The Final Proof of God’s Nonexistence?

by Bodie Hodge
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I just watched an episode of Answers News on YouTube. It showed up in my recommended videos presumably because I follow Bill Nye and watched the debate with Ken Ham. Anyway, it was clear in the episode that you believe in God. But I just don’t understand how that is possible. There is SO much evidence that effectively makes the God and creation story an impossibility. SO much evidence that evolution is just as solid a fact as gravity. It’s the evidence that I’m hung up on, because if you educate yourself on the natural history of life on this planet it is simply impossible to come away still believing an old book written by people who thought the earth was flat is true. It. Is. Simply. Not. True. The evidence is everywhere. As soon as we are able to recreate how non life became life on this planet it’s over. Since we have already proven evolution as fact and occurring to this day, the only missing link is the non life to life transition. When that day comes we will officially be able to show that life as we know it on this planet was able to arise without the need of a God that created it. Do you at all agree with what I’m saying? Curious if you do or not. Sorry to take your time.

It is nice to hear from you. In my response, I’m going to be bold and challenge you in the interspersed responses below. But in all of this, I want you to understand that I’m saying these things in kindness.

I just watched an episode of Answers News on YouTube. It showed up in my recommended videos presumably because I follow Bill Nye and watched the debate with Ken Ham. Anyway, it was clear in the episode that you believe in God. But I just don’t understand how that is possible.

I do. But not just any God. I believe in the God of the Bible—the true God. And according to the all-knowing God of the Bible so do you; but God also points out that there are some people who unrighteously try to suppress that knowledge (Romans 1:18–32).

There is SO much evidence that effectively makes the God and creation story an impossibility.

Such as? Creation is what happened in history, and God, who created all things, was there to eyewitness it and affirmed it in his Word. This modern story of evolution is a false, make-believe tale for the religion of naturalism (think atheism, materialism) to try to explain how all things came about from nothing.

SO much evidence that evolution is just as solid a fact as gravity.

What evidence are you referring to again? I can observe and repeat experiments regarding gravity (i.e., dropping things) but no one has observed or repeated the changing of single-celled organism like unicellular algae and turned it into anything else. This is a false analogy fallacy.

It’s the evidence that I’m hung up on,

Once again you mention evidence and have presented none. You must realize a simple reality: I have the same evidence you do. I look at the same rock layers. I look at the same fossils, continents, solar bodies, cells, DNA, and so on. The difference is the interpretation.

because if you educate yourself on the natural history of life on this planet

And what makes you think I haven’t been educated on this subject? This is a presumption fallacy. I have been taught the naturalistic religious story since a small child in state schools through my educational years at the state university.

I’ve read separate books on the subjects as well (including Charles Lyell, the father of naturalistic geology, Charles Darwin, the father of modern naturalistic evolutionary biology, and the late Stephen Hawking among many others).

Do you think Bill Nye was not educated well enough in the natural history of life on this planet? I have the same degree as Bill Nye, and, in fact, one level higher. I’ve even written an entire book refuting the claims of Nye’s naturalism. You need to understand that the natural history of life is part of the fictional story associated with the religion of naturalism.

it is simply impossible to come away still believing an old book written by people

And yet, you just professed a belief in natural history which comes from old books written by people? That is double standard fallacy. The Bible, unlike these works of fallible men that you adhere to without question, was written by the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t err like imperfect men.

who thought the earth was flat is true.

The Bible nor Bible writers propound a belief in a flat earth. This is straw man fallacy.

It. Is. Simply. Not. True.

God disagrees with you regarding the truthfulness of the Bible. God repeatedly affirms the Bible is true, and God, being the truth, is why truth exists in the first place. Truth is a Christian concept. In naturalism, truth shouldn’t exist since truth is not material.

Subsequently, your objection to the truth of God’s Word is simply because you say so. That is arbitrary. But this outlines the classic argument between Christianity and the religion of humanism (i.e., man is seen as the ultimate authority)—God’s authority vs. man’s authority. [For the readers, naturalism is one form of humanism that says nature is all that exists. In other words, only material things like matter and energy (i.e., nothing spiritual, no God(s), nothing immaterial exists) exist.]

The evidence is everywhere.

Once again, you appeal to evidence, but don’t mention any evidence to present your case. And to reiterate, I have the same evidence that you do.

As soon as we are able to recreate how non life became life on this planet it’s over.

So the one piece of evidence you appeal to (trying to refute the scientific Law of Biogenesis), is actually evidence that the naturalistic worldview is false. See below.

Since we have already proven evolution as fact

How so? Who was able to change a single-celled organism like an ameba into a goat? We’ve not observed this nor repeated this. Clearly, this is not a scientific fact.

