Written by Peter Rodriguez
Available in other languages: Português
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE BOOK OF NATURE
NATURE AS WORD OF GOD
Nature is a sacred book.
It lies open before all mankind, in every corner of the globe.
Each page of this book offers a rich source of knowledge about the One who created all things. It lifts our thoughts to holy things and gently guides us toward purity, peace, and God, its divine Author. Its verses are filled with divine wisdom, and we would do well to pay careful and reverent attention to their words.
As the Bible says,
- “Go to the ant, […] study its ways and gain wisdom” (Proverbs 6:6).
- “Look at the birds” (Matthew 6:26).
- “Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:27).
- “Observe the crows” (Luke 12:24).
The long green grass swaying in the wind, the flowers dotting the fields, the glorious scenes painted upon the ever-changing canvas of the sky, the beautiful melody God has taught the birds—all are sacred reminders that lift our thoughts to the Creator.
The wise do not merely look at the letters of the Book of Nature or only take delight in the poetry of its well-crafted verses. They see beyond the letters, understanding the meaning of those words and grasping the truths conveyed by them. With reverence, they meditate on the voice of nature, listening to its words as the Word of God and asking questions that lead them to the truth.
“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?” (Isaiah 40:26)
A Gentile philosopher, Seneca (4 BC – AD 65), once wrote: “Do you forbid me to contemplate the universe? Do you compel me to withdraw from the whole and restrict me to a part? May I not ask what are the beginnings of all things, who moulded the universe, who took the confused and conglomerate mass of sluggish matter, and separated it into its parts? May I not inquire who is the Master-Builder of this universe, how the mighty bulk was brought under the control of law and order, who gathered together the scattered atoms, who separated the disordered elements and assigned an outward form to elements that lay in one vast shapelessness?” (Seneca: Ad Lucilium epistulae morales, with an English Translation by Richard M. Gummere)
The Bible invites us to contemplate and think: “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?” (Isaiah 40:26)
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this?” (Job 12:7-9) (Jehovah, meaning “the Self-Existent One,” is the word the Hebrew people used in their language to refer to the Creator, the Self-Existent One.)
By reading the Book of Nature, that same Gentile philosopher recognized: “God has made this great and most beautiful creation.” (Seneca: Ad Lucilium epistulae morales, with an English Translation by Richard M. Gummere)
“The works of Jehovah are great, studied by all who delight in them.” (Psalm 111:2)
By studying God’s creation, many have been divinely enlightened and have come to the correct interpretation. The body of scientific literature essencially forms a collection of commentaries on this sacred book. The mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton, commenting on the Book of Nature, wrote at the conclusion of his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” (Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, by Sir Isaac Newton; translated into English by Andrew Motte)
The natural world reveals to our senses the greatness of our God and makes manifest the wonders of his creativity.
“O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures! Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. See the ships sailing along, and leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. They all depend on you to give them food as they need it. When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.” (Psalm 104:24-28)
Nothing is beneath the notice of the infinite God, and nothing is too small for his attention.
The tiny insect you see crawling upon the soil—God created it with tender love, sustains its life, and watches over everything that happens to it throughout its daily routine. The ants you see marching in line, carrying leaves to their home—God knows each one of them personally. “Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)
God loves all his creatures, and we all depend on our Creator for life and every breath we take.
Nature does not run on its own but depends completely on God. God himself is continually making our hearts beat and directly guiding the planets in their joyful courses around the sun. To God alone we pray for rain and give thanks for the harvest in its season. “Are there any among the vanities of the gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God? therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast made all these things.” (Jeremiah 14:22)
Through our scientific studies, we are able to understand something of the world’s rational structure and explain its natural phenomena—and it could be no different, since the world’s workings were, in fact, rationally established by a divine reason.
God “established the laws of heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 33:25), and he directly uses these natural laws to govern the functioning of the world.
Nature is not God, nor does it possess any power except that which God imparts to it. Only the Creator is—and can be—the Self-Existent One. All the elements of the universe were created by him, belong to him, and are held in the power of his hands. He “causes his sun to rise” (Matthew 5:45). He “draweth up the drops of water, which distil in rain from his vapor, which the skies pour down and drop upon man abundantly.” (Job 36:27-28) He “causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; that he may bring forth food out of the earth,” (Psalms 104:14)
GOD REVEALED BY NATURE
Throught the great Book of Nature, each human being can learn about God—even in the most remote places of the globe.
For wherever there is a creation of God, that creation is silently and continually testifying to its Creator. No matter where they are, or what language they speak, all the inhabitants of the Earth have heard of God the Creator. As the Bible 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. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their writing goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalms 19:1-4)
Many peoples and individuals around the globe have heard those silent words from Nature and discovered the true God through them.
Born in the early years of the Spanish conquest, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega—the son of an Inca noblewoman and a Spanish conquistador—wrote extensively about Inca history, culture, and society. In his book Comentarios Reales de los Incas, he recounts his childhood living among the Inca, as one of them. He wrote: “They held Pachacámac [God the Creator] in greater inward veneration than the Sun, whose name, as I have said, they did not dare to take in their mouth, while the Sun’s name they say constantly. When asked who Pachacámac was, they said he was the one who gave life to the universe and sustained it, […]. It should be known, as we have said elsewhere and will say again, and as all historians have written, that the Inca kings of Peru, through the natural light God had given them, came to understand that there was a Maker of all things, whom they called Pachacámac, which means ‘the maker and sustainer of the universe.’ […] The Incas were very pleased to learn that the Yuncas [another indigenous people] held Pachacámac [the Creator] in such high reverence, and that they inwardly worshipped him as the supreme god.” (Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega)
A Greek poet once wrote: “Most glorious of Immortals, mighty God, invoked by many a name, O sovran King of universal Nature, piloting this world in harmony with Law, — all hail! Thee it is meet that mortals should invoke, for we Thine offspring are, […]” (The Hymn of Cleanthes: Greek Text Translated into English, with Brief Introduction and Notes, by E. H. Blakeney, M. A.)
