A new series “Tenets of Truth” begins with the question, “Do You Really Believe God Almighty Exists?” Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner brings forth words from the Lord as well as Pope Benedict XVI, St. Paul and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to help us comprehend whether God Almighty exists and why so many Christians are denying the existence of God in modern times. For audio, video and script please continue reading.
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Do you believe in God? When I was a child this was considered a silly question. Of course there is a God. Everyone knew so. Yet in this time of moral confusion, over half a century later, we look around us and realize that a great number of people no longer believe that God exists. Today we will explore the shift in belief around us.
In the time of Christ, the Apostles had to deal with people who did not know the one true God. In our day we have to recognize that many of the agnostics and atheists are former Christians. What could cause this shift? In a moment we will share a suggestion by Pope Benedict XVI.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit and today’s episode, “Do You Really Believe God Almighty Exists?” The Lord has asked me to do a series on Tenets of Truth and to start with the basic belief in God. I am your host, Patti Brunner.
Throughout the Sacred Scripture God gives physical and supernatural proof of his existence. I enjoy the face-off between God’s prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah in 1 Kings Chapter 18. “21 And Eli’jah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Ba’al, then follow him.” “23 Let two bulls be given to us; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it. 24 And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” The prophets of Baal “26 And they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Ba’al from morning until noon, saying, “O Ba’al, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made. 27 And at noon Eli’jah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” “29b But there was no voice; no one answered, no one heeded.” 30 Then Eli’jah …repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down;” “32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar,” “33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.”34 And he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar, and filled the trench also with water. 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Eli’jah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O LORD, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.””
Why is this proof denied today? I have noticed that the rejection of God is sometimes rooted in pain. People ask, “How can there be a God who allows the suffering of the innocent?” They assume that a loving God would step in and stop the course of natural events. They assume that a loving God would give us everything we ask for without consideration of the effect. And when our loved one suffers or dies then they assume that God must be a fake. I have a close relationship with the Lord and He answers all my prayers. Sometimes the answer is “no”. God gives great blessings to me and to my family and friends and tremendous joy and peace despite death or suffering.
Suffering often goes along with one of the most defining gifts of mankind—freewill. As a mother it is easy for me to see that when my children make poor choices they will suffer consequences—like a child who touches a hot stove and gets burned! I do not choose for them to suffer and I do not stop loving them even when they make poor choices. Even when those poor choices affect others who were innocent. My role is to try to teach them to make good choices and to provide a home where they have unconditional love. My heart goes out to children, and adults, who did not have a home of unconditional love. Our hearts also go out to parents who worked to teach their children good choices but found them choosing sinful habits like drugs or fornication, especially when it causes them to step away from God.
CCC #272 “Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus “the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 111 It is in Christ’s Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth “the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe”. 112”
The effect of sin upon the world is death. And often the sin of the world affects the innocent. This is most clear as we see the effect of sin on Jesus. He did not sin yet the effect of sin in the world caused him persecution and an extremely painful death. The purpose of His death was to show us God’s unconditional love for us. Romans Chapter 5:8, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Often, when I am listening to the whispers of the Lord, He identifies himself as “I Am”. This is the same name of identification the Lord gave to Moses after He appeared in the burning bush. Consider what that means. I Am—He is. He always is. Catechism Paragraph #51 “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will.
The Lord taught me: “The role of the Church is to share the Gospel—to allow the opportunity “to know God”. Woe to the man who leads the children away from Me.” The Lord says: “Woe to the man who destroys the hearts of the children that they harden and cannot know Me. Blessed is the Church who leads the broken-hearted to Me and who forgives the hard-hearted bringing them to know Me and so sets them free from their stony hearts. This is Church!
The Lord said to me: “This moment [that we know that we know God loves us] enters the foretaste of heaven. This is the goal for all I have called you to do.” The Lord said: “My children forget this. Some have never realized it. My children are given the gifts to help others to experience my love for themselves. It is this truth—shared by the Giver of Life—the Holy Spirit—that reveals Me,” the Lord God says. “Each person has unique needs yet with the presentations of truth and witness the Truth will set them free.”
