A. False and True Systems of Theology.
1. Deism. This system acknowledges that there is a God, but denies that God sustains the creation. “God is the Maker, but not the Keeper.”
2. Atheism. Those who hold to this belief — so called — exclude God altogether.
3. Skepticism and Infidelity. Skeptics and infidels are full of doubt and disbelief with regard to God, especially the God of Revelation. 4.
4. Agnosticism. This school of thought does not deny God, but denies that God can be known.
5. Pantheism. Everything is God, and God is everything. Everything you see is God.
God is in everything. God and creation are synonymous.
6. Polytheism. This is belief in many Gods. There are various gods over us; these in turn have gods over them; and these have gods over them, and so on.
7. Tritheism. This is the doctrine of three Gods.
8. Dualism. This is the belief in two Gods; a God that is Good, and a God that is Bad.
They are both equal in power and persuasion.
9. Theism. The belief in the existence of a personal God is known as theism. Should one boast in this, his boasting is vain, for one must know who God is, what His name is, in order to trust Him.
10. Monotheism. This is the doctrine of one God. We are monotheists. Jews and Mohammedans are monotheists. If that is true, are they saved? No! “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble” (Jas. 2:19) Believing in one God is not sufficient, but “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt he saved” (Rom. 10:9).
B. Evidence of the Existence of God.
May the student realize that the Bible never tries to prove there is a God. It assumes that man knows that there is a God, and states, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1). 15
There are many evidences of the existence of God, the first being: 1. From Reason. (The Intellectual).
a. The Intuitional Argument: That which is in man, sometimes called the “firsttruths”; that belief that knows that there is a God without anyone revealing that fact. A child knows there is a God. Who has told him? All races of the world know there is a God, though they are not worshiping the One and Only and True God. There is no such thing as a true atheist. The evidence of the existence of God is in man — born in him.
b. The Cosmological Argument: This is the argument from cause and effect. Here is the world — how did it come to be? There is a Cause or Power behind everything. There must be a Maker or Creator. It is easy to think that back of the Creation is God, but it is impossible to think back of God.
c. The Teleological Argument: By this we mean design. There is perfect design and order in the universe. The snowflake is a beautiful pattern that man could never duplicate. Why does ice rise to the top of the water and not to the bottom when it freezes? Should this not be so, then all water would eventually freeze, and the fish would perish. How is it possible that spring, summer, fall and winter all come in order, and have been doing so for millenniums? Why is it that the sun comes no closer to the earth (melting it) nor goes further away from it (freezing it)? There must be a Designer behind all creation — and that Designer is God!
d. The Anthropological Argument: This argument is based upon the moral and intellectual qualities of man. Man is a direct result of the creation of God, as other creatures are, yet these creatures do not possess the moral and intellectual qualities of man. Why? If man could create them, so could animals. But man has the capacity to know, to reason. If man did not get these qualities from some One, where did he get them?
2. From History. Truly, history is His story! History verifies the fact that there is a God. History has proved the fact of God against those who have repudiated His law. Thus, Christians should never worry over world conditions. God is on His throne. Nothing can happen, but by His will. Someone has said, “Prophecy is the mould of history.” God speaks, and years later what He spoke is fulfilled to the letter, History only fulfills what God has said would happen. History proves there is a God!
3. From Experience. This is one of the greatest proofs yet for the existence of God.
Men have been transformed by the power of God. There is no explanation other than God! Prayers which have been answered attest to the existence of God.
4. From Scripture.
a. Biblical Assumption. The Bible is the only Book that is God-inspired. The Bible is the standard for all right conduct in the world. If the Bible is not the Word of God, then we have no God; we can never know God.
b. Christological Revelation. In Jesus Christ, God came down to man to tell us what God is like. If Jesus is not God, then there is no God. God can never be known. “No man bath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he 16 hath declared him” (John 1:18). But Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He and His life prove the existence of God!
c. Prophetical Declaration. God forecast the future. Anyone who can do this is more than man. Man cannot always tell the past, much less the future. It is said that when Christ was crucified there were twenty-five distinct prophecies fulfilled — prophecies written centuries
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III. THE NATURE OF GOD. 18 www.truthaboutthechrist.com/thetruthaboutgodthefather/nature.htmlThe Systematic Theology for the 21st Century Part 3 Theollogy Proper - The Study of God the Father
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