In his book Os Selvagens (The Savages), the military officer and writer José Vieira Couto de Magalhães shares information he gathered from frequent interactions with natives during his expeditions across Brazil. He wrote: “The people among the Americans [Amerindians] of Brazil who concern themselves with divine matters are called Caraíbas and Pajés, who serve as their priests. Above earthly things exists a being they call Monãn or Monhãn, which means Builder or Architect, the Author—to whom they attribute the same perfections that we ascribe to God.” (Os Selvagens, José Vieira Couto de Magalhães)
As the Bible says, “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples have seen his glory.” (Psalms 97:6)
The glory of God is his goodness (Exodus 33:18-19), his righteousness. His great lovingkindness toward us is the reason appointed by the Psalmist for all peoples of the world to praise the God and Creator of all mankind: “O praise Jehovah, all ye nations; laud him, all ye peoples! For his lovingkindness is great toward us; and the truth of Jehovah endureth for ever. Praise ye Jehovah!” (Psalm 117:1-2) “He has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:17) “Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God with a harp! He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry.” (Psalms 147:7-9)
CREATOR AND CREATURE
We make a sad mistake when we delight in the gifts but forget the Giver, and a grave error when we confuse creation with its Creator.
The fundamental error of idolatry persists when we mistake creation for its Creator. We need to take into account the simple truth that a work of art is not the artist. The universe speaks of God, but it is not God. Universe only exposes its Creator’s power, wisdom, and creativity (just as a work of art points to its author’s skill and personality).
- In an art gallery, we all know that the paintings are not the one who painted them.
- In the same way, the works of art we see in nature are not the One who made them.
The angels honored the divine Artist for his work, not the art: “When the stars were made,” God says, “all my angels praised me with a loud voice” (Job 38:7 LXX). They praised God, not the stars. This is the natural and reasonable response when we consider God’s creation.
We must worship not the creation, but the Creator—just as reason demands we honor not the painting, but the painter.
We can certainly rejoice in his creation, just as David did (Psalm 92:4), and take delight in his works, as God himself does (Proverbs 8:30-31). Yet the honor and applause naturally belong to the artist. So, to the Eternal One, who is greater than any stone or piece of wood, who has always existed and will always exist—the only true God—be the honor, applause, and glory for ever and ever.
Yes, “you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things!” (Revelation 4:11).
We praise human artists for their works, but is not God far more worthy of our praise? A human painter paints based on what was already created, copying or drawing inspiration from the world around them. But God created all things from his own mind, when nothing but himself existed. His creativity is not bound to previous knowledge or existing materials. Is not he much more worthy of praise than human artists? The graceful forms and delicate hues of the plants and flowers may be copied by human skill; but what touch can impart life to even one flower or blade of grass? Is not the Author of life much more worthy of our admiration than human artists?
“Let them praise the name of Jehovah; for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above the earth and the heavens.” (Psalm 148:13)
The understanding that the Creator is greater than created things found its way into the thoughts of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (r. 1438 – 1471), the founder of the Inca Empire: “[…] and complaining to him that, being the universal lord and creator of all things, and having made the heavens and the sun and the world and mankind, and with everything under his power, they did not give him [God the Creator] the obedience he deserved, but rather paid equal veneration to the Sun and thunder and the earth and other things, which had no virtue other than that which he had given them; and that he made it known to him that in heaven, where he was, he was called Viracocha Pachayacháchic, which means universal creator, […].” (Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega)
The Gentile philosopher Seneca (4 BC – AD 65) had the same obvious understanding as the Peruvian indigenous man mentioned above: “there is a great difference between a work and the cause of a work. […] that which creates, in other words, God, is more powerful and precious than matter, which is acted upon by God.” (Seneca: Ad Lucilium epistulae morales, with an English Translation by Richard M. Gummere)
A tree draws nourishment from His soil, hydration from His rains, and energy from His sun. Remove the sun, or the water, or the soil, and the tree eventually ceases to exist. In contrast, the true God needs nothing to exist, since he is that one who existed when nothing beside himself existed. He transcends all things and is the Self-Existent One. Isaiah the prophet represents the one who created all things as saying, “before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah;” (Isaiah 43:10-11)
The Creator is not a statue, but the eternal and living God—who thinks, loves, and gives us sustenance and life.
“When asked who Pachacámac was, they [the Incas] said he was the one who gave life to the universe and sustained it, but that they did not know him because they had not seen him, and for this reason, they did not build him temples or offer him sacrifices, but that they worshipped him in their hearts (that is, mentally) and feared him as the unknown God. […] That the idols found in the temple of Pachacámac be cast out, because, being the maker and sustainer of the universe, it was not fitting that idols of lesser majesty should stand in his temple and upon his altar, and that Pachacámac be worshipped in the heart and no statue be made of him because, having not shown himself, they did not know what form he had, and thus could not portray him, as they did the Sun.” (Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Garcilaso de la Vega)
As Moses said in the Bible: “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, […].” (Deu 4:15-16)
It is not right to seek to reduce his greatness to a statue or direct our prayers toward a created thing rather than the Creator. Doing so only distorts our understanding of him and diminishes his majesty in our minds, reducing the Eternal One to something perishable—a mere creature. Now, there is no error when men worship the one who is the Creator and do so in the way that Inca said: “in their hearts (that is, mentally)”.
We cannot reduce the Creator to a statue, nor can a stone or piece of wood be a god.
The Bible invites us to reason together, for reflection, with this passage written by Isaiah the prophet: “The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?” (Isaiah 44:13-19)
So, the works we see in nature are not the One who made them, just as the paintings we see in an art gallery are not the one who painted them.
DEALING WITH DOUBTS
And probability leaves no room in the real world to believe the paintings in an art gallery were formed by chance. No one truly believes that they were formed by chance. We can try to complicate what is plain and obscure the obvious with clever-sounding thoughts—”darkening the counsel with words without knowledge” (Job 38:2)—but deep down, we all know the simple truth: someone painted those paintings.
