The Existence of God
by Rev. Roderick MacEachen
God is our Creator. He is the Supreme Being Who made heaven and earth and all things ut of nothing. By the simplest wish of His divine will, He called forth all beings from nothingness.
God is self-existing; He lives unbegotten, without beginning or end for all eternity. He is the first Cause of all things. Everything that exists owes its origin to Him. He is the one only omnipotent Being. He can do all things without the slightest weariness or effort.
God is a pure spirit infinitely perfect. He is all-wise, all-powerful, all-holy, all-just, all-merciful, all-good. God is not made up of parts; He is not hampered with the imperfections of a body; He is wholly removed from all that is subject to corruption. "Yesterday and today and the same forever."
It is ennobling to know that we trace our origin back to the Most High God. It brings peace and security to know that the all-wise God rules over us. It brings joy and hope and consolation to know that the all-good God loves us and accepts our love.
Our hearts crave for love, for a love that is boundless and never-ending. The noblest and purest of creatures can not satisfy the desires of our hearts. Back of all earth's love lie change and dissolution. It is in God and in the hope of His eternal love alone that our hearts rest happy and contented. Through all the trials and struggles of life the love of God alone brings us joy and comfort. Life to the man without God is a dark enigma. His very being reels against the thought of moving along in this great universe without the guidance and care of a Heavenly Father. His heart is not content to love and e loved merely by the passing creatures around him.
To be without God in the midst of ever-active nature is to be like a lone band of helpless children adrift in mid-ocean upon a great modern steamer. The vessel plows on through the waves. There is no crew to guide it. The mighty engines are mysteriously working. The little ones, weeping, crouch in fear. In terror, they gaze at the wondrous machinery. In desolation and despair they abandon themselves to the unknown fate that awaits them.
"God is here on earth the most popular of beings," says Lacordaire. "In the midst of the fields, leaning upon the implement of his labor, the cultivator of the soil lifts his eyes to heaven and he names God to his children by a motion as simple as his soul. The poor call upon Him, the dying invoke Him, the wicked fear Him, the just man blesses Him, kings surrender to Him their crown, armies place Him at the head of their battalions, victory gives Him thanks, defeat asks Him for help, the people arm themselves through Him against their tyrants; there is no time, nor place, nor occasion, nor feeling where God does not appear and where He is not named. What is there in this word? 'Shall I solemnly assert it upon oath?' Nothing but a name, it is true, but that is the name of God. It is the name that all nations have adored, in whose honor temples were built, priesthoods consecrated, prayers addressed. It is the greatest, the holiest, the most efficacious, the most popular name that the lips of man have received the grace to pronounce."
Belief in God is natural to man; atheism is unnatural. Every fiber within us seems to cry out and point to a Supreme Being Who rules our destinies. Some individuals in every age have attempted to deny the existence of God. Others would identify Him with nature so as to make Him a mere machine without intelligence or freewill. Yet, no one has ever been able to rest content in the persuasion that there is no God.
No nation or tribe has ever been that did not show some form of worship to God. Men have worshiped a stock or a stone. They have paid religious homage to dumb brutes. They have adored the sun and the moon. Yet always it has been an expression of the instinctive reverence which they feel for a supreme Being. The very nature of man seems to cry out for the help and Protection of an all-loving Creator. Left alone in the darkness of his intellect, man gropes about to find the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe.
The pagans of old worshiped false gods indeed. Yet their many gods merely represented the attributes of the one true God Whom they knew not. Amongst their gods there was always a supreme ruler. Then there was a god of the sea. There were gods of the waves, gods of the elements, gods of vengeance, gods of the harvest and of fruits. All this simply serves to show that reason revealed to them the existence of God. Yet reason was not capable of showing them the true nature of God.
Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism are the most popular forms of religion in China and Japan. Their votaries number nearly five hundred millions. In the midst of their superstitions they recognize the Divinity. Brahmanism is the state religion of Hindustan. It has around one hundred and twenty millions of followers. They also adore a Supreme Being. So it is with all the religions of pagan lands. They always show some vague knowledge of the One True God.
Open profession of Atheism is rare amongst pagans. Perhaps their untutored minds are not so much exposed to the intellectual pride that produces atheists. Or, mayhap, in their forlorn condition they recognize more easily the promptings of their yearning hearts. It would seem that atheists abound most amongst peoples that enjoy the blessings of Christian civilization. Even so prodigals are oftenest found in the homes of wealth and luxury.