The Great Doctrines of the Bible | Page 4

a house or building
of themselves; no more than the type composing a book came into
order of itself. When Liebig was asked if he believed that the grass and
flowers which he saw around him grew by mere chemical forces, he
replied: "No; no more than I could believe that the books on botany

describing them could grow by mere chemical forces." No theory of an
"eternal series" can account for this created universe. No matter how
long a chain you may have, you must have a staple somewhere from
which it depends. An endless perpendicular chain is an impossibility.
"Every house is builded by some man," says the Bible; so this world in
which we live was built by a designing mind of infinite power and
wisdom.
So is it when we consider man. Man exists; but he owes his existence
to some cause. Is this cause within or without himself, finite or infinite?
Trace our origin back, if you will, to our first parent, Adam; then you
must ask, How did he come into being? The doctrine of the eternity of
man cannot be supported. Fossil remains extend back but 6,000 years.
Man is an effect; he has not always existed. Geology proves this. That
the first Cause must have been an intelligent Being is proven by the
fact that we are intelligent beings ourselves.
c) The Argument from Design: Teleological.
A watch proves not only a maker, an artificer, but also a designer; a
watch is made for a purpose. This is evident in its structure. A
thoughtful, designing mind was back of the watch. So is it with the
world in which we live. These "ends" in nature are not to he attributed
to "natural results," or "natural selection," results which are produced
without intelligence, nor are they "the survival of the fittest," instances
in which "accident and fortuity have done the work of mind." No, they
are the results of a superintending and originating intelligence and will.
d) The Argument from Being: Ontological.
Man has an idea of an infinite and perfect Being. From whence this
idea? From finite and imperfect beings like ourselves? Certainly not.
Therefore this idea argues for the existence of an infinite and perfect
Being: such a Being must exist, as a person, and not a mere thought.
e) The Moral Argument; Anthropological.
Man has an intellectual and a moral nature, hence his Creator must be

an intellectual and moral Being, a Judge, and Lawgiver. Man has an
emotional nature; only a Being of goodness, power, love, wisdom and
holiness could satisfy such a nature, and these things denote the
existence of a personal God.
Conscience in man says: "Thou shalt," and "Thou shalt not," "I ought,"
and "I ought not." These mandates are not self-imposed. They imply
the existence of a Moral Governor to whom we are responsible.
Conscience,--there it is in the breast of man, an ideal Moses thundering
from an invisible Sinai the Law of a holy Judge. Said Cardinal
Newman: "Were it not for the voice speaking so clearly in my
conscience and my heart, I should be an atheist, or a pantheist, when I
looked into the world." Some things are wrong, others right: love is
right, hatred is wrong. Nor is a thing right because it pleases, or wrong
because it displeases. Where did we get this standard of right and
wrong? Morality is obligatory, not optional. Who made is obligatory?
Who has a right to command my life? We must believe that there is a
God, or believe that the very root of our nature is a lie.
f) The Argument from Congruity.
If we have a key which fits all the wards of the lock, we know that it is
the right key. If we have a theory which fits all the facts in the case, we
know then that we have the right theory. "Belief in a self-existent,
personal God is in harmony with all the facts of our mental and moral
nature, as well as with all the phenomena of the natural world. If God
exists, a universal belief in his existence is natural enough; the
irresistible impulse to ask for a first cause is accounted for; or religious
nature has an object; the uniformity of natural law finds an adequate
explanation, and human history is vindlcated from the charge of being a
vast imposture. Atheism leaves all these matters without an explanation,
and makes, not history alone, but our moral and intellectual nature
itself, an imposture and a lie."--Patton.
g) The Argument from Scripture.
A great deal of our knowledge rests upon the testimony of others. Now
the Bible is competent testimony. If the testimony of travelers is

enough to satisfy us as to the habits, customs, and manners of the
peoples