Does God exist? (Part 3)

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In the last two posts we looked at three proofs of God's existence: Creation, Morals and Religion. But within those posts I made the comment that the one true God who exists is the God of the bible. Now it's time to verify that.

The first point we need to make is that to establish the God of the bible as being the true God, we need to establish the bible as truth. The bible clearly declared who God is and that he is the only true God, but can we trust the bible?

What makes the bible true?
The only point needed in this question is that the bible is God's word, and he doesn't lie (Therefore we can trust the bible). But alas, that wouldn't satisfy me if I wasn't a Christian - even if it was the truth. So here are some other things to consider.

• Historical Evidence

How do we know the bible was written over a long period of time? There are copies of the books of the bible from different times. For example the dead sea scrolls. These copies show that the bible was not all written at once.

How do we know the bible isn't just made up? Well there are a number of reasons for this. Historically it fits quite perfectly with everything else we know about the world and if verified by a whole bunch of ancient documents that record similar events. Likewise through archaeology many discoveries have been made that have backed up the biblical accounts (For example the Pool of Siloam from John 9 has been discovered fairly recently). There are also other documents that support the evidence that the biblical account is true. There are so many books on the subject! Do some research! If you're interested I did an essay on the accuracy of the gospel of Luke for school, I could send it to you if you comment below.

The bible is made from eye witness sources. In history, these sources are the most reliable (How can you get more reliable then people who have seen it?). Adding to that is the fact that many of these Christians were persecuted and killed for their faith. If they had simply lied about it all, why would they be willing to die for it? They also recorded things that would have been embarrassing for them (e.g. Peter's denial of Christ and the women being the first to find the tomb empty, because at that time the accounts given by women were considered far less reliable).

• Evidence within the bible itself

The bible was written over thousands of years, yet it is entirely consistent and doesn't have contradictions. Yes, you will be able to find websites full of alleged 'contradictions' in the bible, but I've looked through one or two of those sites and been able to explain almost all of them without too much research (and the others would have good explanations too if I had time to research them). Most of the seeming contradictions come down to translation issues or taking verses out of context. It was written over about 1500 years, by many authors, and yet the themes and ideas are consistent throughout. 

Another thing to consider is that the prophecies in the bible have all been fulfilled, except for those about the end times. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies about him, even from hundreds of years before his birth. Many of these prophecies couldn't have been fulfilled on purpose if Jesus was just a man (Like where he was born, Herod killing the children, how he died and other things), and some of the key points are verified by other documents at the time.

• Evidence in our lives

Making our proofs out of what we see and feel is often unreliable and flawed - since we taint those things with our own perspectives, ideas, hopes and dreams. Nevertheless it is clear that the bible, and God, has had a massive impact on people throughout history. Christianity has been one of the biggest influences on the world we live in - yet if God doesn't exist it should simply be considered foolishness (e.g. people don't come back to life). Even though God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27), he has still had a massive impact on people and the world. If God doesn't exist then there is no reason that the bible should have been accepted at all.

The bible has changed peoples lives - talk to Christians around, you should be able to see this. God through Jesus offers complete forgiveness and he has transformed lives through his Holy Spirit.

With all this in mind...

If God is real, and if he is the God of the bible then how do we need to respond? We need to realise that we are sinful and have rebelled against him. That means we deserve his punishment eternally (hell). It is only from that position that we can realise that we need Jesus. We are utterly sinful, yet he was perfect. He (God) came into the world as a man, lived perfectly and then died in our place. On the cross he took the sin of all who put their faith in him - he took our sin and he took God's wrath for it so that we can be forgiven. That's the gospel! Jesus alone can deal with our sin and he calls us to give it up by repenting (turning away from sin and living for God) and by putting our faith in him - trusting that he has done it. 

This brings it back to you. Do you accept this as truth? It is the truth, regardless of if you accept it.

• If you are a Christian then great! Are you telling people about Jesus and all he has done? Are you asking questions and seeking to grow and more more to know God and all he has done for you?

• If you're unsure about it all then keep reading! Keep asking questions, keep seeking answers and don't give up until you are completely satisfied!

• If you don't accept it, if you claim either that God doesn't exist or that he isn't the God of the bible, then don't be so proud and stubborn as to disregard this straight away. You could be wrong, so consider why you believe what you believe. What evidence do you have to offer for whatever faith you hold (whether that be the faith that 'science' is right, or faith in another 'god')? Keep asking questions, keep testing things and seeking the truth!

