W R "Dick" Lockhart

Reading the Bible Theologically

This article comes from the ESV Study Bible.

ATHEISM

It is philosophically impossible to be an atheist, since to be an atheist you must have infinite knowledge in order to know absolutely that there is no God. But to have infinite knowledge, you would have to be God yourself. It’s hard to be god yourself and an atheist at the same time! The Bible says in Psalm 14:1,  “The fool hath said in his heart. There is no God ..”

Writing under in inspiration of the Holy Spirit the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:18-23,25

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

¹⁹ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰ 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: ²¹ Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, ²³ And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things^.

²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen^[1]

God has clearly revealed Himself in four major ways, so that man is without excuse when it comes to the knowledge of God.

First, God has revealed Himself to us through what He has created. The Bible begins with the words “In the beginning God the heavens and the earth.” Psalms 19: 1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.”

While an evangelist was speaking at a university on the scientific evidence for creation, a student of physics said to him, “I don’t care what you say, I’m still going to believe in evolution!” The evangelist pulled up his shirtsleeve and showed him his wristwatch. Then said, “You see this watch? I went down to a junkyard and found some rusty, twisted pieces of metal and threw them into a shoebox and began to shake it. I shook it for two weeks, tow months, six month, and twelve months, and all of a sudden, ‘band!’ It began to tick off 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day; it tells the day and date all by chance. Amazing!”

The student laughed and said, “That’s impossible!” The evangelist, “You mean to tell me that this watch being created by chance is impossible, yet you tell me that my eyes, which see in 3-D and color, or my brain which has 120 billion cells and 130 trillion electronic/chemical connections, are just a product of chance?”

I submit to you that it takes far more faith to believe in impersonal chance evolution that it does to believe in a divine designer, who designed and created this incredible and intricate world we live in.

Second, we also know there is a God because God has put into the heart of every person a desire to know Him. Romans 1:18-25 makes it clear that all people have an innate knowledge of God, but many have turned their backs to this knowledge and have rejected the revelation of God to follow other gods.

The fallacy of atheism is shown in the fact that when people declare, “There is no God,” instead of worshiping nothing, they always find something to worship. Man has a spiritual desire for God which he will fill either with the God or with false gods. This is universally observable, whether it is the wooden idols of primitive societies or the gods of success money, and material possessions of so-called sophisticated civilizations.

Third, we also know there is a God because God has broken into human history. God split history into B.C. and A.D. and has personally revealed Himself to us. “History” is literally “His-story.”

Two thousand years ago God looked down on a world that He had created and that He loved. He said, “I want to tell you how much I love you!”  How was God going to do this?  God said, “ I will become a man. I will live like a man and talk like a man, and by My life they will know what I am like!”  Two thousand years ago, the greatest event in human history took place. God became a man (John 1:14). His name was Jesus Christ! If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Colossians 1:15 that He is the visible image of the invisible God.

Two thousand years ago, God, who is invisible Spirit (John 4:24), became visible in the person of Jesus Christ! God the Creator of the universe took on human flesh and became a man so that we could both know what He is like and know Him personally. The greatest truth of history is that God has personally revealed Himself to us. He did not leave us alone in the universe, but has personally communicated to us, His creation!

Fourth, God has also revealed Himself to us through His Word, the Bible. Second Timothy 3:16 says,  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” Second Peter 1:21 says, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  The Bible has been translated into over 1800 languages and is consistently the number-one bestseller every year for a very good reason: It is recognized as a supernatural book,

One, it is the incredible unity and harmony of what is more than just one book. The Bible is actually the collection of 66 different books written by 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years. Yet we find that from Genesis to Revelation, God has given us a revelation of Himself and His desire for mankind that is a perfect unity and harmony. I challenge anyone who does not believe the Bible to be a supernatural book to bring together any other 66 books of your choosing which were written by 40 different authors over 1500 years and find the consistency and unity of theme and purpose that you have in the Holy Bible.

The Bible’s integrity is also verified by its historical, geographical, and archaeological accuracy. The hundreds of fulfilled prophecies given through the inspired prophets demonstrate one of the truly awe-inspiring evidences that it is God’s book.

Atheism is not a valid philosophy. It is intellectually bankrupt and demonstrates a willful denial of all that God has revealed. It is the very denial of the world around us and all the stars in the heavens.