“If you equate the probability of the birth of a bacteria cell to chance assembly of its atoms, eternity will not suffice to produce one.” (Christian de Duve, cytologist and biochemist)
A certain scientist once expressed a sound line of reasoning on this matter: “Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with the reason and not with the feelings, impresses me as having much more weight. This follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with his capacity of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity. When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a Theist.”
But of course, if one wants, they can find reasons to not be sure about the fact that there is a painter.
Actually, those who seek reasons to doubt—no matter the subject—will find those reasons.
We can be uncertain about literally anything, to the point where even reality itself seems doubtful and our very existence appears questionable. Certainty, as a state where not a single reason for doubt remains unsolved, is impossible in any matter. Those who demand that every possible objection be resolved before believing, leaving no opportunity for doubt and skepticism, will never come to the light.
But there is no need for this.
There are more reasons to believe than reason to doubt. If men, whenever faced with doubt, choose to focus not on the few things they cannot make plain, but on the clear and ample evidence which God has given to sustain their faith, they will come to the light. God has given ample evidence for faith, but whoever chooses to ignore the evidence because a question remain unsolved will inevitably be left in the cold, chilling atmosphere of unbelief and questioning doubts.
We might not be able to directly perceive him through our senses, but our Creator also gave us a brain—and he wants us to use it.
We need to think and reflect on the evidence. Our sensorial abilities were not given merely to experience reality, but also to help us comprehend it. We must make use of the gift of reason that God has endowed us with. Through our senses, we perceive the reality around us; with our minds, we think and reflect on what we perceive.
The world is our classroom, and the Bible invites us to explore it and seek knowledge in God’s creations.
“I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14) Since the awakening of our conscience in childhood, we have been learning and making sense of the things we see. We are not irrational beings, living only to eat and satisfy sensual appetites, being governed by sense rather than reason, minding nothing but earth and earthly things. God has given us a powerful brain and endowed us with reason, not only senses.
Creation leads us to recognize that there is a Creator behind it and glorify him for his power and wisdom.
“How great are thy works, O Jehovah! Thy thoughts are very deep. A carnal man knoweth not; neither doth a brutish man understand this.” (Psalm 92:5-6)
One might see the earth stretching flat before their eyes and assume our planet is flat based on how it appears to their eyes. But once the matter is investigated and the weight of evidence is considered, we come to the truth that the Earth is actually round. In the same way that to know this truth is required reasoning and consideration of evidence (and this need does not mean it is not true), the truth of the existence of God is recognized when we consider the evidence and think.
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine reason returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever;” (Daniel 4:34)
Through the evidence found in the Word of God (also spoken by nature), we can receive the divine gift of faith—for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Through faith we can break through the dark clouds of doubt and unbelief, “as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). We need to consider the biblical definition of faith to know what it truly is. Faith is not a feeling, but the “conviction of matters not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), and this conviction “comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
In the end, each of us need to decide based on the weight of evidence—and the weight of evidence points to His existence.
“since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” (Romans 1) “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. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their writing goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalms 19:1-4)
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by a saying of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which appear.” (Hebrews 11:3)
“For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33:9) This statement is to be understood by faith in the great creative power (“through faith we understand”). No amount of explanation can convince one of the truth of the statement nor tell the whys and wherefores of the creation of the world. That statement is to be understood by faith. “By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” (Psalm 33:6)
THE MERCY OF GOD REVEALED IN NATURE
Although many claim with their lips to believe in God’s existence, their hearts are far from him.
As the Bible says, even demons recognize the existence of God and tremble before him (James 2:19), but simply believing means nothing. Countless people go through life as if God does not exist while claiming to believe in God. They neglect prayer, ignore the study of God’s Word, and show love to their neighbor only when it serves their selfish interests or when they can receive something in exchange in the future. They lie, betray their marital vows, and indulge in what is impure.
So, although they confess with their lips that God exists, in practice they live as though God did not exist.
As it is written, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works;” (Psalm 14:1)
“Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judges another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. […] And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Despite all this, “Jehovah is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Psalm 145:9)
His arms are open, and he is ready to forgive those who turn to him in repentance. He longs to lift humanity, his beloved creation, from the pit into which all of us have fallen. Through his actions, God has left testimony of his mercy and grace in the Book of Nature. He is merciful with all of us, as we can see in every morning. The first rays of the sun streaming through your window whisper that His mercies have not come to an end. One more opportunity has been given. “This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope. It is of Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:21-23).
The rains He sends to refresh the earth, the rays of the sun He uses to warm us, the delicious food we eat with family and friends—every good gift is poured out freely, not only upon those who thank the Giver, but also upon those who ignore the Source of their joy.
And just as God pours out his love also upon those who hate him and are ungrateful to him, we learn from the Book of Nature that we must extend love even to those who hate us. “I tell you,” Jesus said, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be complete, therefore, as your heavenly Father is complete.” (Matthew 5:44-48)
Nature is full of godly teachings.
Indeed, nature is literally God-breathed and is useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The world is our classroom, and the Bible invites us to seek divine knowledge in God’s creations. And by learning to know God through the great Book of Nature, a foundation is laid for the truths of God’s written word: the Bible.
THE BIBLE
THE SCRIPTURES AS WORD OF GOD
“Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.” (Exodus 2:15)
“It was a very sharp descent from Pharaoh’s palace to the wilderness, and forty years of a shepherd’s life were a strange contrast to the brilliant future that once seemed likely for Moses. But God tests His weapons before He uses them, and great men are generally prepared for great deeds by great sorrows. Solitude is ‘the mother-country of the strong,’ and the wilderness, with its savage crags, its awful silence, and the unbroken round of its blue heaven, was a better place to meet God than in the heavy air of a palace, or the profitless splendours of a court.” (MacLaren Expositions Of Holy Scripture)
In Moses’ new surroundings, the Creator’s name was written everywhere.
