God Issues Today: "Worms and Faith"

Author, educator and commentator Dr. James Denison has been pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas since June, 1998. Prior to that, he was pastor at churches in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Midland (at First Baptist) and Mansfield, Texas.

So far the worm has failed to turn. You have probably heard about the "Conficker" worm, a virus which is believed to have infected up to 15 million computers around the world. This morning's news reports indicate that the chaos predicted for April 1 has not yet materialized. Experts feared that the worm would trigger machines to access personal files, send spam, clog networks and crash sites. Whether the worm will become more malicious tomorrow is anyone's guess.

In a fallen world filled with computer worms and worse, why believe that the God of Christianity is real and relevant? This is the question of Christopher Hutchens and the "new atheists," an issue which he and four apologists debated at the recent Christian Book Expo. I was privileged to be one of the debaters, and have been discussing this issue in the morning essays following the event. We will finish that conversation today.

My central assertion is that faith in God is a relationship; like all relationships, it requires a commitment which transcends the evidence and becomes self-validating. It will be verified beyond question when our Creator returns to the planet he made. In the meantime, those who trust him as their Lord find him real, relevant, and faithful.

Atheists usually want more proof for God than a relationship can produce. In response, I wonder: Does the Queen of England exist? Not so I can prove it. I can doubt every reference to her in the media. If you claim to have met her, I could refuse to believe you. Only if I met her for myself could I be absolutely certain that she is real.

Do love and friendship exist? I cannot prove to you that my wife loves me, or that my best friend is my best friend. I could tell you about the times they have expressed their commitment to me, but you could say they are lying. I could show you all the wonderful things they do for me, but you could claim that they are manipulating and misleading me. You'd have to experience my marriage or friendship to know that they are real. That's just the way it is with personal relationships. Even with the God of the universe.

It seems to me that God has done everything he can do to prove his reality to us. The rational arguments for his existence demonstrate that faith is reasonable and logical. He has interacted with our world throughout human history, and entered our race personally. He gave us a trustworthy written record of his creative work. He is available personally to everyone who is willing to trust in him. As a result, you could argue that more evidence exists for God than for Julius Caesar or George Washington.

The biggest problem atheists have with believing in God is that such faith requires them to accept the supernatural. If I am a materialist, certain that supernatural reality cannot exist, no amount of proof or persuasion will convince me of a supernatural being. Once you conclude that the world must be flat, nothing in logic or experience can prove you wrong. The presupposition determines the conclusion.

Of course, believing that the supernatural cannot exist is a belief. Materialism is a faith commitment. A materialist cannot prove that the supernatural does not exist, any more than a supernaturalist can prove that it does. The best we can do is to examine the evidence and then make a decision which transcends it. You'll know God is real when you ask him to be real in you. Why not today?

Note: Many of you have asked where you can view a video of Saturday's debate. Christian Book Expo officials tell us that it will be posted on "Tangle" (formerly GodTube) in the next few days. I am grateful for your interest.