Does God Want Us to Prove His Existence?

I discovered, late in life (with the help of my wife,) that I am a literalist. It’s something to which I had never given thought, but had been an operating principle of my interactions with other people. If you ask me for a couple of cookies, I will give you two, and I won’t ask you to clarify how many you want because “couple” has a definition. If you ask me for a little tea, I will pour you a little tea, maybe two or three swallows, because that is what you asked for

I say that because I am going to use the word “prove” in the discussion that follows and it seems best to define it so everyone will know what I am saying. When you read “prove” in the following paragraphs, it means “to establish as absolute truth the proposition under consideration.”

For example, if you wanted to prove to me that a bird called a “’snipe” exists you would have to produce a snipe along with documented photos of a snipe from an authoritative source. Producing a bird and telling me it is a snipe proves that you believe it is a snipe (or else you’re lying.) Producing photos from an authoritative source proves only that the author believes there are snipe and that the author thinks they look like the photo. Proving something in its purest form can be a difficult and challenging endeavor.

Unless you are God, in which case it is a trifling matter. If God set out to prove His existence to someone He could walk with them in the cool of the garden as He did with Adam and Eve. Or He could speak from a burning bush, or send plagues. He could place a pillar of fire in their presence. He could part the water of a sea and then drown an army. He could deliver manna and doves to eat and water from a rock to drink. He could transport them to Mt Sinai and write on a stone with His finger. He could show His back while warning them that they could not survive His full presence.

Or He could pick them up by the nape of their neck, thump them with His finger, and say, “I exist,” and set them down to deal with it. There are any number of ways that God could prove to any of us, to all of us, that He exists. He is real, and we must accept that fact. But He didn’t. He didn’t do anything to prove His existence to us.

What He did do, was He gave us evidence. The universe He created is all around us, both in a huge and magnificent scale, and on a tiny and intricate scale. David said in Psalm 19:1-3, “The Heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.”

In Romans 1:19-24, Paul adds emphasis to what David said in Psalms 19. “For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, . . . Professing to be wise, they became fools.” 

Paul agrees with David that the universe is a bold statement of the fact that there is a God. He agrees with David that there is no way to miss God’s existence when observing the universe and that there is no way to miss the universe. I love the phrase, “His  invisible attributes are clearly seen.” And Paul adds to David’s words by saying that God sees no excuse for failing to recognize and glorify Him as God. But God does not prove the issue. He does not pick us up by the nape of the neck.  He only gives us evidence. Why would this be?

I used to believe there was a town in the Canadian Rockies called “Banff.” I had seen evidence that Banff existed and I accepted it. I had faith in Banff. A couple (two) of years ago, I lost that faith. I went to Banff and experienced it personally. I no longer believe there is a Banff. I know there is a Banff. Faith has been replaced by knowledge. Because words mean things it is impossible to have faith and knowledge of something at the same time.

In Hebrews 11:6 is this interesting statement, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Without faith it is impossible to please God. We have to believe two things: that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. If we know, i.e. if we have knowledge, we won’t have faith.

In 2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” We must walk by faith, because without faith it is impossible to please Him. Sight is knowledge. To see is to know. To know is not to have faith. Not having faith makes it impossible to please God. I can draw no other conclusion than God is not interested in us trying to prove His existence.

God wants us to use the evidence that He has presented through His creation of the universe to consciously, logically, determine for ourselves that God exists. From God’s perspective, not to do so is inexcusable. God gave us ability to reason and ability to make our own choices. He wants people to serve, worship, honor and bring glory to Him because they have chosen to believe in Him, not because He has made this choice for them, In fact, if He had taken away the choice by inserting Himself into our lives in some unavoidable way, it would be impossible for us to serve, worship, honor and bring glory to God in the same way that a robot cannot be an appropriate “helpmeet” for a human.

We should continue to speak in defense of God’s existence and highlight the evidence He has provided. In essence, that’s what Peter did on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, highlighting the evidence most appropriate to his audience. He spoke of God and His plan. So did Stephen in Acts 7. I assume that Phillip gave the same lesson to the Ethiopian in Acts 8, that God is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him, and God’s plan for seeking Him. This article may be mostly a lesson in semantics, but when it comes to “proving” God, I believe the Bible is telling us that God is satisfied with the evidence He has provided.