APOLOGETICS
INFERRING GOD’S EXISTENCE
Christian apologetics is the name given to a branch of philosophy aimed at proving the existence of God.[i] It is based on the presupposition that reason alone can demonstrate God’s existence from the natural world he created. The basic premise is that a thing made must bear the marks of its maker. A painting by Van Goff, for instance, has the distinctive brush marks of the painter. One trained in detecting forgeries would hardly mistake a Van Goff for some other persons work. Reason is that order and ordering of ideas that, when applied to an object such as art or science, can demonstrate the relationship between an effect and a cause by tracing the one from the other.
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS: A RESPONSE
Christian apologetics is a response to atheism, the belief that there is no God, and agnosticism, that there is no proof of God’s existence. The atheist says there is no God. The agnostic that it is not known whether there is or there isn’t. The Christian apologist is not, it should be noted, trying to defend or prove the Christian faith. He is merely addressing the question of God’s existence from a rational point of view.
Let me put it this way: the Christian faith is the evidence of things not seen[ii] or based on nature.
To confuse the Christian faith with apologetics is a big mistake like mixing water with oil. Faith is the gift of God[iii] the result of God’s grace, not intellectual certainty. That may complement faith but it cannot replace faith. Faith is what it is, a response of trust in God. As St. John said, ‘We love him because he first loved us,’[iv] which is an historical and spiritual reality. This is not the certainty that God is known as he is in himself. Faith is a response to God not an intellectual analysis of God. It has a rational objective content, for instance, the Apostles Creed, but that is not faith.
THE ENEMY OF REASON
Intellectual certainty, according to St. Paul is, however, plain and clear, ‘Because’, he says, ‘that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [v]
THE CORRUPTION OF INTELLECT
Nevertheless, intellectual certainty apart, there is a bigger issue than what is known. Paul later put his finger on the real issue. ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.[vi] There is no real doubt about God’s existence, eternal power or Godhead but the mind of man is carnal, sold under sin. What is the reason for this? Paul says, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. [vii]
ABSOLUTE PROOF
Intelligence can and does infer the existence of God from what he has made, what is visible and full of beauty, design and purpose but the only absolute proof of God’s existence is God himself. The very idea of examining or proving God’s existence is like putting the cart before the horse. It makes no sense to do that sort of thing. God does the proving whether we like it or not. How logical is it for a being created by God to examine God? If God exists that procedure is defunct and invalid. If God does not exist it is still invalid to beg the question of God not existing. Why would you presume to show that God does not exist except that you do not understand what you are asking? A human being cannot describe God no more than a clock cannot describe its maker. A clock can only tick and a human being can only think within the limits of his make-up. He cannot separate his eyes from looking or his ears from hearing and all that he knows is known from within the compass of his own mind. The Scriptures say that man is made in the image of God so it is not surprising that he can think or reflect upon his own existence but does that infer that he can reflect upon God’s?
God is and there is no other beside God to ask what is he? To Moses God said, ‘I am that I am. Tell the Israelites that I AM has sent you.’
GOD LANGUAGE
Whatever preposition we use to describe God’s Being,[viii] in, out, up, down, with, about, on, etc is language couched in directional and positional terms. For human beings these terms are existential[ix] even though unrelated to the science of physics. Yet, as I have explained in my article on The Bible the science of language corresponds with the object of its study and for that reason has parameters that apply to one object but not the other.
The parameters of God talk are founded upon the bible.
The bible is the original source with parameters that are set by God’s self revelation, his words and deeds. These parameters are clearly disclosed by God. ‘I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.[x] He is the God of the Israelites, the Jews. However, the parameter of possession or belonging went further back than Abraham. As far as historical records go the very first parameter is the fact of God in the consciousness of the Hebrews. Where did they get the idea of God if not from God, for their consciousness was unlike any other in the ancient world? It was a God consciousness that had no sensible image, shape, size or existence like the sun or the moon or the stars or anything made or seen. They are the only people on earth in the ancient world that had a God consciousness that was not anthropomorphic. The nations around them had gods of stone, water and fire to satisfy their needs. They had fertility cults and temples where temple prostitutes lived. They had household gods, agricultural gods and water gods. They had sacrificial rituals and stone alters where their children were sacrificed to their gods.[xi]
The God of the Hebrews was a fact of faith. The creation story[xii] shows the incomprehensible God of Spirit hovering over the waters of a formless earth bringing earth to life. The intrinsic nature of God is Spirit, not matter. The source of all material forms is Spirit. Jesus too, said, ‘God is Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and truth.[xiii]
There was no philosophical attempt to analyze God in Hebrew history. That was the Greek approach to knowledge of God found in Plato and Socrates. Hebrew history is founded on God’s approach to them.
