THE existence of man’s intellectual, moral and religious nature proves the existence of God. Man is capable of reasoning on deep and difficult questions. He is capable of inventing physical and mental objects. He is capable of acts of high morality, goodness and self-denial. He is endowed with the sense of obligation to right. He feels his dependence on a higher power. Therefore he is adapted to an intellectual, moral and religious life. From the fact that man has intellectual powers, we conclude that the first cause who caused the first man also has intelligence; for He could not give what He did not have. Further, from the fact that man possesses moral and religious powers we infer that the maker of the first man must have moral and religious powers, for to make moral and religious powers implies their possession in their maker. The existence of these powers in us implies from the standpoint of cause and effect that there is a God and that He is wise, just and loving.
Experience of Those in Harmony with God
Another evidence of God’s existence is the experience of those who come into harmony with Him – His consecrated people. They find by experience that at every step of faith in, and obedience toward God that they take, they have fulfilled to them His promises connected with that step. Thus, as they exercise repentance toward God, they find that He in harmony with His promise enables them to hate and forsake sin and to love and practice righteousness. As they exercise faith in Jesus as their Savior, they find the promised peace with God becoming theirs.
As they exercised obedience unto consecration, they received the promised begetting of the Spirit (for the non-spirit-begotten, the enlightenment of the Spirit). They find that for every faithful effort to grow in grace, knowledge and fruitfulness in service is rewarded by such growth. In exercising the privilege of prayer, they receive evidence of God’s dealing with them in the answers that they receive to such prayers. In harmony with His promise, they find Him working all things for their good. To them His constant dealing with them is the most impressive and conclusive evidence of His existence and of His main attributes – wisdom, power, justice and love.
Impossibility of Disproving God’s Existence
Our final proof for God’s existence is the impossibility of disproving His existence. Atheism is unprovable, for to prove atheism, one must himself be God – which would prove there is a God. The following considerations prove this proposition: (1) Before one can truly say that there is no God, he must know and thoroughly understand every being, thing, principle, work, force, etc., past and present, in the universe; for if one of these should escape his knowledge and understanding, that one might be God; or to put it in other words, he himself must know everything – be omniscient; (2) before one can authoritatively say that there is no God, he must be everywhere in the universe, and that from all eternity to all eternity, and be cognizant of everything everywhere and at the same time; in other words, he must be omnipresent and eternal as well as omniscient; (3) to be able to say conclusively that there is no God one must be omnipotent; for thus only could he be guaranteed as being proof against an omnipotent being who might desire to hide its existence from others by limiting the scope of his knowledge so as to make him never discover the former’s existence; and (4) in order to declare absolutely that there is no God one must also be a spirit; for only spirits can see spirits; and since those who are not spirits are sure that they have not seen a spirit being, which God is, they can never with certainty affirm that there is no God. Thus to be able to prove that there is no God, one must himself be an eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent spirit being, that is, must be himself God, and thus after all there would be one.