As he wandered with his flocks in solitary places, Moses found himself overshadowed by God’s greatness and majesty, his everlasting power and divinity. During those long years spent amid the wilderness, nature was constantly declaring to his senses the glory of God and impressing his mind with the work of his hands. Day after day, it poured forth speech; night after night, it revealed knowledge. And inspired by God, Moses was impelled to write a certain truth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
The Bible is the religious book that presents God the Creator in harmony with his revelation in the Book of Nature.
The Bible’s consistency and harmony with the testimony of the Book of Nature attest to its legitimacy as Word of God. It describes the God it speaks about as good, merciful, and compassionate—the same qualities we find in the God revealed in the Book of Nature. The biblical God shows love even to those who hate him, just as the God of Nature gives good things to the wicked as well. In its words we can see that the Creator of the universe and all it contains is the very God it proclaims. The biblical God is also mighty in power and great in wisdom, which corresponds with the characteristics we observe in the God revealed by the Book of Nature.
All this demonstrates that the biblical God is none other than the God revealed in the Book of Nature—the true God.
“Gratefully he [Isaac Newton] owned, therefore, the same Author in the Book of Nature and the Book of Revelation [the Bible]. These were to him as drops of the same unfathomable ocean;—as outrayings of the same inner splendour;—as tones of the same ineffable voice;—as segments of the same infinite curve. With great joy he had found himself enabled to proclaim, as an interpreter, from the hieroglyphs of Creation, the existence of a God: and now, with greater joy, and in the fulness of his knowledge, and in the fulness of his strength, he laboured to make clear, from the utterances of the inspired Word, the far mightier confirmations of a Supreme Good, in all its glorious amplitude of Being and of Attribute;” (Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, by Sir Isaac Newton; translated into English by Andrew Motte)
“Therefore is nature ever the ally of Religion: lends all her pomp and riches to the religious sentiment. Prophet and priest, David, Isaiah, Jesus, have drawn deeply from this source.” (Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
As you could see in the previous section, the doctrines drawn from nature and presented here were actually taken from the Bible. It was the Bible that made those lessons clear to our confused and senseless mind. Men “did not think fit to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28), and as a result, “their senseless minds were darkened” (Romans 1:21).
GOD REVEALED BY THE BIBLE
I, the writer, was once an atheist.
I did not want to love God, nor did I see any reason to. I had no desire to dedicate my life to him, nor could I understand why I should. (I had not received religious education as a child, which was a huge deficiency in my upbringing.) And since I had no interest in actually being a Christian and living Christianity, I decided to officially adopt atheism and live as though God did not exist.
As I used to confess later, it was not because I considered myself a ‘rational thinker’ or a ‘man of science’, as many atheists and science fans often portray themselves.
It was simply because I did not care about God, as I used to confess. My inability to perceive God through my senses was just a convenient excuse I used to justify my indifference and disbelief. To justify my stance, I also eventually leaned on the supposed contradictions of Christianity, a religion that, in reality, I did not know or at least try to understand. I became spiritually blind and deaf, insensible to God’s voice, and a mocker.
Thus, I walked on the path of those who walk “in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;” (Ephesians 4:17-18)
We do not realize how much we lose through doubt and unbelief.
“Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore!” (Psalm 16:11) “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no reason; whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in, else they will not come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked [the fruit of their own ways]; but he that trusteth in Jehovah, lovingkindness shall compass him about.” (Ps 32:8-10) “I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17-18)
And so, I wasted all my teenage years alienated from the life of God, not thinking of him, and without guidance.
However, reading was something I enjoyed from a very young age. I would read every book that I could get my hands on, even the most randoms—from botany, biology, gardening, and landscaping to ancient civilizations, phytotherapy, finance, mythology, and fantasy. Thus, I eventually thought to myself, “Why not read the mythology of the Christians as well?” So I decided that I would read the Bible from beginning to end. Not that I was seeking divine revelations or looking for a religion to adopt. My interest lay solely in engaging with the text as literature.
Coincidentally, I happened to reconnect with a friend of mine who was a Christian, and God put me in touch with his church.
One day, I mentioned to that Christian friend that I was interested in reading the Bible as literature and asked which translation he considered more appropriate for the kind of reading I had in mind. He eventually gave me a Bible, and I went home eager to begin this new book. I opened it and began reading: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
It was my first time exploring the pages of the Bible, and I must say it was a very enjoyable read.
It was an enjoyable experience to read the creation account, the patriarchs’ journeys through distant lands, Joseph in Egypt, God’s confrontation with Pharaoh and the deliverance of Israel from slavery, the dramatic parting and crossing of the Red Sea, Israel’s perilous journey through the wilderness—where there were fiery serpents and scorpions, thirsty ground where there was no water, and hostile, strange peoples on every side—Mount Sinai cloaked in smoke and thunder, the reconquest of Canaan, David’s bold duel with a giant, and many other impressive moments.
Whenever I encountered a difficulty in the biblical text, I would often message that Christian friend asking for clarification.
And I kept reading, immersing myself in the poetry of the Psalms, the wisdom of Proverbs, the dark, unsettling philosophy of Ecclesiastes, the love story of the Song of Songs with its veiled, picturesque language, and the powerful, moving messages of the Book of Isaiah. I was genuinely enjoying it. The narratives made the Bible feel like a rich storybook, even more when we “zoom out” to take in the whole and glimpse the cosmic conflict beyond the veil: the rebellion that began in heaven with a certain angel, its spillover to earth, and the world’s deliverance through God’s champion—Jesus, sent to free mankind.
It was not the intention, as I said, but by reading the Bible, I was inevitably learning about God and his good ways.
I saw the superiority of the biblical God, and the wisdom and justice of his ways. The care he showed for his people, and the way he fought for them, was beautiful. I found myself liking this God and recognizing the greatness and superiority of his ways. His existence also seemed credible and reasonable: his divine nature—one, eternal, Creator of all things—was convincing. He was not like the other gods. The impression left on my mind was something like, “If there is a god, it must be one like this.”
