The Existence of God and Terrorism

In the prosecution of the Nuremburg trials, following World War II, the German Nazis were tried for the heinous crime of torturing and murdering six million Jewish men, women, and children. In his closing address, Robert H. Jackson, a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and one of the Nuremburg prosecutors, argued that the Nazis were being tried by a “higher law” which “transcends the provincial and transient” (Warren and Flew 41). A higher law which transcends the “provincial” means it is not merely the law of any geographical area (i.e. America, Russia, Germany, etc.) To say it is a law which transcends “the transient” means it is above any law that has been passed by human beings during a certain period of time. In other words, the Nuremburg prosecutors affirmed that the Nazis were judged by a law which was (is) beyond any geographical area of the Earth and beyond any period in human history.

We have heard our President, and others, speak of the evil acts perpetrated against civilization on September 11, 2001, and that those who did such are evildoers. If such acts really were evil (and they were), and if those who did them can rightly be called evildoers (and they can), then there must be an objective reference by which human behavior is evaluated. Justice Jackson stated,  “. . . a higher law.” What is this “higher law”? It is the Ultimate Good who is God. Therefore, God exists. If such is not the case, then the horrific acts of September 11 were not acts of evil, and those who did them were not evildoers. Surely no right thinking person believes such! “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

Works Cited:

Warren, Thomas B., and Antony G. Flew. The Warren-Flew Debate on the Existence of God. Jonesboro: National Christian, 1977.