I heard two very familiar arguments the other day from someone who claims God does not exist. I was not surprised or caught off guard by these arguments because they are common and not new. The first is stated something like this: God cannot be all knowing and/or all seeing. The second argument states that it is impossible for God to be all powerful. The premise for the first argument is that if God is all knowing and seeing, then He knows what He will do in the future. If that is the case then God cannot change his mind or have the ability to change his mind (no freewill). If He does change his mind then He is no longer all seeing and all knowing. The premise of the second argument is that if God is all powerful, then he can make a object so big or heavy, that He cannot move it. If He cannot make such a object, then he is not all powerful. If he can make such an object, then he is not all powerful due to the fact that He cannot move the object. I love these questions and would like to offer my two cents on the philosophical topic!
First, I have to say that many people make the mistake of trying to fully comprehend God. We want to understand the creator of the universe so we can somehow control him. I personally do not want a God that underwhelms me or is merely a sports hero that I admire and cheer for during a sporting event. In reality we can only know what God revealed about himself to us, and what he reveled to us is only a fraction of what He is and what He is capable of. The problem with these two arguments is that they use human reasoning and understanding which is limited, then we use this limited (finite) knowledge to disprove the creator of the universe (infinite) Is 55:9, Job 11:7. It reminds me of when my son was young and had a very limited understanding of the world and life and would often try to convince me I am wrong about something I knew to be right, that I experienced, or created for him (btw how old do they get before this changes?). So with that in mind let me dive into the arguments. (As you read these arguments please remember I am using human reasoning)
Let me target the argument that God cannot be all knowing or seeing. Again, the argument says that if God is all knowing and seeing then He cannot change his mind. If God cannot change his mind then He is a God with no freewill, which is not the character of God. If He can change his mind in the future then He is not all seeing. The premise of this argument is flawed, because it implies God does not know all variables. In order for God to change his mind, which He can, there must be a variable that happens for him to do so. For example, I plan on having lunch with a friend today, but if an emergency happens then I will change my mind and handle that emergency, but if I am all seeing and knowing, I will know this emergency would happen, therefore I would know ahead of time that I will change my plans. The all knowing/seeing argument has nothing to do with freewill or change of mind. It is limiting God to principles and physics that God created for us. One thing we must remember, God is not bound by time, therefore he is present, He is not past or future. He is an infinite God that always was and always will be! (Ex 3:14). Again we cannot place a finite argument and apply it to an infinite God.
In my opinion the better more intriguing argument is "can God make an object so big that He cannot move it". First off, God created the universe, and last time I checked that's a pretty big object. But for arguments sake, lets say he did make an object so big or heavy that He could not move it. To begin I have to define some terms to clarify this human argument. When we state "move" are we talking about lift? Carry? Push? This will determine how we proceed to answer. First (again we are being finite in asking this question), things are heavy because of the law of gravity. If you take the object into outer space it will weigh significantly less. God also made physics, so things are "heavy" because of God. So already we can see the flaw in this question. Can God go around his own creation of physics and gravity? Sure! So in that aspect He can make a very heavy object that He cannot move, but since He is the creator of physics He can change the laws of physics that would make it possible for him to move the object (again he doesn't have to "change physics" but I am using the human argument). Let me illustrate it this way, if I were to build a car from scratch and try to lift it, I most likely couldn't do it unless I built a go-cart or cardboard vehicle. But suppose I built a Hummer, I couldn't move it by lifting it, but I can get in the vehicle, start it up, and drive it, therefore moving it. Why? Because I created and designed it to function in that way. Now I know those skeptics will tell me it is not the same thing, but I claim it is. By putting parameters on my example by saying, "Driving it is not what I mean, you need to physically move it to prove your point" is like saying God can't put himself into such a small box that he can fit inside. Why is it the same? God putting himself into a small box is limiting who He is, (but He can do this if He wanted to). So by saying I can only "move" the Hummer by lifting it, I am restricting myself by not doing the logical thing and driving it. However, I'll continue down this thread. Suppose I lifted weights and did strength training for years until I was able to lift the Hummer and move it? Would you say I both created something so big that I could not move it, but eventually I was able to move it? Therefore, I did both right? I created something so big that I could not lift it, but then I was able to lift it by training and transforming my body. To continue, some may say I could never gain enough strength to move the vehicle, but I say that if I cannot it is because I am human and I have limitations.
My point is this: God is a big God, and we cannot try to use human reasoning to minimize His greatness. (Job 26:14) It is easy to dismiss God because we cannot fully understand and comprehend him (Job 37:5), but then again, why do we want a God that we can fully comprehend and understand? Its like when a son realizes he is physically stronger than the father. At that point the father becomes aware (if he wasn't already) that he is very human. Sometimes we want to become physically and/or intellectually stronger than our spiritual father, however, that will never be. I take joy in knowing my God is a Big God.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Haters Gonna Hate!
Today as I ponder some of the things that make us tick in our society, I thought about the issue of haters. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the slang term haters, here is a definition from urban dictionary:
- A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.
- Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn't really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch.
We can look all through the bible and see that haters. Cain hated on Abel, Pharaoh hated on the Hebrews, Saul hated on David, Pharisees and religious leaders hated on Jesus, and so on. As we can see the "hate" is nothing new, but when we look closely we can see what this hate leads too. Cain killed Abel, Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews and ordered Hebrew babies to be killed, Saul wanted David killed, and we all know what happened to Jesus. Full blown hate leads to sin, the result of that sin is evil, which will eventually lead to death (Romans 6:23, James 1:14-15). This is playing out at sporting events, as you will hear about shootings, fights, stabbings and other violence after sports games. Most of us have heard about the Giants fan that was attacked at Dodger Stadium that suffered brain damage as a result of the beatings. What drives us as a society to act in such a way? Why are we at one time or another, "a hater"?
I could go into many reasons why this occurs, but let me just mention one. I believe we hate because we have a loss of identity. Let me explain. Sometimes another persons success threatens our confidence in our own existence. Going back to the sports team example, when our team loses we feel our relevance is somehow diminished, and we aren't even playing! We wrap our identities up in the team by buying jerseys, banners, bumper stickers, etc. Therefore when our team misses the playoffs, has a losing season, or disappoints us in some way, we somehow feel a loss of existence. This is compounded when a rival team enjoys success. Suddenly we feel that our relevance is gone and it is given to others, which results in us becoming haters.We have a desire to dominate. Our team is the best. What I am doing is the best. I am in first place. The problem is we have chosen to wrap our identity in the wrong things! We must remember that our identity is in Christ, and once we embrace that identity, the fact that we have been chosen , we no longer have to worry about dominating over others (John 15:16).When we remember our identity is not in ourselves, our favorite sports team, or anything else we place it in, we can focus on enjoying the freedom, grace, and love that we have in Christ. We do not need to hate because it is no longer our nature, we do not need to dominate over others because we love not only what God loves, but we love how God loves (John 15:12-17). God loved us so much that he paid a debt that he did not owe. His death on the cross was our gain, and if anyone had a legitimate right to be a hater it was Christ. So next time you feel yourself having a little hate towards someone just remind yourself, why am I "hatin"?
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