Articles - God

The historic Warren-Flew debate on the existence of God occurred on four consecutive September nights during America’s Bicentennial year of 1976. Conducted on the campus of what was North Texas State University (now University of North Texas), the event attracted nightly audiences of several thousand. Some attendance estimates have been as high as 9000 for one evening of the debate.

The Warren-Flew debate is considered by some as the most devastating defeat suffered by atheism in the 20th century—likely including earlier centuries. Dr. Antony Flew was recognized as one of the most highly acclaimed philosophical atheists of his time. Flew died in 2010. Dr. Thomas B. Warren was a great preacher of the gospel of Christ and a brilliant philosopher. He passed away in 2000.

The Bible is the one ultimately authoritative book with the right answers to life’s most crucial questions. One of these questions is the following: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). One writer described the situation as the pillars being pulled down. The pillars, the foundations of civil society, provide for the ongoing existence and well-being of society.

Presently, there are some who have the intention of literally pulling down historical American monuments and memorials. As deeply troubling as their agenda may be, there is something more troubling, because it is more foundational. It is the efforts of those who intend to pull down what Washington called the “indispensable supports . . . great pillars . . . the foundation of the fabric” of “every species of free government” which Washington identified as religion and morality in his 1796 Farewell Address.

Watching a televised Fourth of July presentation of a “Salute to America” was impactful and insightful. The sights and sounds were impressive. Much of the focus centered on the nation’s military, which should exist to protect the citizenry, especially those who seek to be, and do, good (cf. Romans 13:3-4). The presentation included an array of tanks, precision military units, and powerful weaponry such as multiple aircraft displayed in impressive flyovers performed by units such as the U. S. Navy’s Blue Angels.  Watching those Blue Angels soar above in a six-plane delta formation while unleashing a display of white smoke was a special sight to behold. However, there was more than military prowess on display. Hearing the names of great American heroes, some of whom we have been aware of since childhood, was inspirational. There were such names as George Washington, Betsy Ross, John Glenn, Martin Luther King, and numerous others. Some of the individuals may have been lesser known such as Dr. Emil Freireich whose work in oncology has resulted in successful treatment of childhood leukemia. All were American heroes. Hearing the U. S. Armed Forces Chorus sing service songs adopted respectively by each of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces was powerful.

   There is the story of three little boys who, playing as backyard buddies, got into one of those “my Dad is better than your Dad” routines. One of the boys declared, “My Dad knows the mayor of our town!” The second boy responded by saying, “That’s nothing! My Dad knows the governor!” Then the third boy exclaimed: “That’s nothing! My Dad knows God!”

   There is no greater legacy a father can leave his children (son or daughter) than the memory of a father who has lived by faith in, and fear of, God. The Bible reports, “[A]nd the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God” (James 2:23; cf. Genesis 15:6). [All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version, ESV Text Edition 2011.] Surely Isaac was a rich son, because he was able to correctly recall that his father was “a friend of God.” Likewise, Jacob could rightfully say, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed” (Genesis 31:42). What a legacy has been bequeathed when one can say, as Alexander Campbell reportedly said of his father, Thomas: “I never knew a man of whom it could be said with more assurance that he walked with God. . . . Whatsoever good I may have done under God, I owe it all to his paternal care and instruction, and especially his example.”

In 1943, following his historic BBC radio talks of 1941-42, C. S. Lewis published an essay titled, “The Poison of Subjectivism.” Lewis wrote: “Until modern times, no thinker of the first rank ever doubted that our judgements of value were rational judgements or that what they discovered was objective.” However, as Lewis goes on to explain, today’s modern view is that when someone says a thing is good he is merely expressing his feelings about it. By “judgements of value” Lewis meant moral judgments about right and wrong. He called this “practical reason” and said if we “grant that our practical reason is really reason and that its fundamental imperatives are . . . absolute . . . then unconditional allegiance to them is the duty of man. So is absolute allegiance to God. And these two allegiances must, somehow, be the same.”

Absolute moral judgment goes hand in hand with the absolute reality of God. And, the absolute reality of God goes hand in hand with absolute moral judgment. Without absolute moral judgment there is no absolute truth. Without absolute truth there is no absolute moral judgment.

For the first time in its 382 year history, Harvard University’s next graduating class (2019) has more professed atheists and agnostics than professed Christians. Nearly forty percent (37.9%) of the 2019 class have openly claimed to be atheistic or agnostic.

The Original Rules and Precepts observed at Harvard included “Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ . . . and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning” (Federer, America’s God and Country , pp. 280-81). The original Harvard motto, which will be 375 years old this coming December 27, is Veritas, which is Latin for Truth. In 1650, the motto was changed to “In Christi Gloriam,” meaning “For the Glory of Christ.” In 1692, the Harvard motto became “Veritas pro Christo et Ecclesiae, ” which means “Truth for Christ and the Church.” In time, Harvard continued down a path into deep secularization. Veritas exclusively became the one word motto to the exclusion of any of the former references to God or Jesus Christ, who the original rules and precepts of Harvard had described as “the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.”

While having lunch with a university professor who has taught biblical texts and topics, philosophy, apologetics, and other related subjects for at least parts of four decades, I asked, “What is the major difference you see in today’s students (especially in Millennials) from the students you taught in the early years of your career?” Without hesitation he replied, “Today, especially in Millennials, there is the loss of conviction that there is absolute truth.”