Despite this, I still did not give the matter the attention it deserved, wanted to follow my own ways, and postponed the decision to turn to God.
Yes, I had delayed making the most brilliant and important decision a person can ever make—postponing it to an uncertain future, giving ears to Satan’s suggestions—just to follow my own ways. “Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God. They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)
I kept reading.
At some point, I began to consider the decision to become a servant of this God and to follow his ways as presented in the Bible. It was around that time that, as I continued progressing in my reading, I came across this verse: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) That calling gave me a sense of certainty, and I trusted in the principle expressed in that word. “I will do that,” I finally thought.
This time, I gave the matter the attention it deserved and had the serious intention of becoming a Christian.
And I kept reading, this time with a new interest, and also started to pray.
“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:6-11)
I was desiring to become a Christian and was already wanting to show this God and his good and wise ways to others, but one thing was holding me back.
I remained stuck because of the only objection that I considered valid against the truth of God’s existence: our inability to see him.
I had an inclination for discussions of ideas, debates, defense of ideas, and refutation of ideas I considered wrong. I would want to argue in a way that no room would be left for counterarguments. And so, when it came to the existence of God, I wanted to dismantle every single argument that is used against it, and also offer a response to genuine questions, leaving no room for doubt or unbelief. So I remained stuck on that objection related to our inability to see God.
But eventually, I came to the realization that if we cannot attain full certainty even concerning secular and earthly realities, how much less can we expect to do so concerning the Infinite One and Creator of all things.
We cannot fully comprehend the existence of God, as I was hoping to, or reach a level of understanding where no doubt remains and every single objection is solved. And how can we expect to find God by digging into the earth or peering through a microscope? How can we expect to reduce to mere material observation the one who, existing before all things, transcends matter? How can we hope to measure the height and the length and the depth of the One who is infinite? “Behold, heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee!” (1 Kings 8:27).
Eternity will not be enough to exhaust the knowledge of him.
Men may be ever searching, ever learning, and yet there will always be an infinity beyond.
“Canst thou attain to the searching out of God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” (Job 11:7–9) “there is no searching of his understanding.” (Isaiah 40:28)
There is no other way: faith—grounded in the evidence given, the Word of God—is required in the end, and only through this divine gift can we have full certainty that God exists.
“the world through its wisdom knew not God,” (1Cor 1:21) and today it would be no different. It is through the Word of God that mankind can come to know God and through faith be sure about his existence. No amount of human explanation can convince one about the fact that God exists. Men may be always crafting complex explanations and trying to rely on the wisdom of this age to argue for his existence, but it is only through faith based on the Word of God that we can be completely certain about that reality. “And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Now, by exercising the gift of faith, I have complete certainty of God’s existence—“as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).
And concerning my past skepticism and blasphemous mockery, I deeply abhor myself, and because of his mercy and long-suffering in dealing with me, I repent in dust and ashes.
HOW THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN
The Bible is a collection of books written by holy men of God.
As we saw, Nature is a holy book, and the writers of the Bible draw heavily from that source. They took teachings and also ilustrations for the teachings God gave them through the prophetic gift. “that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth and God.” (Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The Bible opens our eyes to see aspects of the natural world that a heart blinded by sin would otherwise miss.
We begin to notice things and say, “I have never seen this in nature before.” In turn, the Book of Nature helps us better understand the Bible, since many of its teachings and ilustrations are drawn from it. Thus, both books shed light on each other, and the seeker of truth will do well to pay attention to both. Without the Bible, most of us risk idolizing nature or misunderstanding it. Relying on nature alone leaves much unseen in nature itself and even misinterpreted, while considering the Bible only may keep us from grasping its full depth, color, and beauty.
It is an observable fact that people from rural areas or less industrialized regions of the world are usually more inclined to believe in God and lead a religious life than those who live surrounded by concrete and whose daily routines keep them from seeing daylight.
Not only because they are less inclined to think they know everything, being thus more likely to have a teachable heart, nor only because they are healthier, but also because they are constantly surrounded by the wonders of the natural world, which lifts their minds to the Creator and holy thoughts.
“These facts [about how language, thought, and imagery are deeply connected to our experiences with the natural world] may suggest the advantage which the country-life possesses for a powerful mind, over the artificial and curtailed life of cities. We know more from nature than we can at will communicate. Its light flows into the mind evermore, and we forget its presence. The poet, the orator, bred in the woods, whose senses have been nourished by their fair and appeasing changes, year after year, without design and without heed,—shall not lose their lesson altogether, in the roar of cities or the broil of politics. Long hereafter, amidst agitation and terror in national councils,—in the hour of revolution,—these solemn images shall reappear in their morning lustre, as fit symbols and words of the thoughts which the passing events shall awaken. At the call of a noble sentiment, again the woods wave, the pines murmur, the river rolls and shines, and the cattle low upon the mountains, as he saw and heard them in his infancy.” (Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Spending time in nature and considering the works of God in it helps us learn God’s teachings and become more sensible to hear his voice.
- Amos, who wrote one of the books of the Bible, was a farmer and cattleman: “I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees: and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.” (Amos 7:14-15)
- David, the writer of many Psalms, was a shepherd: “He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.” (Psalm 78:70-72)
- Peter, who wrote some letters of the Bible, was a fisherman, laboring beneath a night sky filled with colorful, sparkling stars: “And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.” (Matthew 4:18)
Many dismiss these men as ignorant and are unwilling to listen to them because of their origins.
But they make a mistake in shaming people for their background or assuming their knowledge is superior when, in reality, a wisdom that comes from God surpasses anything the human mind can conceive, now or in the future. “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) “Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
The knowledge they recorded in their writings did not originate from human power or invention, but from the eternal God.
The fact that most of those holy men were not great in the eyes of the world does not mean that educated or high-status individuals cannot be servants of God, or that there were no such people among the writers of the Bible.
