Does Everyone Believe in God?
I have always believed that everyone believes in God…at least to some extent. Obviously, others disagree. According to atheists.org, atheism is a “lack of belief in gods”. According to the website, atheism is not a belief that there is no god, but rather a lack of belief in gods. I guess there is a difference in those two phrases but I believe that the scripture begs to differ. In Romans chapter 1 Paul comments on God’s revelation of His existence. Let’s read verses 20-21: ”20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” This seems relatively plain to me. Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes such as power, majesty, order, etc… are clearly seen and are understood by mankind. No one can rightly say, “there is no God”. There is actually a knowledge of God in everyone. So if everyone “knows” God, is it possible to really have a lack of belief in gods? I don’t think so. Paul’s point seems to be that since God’s existence is evidenced in creation, everyone “knows” God…that there is a God. Obviously, not everyone “knows” God in a personal way through Jesus Christ, but everyone knows about God. We use the word “know” in the same way in our language. You can know someone without really knowing that person.
Unfortunately for many, the knowledge of God in creation and divine revelation does not translate to personal knowledge of God. Remember how in verse 18 of this chapter Paul said that some “suppressed” the truth in unrighteousness? I think this is what Paul has in mind. Though every person “knows” there is a God, some have suppressed that truth. Then verse 21 teaches us that when that truth is suppressed, that truth becomes futile and one’s heart becomes darkened. The suppression of the truth leads to an ultimate rejection of the truth. I think the witness of Romans 1 makes it clear that everyone “knows” there is a God, the God of the Bible, but not everyone believes. God isn’t leaving the knowledge of His existence up to chance. Everyone knows but not everyone believes. What about those who have never heard the name of Jesus…can they still be saved…are they excused because of a lack of knowledge of the gospel? Tune in tomorrow.