What is the greatest revelation of evidentialism? Evidentialism reveals truth from creation, what Augustine referred to as the “general revelation” of the Creator. Evidentialism also reveals a high confidence in the Bible as God’s “special revelation.”[181] Taken together, God’s glory is revealed in extreme power, wisdom, and goodness, most notably in altruistic love.
Glory in Creation. Ancient believers in the Creator appreciated how creation revealed the Creator’s glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God.”[182] Many poems in the Bible use imagery of the earth, sky, and life to proclaim the extreme glory they saw in God, the Creator.
Modern science has greatly magnified this glory. We’ve explored the wonders of our earth and the far reaches of the universe in ways that would make primitive people like the poet, King David, break down in tears of joy, so far does our knowledge of God’s creation exceed his, and every bit filled with increasing glory. Our knowledge of creation has increased exponentially over time and the wonders of its glory have increased exponentially with that knowledge.
I could write many volumes extoling the glorious wonders of molecular physics, life on earth, geology, humanity, the galaxies, etc. Every element of nature that humans have explored reveals mind-blowing wonders. Many authors have already extolled such wonders far better than I can. Instead of just looking at the glory in what God created, let’s consider the glory in how he created.
When I think about the creation singularity it seems the glory of that one act is unsurpassable. In an instant, a wonder of wonders, God seems to have triggered all that has ever been in our universe. We’ve no idea how he could have done such a glorious thing, but I like to think he just willed it and it happened. The Bible alludes to his creative ability by having him speak things into existence, “And God said, …”[183]
During early time, immediately following the creation singularity, mysterious processes governed the initial expansion of the universe. We have little evidence to reveal these processes, but scientists speculate using mathematical models. The things that appear to have happened during this initial expansion boggle the mind. Eventually the universe settled into its current state where suns, planets, moons, comets, meteors, black holes, nebulas, and all the other bodies suspended in space form, according to the elegant processes of physics. Being a physicist I’m a little biased, but the physics processes that govern everything from the cosmos to subatomic activity far exceeds the glory of any natural wonder King David wrote about in the psalms.
Then there’s the glory of our earth. I don’t know if there’s a natural process that causes planets like our earth to form or if God intervened to make it this way, but the many physical characteristics and processes occurring on this gem of a planet that make life as we know it possible magnifies the glory of our creator beyond measure. The balance of drifting continents and oceans. The water cycle that moistens the soil and replenishes our lakes, streams, and aquifers. The seasons. The formation of water crystals that causes ice to expand and float. The improbable alignment of our moon and sun to form annular and solar eclipses. Weather. Our magnetic field. The list of glorious wonders driven by process of chemistry and physics goes on.
Then I consider life. The formation of self-replicating molecules seems to be another astronomically improbable event requiring special intervention from the creator. If it happened by a natural process, then that process glorifies the process engineer who designed and created it. The elegant construction of living cells with all the strikingly complex molecular machinery also glorifies the creator and process engineer far beyond anything the biblical poets who praise God so eloquently ever imagined. The information storage, information transmission, and protein manufacturing processes of DNA; the processes that allow life to adapt; the multitude processes that make and sustain every life form on earth bring unbridled glory to God.
The study of creation reveals glory on top of glory and the more we learn, the more we see how little we know. I cannot begin to comprehend how glorious our creator is. But I still haven’t gotten to the greatest glory of creation.
[181] Ferngren. (2017), page 102.
[182] Holy Bible, NIV, Psalm 19:1.
[183] Holy Bible, NIV, Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24.
Glory in Scripture. God’s greatest glory is revealed in humanity. It’s the greatest mystery of creation, but scripture makes it abundantly clear. Throughout the Bible we find references and examples of God’s great love, mercy, and compassion. We also find appeals for us to repent of selfishness to act in altruistic love. We participate in the greatest good in all creation when we choose altruistic love.
Nearly every page of the Bible points to altruistic love, and one act of altruistic love in particular. The central theme and climax of scripture comes with the ministry of Jesus Christ. God proved his altruistic love for us by taking on human form, suffering, and dying for us. He multiplied the glory of his altruistic love by returning from death to show us that there’s even more in store beyond this glorious life.
Creation critics like to point out apparent imperfections in life as evidence that an all-powerful, all-knowing, good creator couldn’t exist. Many of these so-called imperfections may actually be part of God’s very-good design that we just don’t understand fully. For example, biologists used to point out the human appendix as a flaw in the human body, but it now appears that the appendix serves a purpose in preserving and restoring the microbial health of our lower GI tract. Even if there are genuine imperfections in life, that’s consistent with biblical theology regarding creation.
Genesis 1:31 declares creation “very good,” not perfect. In scripture, terms for perfection and completion are often used interchangeably. I believe that God declared his creation “very good” because it’s not complete yet. Once the work is complete, it will be perfect.
The Apostle Paul hints at this in his letters.
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” [184]
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” [185]
Life here is very good, but we look forward to a better future. God is perfecting us now, but we anticipate life with him in the spirit realm were altruistic love reigns and no selfishness or evil can be found. When perfection comes, we’ll experience the full glory of God.
[184] Holy Bible, NIV, 1 Corinthians 13:12.
[185] Holy Bible, NIV, Philippians 5:6.
Summary
Looking at my imaginary balance scale, I now have on the side favoring theism and Christian beliefs:
Supernatural events
The improbability argument
Cosmological connections to Genesis 1
Organization, beauty, precision, and elegance in creation
NDEs
Evidences for credibility of the Bible
Textual analysis
Historicity
Archeology (some)
Coherence
Variations
Prophecy
Distinction
A sound philosophical basis
Theological consistency
and opposing a Christianity:
Archeology (some)
Scientific determinism (with its philosophical implications)
Biblical insertions
Harsh Bible passages
Apparent Contradictions
The evidence pushes my scale in favor of a creator and Christianity with a resounding thud.
This is my mental balance scale, driven by evidences with somewhat subjectively assigned weights. Some people give evidences in favor of a creator so much weight that evidence against a creator is thrown off their mental scale. They live with complete confidence in their eternal hope, doubt free. Other people with an anti-god bias resist giving creator-evidence any weight. Some refuse to even call it evidence. Their scale is permanently tipped against the creator with a strong thumb of bias. I’ve done my best to weigh the evidence objectively and face uncertainty with integrity. I have to live with doubts, but I still have a strong hope that a benevolent creator exists and offers joy to all who repent and trust in him.
We’ve covered strong evidence that:
God, the creator of the universe, exists;
God cares for creation and sometimes intervenes;
The New Testament is historically trustworthy;
The New Testament is inseparably linked to the Old Testament;
The Old Testament could not have evolved from other ancient myths;
The Bible contains historical and metaphorical messages from God;
God loves people and desires our love;
The Bible is philosophically plausible;
God is powerful and good;
Our creator wants us to turn from selfishness to love others by putting their interests above or at least equal to our own.
It all points to God’s ultimate plan of salvation, provided through an extremely personal act of sacrifice that proved his love. It’s important that we study creation and scripture to discover truth and goodness. The greatest thing comes when our search leads us to repentance, hearts changed from selfishness to altruistic love. Evidence leads to love and love conquers all!