I hope that was helpful to read through and think about. 

God Bless,

Nat.

P.s. Click here for a great video on the topic.

Does God exist? (Part 2)

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Aside from creation being a proof of God's existence, as seen in the former post, there are other reasons that point to an intelligent designer, and there are reasons that this designer can only be the God of the bible (That bit will probably have to wait until part 3 though). Two of the reasons there must be a God are that we have Morals and we have Religion.

I am a Christian, and I'm starting with the basis of God's existence. I know it is true. Regardless of that I know some of my readers may not be Christians and may not believe God exists at all. If that's you, then just read and consider these things. We may both be absolutely certain that we're right, but someone's got to be wrong, so take a read!

I know that God exists because he has proved it throughout his creation and history. Evolution can claim neither of those things.

• Morals

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Romans 2:14-15

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.

The very fact that we have morals is a proof of God's existence. If we are just mutated pond-scum, then there is no reason that we should have feelings about what is right and wrong and there is no reason that society should build in systems to restrain itself. By doing so we would inevitably restrict the evolutionary process by preventing the strongest from surviving. If evolution was true, we wouldn't do that. Genesis 1 tells us that God created us in his image - that's why we have morals, because God created us that way - he is perfect, holy and good, and therefore he has given us the ability to recognise those things, at least in part.

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they experienced sin and rebellion to God. From that point on they knew what shame and guilt were. We, like them, have consciences that tell us off when we sin. Even those who do not have the bible have a moral code that they live by - that's what Paul is talking about in Romans 2. By listening to our consciences we can know that there are things that are good and things that are evil. This is not determined by society (though perhaps it is enforced by it), it is created in us by God, and even though our consciences have been tainted by sin, they still leave us without excuse for our rebellion against God. We have a knowledge of what is good and what is evil, and we naturally tend towards sin because of the sinful natures we inherit off Adam and Eve.

Morals aren't an advance in evolution, they are created by God and based on who he is - he is the definition of goodness and perfection. Our morals flow from who he is - and even when we don't understand that, he often uses our consciences to point out what is right and wrong so we are without excuse for sin. The law is written on our hearts, not because we evolved that way, but because God put it there. Consequently having morals and a conscience proves God's existence.

• Religion

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

The existence of religion is also a proof of God's existence. The bible, God's word, tells us that God set eternity in the heart of man - we know that we are meant for more than just a meaningless and short life on earth. I don't like using arguments based on feelings, because feelings change, but it seems to be an underlying idea throughout history and n our world today that there is more then just life. People have always strived for immortality, to be remembered. No one wants to just cease to exist.

This is even shown by the fact that we are proud - why would we be proud if we believe nothing matters once we die? Surely if we consider or lives here as worth nothing we would simply do our best to enjoy them and then die - why be proud about our achievements? They would inevitably mean nothing. (Note: That doesn't make pride right, but it shows that we generally think there is more then just life on this earth.)

God has created us with the knowledge that he exists, and even though we have rejected him, it has led people to create religion. If evolution was true, then it would be stupid for us to create rules to restrict us and prevent us from living how we want. It would also be stupid to 'create' a being that is stronger than us - if we are the pinnacle of evolution we wouldn't be putting anything above us. Evolution isn't true, it is just a theory by those who want to deny that God exists. If we remove God from the equation we can live how we want. But we can't remove him, because no matter how much we deny his existence, that doesn't change the truth: God, The Holy Spirit and Jesus are all the one God and they all exist, and they are who they say they are.

The existence of morals and of religion are both proofs of God's existence. They both restrict us to some extent from living how we want - which would be in rebellion to God's perfect standard - and no evolved being would restrict themselves from being the fittest and strongest and doing whatever they please. Nevertheless we have rejected God and these things are flawed - we do not always know what is right and wrong and people have created religions apart from the true one.

Part three is here

P.s. Click here for a great video on the topic.

Does God exist? (Part 1)

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The question of God's existence is one that always seems to come up now-days. With the theory of evolution most people believe that He doesn't exist, and as a result when you're talking to these people they're likely to argue that we can't prove God's existence. They're wrong - God does exist and he has proved it in marvellous ways in the world. The question is, will we accept them as proof, or try to explain them away?