NOAH
God spoke to Noah very early in the world’s history, and said to him, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence. I am, surely going to destroy both them and the earth.’[xiv]
The story of Noah is well known as is the flood that covered the earth. God preserved the life of Noah and his family and many species of animals by telling Noah to build an ark. He gave Noah specific instructions as to the type of wood to use, the size of the rooms in the ark and how many decks it was to have.[xv] Of all the people on earth only Noah found favour with God and only he and his family was chosen to escape the flood. Noah’s obedience to God stands out as a fact of faith in Israel’s history. Noah obeyed God even though he did not see God or know for sure whether the words God spoke to him would come true. But he was sure that God had spoken to him and that was enough evidence for him to start building the ark.
God’s Word is written upon the mind of the Jews like an engraving on stone. Their one connection with God is God’s Word, what God said to them, what he foretold of their history and the history of the world. God’s Word is the Spirit of God speaking to them, writing his will upon their hearts and minds. Sometimes his word is spoken audibly but more often it is spoken inwardly.
GOD’S WORD
God’s Word is the central parameter of God language, the language of the Spirit.[xvi] Pharaoh said of Joseph, ‘Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?’[xvii] And the Spirit of God came upon is a phrase repeated frequently in Hebrew history. ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.[xviii]
Job, in his sufferings, spoke and would not deny his origin: ‘The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.’[xix] The prophet Ezekiel spoke of the Spirit transporting him in a vision to the exiles in Babylon. He says, ‘Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had showed me.’[xx]
The creation story opens up a further understanding of God, a God consciousness that was before time and death when God spoke to the first humans, male and female, and said,[xxi] ‘Be fruitful and multiply…rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every living creature that moves on the ground.’[xxii] God also told them what food they could eat.[xxiii] But according to Genesis 2, there was one food that they were told they were not allowed to eat for it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it you will die.[xxiv]
The story of the Garden of Eden symbolizes the holy character of God who makes all things good[xxv] and at the same time the sinful character of human beings who lose their innocence and fall into sin by turning away from God’s command.
The Hebrews saw clearly the common plight of mankind from their first parent’s sin.
GOD’S CHOICE
The Psalms and the writings reveal another parameter of God talk, God’s personal relationship to Israel, his chosen people. Choice is at the heart of the bible’s history and God’s revelation of himself. Choice is continuous in the Old and the New Testaments. Moses said, ‘The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.[xxvi] Of Jesus, God said, ’Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles’.[xxvii] God’s choice is at the heart of the gospel. Jesus pointed out, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’[xxviii] Jesus foretold the end time when tribulation would come over all the world. ‘And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.’[xxix]
Jesus chose the twelve disciples.[xxx] Again he told them the meaning of his choice, ‘If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’[xxxi] St. Paul reminded the Christians at Corinth of God’s choice and what that choice meant. ‘But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty’[xxxii] He further explains God’s purpose, ‘And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.’[xxxiii] But God’s choice goes much deeper and far seeing than the span of a lifetime. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said, ‘According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.’[xxxiv] This choice is linked directly to the gospel of Christ. Paul says, ‘But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.’[xxxv]
To Timothy Paul explains what God’s choice is for. ‘Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.[xxxvi] James also pointed out God’s purpose in choosing his own: ‘Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?’[xxxvii] Peter further expanded God’s purpose and choice, ‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’[xxxviii]
THE PARAMETERS OF COMMUNNICATION
The history of the bible is full of God’s communication with mankind but it is also full of mankind’s communication with God through prayer. Prayer is talking to God and it has certain parameters of its own that are necessary if prayer is to be acceptable to God. Psalms, a book of prayers says, ‘Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.’[xxxix] The two seem to go together, keeping God’s word and praying with our whole heart. We can hardly pray to God for something if we are not keeping God’s word. Prayer is directly linked to a holy life. St. Peter was equally sure that a holy life and prayer go together. To the Christians of the dispersion he said, ‘For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.’[xl] James, too said, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ He gave an example from the Old Testament, ‘Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.[xli]
Nevertheless, if turning to God in repentance and faith accompanies prayer God will hear and answer that prayer. Jesus gave an example of two men who prayed. ‘A Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.[xlii] Humility in prayer is the one parameter that brings God near. How can God listen to the proud and self righteous?
