Father S. That’s good progress. Learn the “Acts” by reading them once a day. Of course, you could say them in your own words.
Mr. J. Will there be any special order to the instructions I shall receive?
Father S. Yes, there will be; otherwise you would never know when you were through. We shall relate our discussion (1) to matters of Faith; (2) to God’s laws or commandments; and (3) to the helps Christ provided for man’s salvation. Members of the Church must believe all Christ taught, observe God’s laws, and use the means of grace Christ instituted.
Mr. J. Well, as far as my instruction is concerned, you had better start at the very beginning.
Father S. Yes. I shall endeavor to give you as much information as possible during these instructions. Religion, like everything else, must have a foundation and the foundation of all religion is the recognition of a Supreme Being, belief in the existence of an almighty, all-holy, all-wise, all-merciful and just God.1 You believe in God, do you not?
Mr. J. Yes, Father; but I must admit that I take it for granted and I would have difficulty giving a reason why I do so. What are some of the most convincing reasons?
Father S. I’ll put them briefly. Of course, practically every page of the Bible speaks of God, but there are reasons apart from the Bible. Here they are:
1. The universe is governed by perfect laws. These laws are responsible for the ever-admirable order in the universe. There are billions of immensely large heavenly bodies, most of which move in space with almost lightning speed and also revolve round one another, yet there are no disorderly collisions such as we have with automobiles, for instance, despite traffic signals and State laws to control driving. Everything in the universe, except human beings, observes faithfully the laws imposed by the Creator. It would go badly with us if it were not so. But such laws did not make themselves. They imply a Law-Maker with a supreme intelligence that planned those laws and a supreme power that put them into effect.2
2. Belief in God is so natural that it has always been the universal conviction of mankind. All men are endowed with reason and the world about them is so manifestly dependent upon its Author that their minds almost instinctively rise to God.3 No rational man is a born atheist. To become an atheist, he must set himself apart from other men of all times and try to persuade himself that they are wrong; and no such person has brought forth one valid proof that there is no God.
3. It is much easier to believe in God than to try to account for the universe without God.
4. Another most convincing proof of the existence of God is that voice within us which tells that certain things are wrong, and which disturbs our peace when we do certain evil things. If there were no God, to Whom we are accountable, there would be no reason to be thus disturbed.4
Mr. J. May I ask you how you would answer the believers in evolution?
Father S. If they ever actually proved the theory that everything material in the universe, including plants and animals, evolved by slow processes from original atoms or gases, the Church would not oppose them. But even that original element must have been created. Every effect must have a cause; the first thing must have been produced from nothing, which only a God could accomplish.
Mr. J. You imply that the human soul could not be accounted for by evolution.
Father S. Certainly it could not. Since every effect must also have an adequate cause, the soul of man, whose nature is altogether spiritual, could not evolve from an animal or anything material. A spirit could be produced only by the Supreme Spirit, God.5
Mr. J. An unbeliever of my acquaintance calls himself an agnostic. What is meant by that?
Father S. One who does not deny God’s existence, but contends that he does not know whether there is a God or not. Usually he is not anxious to know, because he is not in the mood to keep the Commandments of God.
A German writer (Dennert) published a book in Berlin some years ago, in which he shows that of three hundred of the greatest scientists of the last three centuries, two hundred and forty-three were firm believers in God, and saw harmony between science and their faith. Herbert Spencer says: “The existence of this inscrutable power (God) is the most certain of all truths.” Weismann, who does declare himself an atheist, says: “Creation cannot be disproved, but it must be rejected to escape the supernatural.” What they do not like to accept, some people reject, but that does not do away with the truth or fact. The greatest physical scientists of today, such as Millikan, Jeans, Eddington, LeMaitre, are all firm believers in an all-powerful and wise God.6
But the question of God’s existence is not a question for physical sciences to answer at all. The scientist’s work is to study things as he finds them and the laws which govern their operation. He is not concerned about their ultimate origin.7
Mr. J. That question is answered as far as I am concerned, but my difficulty is that I don’t know much about God.
Father S. We can best know God by knowing some of His perfections.8 First of all, He is an infinitely perfect spirit. This means that He has perfect understanding and free will, but there is nothing material about Him. He hasn’t a body, and He will never die, for He is immortal. He possesses every perfection without limit and to the utmost degree. He does not owe His existence to another, but is in every way self-sufficient. This is true of no other being, for all other beings owe their existence to Him,9 hence they are dependent and limited in the perfections that they possess. Moreover, God never changes and He is eternal — which means that He always was and always will be. He is all-good; He is infinitely lovable and showers His blessings upon us. There is nothing that He cannot do, because He is almighty.10 He knows all things perfectly: the present and the future; even our most secret thoughts, words and actions. Although He cannot be seen by our bodily eyes, He is everywhere, for it is His power that keeps everything in existence. Thus, as a loving Father He cares especially for His human children and provides for them. This loving care is called Divine Providence.11 Do not these facts about God give you some idea of how far above His creatures He is, yet how close He is to every one of us?12
Mr. J. I’ll say they do.
Father S. Now, although our reason demands the existence of a Supreme Being, to Whom we owe our life, on Whom we are dependent for all things, and Whom we must serve, as things stand it cannot know enough about the nature of God, nor about the precise service He wants from us. These latter things depend wholly on His will, which it was necessary for Him to make known to us. We call this Divine Revelation. God has revealed much about Himself and what we must believe and do in order to reach our eternal destiny.13
Religion is a form of elementary justice which obliges us to give God the recognition and honor which is His right and which we owe Him as private individuals and as members of human society. All people are obliged to recognize their Creator by religious practice. It should be clear also, I think, that the Almighty should want to be known alike and served alike by the whole human family.
Mr. J. Yes, Father, it seems that He should.
Father S. Then He would have to tell enough about Himself for the purpose, and define in pretty clear terms what He wants of us. He revealed Himself to the first human creatures, and frequently thereafter to their descendants, and 1,900 years ago, when the world was in sore need of a dependable teacher, He appeared on earth in human form, and founded a kingdom, or Church in which His revelation would be authoritatively and universally taught until the end of the world. Now, in the course of our instructions, you will become acquainted with the nature of this Church, with her teachings, with God’s laws, and the God-given helps which she possesses for the purpose of leading men to eternal happiness. But before proceeding to this, we shall see what Revelation (most of which is contained in the Bible) says about God’s creation of, and His dealings with, the first intelligent