Blog

This series is titled: Praise God for Christianity: No Intellectual Progress Without It!

Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here.

What is the most compelling evidence that could be presented for validating the Christian worldview? Throughout church history, apologists have done their best to earnestly and persuasively contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 3). In fact, according to a 2011 Answers in Genesis publication, there are at least six categories of evidence routinely cited by Christians to demonstrate the fidelity of their faith:[1]

1. The Unity of the Bible
2. Fulfilled Prophecy
3. Scientific Accuracy Reflected in the Bible
4. Archaeological Discoveries
5. The Bible’s Life-Changing Power
6. Testimonies of Divine Miracles

Upon evaluating each category of evidence on its own terms, one will encounter a plethora of thought-provoking insights that Christians have employed to justify adherence to their worldview. Yet, what if the most compelling evidence for Christianity could be boiled down to a tube of toothpaste? In his 1993 debate with Edward Tabash at the University of California-Davis, Greg Bahnsen demonstrated that the act of squeezing a tube of toothpaste can function as a highly effective approach to delineating the cogency of the Christian faith.

Why do we expect toothpaste to spurt from the tube when we squeeze it? You might call this “the toothpaste proof of God’s existence.” We support that expectation in terms of two things: (1) Our past experience with toothpaste tubes; (2) The belief that nature is uniform, that the future is like the past. Without that second belief, [that nature is uniform, so the future will be like the past], we would not be able to learn from experience. We would not be able to use language. We would not be able to rely on memory or advanced science, all of which involve observing similarities and projecting them into the future.[2]

Broadly speaking, allusions to the uniformity of nature pertain to the observation that the universe is understandable, can be quantified in a way the mind can comprehend, and that it consistently operates in accordance with regulatory laws throughout time and space.[3] By virtue of the universe’s inherent uniformity, past experiences are the grounds for predicting how similar experiences will unfold in the future.[4] As noted in Bahnsen’s use of “the toothpaste proof of God’s existence,” the uniformity of nature is the reason for expecting toothpaste to appear after a tube is squeezed (of course, assuming that the tube is not empty). While exceedingly mundane, there are an abundance of daily activities that demonstrate how the uniformity of nature is one of the most programmatic convictions shared by humanity. To name just a few examples:

• The assumption that there will continue to be a plentiful amount of oxygen to breathe presupposes the uniformity of nature, and that the future will be like the past.
• The assumption that a pen will fall to the floor if knocked off a desk presupposes the uniformity of nature, and that the future will be like the past.
• The assumption that one’s hand will be burned if it comes into contact with a hot stove presupposes the uniformity of nature, and that the future will be like the past.

Fundamentally, as a precondition for intelligible experience in reality, the uniformity of nature powerfully testifies to the certitude of Christianity. In his apologetic treatise, The Defense of the Faith, Cornelius Van Til lucidly accentuates the intersection between the uniformity of nature and the veracity of the Christian worldview. To accomplish this aforementioned endeavor, Van Til embarks upon a twofold methodology:

1. He provides an excerpt from A.E. Taylor’s, Does God Exist?, a publication authored by one of the premier philosophers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[5] When viewed through the lens of history, Taylor’s perspective has been a prevailing opinion shared by philosophers, scientists, and ordinary citizens in the West.
2. Van Til offers his own concluding remarks to punctuate Taylor’s viewpoint on the uniformity of nature. In doing so, Van Til stresses that only the Christian worldview can adequately account for this specific precondition for intelligible experience in reality. The following quote combines both statements issued by Taylor and Van Til, as recorded in The Defense of the Faith.

Nature is rational in the sense that it has everywhere a coherent pattern which we can progressively detect by the steady application of our own intelligence to the scrutiny of natural processes. Science has been built up all along on the basis of this principle of the “uniformity of nature,” and the principle is one which science itself has no means of demonstrating. No one could possibly prove its truth to an opponent who seriously disputed it. For all attempts to produce “evidence” for the “uniformity of nature” themselves presuppose the very principle they are intended to prove… The existence of the God of Christian theism and the conception of his counsel as controlling all things in the universe is the only presupposition which can account for the uniformity of nature. The best and only possible proof for the existence of such a God is that his existence is required for the uniformity of nature and for the coherence of all things in the world.[6]