I am a Christian, and I'm starting with the basis of God's existence. I know it is true. Regardless of that I know some of my readers may not be Christians and may not believe God exists at all. If that's you, then just read and consider these things. We may both be absolutely certain that we're right, but someone's got to be wrong, so take a read!

I know that God exists because he has proved it throughout his creation and history. Evolution can claim neither of those things.

• Creation

Romans 1:18-20

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

God's existence is clearly seen through creation. There are countless examples, but here are a few:

1. Earth itself is the perfect size. Any bigger and it would apparently have free hydrogens in the atmosphere, and if it were smaller there would have no atmosphere. As it is we have a perfect atmosphere of mostly nitrogen and oxygen - exactly what we need to live (what a coincidence! - note the sarcasm). It is also stationed the right distance from the sun to provide enough warmth for life, but without burning us all up. The ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from most high and medium UV light. Likewise the axis that the earth spins on allows the whole earth to get light daily.
2. The moon is the perfect size and distance away to allow tides (preventing the water from becoming stagnant and disgusting), but not enough that the water spills over all the land (except in the case of tsunamis and floods of course)
3. Water, due to hydrogen bonding has a number of significant properties. If these were not in it, we would all die. It's surface tension apparently allows it to travel up the stems of plants and nourish the plant while it's high boiling point and freezing point keep it mostly in liquid form so we can drink it. It is also a polar molecule, allowing it to dissolve a wide range of substances. This means it can transport needed minerals and nutrients throughout our bodies. One other thing is that water freezes on the top and floats, allowing fish to swim around under it. If it sunk then it would just keep freezing and never be able to truly thaw out - that would be disastrous.
4. The eye can apparently distinguish between 3 million different colours, handling 1.5 million messages simultaneously. It is also able to focus wherever our brains direct it to, without us having to think about it.
5. The brain takes in all colours and objects we see, everything we feel, smell, taste and hear, while also keeping our bodies working properly and sustaining our lives. More then that, we can think. We can actually think - isn't that awesome? How does thinking even work? Why should it work if we are just mutated pond scum that came from two atoms bumping together? Why can we have emotion, why can we make plans, why can we decide on action?
6. DNA is basically our genetic instruction manual. It determines all of our physical characteristics out of 4 different letters (which stand for different nucleobases): G, C, T and A. 4 letters, make up everything we are. There are apparently 3 million in each cell, and there are on average about 100 000 000 000 000 to 1 000 000 000 000 000 cells in the body. As far as I know text books and instruction manuals don't write themselves. Is it logical then to conclude that our bodies do via a slow process of evolution? Maybe I'm making a stawman argument because I don't understand it properly, but what else is evolution?

Those were 6 amazing examples of simply incredible things in our world. What do they tell us? Well the chances of all of it happening just perfectly for no reason at all are about 0 aren't they? Even that the right atoms would bond the right way in the first place (or even that they would form in the first place) to create our bodies and cells and our world. The perfect positioning of the world from the sun - I don't know how much room there could be for our world to move before things change and we all die, but regardless if evolution is true then our world just happened to swing into a perfect orbit around the sun, at a perfect distance, on the perfect angle, when there are millions of other suns it could spin around and so much more space it could sit in. 

Regardless of all the minute chances of it actually being possible, the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang theory (they are separate) cannot explain the origins of life. The universe didn't just explode from nothing - and if there was a singularity how did that get there? How do we change from being atoms stuck together in molecules to being life? Even plant life shouldn't exist. Don't even mention animals who have some ability to process information. But Humans? We think, we reason, we rationalise, we decide, we dream, we have emotions. Those things aren't just accidental. In fact, I'd think that the ability to have emotions and morals would be a step down in the evolutionary process - they sometimes prevent us from acting in certain ways that would benefit us physically. Life couldn't and didn't just begin out of nothing for no reason - God made it and set it in order. 

There has to be a God, and he is the God revealed in the bible. Creation shows us that there is a designer, and infinitely wise and knowledgable creator, scientist and artist who is all powerful and who has to be eternal - because no one created him.

I've got some other points and ideas about this to share, and I'll hopefully explore more of why God has to be the God of the bible in later posts on the topic.

God Bless!

Nat.

P.s. Part 2 is here and Part 3 is here

P.p.s. Click here for a great video on the topic.