Lesson 1: Arguments for the Existence of God: Romans 1

Lesson 1: Arguments for the existence of God

 Scripture Reading for Lesson 1:

Psalm 19:1-3 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard…”

Romans 1:19-25 “Because 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. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: ²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen…” 

Five Basic Rational Arguments for the existence of God:

• Cosmological Argument: The fact that there is a creation means that their must be a Creator.
• Teleological Argument: The fact that the creation reflects order means that their must be a rational designer.
• Ontological Argument: The fact that there is a need for an absolute being means that one must exist.
• Moral Argument: The fact that mankind universally has a sense of right and wrong must mean that there is a moral law giver.
• Religious Argument: The fact that mankind universally senses an internal need for an absolute being compels is to believe that one exists.

Three Key Scriptures Connected to these Rational Arguments:

Psalm 19:1-3 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard…”

• Because there is a creation, you cannot escape the majesty of God: “The heavens declare the glory of God…”
• Because there is a creation, you cannot escape the skills, wisdom, and order of God: “The firmament showeth his handywork…”
• This witness is universal: “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard…”

Romans 1:19-25 “Because 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. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen…”

• All people have a basic internal awareness of God: “That which may be know of God is manifest in them…”
• This basic awareness is implanted by God in the conscience of every person: “God hath showed it unto them…”
• This basic awareness of God in the conscience is heightened by observing and reflecting on the implications of what we see around us: “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…”
• This basic awareness of God is enough to make us accountable to God: “So that they are without excuse…”
• Our problem is not a lack of opportunity, but rather what we do with that opportunity: “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
• Our hearts are biased against the truths to which we are exposed: “but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened:”
• We are prone to glory in our own folly: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools:”
• We are prone to misinterpret and misapply the information we have: “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man:”
• As fallen creatures, we live as slaves to our fleshly passions, which further strengthens our bias against truth and enslaves us to dishonorable misuses of our bodies: “God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:”

Act 17:22-31 “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead…”

• Paul started His gospel preaching with the presupposition that God exists and that this knowledge is inherently present in the people he is addressing: “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious…”
• Paul bluntly stated that though they recognized the one true God, their acknowledgment of Him was in ignorance, and therefore not enough to be the basis for faith that accompanies salvation: “I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you… And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained…”
• Paul gave basic information about God that contradicted their ignorant approach to Him: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; ²⁵ Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation…”
  • God: There is one God
  • Made world and everything in it: “He is the ultimate source of everything
  • Lord: He is the Supreme ruler
  • Dwelleth not in temples made with hands: He is the invisible God and cannot be contained
  • Neither worshipped with men’s hands: He does not accept manmade devices as acceptable means of mediation
  • As though he is in need of anything: He does not anything, because He is independent of all His creation
  • Determined times and bounds: He is intimately involved in the affairs of people and His purposes cannot be manipulated or thwarted through human devices
  • Paul stated that God will righteously judge all men and calls them to repentance on the basis of a conviction established by the resurrection: “but now commandeth all men every where to repent: ³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead…”

Three Primary Sources of God’s self revelation:

• Creation: Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard…”
• History: are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? Acts 17:26 “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation…”
• Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:15-17 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works…”

 Summary of what we have learned:

• All people everywhere have a basic knowledge of God because He has put this knowledge in their hearts, and their minds have the ability to process the things that they see in the creation.
• This basic knowledge of God is not enough to bring a person to repentance and faith in the gospel, but is enough information to leave all people fully accountable to God.
• Man’s basic rejection of this knowledge is not a rational rejection as much as it is a moral rejection.
• The universal presence of idolatry in the world is confirmation of both our inherent knowledge of God and our moral bias against His true nature.
• The limitations of natural revelation necessitate an objective standard given by God to govern our interpretation of general revelation.
• This objective standard is scripture, and we must understand the nature of scripture.