Van Til’s reasoning in the previous quotation should come as no surprise to Christians. Since the Bible is God’s written self-disclosure to humanity (Deut. 11:1-32; 2 Tim. 3:14-17), it necessarily functions as the ultimate standard for what Christians believe about God, themselves, and the world (Ps. 119:89; 1 Thess. 2:13). And what does the Bible have to say about the relationship between God, mankind, and the world (i.e., the uniformity of nature)? Scripture teaches that the universe was created by a God who is infinite in power and knowledge (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 147:5; John 1:1-3; Heb. 11:3). Because of His omnipotence and omniscience, this glorious Deity is without flaw in His creative handiwork; it would be contrary to God’s nature to be the efficient cause of anything that does not possess intrinsic orderliness (Ps. 104:1-35; 1 Cor. 14:33, 39). Even in the postlapsarian estate, a macrolevel and microlevel survey of the cosmos reveals the brilliance of how God has designed the universe (Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:19-20). Yet, this glorious Creator-God not only brought all of reality into being ex nihilo (Isa. 45:12; Rev. 4:11).

From the dawn of creation to the present day, God has upheld and sustained all things in reality by the word of His power (Isa. 46:9-10; Heb. 1:3), and He has covenanted to all of creation that “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22).[7] In the final analysis, the grounds for presupposing the uniformity of nature is not founded in human experience (although all of mankind experiences this reality), but rather, is founded in the character, purposes, and promises of the Creator that has made humanity in His own image (Gen. 1:26-28; Eph. 4:24).[8] When unbelievers showcase their dependence on the uniformity of nature throughout their daily lifestyle, it is the responsibility of the Christian to graciously make them cognizant of how their lifestyle betrays their profession of unbelief (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).[9] As a creature made in God’s image, living in God’s world, and playing by God’s rules to exist therein, the evidence for God’s existence is superabundant (Ps. 14:1-7; Heb. 3:4). May the body of Christ be zealous to promote awareness to these verities in their pursuit of obedience to the Great Commission mandate (Matt. 28:18-20).

Soli Deo Gloria!

---

[1] Mike Matthews, “Seven Compelling Evidences Confirm the Bible Is True,” Answers in Genesis (Answers In Genesis, May 18, 2015), https://answersingenesis.org/is-the-bible-true/seven-compelling-evidences-confirm-bible-is-true/. As reflected in the original publication, there are “seven compelling evidences” documented for confirming the truthfulness of Christianity, as disclosed by the biblical record. However, for the purposes of this article, the author has condensed the amount of evidences to a total of six by making the following adjustments: (1) The first documented evidence in this publication referenced the character of God. While this reality is foundational to the Christian faith, it is not necessarily evidence for whether or not Christianity is true. (2) The sixth category of evidence listed above—“Testimonies of Divine Miracles”—was not included as an explicit category in the Answers in Genesis publication, but it is largely derived from the category titled, “The Bible’s Life-Changing Power.” As such, the author found it appropriate to include this evidence as a stand-alone category.

[2] “Greg Bahnsen vs Edward Tabash Debate Transcript – Does God Exist?,” ReformedWiki, accessed May 30, 2022, https://reformedwiki.com/bahnsen-tabash-debate.

[3] Jason Lisle, The Ultimate Proof of Creation: Resolving the Origins Debate (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2015), 62.

[4] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), 610.

[5] A. E. Taylor, Does God Exist? (Netherlands: Fontana Press, 1945).

[6] Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith, ed. K. Scott Oliphint, 4th ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2008), 125-126. A.E. Taylor’s excerpt is transcribed in plain typeface, and Van Til’s caption is documented in bold typeface.

[7] This is a reference to the Noahic Covenant, which is the redemptive-historical basis for believing in the uniformity of nature until the Last Day. Properly understanding the nature and function of the Noahic Covenant likewise enables Christians to guard against Uniformitarianism: the belief that all of reality will continue to function in the same manner forever and ever (such a view precludes any belief in miracles or supernatural intervention in reality). For a Particular Baptist treatment of the Noahic Covenant, see the following article at Covenant Confessions: https://covenantconfessions.com/examining-dispensationalisms-defunct-covenant-theology-the-noahic-covenant/.

[8] Interwoven at various points throughout the second section of Liberty For All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2021), Andrew T. Walker masterfully underscores how the interrelatedness between the imago Dei—and God’s promises in the Noahic Covenant—directly tie into the uniformity of nature.

[9] Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, ed. Robert R. Booth (Nacogdoches, TX: Covenant Media Foundation, 2000), 188-190.