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| Vol. 15 No. 5 May 2013 | Page 15 |
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| Vol. 15 No. 5 May 2013 | Page 15 |
Roy J. Hearn (deceased)
For many years an organization called the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism was active in spreading its propaganda in efforts to destroy faith in the living God. More active today are the humanists who have set forth their atheistic doctrines in Manifestos I and II. The Bible rightly classifies such proponents of atheism: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). Abundant evidence that there is the God of heaven is available. Many years ago, a well-known novelist of this country, who was proud of his skepticism, in a speech before a large assembly in Kansas City challenged God to prove His existence. He said, “There is no God anywhere. If there is a God, I defy him. I will give Almighty God fifteen minutes to come down here and strike me dead, and if He doesn’t do it, I will have proved that God does not exist.” This lecturer laid his watch upon the podium, and when fifteen minutes had passed, while the audience waited in breathless silence, he picked up his time piece and said, “I have proved there is no God.” The audience applauded enthusiastically.
National newspapers grabbed the story and a Niagara of ink flowed as the presses gave prominence to the affair. Sensational! Some of the older people who read this article may remember Mr. Arthur Brisbane who wrote a syndicated column for some fifty or more newspapers in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and was read by more people than the works of any other writer. After briefly referring to the skeptic’s dare, with no personal remarks, Mr. Brisbane wrote as follows:
Out in the desert of New Mexico, a colony of little red ants decided to move from their old home to a new one. As they were hurrying busily across the plain, their progress was suddenly interrupted by two shiny streaks of steel that intersected their pathway. An inquiring ant said to his neighbor, “What is this barrier across our path?” The wise and intelligent neighbor said, “It is the right of way of the Santa Fe Railway.” In response to this the second ant gave a graphic description of the mighty system called the Santa Fe, and told how it spanned two-thirds of the continent with this girding roadbed of steel. He told of mighty steel horses snorting smoke and fire, that drew a race of super-beings called humans, at an incredible speed across the desert.
When he had finished his description of this mighty transportation system, the skeptical ant said, “I do not believe a word of it. How would it keep on running?” So the intelligent ant described the personnel who operate this great system and told how a man named Benjamin Storey lived in a place called Chicago and guided the destinies of this great concern. The skeptic drew himself up on his hind legs and glared at the gleaming wall of steel. In stentorian tones he announced, “I deny that there is any Santa Fe. I deny that it has a president. If there is such a man as Benjamin Storey, I will give him fifteen minutes to come out from Chicago and step on me to prove his existence.”
Mr. Brisbane concluded his column by remarking, “Can’t you imagine the busy president of the Santa Fe Railway, with the destinies of that great concern in his hands, closing his desk and suspending his business to dash out to New Mexico and step on one red ant, just to prove that he did exist?” After this, nothing more was heard of the skeptic who challenged God. One might wonder, if the skeptic is dead, what he now thinks about the existence of God. Doubtless he knows, but it is too late to repent.
Those who deny the existence of God are in the same class as the red ant. The humanist and other classes of atheist and infidels and so-called intellectuals are like a large colony of doodle bugs. Among said bugs there was spread a rumor that someone had seen some gigantic creatures called human beings. As some humans deny the existence of God, the bugs denied there was such a thing as a human being. A conference of doodle bugs was called. Several days were spent on discussion and debate. At the conclusion of the convention the doodle bugs wrote a Manifesto denying that there is such a thing as a large animal called human being. So it is now. Men who are “educated above their intelligence” meet in solemn conclave and vote God out of existence. So they think!
The Bible states, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” If anyone were to look upon any architectural structure anywhere in the world and say, “It just happened so; nobody designed or built it,” the world at large would classify one such as a fool. Anyone who denies the existence of the supernatural God is a fool.
That part of the world that calls itself Christian does not talk enough about God. The weather is a daily topic. Nearly everything under heaven is talked about except man’s relationship to God. If people of the world, and the church as well, were to believe that “Thou God seest me,” there might be a great change in the world’s attitude and practices, for everyone someday must give account to God for the deeds done in the body while he lives (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).
The atheist denies that there is a God and builds upon a material foundation, and when death comes to him it is all over. So he thinks. The agnostic says that he does not know if there is a God or not, and goes on in a life of uncertainty and anxiety. The skeptic doubts that there is a God, but does not know. The materialist, like other atheists, says that we do not need a God, and builds upon perishable matter without divine guidance. All of these are gross egotists. As someone observed, “Egotism may be an element in nature’s program, for it has been said, ‘Egotism is nature’s anesthetic to dull the pain of inferiority.’”
The Babylonian empire was a glorious one (600 B.C.). The emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, boasted of what he had done in building it without God, and his kingdom perished. Alexander the Great conquered the known world, and Greece was built upon the sandy foundation of culture, knowledge and philosophy, without God, and Greece was diminished. Rome was founded upon the science of law, jurisprudence, denying God and was overthrown. In the 20th century, two times Germany has tried to build by force and has been humbled, her power broken. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17 KJV). Daniel Webster said, “So long as our nation abides by the principles taught in the Bible, it will go on prospering and to prosper.”
The reader may recall that a few years ago when the Russian astronaut went into space and upon return said there is no God because he did not see Him. If he had not been such a fool, he could have seen the evidence of God in the vehicle that took him into space, for had not there been strict compliance with the established laws of physics and chemistry, such would not have been possible. From where did the laws that govern such originate? Since law is not a material substance, it could not have evolved, and since they are consistent, the laws of nature must have been arranged by divine intelligence.
W.H. Book in Sermons for the People tells of an infidel who was in discussion with a group of young men, and made arguments they could not answer. It so happened that an old preacher was in town holding a meeting. The young men called him for help. As he came down the stairs, he heard the infidel say, “If you have a God, show him to me; let me feel him; let me hear him; let me taste him; let me smell him.” The young men could not produce such a God. The infidel then said, “If you cannot approach your God through any of these avenues – the senses – you have no God.” The old preacher put his hand upon the shoulder of the infidel and said, “I perceive that you are an idiot.” The infidel replied angrily, “I have never been accused of that before.” The preacher said, “I will prove it.” and asked, “What is an idiot?” The infidel replied, “A man without a mind.” The preacher then said, “Let me see your mind; let me taste it; let me feel it; let me smell it; let me hear it.” He was told that it was impossible to grant his request. The preacher then said, “You have only five avenues of approach, and if I cannot get hold of your mind through any of these avenues, you have not a mind, and if you have no mind, you are an idiot.” Later, the infidel saw the preacher and thanked him and said, “I am now a believer. I never knew before what a fool I was. I believe now in things I cannot understand.”
Every day we behold things we do not understand, but do not reject them. We do not understand why when a goose eats corn it grows feathers, and when a pig eats corn it grows hair, but not many people refuse ham. We do not know how a black cow eats green grass, produces white milk and yellow butter, but not many refuse meat or milk.