Webster says logic is the science that deals with the criteria of validity in thought and reasoning. Logic was a course formally taught in all American schools. Both of my parents told me they were taught a course in logic when they attended public school. The teaching of logic has been abandoned in modern education and American citizens no longer seem to be secure in their reasoning. The concept of absolutes has been all but obliterated from our culture by the religion of secular humanism which proclaims there is no absolute truth and there are no absolutes.
Common sense tells us the logical principle of cause and effect is valid. For every effect there must be a cause and the cause must be equal to or greater than the effect. The principle of cause and effect guides all human activity and reason, especially investigation.
Who am I? Why are we here? Why are we alive? What is the purpose of life? Is there life after death? Is the Bible the Word of God? Are we lost sinners? Do we need a Savior? Is the Bible historical truth? Where did this world of time space and matter come from? Must there be absolute truth for our reason to decide the answers to these questions? Isn’t absolute truth necessary to keep us from making decisions based only on our human opinions?
Can there be absolute truth? The answer is yes, there can be absolute truth but only if the source has knowledge of all things past present and future. Common sense tells us this. Without knowledge of all things past present and future there is possibility of error. Can the mind of fallen man be a source of absolute truth? The answer is no, because man does not have knowledge of all things past present and future. Without God and His omniscience, there can be no absolute truth.
We are now aware that life as we know it can only exist in the narrow layer of the biosphere surrounding our planet. This seems to be true in the entire universe. Look around you at the incredible complexity and design of this world. Observe how increasing investigation only reveals more and deeper exquisite design and complexity. Where did the so called natural laws that control it originate? Could time space and matter have had no origin and were always in existence? That would be an effect without a cause and is illogical. Time space and matter without cause would be supernatural. This means the idea of naturalism is an oxymoron. The very reality of the existence of time space and matter demands an explanation, a cause.
It is no wonder Paul was unable to get the Greeks to understand what he was preaching on Mars Hill. The Greeks were evolutionists and had no foundation to comprehend the Gospel. It is the same today. The overwhelming majorities of people remain evolutionists and see no importance in the subject. Without a mental acceptance of Genesis 1:1 there is no connection to reality and the Gospel.
Either, time space and matter came into existence without a cause which would be a supernatural event, or supernaturally “IN THE BEGINNING (time) GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS (space) AND THE EARTH (matter). Which of these two options best fits reality? I hope God will reveal His absolute truth to you. No wonder the unbelievers wanted to get rid of the course of logic.
Sidney C. Phillips MD
April 2003
