There have been many very convincing arguments for the existence of a designer/creator of the universe, set forth by Christian philosophers and Christian scientists. One of the most plausible is in the book The Creator and the Cosmos by Hugh Ross. On page 129 he lays out a table with a number of cosmic variables, that if were slightly different, would make life on this planet or any planet impossible. William Dembski explains in his book, The Design Revolution, why the specified complexity present in all life on Earth is evidence of a Designer. But these only set forth the plausibility of a transcendent God, and all monotheistic religions point to a higher power. Christianity, however, is based on a personal God. The basis of this personal God is exclusively Christian. A relationship with any being requires three things to be personal: one it must be present, two there must be communication, and three there must be a personality.
The microscope has been around for four hundred years, and the telescope has been around for even longer. How much further do we have to look, to find evidence of God? If God were something to be found, we probably would have found at least evidence of him by now. He is, however, elusive and omnipotent and must not want to be found in any empirical way. But since he existed before space and time, and created both, and nothing exists outside of him, he must be all pervasive. There is a concept among some, that although God is everywhere, that He is not “in” everything, but as Einstein’s equation E=mc2 posits, matter and energy are interchangeable and thus to an omnipresent deity, different states of matter would be inconsequential. This points to the immanent presence of God, since only God existed before creation, there can be nothing apart from God. He is here, now, in everything we touch, the air we breathe, and even ourselves. This panentheistic view allows God to be in touch with all of creation at all times. We don’t need to look back into the past to see the creator; he holds all things in existence at this and every moment (Capon, 1995, p. 178)
Secondly, for there to be the possibility of a relationship with a being of any sort, communication is necessary. There are those who have heard the voice of God, but the majority of our communication with God is from our side. The answer to a prayer, most prayers of request, can be made into an evidence of the nature of God. Not the answer necessarily, but the timing of the answer. If one were to pray on Sunday morning that a friend, who was not an attendee, would attend church this morning, and that friend turns up for the service it would be an answer to that prayer. How does this work? Does the friend get jerked out of bed and into his Sunday clothes against his will? Of course not. The prayer was heard on Sunday morning, but God, since he is working outside the restraints of directional time, can start to work on the friend’s heart earlier in the week, to soften them towards the idea of church on Sunday or even put the idea into their head, without interfering in free will. The friend, of course, would be able to override this good idea, as anyone can override any good idea. God started the work early, foreseeing the prayer on Sunday. As C. S. Lewis states in Mere Christianity “If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn… God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all.” (1943, p. 148) God does not move back in time, all points of our existence are present currently to him. Our prayers can be answered!
The third necessity in a relationship is personality. There must be something in the other person that speaks to our nature and allows for empathy. This proposition works in both directions. God became incarnate in the person of Jesus. Jesus grew like all children through to adulthood, just like all of us, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The New Testament is full of examples of Jesus’ personality; he gets angry, he becomes sad, he speaks sarcastically, he is kind. He probably would not have had much of a following if he had not had a personality.
God knows, and states that he is, as the creator of the universe, unknowable. In Isaiah it says “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.” (55:8) and in I Corinthians, Paul states “For the foolishness of God
is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” (1:25) If an omnipotent, omniscient being states that his thoughts are above ours, the The probability of us figuring out the nature of his existence is very slim. For us to know God in any meaningful way, he has to make himself accessible. He did this when he became man. The mechanics of the incarnation are a paradox, but the Christian faith is full of them, and yet it allows for a glimpse into the nature of our Creator.
We have an eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent creator who for his own delight has created the universe and everything in it ex nihilo, and yet intervenes in our world for good, in the work of redemption and in the answering of everyday prayers. He became incarnate so as to empathize and allow empathy for himself, and to allow his creatures to know him to the extent possible. His omnipresence allows for subtle workings and grace that still give way to the free will necessary for us to turn to him as our choice.
Capon, R. F. (1995) The Romance of the Word. Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Dembski, W. A. (2004) The Design Revolution. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
Lewis, C. S. (1943) Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Ross, H. (1994) The Creator and the Cosmos. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing Group.
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