The Lord spoke about ‘knowing the Power of God.’ “When you look at the intricacies of the world around you, it is difficult to comprehend the intelligence of God who formed the earth and all things upon it. This pales, however, when compared to the Power of God. Life! The power of God provides life itself. The amazing thing is that God shares this power with a man and a woman as they cooperate with God in providing life to their children. It is the power of God who sets eternity as the opportunity to be one with God; since God is eternal the only way to be one with him is to also be eternal. Our soul and glorified body embraces the power of God for all eternity. We do not have to wait for eternity, however, to know God’s power. As the Holy Spirit descended upon man after their redemption through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s power also entered the hearts and souls of his people. Baptism is a means of accepting the power of God. Outward signs of God’s power include the many charism accepted for the benefit of all the Church. Each time a saint is beatified and canonized there is an acknowledgment of God’s power manifesting in their lives. Even in martyrdom there is a witness of power. How else could someone lay down their lives for an intangible belief in an ‘invisible’ God?
“Are you in a low-watt power stream? Do you limit God’s power in your life? Trust in God’s breaker box instead of providing your own. Allow the power of God to shine forth in your lives. Thus you shall be as a lamp put on a hillside for all the world to see.”
The Lord continued, “My child, you are in my Presence. I Am with you. Always!” “As the Lord comes into your heart and mind, the work of the Holy Spirit can transform your attitude. As you are docile to the work of the Holy Spirit within you, the grace will manifest and the good news, the Gospel, will be known by your lives. Scripture tells us that not only will the Holy Spirit remind us of everything that Jesus said and did, the Spirit will also give us the words to say. As the Spirit leads us to all truth, the Holy Spirit will manifest in us the gifts of grace. By gifts of wisdom and understanding not only will we know God, we will be able to share our knowledge with others by word and deed.
Now, there are some people who think that people who believe in God are naïve. There are all sorts of quotes from ‘learned’ people that speak to that. They are blinded to truth and become the blind leading the blind. I have noticed in today’s society many sinners work very hard trying to get everyone else to agree with them that sinful actions are good. This is clear in the onslaught of “pride” propaganda and the “pro-choice” movements. Even these buzz words seem to tell us certain sinful actions are desirable. They avoid the words “sodomy” and “killing babies”. They also work very hard to discredit good actions that allow people to see the truth clearly. They poke fun and use innuendo to falsify truth.
Yet the complexity of creation makes it clear to me that there had to be a Creator. I love the example of a pocket watch. We can put the pieces of a watch in a bag but no matter how long we wait or how hard we shake the bag, the watch will never build itself! The more science we discover in the universe and in the human body it becomes clear how delicate and complex is creation. Our Creator has intelligence off the scale! And this is just the natural world. When we begin to discover the supernatural in grace and the presence of God among us it takes us to an even higher plain of understanding of the reality of God.
The Jewish nation knew the truth as the descendants of Abraham. But during the early Church belief in the one true God was in the minority in the world; the Roman Empire had a multitude of gods to take care of the various facets of society and nature. Belief in Jesus, true God and true man, was even more rare. Sharing this truth was the Gospel message taken out into the entire world by the Apostles and disciples. The Gospel truth caused quite a stir; Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. In order to know which beliefs were worth dying for, our Church Fathers developed a creed based upon the most ancient formula used by the Church in Rome. The Apostles’ Creed set down tenets of truth. Compared to the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed is significantly shorter and less detailed. As various questions and heresies caused confusion, the Church expanded the Nicene Creed to include more definitive statements about Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
In studying apologetics I came upon a well-known saying called Pascal’s Wager. It encourages you to choose the bet that God exists. Blaise Pascal, who lived in the 1600’s, wrote: “If God does not exist, one loses nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing.” In other words: Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, and so forth), whereas if God does exist, he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (an eternity in Hell).[2]
St. Paul wrote about pagan unbelievers in Romans Chapter 1: “What can be known about God is plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:19-20). But “by their wickedness they suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).
Pope Benedict wrote[i] that when Christians give sinful witness they suppress the truth. Benedict believes that the bad example of many Christians, who claim to believe in God but live as if he did not exist, contributes to the spread of unbelief. Indeed, he thinks the greatest need in the world today is the good witness of Christians who will make God more credible to the world.