With all seriousness, I realize you believe in the religion of evolutionism and naturalism (which go hand-in-hand) without question in all likelihood because you’ve been told to believe it over and over again. Repeatedly, you profess to say there is evidence for it—because you have been told there is.

Consider just one facet of naturalism: millions of years. We have no observational or repeatable scientific evidence of millions of years. And yet, many processes that people profess takes millions of years do not. Without evidence of millions of years, evolution has no possibility (we don’t hear people say that all life on earth evolved from a single-celled organism beginning about 6,000 years ago).

Evidence Time to Form (Observed) Scientific Evidence for Millions of Years

Diamonds (vapor deposition)

A few days1

No

Diamonds (pressure and temperature method)

3–4 days2

No

Diamonds (from loved ones and pets ashes)

Three months3

No

Coal

Months4

No

Oil from Sewage

Days5

No

Oil from Animal waste

Days6

No

Oil from Brown Coal

2–5 Days7

No

Oil from Algae

30 minutes8–60 minutes9

No

Petrified Wood (heat and chemical method)

Days10

No

Petrified Wood (chemical method)

Hours11

No

Petrified Wood (natural elements)

Less than 360 years12

No

Opals

Weeks13

No

Gemstones (volcanic origin)

Upon eruption14

No

Gemstones (lab origins, synthetic)

Days15 with Flame Fusion, Melt Process, Solution Process

No

Fossils

Less than 24 hours16

No

Stalactites

Days,17 less than 100 years18

No

Stalagmites

In one summer19

No

Rock

Less than 150 years, Bell encased in rock20

Less than 125 years, Tarawera Items21

Less than 50 years, Petrified Hat22

3 months, Yorkshire Bears23

No

Rock layers (Catastrophes)

Mt. St. Helens

No

Rock layer lamina (lab; Air + Water)

Almost immediately24

No

Canyons

Days, Canyon Lake Gorge25

Days, Little Grand Canyon26

Six days, Burlingame Canyon27

Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon28

No

and occurring to this day,

What we observe today are small changes that only produce variations in existing animals within created kinds—exactly as the Bible predicts. We aren’t observing evolutionary changes (onward and upward) but degenerative changes (mutations and filtering of already-existing information) to the genome

the only missing link is the non life to life transition. When that day comes we will officially be able to show that life as we know it on this planet was able to arise without the need of a God that created it.

Besides the Law of Biogenesis, as mentioned above, perhaps you don’t have a good grasp on the problems in an evolutionary worldview. You are missing the observations of onward and upward evolution, information-gaining mutations, missing links, missing rock layers,29 2nd law of thermodynamics, Horizon problem, and so on.

And do you realize the argument you just made? You are arguing that we have many brilliant minds trying to make life because we don’t observe life come from non-life naturalistically (spontaneous generation). So you openly appeal to the requirement of an intelligence to make life. I’m here to tell you the name of that intelligent Creator: Jesus Christ. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again on the third day (Acts 10:40)—the infinite Son took the infinite punishment from the infinite Father that we deserve for sin—and that makes salvation possible from this sin-cursed and broken world.

Furthermore, if someone shows that life could be made by man, it wouldn’t prove that God did not create things in the beginning. If people succeed in mimicking what God did to create life—with the building blocks he created no less—that only proves that intelligence is a prerequisite to life, not naturalism (a great confirmation of what God did at creation).

Do you at all agree with what I’m saying? Curious if you do or not. Sorry to take your time.

Obviously not. I simply do not take people’s word for it when they say God doesn’t exist and evolution is true. And neither should you. Rather, I take God’s Word for the truth of his existence and creation.

Since you really struggle with the existence of God and had watched a debate, I suggest you consider listening to a debate (back from the “old days”) between Dr. Gordon Stein (professing atheist) and Dr. Greg Bahnsen (a Christian). This became known at The Great Debate and is one of the most influential debates in the 20th century.30

Dr. Stein was arguably one of the brightest atheists of his day and knew about the classical arguments for a “generic” God’s existence and how to argue against them. When Christians used these arguments, he was very effective at destroying them. But his debate with Dr. Greg Bahnsen stopped him in his tracks (echoed here). To his dying day, Dr. Stein could not effectively respond to Dr. Bahnsen (they actually wrote letters back and forth after the debate). It is worth a listen.

In conclusion, you may be thinking deep down that God (the Bible) is wrong about you believing he really does exist and that you are suppressing that knowledge, as mentioned above. But consider the letters you’ve written to people who discuss the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus or suggest that yoga meditation will bring people closer to nirvana. And yet, you took the time to write to us about God’s existence. You are trying to suppress the God of the Bible in your heart. Please consider this.

