Something Is Eternal

It's absolutely logically necessary that we come to the conclusion that something is self-eternal and exists in and of itself. Now the question only is, what? Is it the universe?

Is it my shoe? Is it God? It's all too common to hear that the universe just exploded into being, but there's a fundamental problem with that hypothesis.

This week on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. R.C. Sproul is answering common objections to the Christian faith, and today he provides a logical and reasonable response to those who assume that there is no God. As we continue now with our study of the most frequent questions and objections that people raise against the truth claims of Christianity, you will recall that we have been busily engaged with the most fundamental question of all, and that is, can we have any reason to believe that God really exists?

And we've looked at some of the alternatives along the way, and before we get into the material for today, let me clarify a couple of things. In our last session, I said one of the most fundamental rules of reason and rules of science is the law, ex nihilo, nihil fit, out of nothing, nothing comes. And you recall I said that if there ever was a time when there was absolutely nothing at all, no God, no universe, nothing, that there couldn't possibly be anything now, because you can't get something out of nothing. Now, one of the problems that raises with many of you, I'm sure, those of you who are familiar with church history and have done some study in this arena, know that one of the most important ideas that St. Augustine set forth centuries ago is the doctrine of the creation of the universe, ex nihilo, ex nihilo, which means out of nothing. You say, wait a minute, R.C., you said in the last session that the fundamental law is ex nihilo, nihil fit, out of nothing, nothing comes, and here's St. Augustine saying out of nothing, the whole world comes.

Yes, and I sense the pain and anxiety you may be going through here trying to reconcile these, but let me see if I can help. The law, ex nihilo, nihil fit, out of nothing, nothing comes means absolutely nothing. When Augustine says that the universe was created ex nihilo, he doesn't mean, never did suggest, that there was nothing in the universe, that God was there eternally existing, and it is out of the power of God that the universe is brought into being. That's what Augustine meant when he said that the universe is created out of nothing. He means by that that there was not some eternal mass of undistinguished and unshaped matter that coexisted for eternity with God, and in the afternoon God decided to reform and reshape that preexistent matter and make a world out of that blob of substance, much the way a sculptor would take an unformed mass of clay and figure it into a beautiful statue. When he says that God created ex nihilo, he means that God by the sheer power of divine creativity brought into being something that before that did not exist. Now that brings us to the other point that is absolutely essential to Christianity, and that is that our belief in God carries with it not only that He is a Creator or the Creator, but that God in His very being is self-existent. On our last session, we talked about the idea, the concept of self-creation, and I explained, I labored the point that the idea, the very idea, the concept of self-creation is a nonsense concept. Nothing can create itself, because to create itself would have to be before it was. But there are miles of differences between the idea of self-creation and the idea of self-existence.

Now let's see if I can make that clear. I'm reminded of the story of the two little boys that got into a discussion, and the one boy said to the other boy, where did that tree come from? And the second boy said, God made that tree. And the first boy looked at the dog and he said, where did that dog come from? And the second boy said, God made that dog.

And the first boy was getting a little tired of these theological answers, and he finally said, okay, smarty pants, well where did God come from? And the boy said, God made Himself. Now, beloved, that's cute, but that's awful theology, because even God can't make Himself. God is no more able to create Himself out of nothing than my shoe is able to make itself, because what is true of the universe would also be true of God at this point, that if God didn't exist, He couldn't make Himself, because for God to create Himself, God would have to be before He was. And so the idea of Christian truth that we have with respect to God is not that God and God alone is self-created.

No, no, no. The idea is not that He self-created, that He made Himself, but the idea is that He is not made. He is uncreated, that He is eternal. There was never a second when He didn't exist.

There was lots of time when my shoe didn't exist. There was a time when you didn't exist, but there was never a time when God didn't exist, because He is eternal. And not only is He eternal, but when we say that God is self-existent, we mean by that that He's not a creature. He's not made, that He exists eternally, and He exists, here's the key point, in His own power. The stars that shine in the sky have power, but they're not eternal.

They didn't have the power to be in and of themselves. Their existence is creaturely. That means it's dependent. It's derived.

It's contingent. It comes from somewhere or somebody else. You are here because you had parents. If there weren't any parents for you, there wouldn't be any you. You're a creature.

You're a product of somebody else or something else. And we can take that back only so far until finally you have to run up against something that has the power of being within itself. And that's what we say about God. The idea of self-existence is so different from anything that we ever encounter in this world because you've never met anything in this world that has the power of being in and of itself. You can trace its history, whether it's my shoe or the universe itself.