Not many were nobles or wise in common knowledge, but this implies that some were. “For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:” (1 Corinthians 1:26–28)
Some of those who wrote the Bible were individuals with great knowledge in secular matters or held positions of high status in society:
- Daniel the prophet was one of those who were “from the seed of the kingship, and from the nobles,” and also one of those who were “skillful in all wisdom, and knowers of knowledge, and discerning in science”
- Moses, although he ended in a humble condition according to the world, “was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.” (Acts 7:22)
- Solomon was an extremely wealthy king: “And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.” (1Kings 2:12) “And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.” (1Kings 10:23)
The Bible was written by several men, from different walks of life and vastly different backgrounds.
Its authors included farmers, kings, fishermen, physicians, shepherds, warriors, musicians, statesmen, and theologians. But despite this beautiful diversity, the thoughtful student of the Bible can see the perfect harmony that there is in their writings, since the One who inspired those men is one and the same.
It is important to understand how the Bible was written and how God comunicated with us through those holy men.
If you know the Bible, you can see that its books present a wide contrast in literary style and different forms of expression are employed by different writers. The Bible is not a single nor even a homogeneous book. Consider the different writers and the diverse writing styles through which the Bible was composed. You will see that each writer conveyed God’s messages using their own voice, literary style, and personal experiences. This means that God is not represented in the Bible as a writer (as a writer, may this be emphasized).
The Bible was truly written by men, with each author expressing divine truths in their own language and writing styles from their time and culture.
God did not dictate the exact words and expressions of the Bible, nor did he employ literary devices such as hyperboles, chiasms, or metaphors. These stylistic elements arose naturally through the human authors, who used their own language and literary tools to communicate divine truths. The Bible is God’s truth written by men in the language of men, so that men can read and understand it. God guided the mind of the biblical writers in the selection of the content they should speak and write. He carried out the process, ensuring that the message he wanted to deliver would be delivered. However, the biblical writers wrote by themselves and were left to express in their own words and modes of expression the truths that God had put in their hearts and the teachings he revealed to their minds.
This is evident when we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and see the many different ways of expressions, tones, and literary styles employed by its many writers.
“In whatever way the mind was influenced, or whatever was the mode in which the truth was conveyed, yet it was not such as to destroy the conscious powers of free agency, nor such as to destroy the individuality of the inspired person, or to annihilate what was special in his mode of thinking, his style, or his customary manner of expression.” (Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible)
It is important to emphasize however that the truths revealed through those words of men were all given by God himself.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy [divine communication] of the Scripture comes from personal explanation, for not by will of man did ever prophecy come, but being impelled by the Holy Spirit, holy men of God spoke.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the biblical writers were imbued with thoughts. The divine mind and will was combined with the human mind and will. It is in this way that the utterances of the man are the word of God.
In this, as in Christ’s incarnation, is displayed the condescension and love of God.
The Bible’s ideas had to be expressed in human language so that we could be reached. The different and many ways the books of the Bible were written are not God’s way of expressing himself, but to reach us where we are, the Infinite one has been pleased to communicate his truths to the world by human agencies, with all their limitations, deficiences, and imperfections.
This condescension has been a cause of scandal to many, as it is in Christ’s incarnation.
And since they were indeed written by human men, men like ourselves, minor grammatical mistakes and some other irrelevant imperfections can sometimes be found in the biblical writings. “as inspiration does not suppress the individuality of the biblical writers, so it does not altogether neutralise their human infirmities or confer upon them immunity from error” (S. R. Driver, Church Congress speech, cited in F.W. Farrar, The Bible: Its Meaning and Supremacy, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1897.)
It is not that the Bible is full of errors.
But it is a fact that some irrelevant errors do exist.
A well-known example of this appears in the Gospel of Matthew (see Matthew 27:9–10), where the sacred writer attributes a certain text to the prophet Jeremiah when it actually appears in the book of Zechariah. This wrong attribution, nonetheless, does not affect in any way the divine message that was being conveyed by Matthew. The focus was not the human author’s identity, but the message of the text itself.
The authorship of the text Matthew mentioned is ultimately irrelevant to his message.
Copyists and translators had the opportunity to correct that minor detail, but they deliberately preserved the sacred text as it came from the biblical author.
Again, it is not that the Bible is full of errors, but it is a fact that it does contain a few. Those minor errors do not compromise its messages or the doctrines of the Christian religion. Of course, God himself is perfect and does not commit any error. But again, the Bible was not written by God himself, and he did not dictated its words. Its words were chosen and written by human men. It is the messages and religious teachings conveyed through those words that are inerrant and infallible.
One’s faith does not need to be shaken due to their misunderstanding concerning what inspiration really is and how it really operates.
One’s faith does not need to be shaken due to their wrong expectations about the Bible. Although the Bible is often used nowadays for purposes it was never meant to serve, it was actually written to serve as a guide to salvation and a holy life, as a revelation about God and his will, as nourishment for the soul. Simply put, the Bible is a religious book. It is inerrant and infallible in fulfilling the purpose for which it was written.
The Holy Scriptures were written for practical purposes.
The Bible’s writings are described as “the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2Tm 3:15-17) So, its teachings, its reproofs, and its corrections are related to making the man of God complete and equipped for every good work. Its inerrancy pertains to its primary doctrinal purpose, not to incidental details. Some rare factual errors can be found in the Bible, but they do not matter and do not affect its function.
Also, different biblical writers may emphasize a different facet of truth, presenting the same subject from varied perspectives.
This multifaceted nature of the Bible’s message is often referred to as contradiction by those who read the Bible in a careless and negligent way. However, while each writer highlights the aspect of truth that most deeply impressed their own heart and mind or that best addresses the needs of their immediate audience, these differing viewpoints adapted to meet the wants of men in all the circumstances and experiences of life come together to form a perfect whole. One writer may present a subject more strikingly than another, but together, they complement each other, weaving together a complete and unified message.