There is also another parameter of prayer noted by Jesus. Making a show of praying in public and saying long prayers to impress others and presumably God. The Lord taught his disciples to pray in a few simple words which we all know, the ‘Our Father’. Jesus pointed out that God knows all our needs before we seek his help. ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.’ [xliii]
In summary I would like to mention the statement Paul makes in Romans, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.’[xliv] Faith is the opening of our hearts to God which is always an act of faith.
[i] It is also referred to as a branch of Christian theology
[ii] Hebrews 11:1
[iii] Ephesians 2:8
[iv] 1 John 4:19
[v] Romans 1:18-21
[vi] Romans 8:7
[vii] Romans 7:14
[viii] Theism
[ix] Applicable to human society and life
[x] Genesis 26:24
[xi] Psalm 106:37
[xii] Genesis 1:1f
[xiii] John 4:24
[xiv] Genesis 7:13
[xv] Genesis 7:14f
[xvi] 1 Corinthians 2:10; Dan
[xvii] Genesis 41:38
[xviii] 2 Chronicles 24:20
[xix] Job 33:4
[xx] Ezekiel 11: 24
[xxi] Genesis 1:28
[xxii] Genesis 1:28
[xxiii] Genesis 129
[xxiv] Genesis 2:17
[xxv] Genesis 1: 11
[xxvi] Deut 7:7
[xxvii] Matthew 12:18
[xxviii] Matthew 22:14
[xxix] Mark 13:20
[xxx] John 6:20
[xxxi] John 15:19
[xxxii] 1 Corinth 1:27
[xxxiii] Ibid 1:28
[xxxiv] Ephesians 1:4
[xxxv] 2Thessalonians 2:13-14
[xxxvi] 2 Timothy 2:1-4
[xxxvii] James 2:5
[xxxviii] 1 Peter 2:9
[xxxix] Palm 119:2
[xl] 1 Peter 3:12
[xli] James 16:18
[xlii] Luke 18:11-14
[xliii] Matthew 6:7-8
[xliv] Romans 1:17
INFERRING GOD’S EXISTENCE
Christian apologetics is the name given to a branch of philosophy aimed at proving the existence of God.[i] It is based on the presupposition that reason alone can demonstrate God’s existence from the natural world he created. The basic premise is that a thing made must bear the marks of its maker. A painting by Van Goff, for instance, has the distinctive brush marks of the painter. One trained in detecting forgeries would hardly mistake a Van Goff for some other persons work. Reason is that order and ordering of ideas that, when applied to an object such as art or science, can demonstrate the relationship between an effect and a cause by tracing the one from the other.
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS: A RESPONSE
Christian apologetics is a response to atheism, the belief that there is no God, and agnosticism, that there is no proof of God’s existence. The atheist says there is no God. The agnostic that it is not known whether there is or there isn’t. The Christian apologist is not, it should be noted, trying to defend or prove the Christian faith. He is merely addressing the question of God’s existence from a rational point of view.
Let me put it this way: the Christian faith is the evidence of things not seen[ii] or based on nature.
To confuse the Christian faith with apologetics is a big mistake like mixing water with oil. Faith is the gift of God[iii] the result of God’s grace, not intellectual certainty. That may complement faith but it cannot replace faith. Faith is what it is, a response of trust in God. As St. John said, ‘We love him because he first loved us,’[iv] which is an historical and spiritual reality. This is not the certainty that God is known as he is in himself. Faith is a response to God not an intellectual analysis of God. It has a rational objective content, for instance, the Apostles Creed, but that is not faith.
THE ENEMY OF REASON
Intellectual certainty, according to St. Paul is, however, plain and clear, ‘Because’, he says, ‘that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [v]
THE CORRUPTION OF INTELLECT
Nevertheless, intellectual certainty apart, there is a bigger issue than what is known. Paul later put his finger on the real issue. ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.[vi] There is no real doubt about God’s existence, eternal power or Godhead but the mind of man is carnal, sold under sin. What is the reason for this? Paul says, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. [vii]
ABSOLUTE PROOF
Intelligence can and does infer the existence of God from what he has made, what is visible and full of beauty, design and purpose but the only absolute proof of God’s existence is God himself. The very idea of examining or proving God’s existence is like putting the cart before the horse. It makes no sense to do that sort of thing. God does the proving whether we like it or not. How logical is it for a being created by God to examine God? If God exists that procedure is defunct and invalid. If God does not exist it is still invalid to beg the question of God not existing. Why would you presume to show that God does not exist except that you do not understand what you are asking? A human being cannot describe God no more than a clock cannot describe its maker. A clock can only tick and a human being can only think within the limits of his make-up. He cannot separate his eyes from looking or his ears from hearing and all that he knows is known from within the compass of his own mind. The Scriptures say that man is made in the image of God so it is not surprising that he can think or reflect upon his own existence but does that infer that he can reflect upon God’s?