It's significant that when the astronomers speak today and the cosmologists speculate about the beginning of our universe and they go back to this point of singularity, they still put a date on the universe, 16 billion years, 18 billion years, whatever it is, because they understand that even that is dependent upon something other than itself to produce it. But when we talk about the God we worship, one of the reasons we worship God is that God alone has the power of being within Himself. And everything that is is dependent upon Him for its existence. Now, you recall that in our last session I said we got rid of the option of self-creation because it's rationally impossible, it's a logical impossibility, it's philosophical nonsense. We see that the idea of something existing in and of itself by its own power and existing eternally, for those of you who are students of logic, you analyze that concept and you will find that there is nothing irrational about that. There's no law of rationality that is violated by the concept of self-existence. The most basic laws of reason are violated by the idea of self-creation. That is, the idea of self-existence is perfectly rational. The idea of self-creation is manifestly irrational.

Keep that in mind. But we still only reduce the matter to two. I said if something exists now, it can't be self-created, so it's either self-existent or it's created by something that ultimately is self-existent. Now, I want you to notice that in both of those remaining options, and if you're following this carefully, you will see it, that though these options differ radically, there's a big difference between whether my shoe is eternal and exists in and of itself, or whether ultimately my shoe is a result of the work of a being who exists by his own power eternally, namely God. There's a big difference between my shoe and God.

I grant you that. But in our discourse, we have seen that whatever exists must be either self-existent or created ultimately by something that is self-existent. Notice that in both of those, it's absolutely logically necessary that we come to the conclusion that something is self-eternal and exists in and of itself. Now the question only is, what? Is it the universe?

Is it my shoe? Is it God? But one thing is absolutely certain rationally, not just probable, absolutely certain, and that is this, that something has self-existent being. That is a logical necessity. And even old St. Thomas Aquinas, who's unwelcome in many circles today, the theme song of the modern Christian is, should old Aquinas be forgot and never brought to mind, St. Thomas talked about God as an ends necessarium, that is a necessary being. And what Aquinas was getting at is that God is necessary in the sense that it is logically necessary that He be. And not only that, but God's being is such. When a being is eternal and self-existent, it cannot not be. It not only may be, it has to be if it has the power of being eternally and inherently. And that is a deep philosophical concept. I understand that.

And it may make you annoyed to even have to contemplate it. But we're talking about God here, and we're talking about the most fundamental dimension by which God differs from His creation. And that is that God alone has the power of being eternally within Himself. Everything else is dependent upon that being, that power supply to exist. Well, some people say, but R.C., you've established that something has to be self-existent and eternal.

We grant that. But why don't we just look to the universe? Why don't we say the universe is self-existent and eternal?

And there are many philosophers and scientists who are doing just that. They're saying matter is eternal. The universe is eternal.

And then I ask this question, and then it gets really tricky. I say, are you talking about the whole universe? Or are you talking about part of the universe? Now, inevitably, when we get into this discussion, they grant that this discrete object that I wear around on my foot, this shoe, as an entity organized in this particular fashion is finite and temporal and is not self-existent and eternal. But they'll say it's made up of stuff that is self-existent and eternal, molecules and whatever.

It's okay. So, not every part of the visible universe that we talk about is self-existent and eternal. Just some part of the universe is self-existent and eternal.

And then they say yes. And they'll say, we don't have to go outside the universe to some transcendent, heavenly, supernatural God to explain nature because there may be some little nook and cranny, some little corner within the universe that is the pulsating power supply of being for everything else in the universe. Think about that for a second. Instead of a God who stands outside of the universe, above and beyond the universe, who supplies the power of being to the universe, now we're saying we don't have to go up into the clouds, up into the heavens to find this transcendent God. We can find it in some as yet undiscovered corner of the universe itself that generates the power of being. You're going to have to think.

