I am not a scientist. I am not a biologist or a mathematician, but I do believe ideas have consequences. If you believe it is going to rain, you will take an umbrella. If you believe you don’t have to work today, you can sleep in.
The same is true in the moral world. There is a whole field of apologetics devoted to presuppositions — if you believe this is true, then this is also true. For our devotional today, let’s look at four logical consequences of not believing in God.
Contingency — That means that everything that is was caused by some natural phenomenon that preceded it. If you leave God out of the picture, the apparent implication of this account is that the world and all of its inhabitants were accidents. There is no purpose in life period.
Autonomy — Contingency leads to the belief in the second element of secularity — autonomy. People are free to determine their own destiny. People determine their own meaning. “That may be your truth.”
Relativity — If people are their own creators, then the social environment, destiny, and meaning of existence created by one group of people, in one place and time, are not necessarily relevant to another group of people in a different historical context. This is particularly true in the realm of morals. Morality becomes just personal preference statements.
Temporality — Reality is limited to what exists in time and space. There is no afterlife or it’s irrelevant. Death is the end of everything, and everything must die.
Exercise
Are you thoroughly depressed? You will be if you consider the consequences of believing there is no God! So let’s praise the Lord today and thank him for his many blessings! We have hope and purpose. I am grateful and an attitude of gratitude is the basis of my actions!