Is there God? You Be the Judge!

by Watchman Nee

I will make this place a law court. I will ask you to be the judge, and I will be the prosecutor. The work of a judge is to make decision, to approve or disapprove the truth of statements. The work of a prosecutor is to present all the evidence and arguments that he can possible gather.

If you ask whether I have seen God or not, I would say "no." I am reading or demonstrating what I have gathered. My job is to search for facts and to call for witnesses. You are to arrive at a conclusion yourself.

Worthy of passing judgment?

Many people assert that there is no God. As a prosecutor I ask you first to check the qualification of these people. Are they qualified to make such claims? Are those who assert that there is no God moral or immoral? Do not just listen to their arguments. Even robbers and swindlers have their arguments. Of course, the arguments support them as robbers and swindlers. The subject of their arguments may be very noble; they may talk about the state of the nations and the welfare of society, but their opinions cannot be seriously considered. They are not worthy of passing such judgments.
If a man is upright in his conduct and moral judgment, we can give credibility to his words, but if not, his words lose their credibility. This is especially true when it relates to the question of deity. It is interesting to note that the moral standards of men are directly related to their concept about God. T hose who admit their own ignorance have a passable standard, while insistent atheists invariably have a low level of moral responsibility. I do not claim to know all atheists, but of the several thousand that I know, none of them possess a notably commendable morality. You may tell me that there was once a moral atheist, but if there was one, he is dead. Or you may tell me that there will be a moral atheist, but whoever he may be, he is not here yet. At least we can say that for now, we do not know a moral atheist.

"No atheist is moral"

Once at a gathering at a university, I remarked that no atheist is moral. There were many students on the campus who did not believe God. They were greatly offended by these words. The next day, while I was speaking, they came and shuffled their feet in and attempt to distract me and the audience. The next day when they came again, they made funny gestures and faces at me and carried on continuously throughout the speaking. On the fourth day the vice-president of the university, Dr. Williams, came and said to me, "We had better change the place of meeting. These students are infuriated by your assertion on the first day that atheists are not moral. Today they are not going to use their feet and lips only; they are going to use their fists. I heard that they will be waiting at the entrance f the hallway and will jump on you when you step in." I went along with the arrangement and conducted the meeting at another place.

They came to fight

On the way to the meeting I walked alongside many students and listened to their conversations. Although many did not agree with me and felt uneasy about my preaching, they wanted to come back. One among them remarked, "Mr. Nee said that people who have no God have no sense of moral responsibility. This is perfectly right. How can anyone with moral decency shuffle his feet and jest while others are delivering a speech? Yesterday they caused such a disturbance in the meeting, and today they are going to come to fight. This is surely not what an honorable person would do. There is no doubt that those who do not believe in God do not have moral decency. Let us go to the meeting regardless of what they plan to do?"
Once a young man told a preacher, "When I was young, I believed in God. But now that I am in college. I can no longer believe in Him." The fifty-year-old preacher patted the young man’s shoulder and said, "My son, you do not believe in God anymore! Let me ask you a question: Since you have been converted to be an atheist, have you advanced morally? Has atheism helped you become better? Has it made your thoughts cleaner or your heart purer? Or did it make you just the opposite?" that young man felt ashamed. He admitted that he had gone downhill morally since his denial of God. The preacher pressed on: "I am afraid that you are not really saying that you believe there is not God, you are just hoping that there is on God."

Hoping there is no God

Many people are not really convinced that there is no God; they merely hope so. They would rather that there were no God in the universe. For them it would be much more convenient with respect to many things.
I myself was one of those people. When I was a student I claimed that there was no God. Although I was extremely strong in my claim, something within me seemed to be protesting and saying, "There is a God." I knew deep in my heart that God exists. But my lips refused to admit this so that I could have an excuse for sinning. By declaring the nonexistence of God, going to sinful places was justifiable. If there were no God, I would become bold to sin. When you believe in God, you dare not do certain things. When you do away with God, you feel free to commit the worst sins without any fear whatsoever. If you sincerely hope to raise your moral standard by asserting the nonexistence of God, then your arguments are still plausible. However, the only reason men claim that there is no God is for an excuse for lawlessness, immorality, license, and indecency. For this reason, their whole argument is not worthy of consideration. The question is, "Are you qualified to claim that there is no God?" If your hope is merely for an escape from justice, you have lost your ground already.
The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry

Is there a God? You be the Judge! (2)

By Watchman Nee

 (This is the second article of a series where you are invited to be the judge to the question: Is there a God?  This is a “law court.”  The write is the prosecutor.  You make the decision, to approve or disapprove of the truth of statements.  In the previous issue the basis of selecting witnesses was established.  Now in this article, we have two witnesses of atheism with their “cross-examination.” – Editor)

 Witness No. 1 “Man is greatest."

One day a young man came to me and said, I do not believe in a so-called God.  Man is the greatest.  He is the noblest among all creatures.  There is no God in this universe; man is everything.”

 Cross-Examination: “How great is man? You are one of two billion.”

We were sitting opposite each other.  After hearing what he said, I stood up, went to one side f the room, stooped down, and gazed at him intently.  I said, “You are really great!”  Then I walked to the other side of the room and looked at him from another angle.  “That is right,” I said deliberately, “You are great!  In this area of the country there are thirty million who are like you.  There are at least four hundred million of your kind in our country.  The world contains only two billion who are the same as you are.”  [This was spoken to an audience in China in the 1930’s – Editor]

 “200,000 cannot stop the flooding of a river.”

“Do you realize that during the last few days there has been a flood in the south? The dykes along the river are in jeopardy.  The whole population in this area of more than two hundred thousand people has been recruited and rushed to the dykes in a panic.  They are carrying earth with them to reinforce the banks.  The repair work is still going on.”

 “How many earth does it take to fill the sun?”          

“Suppose that the entire world’s population is recruited to hollow out the sun.  A hole is drilled through the surface, and everyone has to remove a load from the inside.  Assuming that no one will be burned to ashes, do you think that they can do the job?  Even if all the people themselves were inside, they would not fill up the sun.  That is not all.  If you put several hundred planets the size f the earth inside and started shaking it, you would still find that the sun would be very empty inside.  How many suns are there in the universe?  Do you realize that the number of solar systems is in the hundreds of millions?”

 “How vast is the universe?”

I then said to the young man, “And here you are! You have not even walked through the whole earth, and yet you consider yourself greater than the whole universe.  Let me ask you, do you know how vast the universe is?  Take light for example.  Light travels at 186,000 miles per second.  Try to calculate how far light travels in one minute, or one hour or one day or a hear.  There are some stars whole light takes three thousand years to reach us.  Go and work out how far they are from us!  And you think you are so great!  I would therefore advise all atheists and young men alike to admit the incompetency of man not only morally, but intellectually and academically as well.”

 Witness No. 2: “There is no God!”

Cross Examination: “You must have traveled throughout the earth to know that there is no God.”

Another time . . ., I met another one of those young, stout atheists.  I walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, saying, “I saw God today!”  He stared at me in curiosity and demanded a further word.  I replied, “You are God!  If you know there is no God, the you have to be God.”  He asked for an explanation.  I said, “Since you are convinced that there is no God, you must have traveled over the whole earth. . . . If God is not in one place, He many be in another.  Therefore, you must have traveled throughout the world.  One never knows if God is hiding at the North Pole or the South Pole, or in the woods or in the wilderness somewhere.  So you must have combed through all those regions as well.  If God is not found on earth, He many be found on the moon.  You therefore must have been to the moon.  God may also be on other planets or in outer space.  This means that you have traveled through space and all the other galaxies as well.  If you can say that there is no God, it must mean that you have traveled throughout the whole universe.  If this is the case, you must be God yourself.”

 “You must have been ever-present to know that there is no God.”

“This is not all.  Even though you know that God does not exist . . . today, how about yesterday?  Perhaps God will come tomorrow.  You say that you know there is no God today, but what about last year?  And how do you know that God will not come next year?  You say that there is no God this year, but what about a thousand years ago?  Very well, you must be an everlasting one who knows everything about the past and future.  You have to be a being beyond time and space….You must be omnipresent from the east to the west, from the North Pole to the South Pole.  Who else but you can be the very God? If you are not God, you can never be qualified to say that there is no God.”

