the ones we have considered on our journey, but to this date they have not been successful. In fact, the trend is just the opposite. Avowed atheists, in light of recent scientific discoveries, are being forced to reconsider their stance. To remain intellectually honest, many of them have changed sides.¹ They have joined the masses of believers and now find themselves gazing into the eyes of their former selves.

It is not easy, therefore, to ignore history’s collective testimony about God. When that testimony is heard and examined, the distinct impression given me is that God is relevant. He is not a distant, abstract Force that has no impact on existence. He is an immanent, relational Presence who influences daily lives. And His relevance seems to be all-inclusive. Testimonies about God spring forth from the mouths of children, the elderly, and those in middle age. They encompass times of joy, sorrow, and indifference. The intelligent and the illiterate, the rich and the poor, the savage and the Christian have all paid Him tribute. The scope of this testimony is too great for me to dismiss as mere hearsay.

God is relevant. He chooses to enter the “eternal now” of our lives and make a difference. If we choose now to enter into Him, what an eternal difference He will make!           

 

¹Antony Flew, Patrick Glynn, Charles Colson, C. S. Lewis, Mortimer J. Adler, and Lee Strobel are among the many former atheists who, in light of scientific and/or philosophical evidence, have begun to believe in God. 

Daily Quotation

Paul Wylie, “On Gravity and Lift,” in Kelly Monroe, Finding God at Harvard, 110.