May 15, 2004, Vol.4, No.10.
Two new articles every two weeks.
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THIS ISSUE: "Forms
of Unbelief" (see below)
and "The Godhead"
Series: Evidence for Faith
Forms of Unbelief
guest article by Wayne S. Walker
The last several articles in this series have affirmed that
there is one true God who is the Creator. This God has revealed
Himself to mankind in His word, and we must have faith in Him.
However, not everyone accepts the evidence for God's existence.
In our time, it is fashionable in many circles -- especially
scientific, educational, and sociological -- not to believe in
God. But a refusal to believe in God is not new. Around 1000
B.C. the Psalmist wrote, "The fool has said in his heart,
'There is no God.' They are corrupt; they have done abominable
works; there is none who does good." (Psalm 14:1). In this
article, we want to look at some forms of unbelief.
The atheist denies the
very existence of God. The word "atheist" literally
means "not God," and in the original language is found
in Ephesians 2:12 where Paul describes the unbelieving Gentiles
of his day as being "without God in the world." A "theist"
is a believer in God; hence, an "atheist" is an unbeliever
in God. The Humanist Manifesto II says, "...Humanists
still believe that traditional theism, especially faith in the
prayer-hearing God, assumed to love and care for persons, to
hear and understand their prayers, and to be able to do something
about them, is an unproved and outmoded faith." (p.13).
The agnostic claims that
it is impossible to know whether God exists or not. This term
was coined in 1869 by Thomas Huxley as a play of the name "gnostic."
The ancient Gnostics claimed special knowledge not available
to the public. Huxley used "agnostic" to imply that
with regard to the existence of God there is no knowledge to
be had. Their claim is not merely that they do not know whether
God exists or not, but that we cannot know because there is just
not enough evidence to decide. Agnostics are like the chief priests
and elders in Matthew 12:23-27. When asked about the existence
of God, they say, "We do not know," to avoid the consequences
of examining the evidence carefully and making a decision.
The deist acknowledges
the existence of a supreme being but denies His revelation to
man and His acting in history. Deists believe only in "natural
theology," saying that God was the "original cause"
and created the world as a man who winds up a machine but then
just sits back and watches it go. He is not only distinct from
the world but apart from it and its concerns. famous deists include
Thomas Paine, Daniel Defoe, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
and Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire. Deists fail to recognize
of God that "...in Him we live and move and have our being..."
(Acts 17:28).
Infidels claim to believe
in God and even in His revelation, but reject Jesus Christ as
His divine Son. Jews (who do not accept Jesus as the Messiah),
Unitarians (who believe that only the Father is God, not the
Son), Spiritualists (who think of Jesus as merely another spirit
being), and Jehovah's Witnesses (who say that Jesus is just a
"god") would all fall into this category. But in John
5:23, Jesus says, "That all men should honor the Son just
as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does
not honor the Father who sent Him." If one truly believes
in God, He will believe in what God says about Christ.
Modernists say that they
believe in God, the Bible, and even the deity of Christ, at least
to some degree, but they reject the Bible's infallibility, denying
the creation account, the story of the flood, the existence of
miracles, the virgin birth of Jesus, and the resurrection from
the dead. Also called "higher critics" or "classic
liberals," they occupy places of authority in most theological
seminaries and denominational organizations. Yet, if we accept
Jesus as a truly good man, what can we do with the fact that
He firmly believed in the creation account and the flood story
(Matthew 19:4; 24:37-39)? Was He mistaken? Or did He intentionally
deceive people? And is either is true, how could He have been
a great teacher?
Some years ago theologian Thomas Althizer popularized the
"Death of God" concept. He did not really believe that
there ever was any God, but merely affirmed that when people
lose their need for their "God" then that God dies.
Regardless of the form which it may take, all those who do not
believe in God as the Bible reveals Him are in a state of unbelief.
And Revelation 21:8 tell us that all unbelievers will have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. The whole
world may lie in unbelief, but our "Faith is the victory
that overcomes the world."
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