This actually makes the collection of books we call the Bible even more beautiful, colorful, and rich.
The careless reader sees discrepancy and contradiction, but the thoughtful student contemplates the beauty and underlying harmony woven throughout the holy Bible.
JESUS CHRIST
GOD IN FLESH
“God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in a son” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
In humanity’s original state of innocence, before the fall into sin, mankind enjoyed direct, face-to-face communion with their Creator. God himself would visit earth and spend time with mankind in loving fellowship. In those perfect moments, God was “rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:31).
However, human transgression introduced a separation between God and men, rendering direct interaction no longer possible in its original form.
Since then, when faced with the presence of the Holy God, this has been the response of mankind: “And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8) “And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” (Daniel 10:7-8) (See also Isaiah 6:5 and Revelation 1:17).
God’s desire for direct relationship with humanity remained unchanged, but if he appeared in his full, unveiled glory, sinful humanity could not survive it (Exodus 33:20).
Because he loves us enough to reach us even where we are, Christ veiled his glory and turned himself one of us.
Concerning this, a Hebrew prophet foretold: “the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name ‘God with us’.” (Isaiah 7:14) Thus, “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). “Philip saith unto him [Jesus], Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” (John 14:8-10)
We behold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
“in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9)
Thus, Jesus is the complete revelation of God and “the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3). In his incarnation, “the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) “and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13)
All that can be known of God is found in Christ, for “in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Colossians 1:19)
Thus, God spoke not only indirectly (through his actions, works of art, and prophets) but also appeared, in a form we could bear, and spoke directly, through Jesus Christ. As it is written, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1:18)
But even then, most men insisted in unbelief and rebellion.
Even when God graciously revealed himself visibly and thus satisfied any possible request for direct revelation, men then rejected the possibility of his visible presence among us and prescribed what God may or may not do. They demanded signs yet rejected them when given. It would be no different today. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not.” (John 1:10) “though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on him” (John 12:37).
God gave through the prophets of old many prophecies concerning the one called “God with us”.
Every single biblical prophecy related to the Messiah’s first coming was fulfilled in Jesus, even those specifying the exact year of his manifestation and the exact year of his death at the hands of wicked men, as foretold in the Book of Daniel. (These and other prophecies from Daniel will be explored in detail in this series.) In Jesus’ life and ministry all those God-given prophecies were perfectly fulfilled, confirming his identity as the promised Messiah.
In the Bible we find works with many testimonies about the life, teachings, and deeds of this Jesus of Nazareth.
HISTORICAL SOURCES ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
The Gospels are historical documents that demand serious consideration.
We sometimes seem to forget, but the Bible is not a single book but a compilation of many independent works. Each Gospel and epistle was originated as an independent document, written by separate individuals attesting to events that happened among them. Only later were these texts compiled into the unified collection we now call the Bible (from Greek ta biblia, ‘the books’).
So, there is not only one witness but many distinct first-century documents attesting to the coming of the Promised One.
“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.” (1 John 1:1-4)
A Greek physician called Luke, although he did not walk with Jesus during his time on earth, undertook careful research about this man, systematically gathered evidence, and interviewed those who saw and lived near Jesus.
In the prologue of his work (a work that was later incorporated into the Bible), he wrote: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.” (Luke 1:1-4)
A Roman-Jewish historian called Flavius Josephus (AD 37 – 100) is another one who wrote about Jesus (though his writings were not included in the Bible).
He wrote: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” (Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews 18:3:3)
The record above is one of the ancient texts outside the Christian circle that give evidence about Jesus.
Of course, despite its recognition by scholarly consensus as credible evidence for Jesus’ historical existence, this evidence has not been immune to rejection and skepticism.
No other sources concerning his existence will be provided here. If one wants, they can find more in works dedicated to the subject. The thing is, as you can see, all who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. While God has given ample evidence for faith, he will never remove every excuse for unbelief. He who turns from the given evidence because there are a few things which he cannot make plain will be left in the cold, chilling atmosphere of unbelief and questioning doubts.
It is not that it is wrong to question and seek answers (on the contrary, the Bible encourages us to do that), and God does not request one to build their faith upon nothing (on the contrary).
Evidence is given for our faith, and there is reason for us to believe. Otherwise, the apostle Peter would not have urged to “always be prepared to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15) So, there is reason for the Christian faith. But those who refuse to believe until every single objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity for doubt, will never come to the light.
There is one evidence to not believe (inability to directly perceive God through our senses) and there is ample evidence to believe.
The problem does not rely on lack of evidence about God or the person of Jesus, since there are many of them. The thing is: In our search for the truth, it is necessary to remove personal influences and desires as much as possible. In order to arrive at truth, we must have a sincere desire to know the truth, whatever it is, and a willingness of heart to receive it.
Failing this, we will never arrive at the truth.
The seeker of truth must search his heart and seek to understand the possible true cause of unbelief. Not always, but in most cases, the real cause of doubt and skepticism is the love of sin. God’s ways are not welcome to the proud, selfish, or mundane. Those who are unwilling to obey their pure and heavenly requirements are ready to ignore the given evidence concerning his existence and hold with all strength the fact that we are not directly perceiving him through our senses.
If men, instead of dwelling upon the evidence which God has given to sustain their faith, choose to dwell upon a few things they still cannot make plain, they will never come to the truth.
In the natural world we are constantly surrounded with mysteries that we cannot fathom. Life itself is an extraordinary mystery that even the mightiest intellects of earth cannot explain. Everywhere are wonders beyond our ken. Men may be ever searching, ever learning, and still there is an infinity beyond. Should we then be surprised by the fact that we cannot fully comprehend the existence of the Eternal One?
What kind of evidence would we expect to find concerning his existence?
We can go as farther as we can, but in the end, faith based on the given evidence is required.
To go aside the Word of God, using finite wisdom and complex explanations to explain the infinite One, is helpless and will never convince one of the truth. 1Cor 1:21: “the world through its wisdom knew not God,” and today it would be no different.
Only the sure Word of God—Nature, the Bible, and Jesus Christ—can be the foundation of our faith, and upon it alone we should build.
Through the ample evidence provided, we can receive the gift of faith—for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God”. Our faith must penetrate the dark cloud of doubt and unbelief and only then we will see the One who is beyond our eyes can see or hands can touch. Faith is not a feeling but the Heb 11:1: “conviction of matters not seen.”, and this conviction “comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God”
The Word of God—the Book of Nature, the Bible, Jesus Christ—is the light to our path.
JESUS AND THE OTHER REVELATIONS
All that Jesus taught, did, and believed was fully aligned with the teachings of the Word of God that came before.
Consider his teachings and see by yourself how much importance he gave to the Book of Nature and how he exalted the Holy Scriptures. Everything he said and did was in harmony with the earlier teachings of the Word of God. And it could be no different, since he was the very one who inspired the prophets and wrote the Book of Nature: “the Spirit of Christ, which was in them [in the prophets of old],” (1 Peter 1:11) and “by him [by Jesus] were all things created” (Colossians 1:16).
We must regard both Nature and the Old Testament as the Word of Christ—because they are.
Jesus directed our attention to the Book of Nature and to the Scriptures:
- “Look at the birds” (Matthew 6:26).
- “Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:27).
- “Observe the crows” (Luke 12.24).
- “But if ye believe not his writings [Moses’], how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:47)
- “Search the Scriptures:” (John 5:39)
- “It is written:” (Matthew 4:4)
- “It is also written” (Matthew 4:7)
- “It is written:” (Matthew 4:10
- “[…], as it is written, […]” (Mark 7:6)
- “[…], as the Scripture has said:” (John 7:38)
- “For Moses said, […]” (Mark 7:10)
- “Is it not written, …?” (Mark 11:17)
- “did ye never read, …?” (Matthew 21:16)
- “for it is written, …” (Matthew 26:31)
- “It is written in the Prophets:” (John 6:45)
- “Have you not read…?” (Matthew 12:3)
- “Have you not read…?” (Matthew 19:4)
- Have you not read this Scripture: …?” (Mark 12:10)
An example of Jesus using the Book of Nature to help us understand the Bible is when, after healing someone on the day God had set apart for rest, he shows that such an act is entirely lawful by pointing to God’s ongoing work (for the world).
The text says: “And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My personal Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only was loosening the sabbath, but also calling God his personal Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
As we have seen, nature does not operate on its own but depends entirely on God.
If God were to stop his work for his creatures on the sabbath day, the universe and everything in it would collapse and vanish from existence in that very moment.
So, during the celebration of the first Sabbath, when God rested on the seventh day of his creative work, he continued working (this time only for the continuity of the existence of his creation). When he gave Moses the Ten Commandments on stone tablets, including the fourth commandment telling people to rest on the seventh day, God continued his sustaining work on the first Sabbath afterward. When he repeatedly rebuked people for repeatedly breaking the fourth commandment by working on agriculture and commerce on that holy day, he continued working to uphold the existence of his creatures—who depend on him every millisecond.
The prohibition of helping someone on the day of rest was simply another of the many undue restrictions the religious leaders of Jesus’ time illegitimately attached to the fourth commandment.
As the text said, Jesus was loosening, relaxing the sabbath from those illegitimate additional demands men imposed on it—making it less tight, restoring it to the original form taught in the Bible and observed by the saints of old. It was never prohibited in the Bible helping someone on the day of rest; it simply calls for ceasing from ordinary work. Had Jesus’ contemporaries not gone beyond what the Bible teaches, and had they considered the lessons of the Book of Nature, they would not have condemned the innocent Jesus.
If we accidentally cut our finger during the day of rest, God initiates the healing process in our body on that very day.
“My personal Father worketh even until now, and I work.” By condemning Jesus’ act of healing a person on the Sabbath, the religious leaders were, in effect, condemning God the Father and accusing him of wrongdoing, since he continues to bestow good upon his creatures even on the weekly day of rest. They were also condemning the holy angels, who do not cease their selfless service to mankind on that day.
Thus, by highlighting God’s continual work, Jesus sought to help them understand the Scriptures through the Book of Nature.
As the true Messiah, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy: “He [the Messiah] will magnify the law and make it honorable” (Isaiah 42:21).
In his life, we see one who strictly lived out all the teachings of the Bible. Jesus declared, “Think not that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets [the Law and the Prophets refer to all of the Bible written up to that time—the Old Testament]: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. … Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17,19)
For Jesus, as we can see, there is no teaching of the Word of God so little as we may neglect, or despise, or disobey it.
Yet we must be careful not to be focused only on minor details and overlook the weightier matters of the Bible.
Jesus said: “But woe unto you Pharisees, for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Luke 11:42). Jesus purposely names the most trifling products of the earth, as examples of what they punctiliously exacted the tenth of. “These things you should do,” Jesus affirms. We can see that, according to Jesus, they were correct in the practice of tithing, since the Bible teaches that. Yet he insists that they must not neglect the greater matters of the Bible—justice and the love of God—which carry more weight. In his words, “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
It was the Spirit of Christ that inspired the Psalmist to say, “You have charged us to carefully keep your commandments.” (Psalms 119:4)
Ever since that healing performed by Jesus on the sabbath day, the religious leaders had been plotting his death.
Once again, Jesus directed the people’s attention to the Bible: “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you doeth the law? Why seek ye to kill me? […] I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof. Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath? Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:19-24)
It is a fact that Jesus also protested against clinging to man-made traditions and ideas at the expense of what the Bible teaches.
“And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him [Jesus], Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands? And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah [one of the writers of the Bible] prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition. For Moses [one of the writers of the Bible] said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death: but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God; ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.” (Mark 7:5-13)
“He [the Messiah] will magnify the Law and make it honorable” (Isaiah 42:21).
