The Challenge: God's Existence

Last week, I had a fleeting thought that it might be fun to go back to school and get a master’s in theology. Of course, what was I thinking? Two little kids and homework don’t mix. Maybe someday, but for now, my dear hubby gave me a much more practical challenge: “Why don’t you read the books you have already?” Well, that’s easy enough. Review all the knowledge I’ve been given and see what else I can learn.

So I’ve decided to let you, dear reader, take the journey with me as I take mini lessons in my books about God.

If you've ever been questioned by someone as to why you think God exists, or if you don't believe in God yourself, this post is for you. These are arguments that theologians and philosophers have established many years ago and have served them well. What I’m writing is not a deep in depth look at each of these arguments, but it will give you a taste and a direction to look.

Now without further ado, proofs of God’s existence:

#1 Proof of Cause and Effect - The cosmological argument

In middle school science class, you must have learned about the law of cause and effect. For example, there’s Newton’s law. “For every action, there must be an opposite and equal reaction.”

When you get hit in the head with a ball, you’re going to look for the person who threw it. It probably didn’t fly through the air by itself.

Hebrews 3:4 says, “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.” Have you met the person who built the house you live in? If you haven’t, did you assume it just built itself? That would be crazy.

Therefore, the creation of the world must have been an effect to a cause.

“To say that the cosmos came from nothing means it was self-created. This is a logical contradiction, because for something to be self-created it must exist and not exist at the same the same time in the same way. Furthermore, self-creation has never been scientifically demonstrated and observed (Ryrie, 32).”

#2 Proof of Human Intuition

“There is virtually no people group, ancient or modern, that does not acknowledge the existence of some supreme deity (Laney, 6).”

Now, atheism is a spreading belief, but this quote is talking about people as a whole. There has really never been an entire civilization of people that don’t believe in a god of some sort. Man has always believed that there is a deity far greater than they, and there must be a reason for that.

#3 Proof of Logic - The ontological argument

This one is pretty confusing, but it’s a favorite of mathematicians and philosophers, so it must make sense to someone!

In my own words from what I’ve read in a few books, this is it: we can imagine a perfect god-figure. But the perfect god-figure we can imagine can’t be as perfect as a real perfect god because we are imperfect and our minds are finite (limited). But the idea is there, so the idea must have come from somewhere. Therefore, there must be a real, perfect God.

#4 Proof of Organization - The teleological argument

Just for the record, I combined this and the proof of creation. The proof of creation is pretty simple: the world around us is so amazing that it points to God, the creator. There is no one on the earth that is not in awe of a million stars in the black night sky or the fantastic colors of a sunset or a lightening storm.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

One part of creation that is the most amazing is the organization and design the world displays. The seasons are predictable, there are 365 days in a year, birds migrate north and south at just the right time following a path that is engrained in their instincts, flowers always have an odd number of petals. The golden spiral is found throughout all of creation and mathematicians have found its equation. Order. Design. Pattern. And with order and design like this, it’s all supposed to come from a coincidence? I just don’t see it.

“Random action could never have produced the highly integrated organization that we observe in the world (Ryrie, 35).” Think about your computer you may be reading this on right now. Imagine taking it apart to the very smallest pieces. Now mentally put those pieces in the bucket. Give them a good shake and throw them onto the floor. Did the pieces fall out all together in a working machine? No? I didn’t think so. Throw them back in the bucket and shake them and throw them again. Still no functional computer? Surprising. You can do it a billion times, and I’ll bet you you’re not going to get your functioning computer back.

The intricate details of the world are just like that computer. They are far too complex to just happen by themselves. They call for a Creator, a real hand to put them altogether intelligently.

#5 The Proof of Human Conscience - The moral argument

Romans 2:14-15 says, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and  their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them…”

This still argument still holds water today. People who aren’t Christian, even ancient people from history past, have the basically the same moral code as believers today. They may not be identical, but if you interview just about anyone on the street and asked the same series of questions- is it wrong to cheat on your wife? Is it okay to murder? Is stealing wrong?- you’d probably get the same answers.

There are some people who will give you a completely different answer, and they’re usually a reason for that. “The human conscience can become perverted or calloused as the result of continual abuse… a continually violated conscience offers little help in distinguishing right from wrong (Laney, 4).”

When God created the first person in His image, he wrote a code of right and wrong in our DNA that still lingers today.

#6 The Proof of Personal Experience

This is different for every Christian. Whether you’ve had a huge face-to-face encounter with God, or you’ve seen Him in your walk in little ways day by day, we’ve all experienced God. There is no argument for that. It happened to you. If you’d like to see how I personally know God is real, read my post here.

As I’ve said, these are just introductory paragraphs on the subject, a mere drop in the bucket from a non-philosophical mind. I can’t even spell "philosophical" without spell check. But if you’d like to know more, feel free to ask me or visit a library or talk to your pastor.

Here are the books I used and will continue to use:

“Basic Theology,” Charles C. Ryrie. Moody Press, 1999.

“God,” J. Carl Laney. Word Publishing, 1999.

And of course, “the Holy Bible, English Standard Version.” Crossway Bibles, 2007.