An Academic Embarrassment

“There is no God,” Professor Hovey says, pausing between each word.

He clears his throat, then glances around the room, watching his audience’s reaction.

Not one person sitting before him moves or utters a word.

Narrowing his eyes, Professor Hovey repeats his declaration, this time punching the air with one pointed finger.

“There is no God. How can I say that with such confidence you might ask? Well, cast your minds back a couple of years or, for some of you older ones, quite a few years. Do you recall your parents telling you, as a child, that on Christmas Eve a jolly old man with a fluffy white beard and a cherry red nose would come shimmying down your chimney with a big, green sack full of toys? Well, didn’t that turn out to be a big lie. Therefore, I put forth, that there is no God.

The audience chuckles, then claps, laughing uproariously, but as Professor Hovey continues his lecture, the clapping, the laughing, the chuckling and the smiling fades.

“Flying reindeer? Tiny elves? Mrs Santa Clause? Poppycock! And, in the same way, talking serpents? Singing angels? An invisible spirit we call God? Well, I call that poppycock too!”

Senior Research Fellow Larry Banks, turns in his seat. He glances at Vice Chancellor Trevor Knowles.

“Are you hearing this?” he says. “He’s serious.”

“Yes, he is serious,” Trevor Knowles agrees. “Someone get him off stage. This isn’t evidence for the non-existence of God. We’ll be the laughing stock of academia.

Larry Banks jumps up on stage. He smiles weakly at the audience, then grabs Professor Hovey by the shoulder. Linking arms, he marches him off stage.

“Wait!” Professor Hovey says. “Wait! I haven’t mentioned Rudolph’s glowing nose or the fact that not all houses even have a chimney.”

Larry Banks tightens his grip on Professor Hovey’s elbow.

“Clifford,” he spits out the side of his mouth. “Have you lost your mind? This isn’t evidence for the non-existence of God. You’re supposed to talk about the fossil record and all the evidence Darwin found on the Galapagos Islands. Now, get off.”

A Fond Memory

As a kid, I loved believing in Santa. When down at the shops, I loved the buzz of meeting him in person. I enjoyed the excitement that kept me awake at night on Christmas Eve, wondering what toys he would leave for me under my tree next morning, and I didn’t even mind the panic I felt, after committing a misdemeanour, from worrying if I’d left it too late to earn back Santa’s good favour. It made Christmas even more special and magical than it already is, but then I grew older and I figured out what really goes on.

We don’t have a chimney, I thought. Santa doesn’t leave presents out for me. Santa doesn’t even exist.

After I realised that Santa’s not real, I felt deep embarrassment at having believed something so ridiculous. I also remember wondering why my parents could lie about Santa living at the North Pole but if I told lies, I’d soon feel a sharp sting spreading across my rear-end. Most worrying of all, for a split second, realising that Santa didn’t exist made me wonder if God didn’t exist also.

“God’s invisible as well,” I thought. “Does that mean Jesus isn’t real too?

And that’s one reason why some parents choose that they will tell their children the truth about the existence of Santa so their kids won’t lose faith in Jesus, not even for a split second.

A Personal Choice

I don’t enjoy lying and so I believe that if I had children, I would tell them the truth.

“Santa’s not real”, I would say. “I’m the one who buys you all these gifts. I’m the one who stays up late into the night, wrapping up each one so you can find them glittering and gleaming underneath our Christmas tree,” but if parents don’t choose to tell their kids the truth, I don’t think it will have long-lasting effects on their children’s lives or on their faith in Jesus because there’s so much evidence for God’s existence in creation and because by the age of 40, 50 or 60, no self-respecting atheistic professor will still be using the excuse of Santa as a reason for not believing in God who shows Himself so clearly through His creation.

As a 3-year-old, I enjoyed climbing trees. One day, as I sat in a favourite climbing tree, I remember looking at its trunk and its branches, the blue sky above it and the puffy clouds that sailed in it, and I sensed that there was something much bigger and more powerful than me guiding me and the world around me. Pop star, Britany Spears, in her autobiography, The Woman in Me, says she had this experience also, as a child, while laying on hot stones, and comedian, Anh Do, in his autobiography, The Happiest Refugee, also says he had this experience while looking at the sky. I don’t classify either of these people as Christians but these experiences back up what the Bible says about the existence of God.

Psalm 19:1 says,

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Romans 1:20 says,

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.

And I guess that’s why Psalm 14:1 says,

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

Because even a 3-year-old child, sitting in a tree, can see all the invisible evidence for God and acknowledge it and believe in Him. So, either tell or don’t tell your children the truth about Santa and I’m sure that if they persist in believing that God’s not real, when they do stand before God on Judgement Day, they will find themselves, as Romans 1:20 says, without an excuse.

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