There are two main views of the universe.
- There is a God who transcends all of the universe and perhaps other universes. This God is infinite in scale, knowledge, eternal in existence, infinite in power, is everywhere, infinite in multi-tasking. He created the universe, holds it in existence, and controls every detail.
- There is no God but the universe exists of its own and has always existed. It is controlled by laws of physics and chemistry that have always existed. Man is nothing more than a highly developed evolved being. Life evolved from inanimate matter. Emotions, will, intelligence, all are products of evolution.
As widely divergent as these two views are, both have in common, a problem of logic. The logical problem is that it is beyond man’s reasoning to comprehend anything that had no beginning. While some hold the second view and acknowledge the problem of no beginning, they contend that it is more sensible to believe that a set of physical laws and chemistry govern all of the universe than that there is a being called God who designed, made and governs all of the universe.
The problem of No. 2 is that no one has ever been able to duplicate the origin of life in any form. It is not satisfactory to hypothesize that life just spontaneously evolved from a mix of molecules but not be able to prove that this process will work. And yet that is the dilemma of those holding View No. 2. Moreover, there is hard evidence to refute the entire process of evolution even though those holding the evolutionary view argue for it anyway because they have no alternative except view No. 1. And they refuse to accept view No. 1 for philosophical reasons.
In addition, view No. 2 denies the history of the New Testament which contains accounts of miracles including the most salient one, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the history of New Testament miracles stands up to scrutiny, then the case for view No. 1 is greatly strengthened. Before dismissing the New Testament miracles as not worthy of belief because they are impossible, remember that both views No. 1 and 2 are impossible by the logic of humans. So rather than dismiss the New Testament miracles out of hand, the importance of this question deserves a careful scrutiny.
It should be pointed out that many very educated and intelligent men over centuries have indeed examined the New Testament miracles and concluded the evidence that indeed they did take place is compelling. The objections raised by opponents are not based on the evidence of history but generally on the prima facie case that the miracles did not happen because they could not have happened.
The bottom line is that the choice of the two views hangs by one line of reasoning on the veracity of the New Testament. A careful, even if critical, study of this is well deserved by any serious person. Reading the New Testament is only a start and from there a careful, reasoned study of corollary evidence is recommended.
It is understandable that one might want to hold an agnostic position on both views. If View 2 is the correct choice, then nothing is required. Indeed, our existence as well as we can tell will end with our lives and nothing we do or don’t do has any effect on this. On the other hand if View 1 is true, then it has profound implications requiring action. A whole set of other questions follow, as below:
Is God a person? Does He have a plan for our lives? Did He indeed send his Son, Jesus Christ to earth? Is the Bible true? Is the eternal existence of man true? What is this existence and can it be influenced by what man does or does not do?
If the answers to these questions is affirmative, then action of the most crucial nature is called for. Failure to take action if View 1 is true could result in eternal destruction as well as a failure to enjoy the fruits of a life in harmony with the Creator of the Universe.