Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Wrestling with God

Home
New Visions
Evidence of God’s Existence — From a Scientist

Evidence of God’s Existence — From a Scientist

Last updated on: October 27, 2015 at 12:01 am by Barbara Falconer Newhall

Evidence of God’s Existence — From a Scientist 2015-10-26T23:17:08-08:00 Barbara Falconer Newhall

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A bald eagle: his next meal. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Geoff Machin is a realist who believes that Alfred Lord Tennyson got it right when he suggested that nature is “red in tooth and claw.”

Nature is bloody and competitive, says Geoff. Most of the creatures walking, swimming, swarming, floating and flying around on this planet are not much interested in anything beyond where their next meal is coming from.

Yet Geoff also believes that we human beings are capable of a selflessness and a desire for meaning that belie our animal nature. These qualities, Geoff suspects, originate in the divine.

Here’s how Geoff puts it:

Human beings are the only living things that know they exist and ask why. We’d probably have more fun if we didn’t ask so many questions, just go to the beach and have a beer.

Well, some of us do bother about these things, we live with the questions. That is God in us, I think. That is the extent to which we are made in God’s image.

The very fact that so many people push toward a meaningful basis for their lives is, to me, evidence of God’s existence.

I like what Geoff says here. I like to believe that the sacred is at work in the world. And I don’t mean in extravagant, show-offy ways (miraculous deathbed cures, multi-million-dollar wins at the lottery, elevator doors that open before one has had a chance to press the up-button).

I’m thinking of a leading force that invites us to be our generous, compassionate, best selves. A spirit that assures us that we matter and that therefore, by golly, our choices matter.

I think that’s what Geoff means when he talks about “a meaningful basis” for our lives. And I like the fact that Geoff thinks this way. He’s a hard-headed scientific type — a retired pediatric pathologist, born in England, who grew up in the Church of England and studied at Oxford.

Geoff is one of the people I’ve interviewed for my book, “Wrestling With God: Stories of Doubt and Faith.” I know him to be a no-nonsense guy. Which gives me — that skeptical, no-nonsense part of me, that is — permission to give way to my long-held and much-treasured hunch that Something is going on out there (in here?). Something Big. God, whatever that might be is big. Of that much, I’m pretty sure.

What do you think? Does the sacred express itself in the material world? Or are we mortals pretty much on our own here in this humongous universe? What do you think of Geoff’s “evidence of God’s existence?” Is he on to something, or is he grasping for straws?

A version of this post appeared originally on BarbaraFalconerNewhall.com. If you liked this post you might want to read “Death Is the Only Guarantee.” Also, “I’m a Carnivore and I’m OK With That — I Think.” You’ll find more of Geoff Machin’s thoughts in my book, “Wrestling With God.”

survival of the fittest

Previous Post

October 20, 2015

Anne Lamott: 'Where Your Feet Are Is Sacred Space'

Next Post

November 3, 2015 On a Good Day, God's Right There, Can't Miss Him

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prayed for rain after a long drought and sent his servant to look seven times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Isaiah Elijah Hosea Samuel