Some will immediately step back and say, “I have never said that I know there is no God.  One can never tell whether there is a God or not.”  Well, if you cannot give a conclusion, I will ask witnesses whom I consider trustworthy to present arguments to you and prove the existence of God.  Again let me say this, you are the judge, and I am the prosecutor.  I am presenting only the evidence before you.  Decide for yourself if there is a God.

(In the next issue is Witness No. 3: Nature)

 The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry

 

 

Is there a God?  You be the judge! (4)
By Watchman Nee

 

I will ask witnesses whom I consider trustworthy to present arguments to you and prove the existence of God.  Decide for yourself if there is a God.  (This is Part 4 of a continuing series, in which you judge the existence of God.  We are in a low court.  I am the prosecutor.  You are the judge.  Out next witness is Man’s Heart. –Editor)

A Principle: Where there is a desire, there is an object for that desire.

An orphan who has never seen his father naturally has a desire for a kind of paternal love.   I have asked many people who were orphans, and they all have had this irrepressible yearning.   By this we can see that every desire of the heart arises out of an object in the world.

As human beings we have a need ford social belonging.  We need companionship and mutuality.  If you put a boy on a deserted island and he grows up alone, he still has the yearning for companions, for beings like himself, even though he has never seen a human being.  This yearning or desire is the very proof that somewhere in the world there is something known as “mankind.”  At a certain age, everyone begins to think about his posterity –he starts desiring children and grandchildren.  This is not a mere fantasy.  This desire stems out of the existence and possibility of having offspring.  Hence, where there is a desire, there is an object for that desire.

Deep in everyone there is a craving for God.

Do we have any desires other than social identity and self-propagation?   What other cravings do we have? Deep in everyone there is a craving for God.  Whether one is from a highly civilized race, an ancient civilization, or an uncultured tribe of aborigines, everyone has a common craving – God.  As long as they are human beings, they have a yearning for God, no matter what race or nationality.  This is a fact.  You cannot argue against it.  Everyone is seeking after God.  Everywhere man is craving for God.  This is very clear.

Since there is a need for God in the heart, there must be the existence of God in the universe.

By applying the principle that we just mentioned, we can see that since our heart feels the need for a God, there must necessarily be a God in the universe.  Since there is a need for God in the heart, there must be the existence of God in the universe.  If no God exists, we would never have such a craving in our heart.  We all have an appetite for God.  It would be impossible to live if there was only an appetite for food but no food.   Likewise, it would be impossible to live if there was a capacity for God but no God.

There is no one who has never thought about God.

Once an atheist rudely rebuked me in a loud voice: “You said that a man has the psychological need for a God.  But there is no such thing, and I do not believe in it.”  I said, “Well, do you mean to say that you never think about God?  In fact, even while you were talking, you were thinking about Him.  This indicates that you do have a capacity for God.  There is no one who has never thought about God.   He may try not to think much about Him.  Since this thought is in you, there must be such an object outside of you.”

You know in your heart that there is a God.

A young man once came to me to argue about God.  He argued vehemently against the existence of God.  He gave me one reason after another for saying that there is no God.  As he was enumerating the various reasons why God should not exist, I listened to him quietly without saying a word.  Then I said, “Although you insist that there is no God and support yourself with so many arguments, you have lost your case already.”  He said, “What do you mean?” I explained: “Your mouth can say as much as you want about there not being a God, but your heart is on my side.”  He had to agree with me.  Although one can give all sorts of reasons in the head, there is a belief in the heart that no argument can defeat.  A stubborn person may give a thousand and one reasons, but you can have the boldness to tell him, “You know in your heart that there is a God.  Why bother to look for evidence outside?”

The capacity for God proves that there is God.

All doubts come from within.  When a man is on the border of life and death, he calls on God. When danger is over, he argues and denies God.  In our heart we all know that there is God; there is no question about it.  We know it because there is a capacity for God.

The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry