Basic Apologetic Ideas 2

The Creator-creation distinction means the full dependence of man upon God. Man’s being, thoughts and morals, his physical, intellectual and spiritual life, all need the existence of God. Without God there is not even a coherent philosophy of life!

Such claims are radical in today’s climate.  Your neighbors, friends and fellow-students will declaim you as dogmatic if not insane.  As a matter of fact, some Christians might question your assertions. However, if we simply take the three main categories of philosophy and match them to the Bible we will find that, indeed, man needs God.

First of all, in the realm of existence and being (metaphysics)—is the non-material real? What is ‘material’? What is life? (and like questions)—God is necessary: Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:17; Acts 17:25ff: “Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things….for in Him we live and move and have our being…” This means the search for what is life and what sustains life and all other questions of life find their answers in God Triune.  Since God is the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists and has being, He sets the conditions of life.

Second of all, in the realm of knowledge and thinking (epistemology)—what is knowable?  How can we know for certain anything? (and like questions)—God is necessary: Col. 2:3; Prov. 1:7; Ps. 36:9: “In Your light we see light.” This means that in any intellectual endeavor, man cannot truly know aright without presupposing the existence of God. If God made all things, then He knows all things; if He knows all things (and man does not!), then man ultimately needs God’s knowledge. 

Third of all, in the realm of ethics (axiology)—what is good? What is bad? How should I live?—God is necessary: Rom. 1:18ff; Rom. 3:28; 2 Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This means that His Word is all we need to determine right from wrong, good from bad, wisdom from foolishness. In every field of man, from politics to art, if he wants to follow the correct path he needs God’s Word.

All three of these main categories of philosophy (the “love of wisdom”)—indeed all of life—are irreducibly complex.  They are necessary components of reality. One does not exist without the other; nor is one explained without the other. They are answered explicitly or implicitly in every and all thoughts, words and deeds of mankind.  And if their answers are not Biblical, they are wrong and all will collapse into anarchy.

These truths are for both the believer and the unbeliever. Both need God. The main difference between the two classes of mankind is that the believer consciously submits to God.  The unbeliever rebels, but, like a child slapping the father while sitting on his lap, he still needs God to even sit up and spit in His eye.