How do you prove that God is real? On whom lies the burden of proof?
Onus probandi, the burden of proof, is the obligation on a party involved in a dispute to provide evidence supporting one’s position. The philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) once argued that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making scientifically unfalsifiable claims. In his illustration, now known as Russell’s Teapot, Russell argued that if someone claimed there was a teapot orbiting the Sun somewhere in space between Mars and the Earth, doubters could not be expected to believe in the teapot’s existence solely because the claim could not be disproven. Russell argued that it was irrational to place the burden of proof on those who disagree with the existence of said teapot. Rather, the burden of proof should rest upon the one asserting the teapot’s existence.
Consider the difficulty of disproving the teapot’s existence: it is in constant movement while the search was underway and an observer may have just missed its passing, or a search through the vastness of space could have been conducted in the wrong spot. Because of these difficulties, Russell argued that such a teapot’s existence could only be established by arbitrary belief. As such, this analogy is often employed against Christians who claim that the onus lies upon the atheist to disprove the existence of God.
The Invisible Pink Unicorn and the Flying Spaghetti Monster
The Russell’s Teapot analogy has since grown into forms that parody religion directly. As the goddess of one such parody religion, the Invisible Pink Unicorn takes the form of a unicorn that is at once both invisible and pink. The unicorn’s mutually-exclusive attributes of pinkness (i.e. visible color) and invisibility are possible only by arbitrary beliefs in the supernatural.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarianism, began as a social movement opposing the teaching of Intelligent Design in American public schools. In 2005, the Kansas Board of Education voted that students would be expected to study doubts about modern Darwinian Theory. In response, Ohio State University Physics graduate Bobby Henderson sent an open letter to the Kansas Board informing them of a competing theory of Intelligent Design that should therefore be taught in public schools. According to Henderson, the universe was created by a spaghetti-and- meatball deity known as the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). The FSM, Henderson alleged, was the Supreme Being and Creator of the universe. In his letter, Henderson called for, “…one third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.”
Pastafarianism has since grown in popularity (a 2018 New Zealand census registered over 4000 devotees) and is even recognized as a religion in the Netherlands. Adherents—those touched by “His Noodly Appendage”—in many places have even won the right to wear religious garb (a colander on the head) for driver’s licenses and other government-issued identification. Although no one has ever seen the FSM, followers claim that blind faith enables Pastafarians to believe in His Noodly Goodness. Like the Invisible Pink Uniform, faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is sustained by arbitrary belief.
From Whence Comes Faith?
Is faith really as arbitrary as these parody religions claim? An arbitrary faith is one without reason or justification. It is the product of random choice or personal whim. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2: 8). Faith is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. Indeed, “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
If faith is a gift from God given to everyone, then faith does not come from random choice or personal whim. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). And why does God want us to hear His word? Jesus said, “now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29). “…whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Redemption and salvation are the ultimate reasons for God giving faith to everyone. Faith therefore cannot be arbitrary.
Pastafarians and disciples of the Invisible Pink Unicorn alike may think that they satirize Christianity, but in the end, they will find that they have only made a mockery of themselves. If faith is not arbitrary as they would have all believe, then Christians can safely agree with atheists that the onus of proof should not lie on those who disagree with the existence of God. Even more, the onus of proof also should not rest on the believer. Instead, the onus probandi of the existence of God lies upon the Author of our faith, Jesus Christ. God, through the Bible, makes the assertion that He exists. Therefore, the burden of proof of God’s existence lies with God.
The Lord’s Day
In my prior article, “The Literal Week,” the purpose of a literal seven-day week was called to question. The seventh-day Sabbath was made for mankind, who was made on the sixth day of the week. Likewise, Eve was made for Adam, who was made earlier on the same day. Following this line of reasoning, the first five days of Creation week were not made for mankind, for there were no humans were around to witness the events of those days. It is only, “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…” Hebrews 11:3 KJV.
Because the Sabbath commandment describes six days of labor followed by a seventh day of rest, the Sabbath is placed in a context relative to those present before the inception of this world. Technically, the Sabbath is not man’s seventh day because Adam’s first Sabbath fell on his second day of existence.
If the Sabbath was meant for a solely human context, the fourth commandment could have rightly read, “Remember [Adam’s second] day, to keep it holy.” Adam named the animals; he worked only one day before resting and there is no record of Eve working before her first Sabbath. God alone worked (created) on the first six days and rested the seventh. Therefore, “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20:10). In other words, the Sabbath is literally the Lord’s Day.
Although the Sabbath is the product of God’s rest, this still does not explain why God needed six days to accomplish His work. God could just as easily have spoken everything into existence in one day and set aside six days of rest. So if God did not make the seven-day week only for Himself, could it be that the seven-day week was made for others?
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth…when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).
Certainly, the sons of God, or angels, were present at the inception of this world. And if God’s angels were present, then Satan and his angels were also able to witness the same events.
The Controversy Over Job
Although the biblical record of interactions between God and His angels is quite limited, the few conversations available for examination can provide insights into the war which began in Heaven. In one such interaction recorded in Job 1-2, we find Satan, who appeared alongside the sons of God as the representative of the Earth. When asked where he came from, Satan responded that he had been going to and fro in the Earth, and walking up and down in it. This statement recalls God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 13:17, “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” No longer restricted to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Satan pointed his free movement as proof that the Earth had been given him.
Despite Satan’s status as prince of this world, there yet remained one man loyal to God. For God, the testimony of one righteous man was sufficient to deny the Devil’s claim of total dominion. Hence, God engaged Satan in a discussion of Job. In their discourse, the Devil made two accusations,
“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face” (Job 1:10-11)
and,
“Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face” (Job 2:4-5).
In Satan’s eyes, Job was loyal to God only because of the riches and protection he enjoyed. Twice, the Accuser claimed that calamity would cause Job to curse God to His face.
Through these accusations, Satan recalled his own fall. Just as Job was the greatest of all men of the east, Satan was once the greatest of all angels. Satan was rendered destitute – he was cast out of heaven – and he blamed God for his unfortunate circumstances. In other words, Satan externalized the blame for His fall and claimed that Job would act likewise when similarly provoked.
Yet God did not permit the worst evils to befall Job only to answer the above accusations. He also gave Satan the opportunity to answer the challenge found in Isaiah 41:21-23,
“Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together” (Isaiah 41:21-23, KJV).
In the context of this article, Satan’s prediction regarding Job’s loyalty can be seen as his attempt at prophecy. This is why God permitted Satan to persecute Job. The Devil’s prediction had to be tested for its fulfillment, and if Satan’s claims proved true, then he rightly was a god.
Remember, God had already said that Job was, “a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil” (Job 1:8). God, who knows the end from the beginning, had already made known His foreknowledge concerning Job. Now, he had to permit Job’s suffering so that both His and Satan’s predictions could be tested. In a sense, this was the world’s first clinical trial, complete with a control group (God), a study group (Satan), and a testable hypothesis (is Satan a god?). Of course, we already know the outcome. Job remained faithful to the end, not only denying Satan’s claims to godhood, but also affirming God’s divine status. Despite its severity, Job’s suffering cannot compare to the victory God achieved in Job’s life. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Yet, the account of Job was not the first time that God proved His divinity
“Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous?” (Isaiah 41:26).
The prophet suggests that God declared His divinity from the beginning. Even though the book of Job was the first book of the Bible ever written, it is chronologically not the first book of the Bible. Could it be that Job’s situation was not the first time that God answered His own challenge? A forthcoming article will explain further as we examine that beginning.
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