For everything, like man, that has a beginning in
time, there can be only three ways of trying to explain how it came to be.
The first and second explanations are obviously impossible. It is inconceivable for something that has a beginning in time to come out of or be made of nothing at all. It is also inconceivable that it should bring itself into being. The universe and all that is in it, therefore, could not have created itself nor did it come about by chance.
The conclusion then is clear. The universe and
all that is in it owe its existence to a Creator or Maker outside itself. You,
as a human being, as part of the universe, owe your existence to such a
Creator.
To say, as many do, that human beings came from
or evolve from other creatures or that they originated from water, or that
there was a big bang and everything just happened to fall in place, does not
really answer the question about the origin of the universe an all that is in
it, including human beings.
We can therefore conclude that any worldview that
denies or does not accept the existence of a Creator of the universe is a false
worldview.
The Creator must be of a different nature from
all that has been created. This is because if He is of the same nature as they
are, He will need to have a beginning in time and will therefore need a maker.
One word for ‘to have a beginning in time’ is ‘temporal’.
If the maker or creator is not temporal, He must
be eternal. Eternal means to have no beginning or end in time.
If the Maker is eternal, He cannot be caused and
if nothing caused him to come into existence, nothing outside Him causes Him to
continue to exist, which means that he must be self-sufficient. Self-sufficient
means that he does not depend on anyone or anything to exist.
And if he does not depend on anything to exist,
then his existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and
everlasting.
If the Creator is eternal and everlasting, then
all His qualities must be eternal and everlasting. This means, for example,
that if He is powerful, He must always be powerful. He cannot cease to be
powerful. If He is all-knowing, He must always be all-knowing. If He is wise,
He must always be wise. If He is kind and just, He must always be kind and just.
The creator then does not lose or get any new
qualities. Qualities that do not change and that last forever are absolute qualities.
Another name for qualities are attributes.
Can there be more than one creator with suck
absolute attributes? Can there for example be two absolutely powerful creators?
This is not possible. Why?
If a Maker is absolutely powerful, it follows
that he is absolutely free to do whatever he likes. But if another maker with
similar power exist and they differ over the making of something, then one of
two things can happen. Either, one will overcome the other, in which case the
latter cannot be absolutely powerful. Or, they will nertralise each other, in
which case the powers of both are limited.
Even if we assume that the two powers agree on
everything or complement each other, they cannot both be absolutely powerful
because anything one at least will need to assume that the other will not interfere
or is not capable of interfering. In other words, one will need to assume that
the function of the other is redundant, or that the power of the other is
limited.
The creator then must be One. There cannot be any
other like Him so He must be Unique. The Creator must be all Powerful and must
be able to do whatever He wills.
From the above, it is valid and reasonable to
assert that the Creator must be Eternal and Everlasting, Self-Sufficient and
All-Powerful, One and Unique. These are some of the qualities or attributes of
the Creator that we must have in mind when we use the word God. We must also
remember that His attributes or qualities are absolute and do not change.
There must then be a clear separation between the
Creator and the created. It follows that no man can be God. God cannot have a
mother or a father. He cannot have son or a daughter. The sun, the moon or the
stars or any heavenly bodies cannot be God.
No part of creation whether it be a mountain, a
tree or a fire can be God and does not deserve to be worshipped as God.
Any religion or any worldview which regards any
human being or any part of creation as God or part of God must be a false
religion or worldview.
Also, any religion or any worldview which regards
God as having human characteristics, for example having a human shape and
suffering from tiredness and needing rest and sleep, must be a false religion
or worldvies.
From what we have said and from what we shall detail later, it is reasonable and natural for man to acknowledge the existence and power of the Creator. It is natural and reasonable for man to acknowledge that all creation is preserved through God’s will and grace – what is called in English ‘providence’. If for an instance this providence were to be withdrawn from this world, it would cease to be. It is therefore natural and reasonable for the human to give thanks or show gratitude to the Creator for all the favours of life.
It is unreasonable and
unnatural for the human being to think of himself as totally independent and
self-sufficient. If a person thinks in this manner, he becomes proud and vain.
He is thus inclined to be ungrateful for the bounties he enjoys – the air he
breathes and the food he eats to sustein him, the wondrous eyes and ears he
uses to perceive the world about him, the subtle tongue and lips he uses to
express his wants and needs. And being ungrateful, he is inclined to forgets or
to reject the truth of the existence of God.