Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Does Material Nature Give Evidence of A Personal Sovereign God?.

For since the creation
of the world
His invisible atrributes
are clearly seen, 
being understood by
the things that are
made, even His
eternal power and
Godhead, so that 
they are without excuse,
Romans 1:20
     From the beginning of time man has sought answers to many questions, questions concerning God, the world, and of themselves. With all their seeking, perusing, musing, and philosophizing, many have not achieved the answers they sought. In order to bring some harmony to their minds they developed answers that were derived from their own presuppositions, they became staunch in their predeterminative thinking, without clearly seeing what can be understood by the creation itself; there is a God, One with eternal power, the One who made all things; therefore, they are without excuse. To study systematically as we have been doing is to aid us in our arrival of the truth so that we will not be without an excuse, no excuse will be necessary for we have diligently seen both nature and we have the internal evidence giving to us, His children, Himself, our faith, and our salvation. So as not to be obscure in our thinking and being rational in thought so that we may be the Ambassadors that we have become due to the work on the cross by Jesus Christ and by the election of God (2 Corinthians 5:20), we ask and seek answers being able then to address the questions posed by others who themselves are seeking the truth. An important question is that if life be the mind, rather that vital forces are mental force, as we may see from the mode by which it acts, then, where does that mind reside? Can it be found in the infinitesimally small germ of the smallest of seeds, in other words is it internal, or is it external, outside of plants and animals? Why ask this question in the first place? Do we not know where the mind resides? No! This perplexing question has plagued the thought of man demanding an answer, and many answers have been given. For some men the answer is that nature itself is intelligent. To them nature does not mean the material world, but things of nature that have been implanted. Many see that the forces of the world are active, and they conceive them to be a substance or some animating principle, or that these forces are the soul of the world. It can been seen from those answers that the answers derived at have only removed God, and especially a Sovereign God, who is Providential. There are men who do believe in an extramundane personal God. They believe that He has created and rendered immanent in the world that which makes nature, nature, and in this nature there one can find the seat of all the intelligence manifested in the works of God. Some scientist only hold to a predeterminative position so that they can and do admit that this is the way to find God. If so, then why do not more men see God in nature and come to believe in Him? We cannot say that the materiality of nature does not admit and give evidence of God and that this evidence does not admit a personal God. But, if in nature all that we see is a universal mind, then that mind only operates according to the Laws of Nature making God only a partner in the forces activated by those Laws. 
     Louis Agassiz (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873), from Switzerland became a paleontologist, glaciologist, and geologist, becoming a prominent innovator in the study of earth's natural history stated what he calls: "an immaterial principle," and from that principle the answer to this question as to the residence of the mind in all activities in force is to be referred to as an organizing power. Certainly not from God, rather that it is inherent in all material as "an immaterial principle." Plato may have played an important part in the mind of Agassiz for there can be found in Plato's doctrine that ideas, are spiritual entities, and they are the life and reality of all material organisms. Unfortunately, most if not all secular schools teach our children who attend those schools, Platonic doctrine in one form or another and it is up to us as parents to recognize this teaching and be able to refute that teaching with the truth of the Bible. We are all affected in one way or another by those men and women who are considered great in their fields of expertise. It is those men and women who look for answers outside the Bible who hold to their presuppositions and predeterminations, that we as Ambassadors who have the truth of God in our hearts, and have the Bible as a guide and teacher, must confront and refute. If we do not do our duty then we can only expect that our children will be led into ideologies that are far removed from God, such as being taught that there is no God, and that the mind is only that which is immaterial, it is only that which the Laws of Nature make it to be, their mode of activity, etc. What agreement do Christians have with such unbelievers, promoters of falsehood? Nothing! We are called to be separate, not just by removing ourselves physically, rather to be mentally separate and this we can do by reading His Word, studying His Word, praying, knowing what we are confronted with by those opposing God. Here is what Paul wrote: "Therefore..."Come our from among them and be separate, says the Lord (Is. 52:11). Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17). 

For He says:
     "In an acceptable time
I have heard you,
    and in the day of
salvation I have
    helped you." (Is. 49:8).


Grace, Mercy, and Peace From God the Father: to you


Richard L. Crumb

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