19 May Why Wouldn’t Someone Believe in God?!? Part One
God crafted the created world with enough certainty to believe in Him if one wants to.
It is clear that God considers the evidence He has given us to be sufficient. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they reveal knowledge.”
Furthering that idea, Romans 1:20 says, “Since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, and his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
So there we have it. God intended for us to look up into the sky at night and say in our hearts, “There must be a God!” He made it clear that if we do not come to that conclusion, we are without excuse.
But if that’s the case, why do not all people believe in Him? What holds them back?
Lack of information
Sometimes it’s a lack of information. I know a man who had rejected Jesus because he was convinced that evolution was true. All he had ever been taught, from grade school through university, was the theory of evolution (taught as fact), with no one ever suggesting a credible alternative. So he naturally accepted it as being true.
And since Jesus taught “creation,” and “creation” was impossible, then Jesus – he concluded – could not be who He said He was.
Then, after graduation from college, he entered the professional workplace where he fell into a nest of Christians who started feeding him scientific evidence supporting creation as well as flaws in evolution.
When he saw the holes in the theory of evolution and the compelling evidence for creation, a switch flipped inside and he readily became a Christian.
That reveals the power of apologetics (logical arguments for Christianity), and gives us ample encouragement for mastering answers to the basic intellectual questions people have about Christianity.
Lack of conviction about truth
However, some people have heard all those arguments and still do not believe. Why is that?
Well, perhaps because, as someone has said, “Unbelief never has enough proof.”
For example, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 6, Jesus said that if someone did not believe Moses and the prophets, they would not believe even if someone rose from the dead! This observation was verified later when people saw another Lazarus actually raised from the dead in John 11, but did not believe!
But again, why would someone reject evidence in favor of unbelief? It doesn’t make sense. Perhaps it is that we live in a day when we think we can choose what is true.
But when we look below the surface of that assumption, we see that it is impossible. What we think about truth doesn’t change the truth. Truth is what it is, regardless of what we think.
For example, imagine I showed you a jigsaw puzzle box, with the contents rattling away when I shook it, and asked you what you thought was in it. You would most likely say, “a puzzle.” Why would you say otherwise?
Then, I open the box and reveal that it is filled with Cheezits. You would be excused for thinking there was a puzzle box. All the evidence led in that direction. The question is, however, did what you think was in the box have any effect on what actually was in the box? Answer: absolutely not!
In another example, have you ever heard a radio personality and formed an opinion of what he or she looked like, only to be quite surprised, when you eventually saw them, by what they actually looked like? The question is, however, did what you think they looked like have any effect on what they actually looked like? Answer: absolutely not!
What we think about truth does not change truth. Truth is what it is, regardless of what we think.
The same is true of God and the world He has created.
God is who he is, regardless of what we think. If we have some self-made idea of what God is like, it is unwise for us to trust that idea. It does not matter how sincerely we believe something if, in the end, it is false.
In spite of these realities, nevertheless, we live in a day when people believe they can choose what is true, and likely contributes to why some people choose not to believe in God, in spite of reason and evidence to the contrary.
Lack of desire
Perhaps linked to the belief that we can “choose our own truth” is another influence. We often simply believe something because it’s what we want to believe, in the face of all evidence to the contrary.
Blaise Pascal, a 15th century French philosopher, wrote, “people almost invariably arrive at their beliefs, not on the basis of proof, but on the basis of what they find attractive.”
Similarly, Louis Pasteur wrote, “the greatest aberration of the mind is to believe a thing to be true, because we desire it.”
In his book, Reflections on the Existence of God, Richard Simmons has an insightful section on “The Psychology of Unbelief.” In it, he tells the story of C.S. Lewis, who, as he was being overwhelmed by the evidence for Christianity, observed that his intellect was taking him in a direction that his heart did not want to go. He later admitted that he was attracted to atheism because of the moral freedom it provided.
Mortimer Adler, one of the great philosophical thinkers of the 20th century, became a Christian very late in life – at the age of 82. He went on to live to be 98 years old. In reflecting on his previous lifestyle of atheism, he realized that he had not wanted to become a Christian because he did not want to change his lifestyle.
Finally, Aldous Huxley famously admitted that he readily embraced Darwinism when it was newly advanced because it gave him freedom to pursue his erotic interests.
Conclusion
So, as we share our faith with others and they are not persuaded by facts, logic and reason, we can realize it may be because those factors are not the criteria on which they are making their decision to not believe. It may be that they think they can choose what is true for them, and/or they simply do not want to believe, for personal reasons.
Next week, in Part Two, we’ll look at some additional reasons why people might choose not to believe, in spite of the evidence, and we’ll also explore possible ways to encourage them to continue investigating the claims of Christ.
Help spread the message, “Like” my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maxanders.author and invite your friends to do the same. If you know someone you think may find this blog valuable, please forward it to them. I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at max@maxanders.com. I try to answer all emails, but, if not, I may address in future blogs the questions/issues you raise.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.