“The God of the Gaps!”
By Pastor Ron Buxton
For many decades, contentious atheists have used the so-called “God of the gaps” argument. What they mean is that when Christians cannot explain any “gaps” in our understanding from the natural sciences, we are alleged to flippantly respond: “Well, God just did it!”. In other words, rather than applying reason and investigation to explain ultimate reality, Christians lazily resort to a “blind faith”. However, allow me to throw a rhetorical “hand grenade” into this intellectual battlefield today.
You see, atheists are materialists, and they live in what we call a “closed” universe. It was the late Carl Sagan who famously said on his PBS program Nova: “The cosmos is all there is, all there ever has been, and all there ever will be.” And that closed universe (as they would say) operates without any interference from any supernatural source or God. However, I ask, how is that not (pun intended) “close-minded”?
What I am about to share is quite simple. And, in fact, it will require just seven letters from our English alphabet to make my point. Moreover, I will also utilize that phrase “God of the gaps” to demonstrate the irony of an atheistic worldview.
Here it is. That word “nowhere” is a noun which describes an absence for something being sought. It’s like the question that I could ask: “Where’s that $1000 in my wallet?” My wife would respond:”NOWHERE! Honey, you’ve never had that much money EVER in your wallet!” And so, that word “nowhere” explains an absence of something not found, or non-existent. Which, for me, reflects how much of a poor preacher (in more ways than one) that I am!
Here’s the irony. With a little word play, we can change those same seven letters into a two word phrase–and then insert the “God of the gaps”. And what a difference that makes! That noun “nowhere” can become the phrase “now here”—which is the antithesis of an absence. And all it took was a “gap” between those seven letters!
Okay–you might argue. That little word play doesn’t prove anything. Well, yes, in fact, it does—based upon all current scientific models concerning the origin of the universe. Why? A little thing called the “Big Bang Theory”!
Folks, this universe is not “closed” after all. And the vast majority who would oppose religion now embrace that theory which is upheld by the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics. But get this. Atheistic scientists still have no answer to what caused that creative explosion. Folks, I’m glad to tell you! It’s the “God of the gaps”! Not the “nowhere” god of atheism–but the God that is “now here” of the Judeo-Christian faith! He caused the “bang”!
Moreover, get this. That God who is “now here” is best explained by Christianity. You see, Jesus Christ—God “compressed into human flesh”—invites you to examine all the evidence concerning ultimate reality. And that’s really not a blind faith!
