Getting it wrong: A mechanical device to prove there is a God: U.S. Pat. #1087186

Getting it right: “He [Jesus] is a light to reveal God to the nations.” Luke 2:31 (NLT)

 

On March 22, 1909, Socrates Scholfield of Providence, Rhode Island submitted to the U.S. Patent Office a small mechanical device to prove the existence and attributes of God. Mr. Scholfield believed it was essential to invent a new and useful educational device to discover God and prove His existence. His application read, “It is desirable to illustrate certain of these evidences by means of schematic mechanical devices.” Mr. Scholfield’s mechanical device was granted patent #1087186 on February 17, 1914; however, it was not successful.

It seems there is no way to discover God or prove His existence just as there is no way to prove that there is not a God. Instead, it is God, the creator and spirit being, who reveals Himself to us. But in order to reveal Himself to us God, had to present Himself in a way that we could understand. God sent His son, Jesus, to visit earth more than 2,000 years ago to testify that God is real and that He loves us. Jesus’ message from God to humans is that we are to love God and love one another. We cannot know God by using a schematic mechanical device. We can know God by knowing Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to [God] the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father [God] as well. You’ve even seen him!…To see me is to see the Father.” John 14:6-7,9 (MSG)