All the proof of God’s existence I ever needed was provided by His intervention at a difficult time in my life. I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that He chose to answer my desperate prayers and, in doing so, reveal His grace and His love.

Of course, there are many who feel that their prayers have not been answered. For some it is because they have not prayed; for others God has, in His wisdom beyond understanding, not responded as desired. For those individuals, evidence of God’s existence may seem elusive. That is unfortunate, because that proof seems readily observable from biblical and non-biblical sources.

In Part I of this commentary, I will discuss two points of simple observation that, for me, point to God’s reality. The first is a very brief and uncomplicated treatment of intelligent design; the second a more robust argument of the human species as itself evidence of God’s certainty and plan.

Intelligent Design

In my freshman year at Occidental College in Los Angeles, I had an introductory philosophy class where I first learned about the “Argument from Design.” The line of reasoning essentially says that the complexity of and order in the universe cannot be natural features of the universe – that they require an orderer. That orderer is God.

To me, such reasoning is quite persuasive. The presence (and goodness) of an orderer appears manifested in DNA, microwaves, the periodic table and instinct. The existence of such an intelligent designer seems far more plausible than the assumptions one must make for alternative scenarios to be true – such as nothing produces everything and non-life produces life.

That reasoning is as deep as I will get here. There are books devoted to supporting this argument – and an equal number which desire to discredit it. Most are written by people far more qualified than I am to argue either side of that debate.

Creationism or Darwinism?

Was man created by God in the Garden of Eden as described in chapter 1 of the Bible – or did he evolve from other species as implied by Darwin’s theory of natural selection?

Certainly, the point must be conceded that evolution is real. In fact, it is observable just in my lifetime. At 6’4” tall, I played forward on Oxy’s basketball teams of the mid-70’s. Today, I see point guards pushing seven feet. Those of us who follow other athletic pursuits bear witness to similar escalation as the size and dexterity of competitors increase without pause.

Much of this evolution is attributable to improvements in diet and training. But such growth is not isolated to athletes. A century ago, the average height of an American male was 5’7”. Today, that number is about 5’10”.

But while evolution within the human species is undeniable, evolution across species is not. Rather, it is theoretical. And while it may seem a fact to many, it is less than certainty to some highly-respected scientists, philosophers and theologians.

Man

The Bible tells us that God made man in His own image and likeness. I’m not entirely certain as to what is meant by that. Perhaps it relates to man’s general appearance and physical characteristics…two eyes, two ears, two legs, etc.

But I am more inclined to believe it has more to do with (1) conferring dominion to man “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,” (Gen 1:26) and (2) granting us free will.

Christians believe that God has dominion over all things in heaven and on earth. As His likeness, man’s relationship to living creatures on earth include dominion over them and the ability to exercise free will in how we serve as caretakers of His creation – and use it to serve His will.

There is but one of God’s creations – mankind – that has been granted the moral character and intellectual capacity to truly exercise free will.

Why man? Why ONLY man? In considering the rest of organic life on this planet, instinct seems the primary driver of behavior – whether that behavior is intended to feed, procreate or migrate to suitable environments. (As previously noted, the existence of instinct itself seems a logical point of validation of God’s reality)

Consider a continuum of intellectual capacity – one that begins with organic life entirely dependent on environmental factors to survive (e.g., plant life) and extends to the other extreme of God’s likeness, mankind. In moving along that continuum that includes all of God’s living creation, there are infinitesimal incremental changes that may, at some point along that continuum, correlate to the existence and size of the brain. Eventually, we reach a species on that continuum where there is not entirely a dependence on environmental or innate impulses – where behaviors can be learned. But, even then, the incremental changes across species are minute.

That is, until you get to man.

The gap between man and whatever species is number two in intellectual capacity is massive. That gap is so large that it is only man that can argue about what species is indeed number two (some would say the chimpanzee). Why is that? If other species were evolving in parallel with man, wouldn’t there at least be a close second?

Man is so vastly superior to any other species in his intellectual and reasoning capacities that the concept of cross-species evolution required to prove man is a product of Darwinism rather than a creation of God seems rather fallacious. For me, it is that fallaciousness – and the uncertainty it engenders – that I weigh against the certainty of the Bible (see Part II of this commentary).

For me, it is clear. There is an order to the universe. Man sits at the top of that order, having been put there by the Orderer.

Part II: The Bible as Evidence