Footnotes

  1. Greg Hunter and Andrew Paparella, “Lab-Made Diamonds Just Like Natural Ones,” ABC News, September 9, 2015, https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=124787.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Rae Ellen Bichell, “From Ashes To Ashes To Diamonds: A Way To Treasure The Dead,” NPR, January 19, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/01/19/263128098/swiss-company-compresses-cremation-ashes-into-diamonds.
  4. Ryoichi Hayatsu et al., “Artificial Coalification Study: Preparation and Characterization of Synthetic Mecerals,” Organic Geochemistry 6 (1984): 463–471 doi:10.1016/0146-6380(84)90069-X.
  5. Australian Stock Exchange Release, Environmental Solutions International Ltd, Osborne Park, Western Australia, October 25, 1996. Media Statement, Minister for Water Resources, Western Australia, October 25, 1996.
  6. Dr. Andrew Snelling, “The Origin of Oil,” Answers, December 27, 2006: 74–77, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/the-origin-of-oil/.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Christopher Helman, “Green Oil: Scientists Turn Algae into Petroleum in 30 Minutes,” Forbes, December 23, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/12/23/green-oil-scientists-turn-algae-into-petroleum-in-30-minutes/.
  9. Brian Thomas, “One-Hour Oil Production?,” Institute for Creation Research, January 13, 2014, https://www.icr.org/article/7874/.
  10. “Petrified Wood in Days,” Phys.org, January 25, 2005, http://phys.org/news/2005-01-petrified-wood-days.html.
  11. Hamilton Hicks, “Sodium Silicate Composition,” United States Patent Number 4,612,050, September 16,1986, http://www.google.com/patents/US4612050.
  12. Andrew Snelling, “‘Instant’ Petrified Wood,” Creation 17, no. 4 (1995): 38–40, https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/how-are-fossils-formed/instant-petrified-wood/.
  13. Dr. Andrew Snelling, “Creating Opals,” Creation ex Nihilo 17, no. 1 (1994): 14–17, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/rocks-and-minerals/creating-opals/.
  14. Editors, Mount St. Helens Gift Shop Website, http://www.mt-st-helens.com/obsidianite.html, downloaded April 7, 2014; and “How Gemstones Are Formed,” GemSelect, accessed August 18, 2015, http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/gemstone-formation.php.
  15. “Synthetic Ruby,” MadeHow.com, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Synthetic-Ruby.html.
  16. Ben Coxworth, “Lab-Made Fossils Cram 1000s of Years into 24 Hours,” New Atlas, July 25, 2018, https://newatlas.com/lab-made-fossils/55619/.
  17. Marilyn Taylor, “Descent,” Arizona Highways, January 1993, 11.
  18. Emil Silvestru, The Cave Book (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2008), 46.
  19. Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, A Flood of Evidence (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2016), 125.
  20. “Bell-ieve It: Rapid Rock Formation Rings True,” Creation 20, no. 2 (1998): 6, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/bell-ieve-it-rapid-rock-formation-rings-true/.
  21. Renton Maclachlan, “Tarawera’s Night of Terror,” Creation 18, no. 1 (1995): 16–19, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/taraweras-night-of-terror/.
  22. John Mackay, “Fossil Bolts and Fossil Hats,” Creation Ex Nihilo 8, no. 3 (1986): 10.
  23. Monty White, “The Amazing Stone Bears of Yorkshire,” Answers in Genesis, June 1, 2002, https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/how-are-fossils-formed/the-amazing-stone-bears-of-yorkshire/.
  24. Guy Berthault, Experiments on Lamination of Sediments, Creation 3, no. 1 (1998): 25–29, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/sedimentation/experiments-on-lamination-of-sediments/.
  25. Michael P. Lamb and Mark A. Fonstad, “Rapid Formation of a Modern Bedrock Canyon by a Single Flood Event” (Nature Geoscience 3 [June 20, 2010]: 477–481, doi:10.1038/NGEO894], 4.
  26. John Morris and Steven A. Austin, Footprints in Ash (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003), 70–75.
  27. John Morris, “A Canyon in Six Days,” Answers in Genesis, September 1, 2002, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/natural-features/a-canyon-in-six-days/.
  28. Rebecca Gibson, “Canyon Creation,” Answers in Genesis, September, 1, 2000, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/natural-features/canyon-creation/.
  29. Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, A Flood of Evidence (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2016), 105–112.
  30. The Great Debate: Does God Exist?, Covenant Media Foundation, https://store.cmfnow.com/The-Great-Debate-Does-God-Exist-p258401367.

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