Why So Much Unbelief (I)?
A. The Universal Knowability of God
We can see the unfathomable glory of God in His creation. He has revealed Himself through His creation. The things created around us magnificently bear the distinct mark of the Creator’s creativity. These marks are the blueprint by which God reveals himself. This is the testimony of General Revelation.
The testimony of the Special Revelation is the Word of God that he has given to us. He speaks to us particularly through the logos, the written word of God—the Bible.
Despite these revelations, many people still discredit the word of God as a myth or the historical Jesus as a legend. In this present age, Christian faith is under fire from the rigorous attacks from atheism, whether it is a practical atheist or a theoretical atheist. Practical atheists are those who believe in God but simply live and act like an atheist. Contrarily, the theoretical atheists are those who reject God after examining the issue and discover no reason to believe that God exists.
Why, then, so much unbelief in this world? Is it simply because they have never seen God’s autograph ever found in anything anywhere in this world? Is there not a single burden of proof in the world for believing in the existence of God?
The Problem is not a Lack of Evidence.
There is evidence for the existence of God around them. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” The things made in this world reflect the glory of God.
In addition, evidence for God’s existence is found within creation. Romans 1:19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” God made His existence clear to us by virtues within us; He created us in His image. We are imago dei—the image bearers. We bear the reality of God, sensus divinitatis—the sense of the divine. Thus, human beings are the apex of his creation; this being instinctively or self-consciously senses the existence of God within.
The Problem is Moral, not Intellectual.
The evidence is not unclear in itself. It is our moral problem because we want to remain ignorant about the existence of God. We do not intend to know God. The reason behind rejecting the knowledge of God has to do with human cognitive behaviors. In his heart, man understands that his moral values surpass his actions. He is unable to meet his own moral standards, proving the shared human brokenness in the world. Humans willfully refuse to believe the ultimate cause of this creation. They suppress the truth that, in their natural state, they are unable to will good. For example, they posit the theory of spontaneous life generation to disprove the biblical narrative of human creation. However, there is no scientific evidence for the spontaneous generation of life. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), a French chemist, debunked the then widely accepted myth of spontaneous generation [1]. He simply proved that it is impossible for it to occur or produce life. Nevertheless people believe that life comes into being through spontaneous generation, and they suppress the truth simply because they do not want to embrace it.
The Problem is Self-perpetuating
Continuous suppression of the truth is moral degradation. Such behavior represents a refusal to acknowledge the truth, leading to a surrender to sin and the multiplication of sinful actions. Continual suppression of the truth results in callousness in their hearts. Ultimately, this leads to personal and socio-cultural degradation, perpetuating the problem and passing on their unbelief to future generations.
Work Citation
1. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/Bio114/spontgen.htm
