Answers to Atheists (Part Three)

            I spent part of this past week on Twitter verbally sparring with several atheists who posed numerous questions related to their disbelief.  Because it’s difficult to answer their questions in 140 characters or less, I’ve taken the debate to the Pearls of Promise website to respond and to provide you with information when you have to defend your faith. Today is the third part of a four part devotional series.

            The atheist said, “If you want me to pay attention, provide evidence your God exists or any god for that matter.”

            To provide all the evidence for the existence of God would take more space than this devotion will permit.  Just ask apologist, Lee Strobel, who filled a book in Case for the Creator.

            So the plan in the confines of this limited venue, is to provide the reason why I believe God exists and the evidence that has made an impact on me throughout the years.

            Creation is enough.

            What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8:4)  

            In my response to the atheist’s challenge to provide evidence God exists, I responded, “You are the evidence.”

            Our sophisticated genetic makeup laughs in the face of the big bang theory and shouts proof of an intelligent designer.  After reading Strobel’s Case for the Creator, his information on DNA was compelling.  He says, “DNA is the most efficient information storage system in the universe.” Strobel says one teaspoon of DNA could hold all of the precise assembly instructions for all of the proteins of every species of animal that ever existed on the planet and “still have information left over for all of the information in every book ever written.”

            DNA is just one aspect of the human body. There is the intricate cardio vascular system with about twenty-five trillion blood cells. The musculoskeletal system boasts 206 bones and more than 600 muscles. 

            For a simple look at the detailed nature of the human body, Randomhistory.com provides concise facts :

• The circulatory system is approximately 60,000 miles long.
• The skin contains approximately 640,000 sense receptors, scattered unevenly over the body’s surface.
• An estimated five million olfactory receptors are clustered in the membrane at the upper part of our nasal passages. These receptors help us distinguish among thousands of different odors.
• There are about 9,000 taste buds on the surface of the tongue, in the throat, and on the roof of the mouth.
• Hundreds of billions of neurons carry electrical signals that control the body from the brain and the spinal cord.
• Humans produce about 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime. Saliva is required for taste—until food is dissolved by saliva, we cannot taste it.
• An adult human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells.

            And that’s just the human body. What about the animals, birds and vegetation?

            I once heard an apologetics message that used the fox as one of the proofs for a creator.  While I can’t remember the speaker’s name, I do remember the example.     There are over twenty species of foxes in the world but their appearance varies depending on the climate they live in.  Arctic foxes have shorter legs, thicker fur and thick and hairy footpads to insulate them from the cold.

            Meanwhile Fennic Foxes that live in the Sahara desert are designed specifically for that region. According to National Geographic, “Their distinctive, bat-like ears radiate body heat and help keep them cool. They also have long, thick hair that insulates them during cold nights and protects them from hot sun during the day. Even the fox’s feet are hairy, which helps them perform like snowshoes and protects them from extremely hot sand.”

            Red foxes that live in more moderate climates are shorter haired but use their tails for warmth when the weather gets cold.

            The fox represents one example of the diversity in creation, again pointing to intelligent design.

            It’s mind boggling when you consider the variation of created things. There are over 28,000 species of fish, approximately 10,000 bird species, almost a million species of insects and according to discover.com, there are 7.77 million animal species and 298,000 plant species. Overall, there are 8.74 million different species on planet earth. Did it randomly happen? No way.

            The solar system is so vast, scientists are still discovering how far it stretches. There are about 200 million stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone.

            Every time I look out my back window, creation is enough to know beyond a shadow of a doubt God exists.

            But if for some reason, creation is not enough for you, consider this possibility.  Perhaps there is more to life and the life beyond than your finite mind can handle. While in seminary I was struck by the writings of Anselm of Canterbury in his work, The Proslogian.  The Proslogian was written as a dialogue to and with God about the validity of his existence.  Anselm challenged the non believer when he said perhaps God is “something than which nothing greater can be thought.”

            If there is something which nothing greater can be thought, then that leaves an element of doubt and the possibility that God exists.

            I know I’m speaking primarily to believers and I hope you will be able to use this information as proof of God’s almighty presence. 

            However, if you are not a believer and now, because you are excepting the fact that you might not know all, I am challenging you to ask God to reveal himself to you. Jeremiah 29:13 promises, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

            As a conclusion, God is love (1 John 4:8).  Where do you think that emotion came from?  Was it an accident? Did it evolve from a cell? No, God is love and we are created in God’s image. That’s why the ability to love comes naturally to us.

            God, who is beyond our comprehension, loves us so much that he wants an intimate relationship with us. That’s why he puts it on the heart of people like me to make a case for his existence. Why should I care except that I want everyone to experience the redeeming love and grace of God that I am humbled by. Only God can take a heart of stone and transform it into a heart of flesh. Only God can have a heart for a poor fatherless child like me headed down the wrong road and place me on the right path.

            And because he loves us, he gives us freedom to choose. To believe or not to believe.

          Before Jesus healed a boy possessed by an evil spirit, the boy’s father said to Jesus, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

            Ask yourself, “Why don’t I believe?” Then try following it with “Help me overcome my unbelief.”

            As I peer over my computer and watch the branches of the trees sway in the breeze, creation is still enough. It’s the reason I believe.

            On Tuesday, the series will continue with proof for the existence of Jesus Christ.