Not only is there evidence for God’s existence from biblical revelation but there are also the philosophical arguments supporting the concept of God’s existence. Admittedly, these arguments may not convince those antagonistic to the Christian faith of its validity. However, they do provide a thought provoking response to those who contend that Christianity does not contain any assemblage of reasoning or logical thought.
What then are the philosophical arguments for God’s existence? They include the ontological argument, the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, the moral argument, the anthropological argument, the religious experience argument and the argument from the existence of miracles: most notably Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
The Anthropological Argument indicates that man is a unique creation by God. The Scriptures claim that man was created in the image of God(Gen. 1:26-27).
In June 2003, Dr. R. C. Sproul wrote an article entitled Imago Dei. The following are excerpts from that thought provoking column.
There are few theological controversies more crucial than that which rages over the question of the nature of humanity. In our age, we face a real threat of the “abolition of man.”
Modern thinkers have an overwhelming desire to wrench our understanding of ourselves out of any connection with the God of the Bible. But anthropology is married to theology. Take God out of the equation, and the question of the nature of man (anthropos) is left to stand or fall on its own. When God is driven into exile or vanquished altogether, people follow suit, for we are made in God’s image. The image-bearer loses his significance the moment the One whose image he bears is eclipsed.
Thus, the message every young person gets today in the name of science and advanced education is that he or she is a cosmic accident, a grown-up germ that has emerged fortuitously from the slime, garbed temporarily in the guise of intelligence and intentionality (which are really myths that obscure the truth of sheer physical causes). This intelligent animal (homo sapiens) is said to share the destiny of the snail and the octopus, the abyss of nothingness.
Thus, man is reduced to a brute of insignificant origin. And modern culture has embraced this animalistic view of human beings in the arenas of science, law, public education, the arts, and business.
While there is great rancor today over such issues as gender equity and sexual orientation, the deeper question is voiced by the cynic, who asks simply, “Who cares?” What difference does it make whether males exploit females or whether the beast is heterosexual or homosexual in its orientation? We don’t get excited about the sexual proclivities of worms, so why care about those of people? If, indeed, people are sophisticated animals, bestial in their fundamental constitution, then ultimately it doesn’t really matter much whether towers collapse on them or snipers pick them off one at a time.
What then is the answer to this realistic evaluation of a world seemingly without value because it has at large rejected the God of the Bible? Dr. Sproul will provide several biblical answers.
Soli deo Gloria!
Dr. R.C. Sproul was founder of Ligonier Ministries, founding pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., and first president of Reformation Bible College. He was author of more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God.
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