God is and there is no other beside God to ask what is he? To Moses God said, ‘I am that I am. Tell the Israelites that I AM has sent you.’
GOD LANGUAGE
Whatever preposition we use to describe God’s Being,[viii] in, out, up, down, with, about, on, etc is language couched in directional and positional terms. For human beings these terms are existential[ix] even though unrelated to the science of physics. Yet, as I have explained in my article on The Bible the science of language corresponds with the object of its study and for that reason has parameters that apply to one object but not the other.
The parameters of God talk are founded upon the bible.
The bible is the original source with parameters that are set by God’s self revelation, his words and deeds. These parameters are clearly disclosed by God. ‘I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.[x] He is the God of the Israelites, the Jews. However, the parameter of possession or belonging went further back than Abraham. As far as historical records go the very first parameter is the fact of God in the consciousness of the Hebrews. Where did they get the idea of God if not from God, for their consciousness was unlike any other in the ancient world? It was a God consciousness that had no sensible image, shape, size or existence like the sun or the moon or the stars or anything made or seen. They are the only people on earth in the ancient world that had a God consciousness that was not anthropomorphic. The nations around them had gods of stone, water and fire to satisfy their needs. They had fertility cults and temples where temple prostitutes lived. They had household gods, agricultural gods and water gods. They had sacrificial rituals and stone alters where their children were sacrificed to their gods.[xi]
The God of the Hebrews was a fact of faith. The creation story[xii] shows the incomprehensible God of Spirit hovering over the waters of a formless earth bringing earth to life. The intrinsic nature of God is Spirit, not matter. The source of all material forms is Spirit. Jesus too, said, ‘God is Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and truth.[xiii]
There was no philosophical attempt to analyze God in Hebrew history. That was the Greek approach to knowledge of God found in Plato and Socrates. Hebrew history is founded on God’s approach to them.
NOAH
God spoke to Noah very early in the world’s history, and said to him, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence. I am, surely going to destroy both them and the earth.’[xiv]
The story of Noah is well known as is the flood that covered the earth. God preserved the life of Noah and his family and many species of animals by telling Noah to build an ark. He gave Noah specific instructions as to the type of wood to use, the size of the rooms in the ark and how many decks it was to have.[xv] Of all the people on earth only Noah found favour with God and only he and his family was chosen to escape the flood. Noah’s obedience to God stands out as a fact of faith in Israel’s history. Noah obeyed God even though he did not see God or know for sure whether the words God spoke to him would come true. But he was sure that God had spoken to him and that was enough evidence for him to start building the ark.
God’s Word is written upon the mind of the Jews like an engraving on stone. Their one connection with God is God’s Word, what God said to them, what he foretold of their history and the history of the world. God’s Word is the Spirit of God speaking to them, writing his will upon their hearts and minds. Sometimes his word is spoken audibly but more often it is spoken inwardly.
GOD’S WORD
God’s Word is the central parameter of God language, the language of the Spirit.[xvi] Pharaoh said of Joseph, ‘Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?’[xvii] And the Spirit of God came upon is a phrase repeated frequently in Hebrew history. ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.[xviii]
Job, in his sufferings, spoke and would not deny his origin: ‘The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.’[xix] The prophet Ezekiel spoke of the Spirit transporting him in a vision to the exiles in Babylon. He says, ‘Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had showed me.’[xx]
The creation story opens up a further understanding of God, a God consciousness that was before time and death when God spoke to the first humans, male and female, and said,[xxi] ‘Be fruitful and multiply…rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every living creature that moves on the ground.’[xxii] God also told them what food they could eat.[xxiii] But according to Genesis 2, there was one food that they were told they were not allowed to eat for it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it you will die.[xxiv]
The story of the Garden of Eden symbolizes the holy character of God who makes all things good[xxv] and at the same time the sinful character of human beings who lose their innocence and fall into sin by turning away from God’s command.