You're going to have to put your thinking caps on. And here's where I lose people all the time. Part of it's a problem of theological vocabulary. But let me say it as simply as I can. I don't care where God lives. I care that He lives. His address is totally unimportant to me. You want to say that the God of heaven and earth who makes all things, who is self-existent and eternal, who lives in supernatural glory, lives east of the sun and west of the moon, and from His location creates everything else, you have no quarrel with me. Because what I want you to understand, and here's where people get confused and get lost, is that when we as Christians say that God is transcendent, which means above and beyond the universe, that He's higher than the universe, that He is supranatural, not just natural, we're not using that term transcendence in spatial terms or as a geographic reference. We're saying that God is above and beyond the universe in this sense that God is a different sort of being from creaturely being. And that which makes Him different from everything else is that He alone has self-existence. So people who say, I don't believe in a transcendent God, I believe that there's this pulsating core of the universe, they're saying in so many words, I don't believe in a transcendent God, but I believe in a transcendent God. Because that little core and that nook and cranny that is the power supply for everything else, that is alone eternal, that is alone self-existent, that alone has the power of being with Himself, is what we customarily call God.

You see what I'm saying? That the idea of a self-existent, eternal being who is the power supply for everything that is, is a fundamental assertion of sacred Scripture. And what the Bible teaches on every page is not in opposition to reason, but that reason itself, carefully applied to the question, demands that there be a self-existent, eternal being.

And it is not anything that manifests change or that has a birthday. I remember once listening to Dr. John Gerstner in a dispute over these things where somebody was having a debate between these questions and they wanted to know, they said, Dr. Gerstner, what's the difference between matter and mind? And he said, for example, Dr. Gerstner, what is mind? Dr. Gerstner said, no matter. He said, well, what's matter? He said, never mind. And you understand what he's getting at there.

He was playing a little game with them. And he said, the problem with matter, he carried the pun further, he said the problem with matter as we know it is that matter always has a mater, which is the Latin word for mother. That is, every matter that we observe and perceive manifests all of the signs of mutability, of change, of generation, of decay. And these changes of matter indicate that it does not have inherent being, the power of being within itself.

That can only be found in a being who is spirit and eternal and pure in his being. And that we call God. So let me conclude this portion of our discussion. As I said, this is only skating over the surface. This is a thumbnail sketch.

This is the shorthand version. And I commend to those of you who are struggling with these questions to read deeply in this matter because we've been conned in the 20th century. But really, people are intimidated by the powerful influence of existentialism that teaches that truth can be contradictory and all the rest. And you can hide behind all kinds of irrational statements. And you've been told a thousand times, if you have faith, you have to rest it on a sheer, gratuitous, irrational leap and not on anything cogent. Now, I believe that through the power of reason, we cannot learn many of the things that God gives to us in the pages of Scripture. We can't just deduce them out of thin air. But what God has revealed is not absurd, it is not irrational, and it is not nonsense. People may call it irrational and may call it nonsense because they don't like it. But the idea of a divine, self-existent, eternal being is not just a rational possibility, it is a rational necessity.

That's Dr. R.C. Sproul from his series, Objections Answered. We'll feature another message from this series tomorrow. There are eight messages in all in which R.C. provides intellectually satisfying, faith-strengthening answers to some of the most common questions about the Christian faith. We'll be glad to provide you with a digital download of the full series when you give a donation of any amount to Ligonier Ministries today.

We'll also include R.C. 's sweeping series on apologetics, Defending Your Faith. There you'll find 32 lessons that dive deep into how logic and reason can help you be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have in Christ.

Since today is Thanksgiving, our offices are closed today, but you can make your request and give your gift online at renewingyourmind.org. In our Coram Deo thought for today, let me say to you that I understand, I'm quite aware, please save your time and energy, don't write me a thousand letters. I'm aware that we live in a time that abhors reason, and that the Christian community in many cases today sees reason as the enemy. And there's a reason for that, and that is because people who call themselves rationalists have been telling us for 200 years that the only way you can be a Christian is if you abandon your mind, if you leave your brains in the parking lot and jump into this absurd pit of irrationality. And some now even glory in it, saying that the more irrational it is, the more spiritual it is, the more you abandon your mind, the more devout you will be in your heart.

Beloved, I plead with you to run for your life from that kind of thinking. Obviously, reason is not God, but God is reasonable. All reason is is a way of thinking clearly.

The laws of logic are only those rules that tell us how we can make statements that are intelligible. And we give no honor to God by making nonsense statements about Him. It is the Antichrist religions that want to take away the reasonableness of the Word of God. And we have been brainwashed into surrendering to this idea, saying, well, the pagan has reason. We have faith.

Whereas the faith that we have is a trust in the coherency and the sanity of what God clearly says. On this Thanksgiving Day, let me express our heartfelt thanks to you and to the Lord for all that He's done and all that He continues to do. We are indeed thankful, and we hope you'll join us again tomorrow for Renewing Your Mind. Thank you.