“The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that “nothing will be impossible with God”, and was able to magnify the Lord: “For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
In his 2005 book Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, wrote: “Pascal echoes St. Paul when he explains why some persist in their unbelief. He says that since the rational choice is not being made, there must be some irrational obstacles. He calls them “noxious” pleasures. Therefore, according to St. Paul and Pascal, the basis for unbelief is not grounded in reason, but in immorality. Many unbelievers are not truly concerned with the reasonableness of belief; they simply do not want to give up their sinfulness, which is the real “reason” they reject God and Christianity.” “The demands of the real Truth are too great for them.”
Let’s just consider the seven deadly sins and consider how unbelievers see them. The “seven deadly sins, also calledseven capital sinsorseven cardinal sins, in Roman Catholic theology, are the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behavior. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas, they are (1) vainglory, or pride, (2) greed, or covetousness, (3) lust, or inordinate or illicit sexual desire, (4) envy, (5) gluttony, which is usually understood to include drunkenness, (6) wrath, or anger, and (7) sloth” or laziness. Can you recognize the theme of most modern movies and TV shows that take in these seven items? These sinful actions are shown as normal and even as desirable.
After a spiritual conversion of heart in the 1990’s God began to reveal Himself to me more frequently. I was influenced to an expectant faith by the witness of others who had been renewed by the Holy Spirit. This took my childhood faith and belief in God and transformed me by the understanding of God’s love for me.
Besides personal experience, I use both Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as I talk about the ‘realness’ of God. Since the very first Pentecost and coming of the Holy Spirit, fellow Christians have shared their encounter with a real man, true God, Jesus Christ and with the supernatural presence of the Holy Spirit. They have left their witness for other generations through the Catholic Church. We believe in God Almighty!
[CCC #199] “I believe in God”: this first affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed is also the most fundamental. The whole Creed speaks of God, and when it also speaks of man and of the world it does so in relation to God. The other articles of the Creed all depend on the first, just as the remaining Commandments make the first explicit. The other articles help us to know God better as he revealed himself progressively to men. “The faithful first profess their belief in God.” 2
[CCC #230] St. Augustine witnessed, “Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words.”
[CCC #231] Exodus 34:6 says, “The God of our faith has revealed himself as HE WHO IS; and he has made himself known as “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” God’s very being is Truth and Love.”
Let’s turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church for some guidance. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “Faith is man’s response to God who reveals himself to Man.” [CCC #26] We are Christians because we believe. “‘Believing’ is a human act, conscious and free, corresponding with the dignity of the human person.” [CCC #180] Christians hold the truth: One faith, one baptism. These truths were set “in stone” and into the very foundation of the Church by the Holy Spirit. Christians are the ‘living stones’ of the Church built on the foundation of faith.
CCC #201 “To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” 4 Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other… To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. ‘Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength.'” 5”
Catechism #268 “Of all the divine attributes, only God’s omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God’s power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it “is made perfect in weakness”. 103 “He does whatever he pleases.” 104
Catechism #269 The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the “Mighty One of Jacob”, the “LORD of hosts”, the “strong and mighty” one. If God is almighty “in heaven and on earth”, it is because he made them. 105 Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will. 106 He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will…”
Catechism #271 “God’s almighty power is in no way arbitrary: “In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical.”
Let me say that again.
“God’s almighty power is in no way arbitrary: “In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God’s power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect.” 110”
CCC Paragraph #273 “Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God’s almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ’s power. 113
CCC Paragraph #274 “Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope … than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped the idea of God’s almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe – even if they be great and marvelous things, far above the ordinary laws of nature.” 115
You have been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “Do you Really Believe God Almighty Exists? The Tenets of Truth Series” I am Patti Brunner. We invite you to check out our free YouTube channel to find other tenets of Truth from the Lord in various playlists including the Basics of Faith series. You can also access them and this episode at PatriarchMinistries.com/215. And then come back for more. With the Holy Spirit, there’s always more! Amen.
[i] 2005 book Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI]
