CREATION DEMANDS A CREATOR

No rational person could ever conceive of circumstances in which, an oil painting or sculpture, which perfectly depicts the image of a human being on canvas or in stone, could possibly arise by random chance or accident. Yet, the actual physical creature, of whom that image is only a superficial representation, whose undeniable existence is vastly more complex than the symbolic image that portrays it; is presumed to have arisen by pure chance and random accident, by the vast majority of the modern world. How can this be? How can thoughtful, rational people, as well as institutions, accept this ridiculous contradiction of true science and logic? The answer lies in their adherence to the erroneous presuppositions that reinforce their faulty worldviews. In this blog I will discuss some interesting aspects of the worldview known as, Christian Theism, the only philosophical worldview that can sufficiently address the existence of both the image, as well as the image bearer capable of creating the image.

It is far too easy to take this for granted or to be dismissive of just how cerebrally advanced we are as homo-sapiens, but think for a moment of the level of intelligence that is required to paint that portrait or sculpt that statue. Even prior to the first drop of paint being applied or the first chip of stone being removed, there are the logistical challenges to consider. From the canvas, the frame, paintbrushes, easels, and the paint itself, to the hand-cut block of marble, the chisels, hammers, and polishing tools; none of these things just popped into existence by themselves, they were created via the superior intellect of man. These simple items alone, which are merely modest tools that have existed for thousands of years, considered very low indeed on the technology scale by today’s standards; are vastly more sophisticated than any other creature on earth could even attempt to create, much less utilize for purposeful work. 

The cognitive skills that are required to create in this fashion are monumental in comparison: Whose image should you make? How do you make it? What colors should be used? What kind of chisel should be used on the nose? How do you calculate dimension, circumference, radius, and the geometric shapes needed to ensure symmetry? All of these questions are embarrassingly uncomplicated for an artist or sculptor, but try asking your dog or cat to paint the portrait, or for that matter, a room full of monkeys to carve the statue. Give them all of the tools to do the job, and then just sit back and watch the mess that will ensue. Not in a hundred years, a thousand years, not even if they were given an infinity of time, could they ever accomplish what one human being could do in a matter of days or weeks; regardless of what the so-called “probability” theory postulates. Again, this is just a symbol of the image, not the actual image bearer, but even this simple undertaking reveals that intelligence is required to form the image on the canvas or in the stone, it cannot form itself.

Aside from these relatively minor challenges, is the question of: Why would you attempt to undertake this project at all? While all other creatures on the earth are consumed with the pursuit of nothing other than surviving, why do humans feel compelled to create? It is an absolutely undeniable trait of the human race that we like to make and build stuff. If it were only for purposes of our survival, it would make sense, but we like to plan, design, engineer, and produce things, just for the pure joy of doing it, and then show it off to other people. In short, we are creative, and our creativeness is an enigma, to all other worldviews. Why are we creative? What inspires us to apply the paint to the canvas or the chisel to the stone?

The philosophical worldview of Christian Theism is the only worldview that even comes close to answering any of the hypothetical, yet reasonable questions that have been posed thus far. Christian Theism accounts for not only the existence of reality itself, the simple fact that we do exist, and are able to perceive this existence, but it also illuminates the reasons as to why we exist in the form that we do, and why we behave, think, achieve, create, and express ourselves in a manner that has characterizes all other human beings on the planet, throughout our existence. Contrary to the way we may feel sometimes, we can see that, “The universe is orderly… God does not present us with confusion but with clarity” (Sire 32), and because of this clarity, it is quite reasonable to assume that, we as human beings, create because we were created, in the image of a creative being; our Creator. In other words, “Human creativity is borne as a reflection of the infinite creativity of God Himself” (Sire 35). 

This is a foundational principle of Christian Theism and it holds that, “…to honor human creativity is to honor God, for God is the heavenly Maker of that maker…” therefore, “Artistic inventiveness is a reflection of God’s unbounded capacity to create” (Sire 35). This of course, is only one aspect of a larger concept of Christian Theism that says, “Human beings are created in the image of God and thus possess personality, self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, and creativity” (Sire 32), the same traits that God Himself possesses. To say, as secular humanism suggests, that we have merely created a God in our own image, assigning to Him anthropomorphic features that reflect our own existence, is to deny the reality of the creative aspects of the world in which we live, and to dismiss the most fundamental principles of all scientific inquiry. The universal law of cause and effect states that: "Every effect has a specific and predictable cause. Every cause or action has a specific and predictable effect” (Sicinski).  Therefore, the specific and predictable effect of intelligent creativeness that clearly exists, and the ability for human beings to utilize this intelligence, requires a specific and predictable cause; it could not have caused itself by random accident (AKA: evolution).

However, as with any man-made assessments of God and His creation, Christian Theism most likely only scratches the surface of how great God truly is. We know but a fraction of what may be known of God on this side of eternity, and for all of our knowledge and intelligence, we are only staggering around in the dark in comparison with the unapproachable light in which He dwells. That being said, the Christian Theism model is the best that we can do, based on Scripture and observable evidence, and it provides a safe base of operations from which to work from. While there are no major problems with the model overall, some of its definitions are weakly constructed in some areas, and lack conviction in others. It can be assumed that this is due to ecumenical reasons; trying to stretch the umbrella over as many denominations as possibly, without offending anyone presumably.

Not surprisingly, the area that sticks out the most, is the creation account or more specifically, human origins. For example; a clear contradiction exists in the opening statements of the Christian Theism worldview, which states that God is the prime reality, and that He is, “transcendent… immanent, omniscient, sovereign, and good…” (Sire 28), that He spoke everything into existence out of nothing, with His own limitless power, and that He created man in His own image, after His own likeness; yet, there is absolutely no mention of the origins of man, even though the Bible clearly teaches a literal creation model, that excludes any possibility or even mention of evolutionary processes.  

This is highly significant due to the fact that most of the other worldviews rely heavily upon the theory of evolution as their “prime reality”, which sustains their “no-creator god” presuppositions. In the chapter on naturalism Sire, will go on to bemoan the fact that even seminary professors are saying that, “We must find some way of facing the fact that Jesus Christ is the product of the same evolutionary process as the rest of us” (71), but he himself will not refute evolution as the means of human origins in his discussion of Christian Theism, nor will he defend the literal creation model, found in Scripture. In essence, he is allowing the portrait to paint itself, and the statue to sculpt itself. 

Sadly, he leaves this up to interpretation, weakening to the point of near destruction, the entire Christian Theism worldview as a result. 

God, as revealed in the pages of Scripture, is either: all knowing, and all powerful, or He isn’t. He is either the sovereign creator of all things, or He isn’t, and a Christian worldview that does not address this contradiction is highly suspect, and intellectually dishonest. Nevertheless, the Christian Theism worldview is still the most accurate reflection of Biblical scholarship and theological thought, which adequately addresses the most basic questions that competing world views must speak to, if they are to be considered valid options. Only some of those issues were addressed in this blog, but the ones that were dealt with are significantly pivotal, expressing the core dimensions of Christian Theism. In the final analysis, a portrait cannot paint itself, a statue cannot carve itself, and a human being, the most intelligent creature in the known universe, cannot arise by chance and random accident; a creation demands a creator. 

Works Cited:

Sire, James. The Universe Next Door. InterVarsity Press. Downers Grove, IL: 2009 (5th Ed.). Print.
Sicinski, Adam. IQ Matrix: The Universal Law Of Cause-Effect. Web. 11/02/2015.