The Hebrews saw clearly the common plight of mankind from their first parent’s sin.
GOD’S CHOICE
The Psalms and the writings reveal another parameter of God talk, God’s personal relationship to Israel, his chosen people. Choice is at the heart of the bible’s history and God’s revelation of himself. Choice is continuous in the Old and the New Testaments. Moses said, ‘The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.[xxvi] Of Jesus, God said, ’Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles’.[xxvii] God’s choice is at the heart of the gospel. Jesus pointed out, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’[xxviii] Jesus foretold the end time when tribulation would come over all the world. ‘And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.’[xxix]
Jesus chose the twelve disciples.[xxx] Again he told them the meaning of his choice, ‘If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’[xxxi] St. Paul reminded the Christians at Corinth of God’s choice and what that choice meant. ‘But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty’[xxxii] He further explains God’s purpose, ‘And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.’[xxxiii] But God’s choice goes much deeper and far seeing than the span of a lifetime. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said, ‘According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.’[xxxiv] This choice is linked directly to the gospel of Christ. Paul says, ‘But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.’[xxxv]
To Timothy Paul explains what God’s choice is for. ‘Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.[xxxvi] James also pointed out God’s purpose in choosing his own: ‘Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?’[xxxvii] Peter further expanded God’s purpose and choice, ‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’[xxxviii]
THE PARAMETERS OF COMMUNNICATION
The history of the bible is full of God’s communication with mankind but it is also full of mankind’s communication with God through prayer. Prayer is talking to God and it has certain parameters of its own that are necessary if prayer is to be acceptable to God. Psalms, a book of prayers says, ‘Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.’[xxxix] The two seem to go together, keeping God’s word and praying with our whole heart. We can hardly pray to God for something if we are not keeping God’s word. Prayer is directly linked to a holy life. St. Peter was equally sure that a holy life and prayer go together. To the Christians of the dispersion he said, ‘For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.’[xl] James, too said, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ He gave an example from the Old Testament, ‘Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.[xli]
Nevertheless, if turning to God in repentance and faith accompanies prayer God will hear and answer that prayer. Jesus gave an example of two men who prayed. ‘A Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.[xlii] Humility in prayer is the one parameter that brings God near. How can God listen to the proud and self righteous?
There is also another parameter of prayer noted by Jesus. Making a show of praying in public and saying long prayers to impress others and presumably God. The Lord taught his disciples to pray in a few simple words which we all know, the ‘Our Father’. Jesus pointed out that God knows all our needs before we seek his help. ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.’ [xliii]
In summary I would like to mention the statement Paul makes in Romans, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.’[xliv] Faith is the opening of our hearts to God which is always an act of faith.
[i] It is also referred to as a branch of Christian theology
[ii] Hebrews 11:1
[iii] Ephesians 2:8
[iv] 1 John 4:19
[v] Romans 1:18-21
[vi] Romans 8:7
[vii] Romans 7:14
[viii] Theism
[ix] Applicable to human society and life
[x] Genesis 26:24
[xi] Psalm 106:37
[xii] Genesis 1:1f
[xiii] John 4:24
[xiv] Genesis 7:13
[xv] Genesis 7:14f
[xvi] 1 Corinthians 2:10; Dan
[xvii] Genesis 41:38
[xviii] 2 Chronicles 24:20
[xix] Job 33:4
[xx] Ezekiel 11: 24
[xxi] Genesis 1:28
[xxii] Genesis 1:28
[xxiii] Genesis 129
[xxiv] Genesis 2:17
[xxv] Genesis 1: 11
[xxvi] Deut 7:7
[xxvii] Matthew 12:18
[xxviii] Matthew 22:14
[xxix] Mark 13:20
[xxx] John 6:20
[xxxi] John 15:19
[xxxii] 1 Corinth 1:27
[xxxiii] Ibid 1:28
[xxxiv] Ephesians 1:4
[xxxv] 2Thessalonians 2:13-14
[xxxvi] 2 Timothy 2:1-4
[xxxvii] James 2:5
[xxxviii] 1 Peter 2:9
[xxxix] Palm 119:2
[xl] 1 Peter 3:12
[xli] James 16:18
[xlii] Luke 18:11-14
[xliii] Matthew 6:7-8
[xliv] Romans 1:17
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