Scripture begins with God -- in the beginning, God (cf. Genesis 1:1). It provides no origin narrative. The Bible simply states that God exists and then outlines how God created the universe. That Scripture begins with God’s existence is known as a first truth. A first truth is a truth that is not proved or debated but held as foundational to all other truths. Augustus Strong states that “A first truth is a knowledge which, though developed upon occasion of observation and reflection, is not derived from observation and reflection.”1
A first truth is established by three tests. The first test is the universality of the truth. Universality does not mean that everyone accepts the truth, but that everyone displays a belief in a deity on some level. That the vast majority of humanity, separated by time and space, recognize the existence of a deity or deities demonstrates the universality of God’s existence as a first truth.
The second test is the coherence of the truth. In other words, while someone can deny the existence of a truth, they cannot disprove the truth. If someone claims that God does not exist, they must be prepared to explain why. However, for an individual to have sufficient evidence to deny God’s existence would require them to be everywhere (i.e., omnipresent) and all-knowing (i.e., omniscient). If they were omnipresent and omniscient, they themselves would be God. To deny the truth of God’s existence is indefensible.
The third test is the logic of the truth. For a truth to be logical, it must be argued according to the rules of formal argumentation. There are three arguments to demonstrate the logic behind the truth of God’s existence. Those arguments are cosmological, teleological, and anthropological.
ENDNOTES:
A first truth is established by three tests. The first test is the universality of the truth. Universality does not mean that everyone accepts the truth, but that everyone displays a belief in a deity on some level. That the vast majority of humanity, separated by time and space, recognize the existence of a deity or deities demonstrates the universality of God’s existence as a first truth.
The second test is the coherence of the truth. In other words, while someone can deny the existence of a truth, they cannot disprove the truth. If someone claims that God does not exist, they must be prepared to explain why. However, for an individual to have sufficient evidence to deny God’s existence would require them to be everywhere (i.e., omnipresent) and all-knowing (i.e., omniscient). If they were omnipresent and omniscient, they themselves would be God. To deny the truth of God’s existence is indefensible.
The third test is the logic of the truth. For a truth to be logical, it must be argued according to the rules of formal argumentation. There are three arguments to demonstrate the logic behind the truth of God’s existence. Those arguments are cosmological, teleological, and anthropological.
ENDNOTES:
- Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1907), 54.
RSS Feed