Taste Buds and the Proof for God

The Bible mentions worship 254 times in the New International version. It mentions worship 347 times. But the word eat appears 623 times.

I love food. I love the look of it, and I love the smell of it. I love the feel of food inside my mouth: The sensation as my molars press down on a single pistachio or the feel of a mouthful of custard inside my mouth. Such differing and glorious experiences. The diversity of taste buds and their density in the human mouth is magnificent. Eating is literally sensational – a full-sensory experience.

I get the evolutionary purpose of taste – If it nourishes the body, incentivize swallowing it by making it pleasurable. But plenty of creatures continue eating without nearly as many taste buds as humans. Also, there is no evolutionary purpose I can discern for the transcendence of food. The power of a slice of cheesecake to move me is extravagant. I don’t need such experiences for mere survival. Culinary delight is not always related to the nutritional value to my body. That food can animate the emotions, inspire the imagination and move one beyond simple satisfaction into rapture, is beyond simple evolution, it is proof of God’s existence.

Taste and see that God is good. Ps. 34:8