What Has Modern Man Accomplished?
DOES modern man really need God? Many persons today say, in effect, ‘No, I can get along without God. He’s not really necessary to my life and happiness.’
Many feel this way because of modern man’s stupendous technical and scientific achievements. These achievements, it is felt, make God unnecessary.
Also, many people, seeing the terrible conditions in the world, feel that they can get along without a God who would allow these things to exist.
Are these valid reasons for believing that we do not need God?
Well, it is true that many of man’s modern achievements equal what people in earlier times believed only God could do. Using modern technology, man can erect skyscrapers, dam mighty rivers and light entire cities. Persons on opposite sides of the globe can pick up telephones and talk with each other. In fact, as events occur anywhere on earth, man can watch them on TV in the comfort of his living room.
In many places the average person lives better than some kings of ancient times. He enjoys the benefits of central heating, air conditioning, electric stoves, refrigerators and other such conveniences. Automobiles and airplanes move persons in quick order to distant places. Man can even travel to the moon!
These and other achievements have caused many persons to conclude that, whereas in former times man may have needed God, modern man can get along without him.
But is man alone to be credited for his achievements? Where did man get his wonderful brain to figure out how to do things? And where did he obtain the raw materials with which to make refrigerators, automobiles and other modern inventions? Did man create them? This is something to consider.
There is also something else to consider. Though man has accomplished remarkable things in the fields of science and technology, why has he been such a failure in bringing about lasting peace in human affairs?
Just look around you today. There are increasing divorce rates, broken homes, sexual immorality and venereal disease. Family life and morality are breaking down. In some schools it is estimated that half the student body will contract a venereal disease!
Also, cities are deteriorating. In fact, crime and violence in the streets make it dangerous for millions of persons even to walk to the corner store for a loaf of bread. “Fear stalks the streets. . . . People flee the streets at dark and, more and more, even in daylight,” noted United States Senator Mike Mansfield. The New York Times reported: “In almost every corner of the earth a spirit of internal lawlessness is manifested.”
On a larger scale wars, revolutions and disruptions constantly erupt in the earth. Many people are fearful of the threat of nuclear destruction, and with good reason.
Do these conditions really indicate that we do not need God? Or is the problem that man has tried to solve his difficulties without considering God’s purposes? And could it be that one reason why God has permitted these troubles for a time is to show man that he actually does need God?