In Defense of the Faith - 1

How do we know that there is a God? - Part 1

How do we know that there is a God? Part 1

Because of the evidence of creation:

Our Bible begins with the words “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. It is interesting that our Bibles began with the assumption that there is a God. There is no great discourse on a defense of His existence. What follows in Genesis is in fact one of the main reasons why we know that He exists i.e. creation. This is also known as the cosmological argument because it is based upon the cosmos which is the word for order and is most often translated world. In Romans 1:19 we read, “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,”. When we look at the world around us i.e. creation, it is logical for us to understand that something comes from something. This is known as the law of cause and effect. For every cause, there is an effect and the effect is greater than the cause. For example if we saw a rock come flying through a window, we would run to the window to see who threw the rock through the window or did it fly off of a passing vehicle or we would want to discover what caused the rock to fly through the window. We would never naturally assume that the rock picked itself up and threw itself through the window. Yet for some reason, it is considered to be sound science to think that our universe is self-made. Aristotle once concluded that the universe was in motion and that there had to be an unmoved mover, there has to be an ultimate cause which is in itself uncaused. Everyone agrees that there is no such thing as infinite regress, so there has to be a point in which there is an uncaused cause. That is why our Bible begins with “In the beginning God”, the uncaused cause, the unmoved mover of the universe is God.

Another argument is known as the teleological argument which is the argument made from design and order. Our universe is too complex and immense to have happened by chance because chance leads to chaos not to order and design. For example, “If our earth were either 10% larger or 10% smaller than it is, life would not be possible upon this planet.” “No other planet is tilted as ours is at 23 degrees, we live under a great ocean of air – 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1 % trace elements. No other planet has these same elements, all mixed by the tidal effect of the moon.” “One hundred thousand lightning bolts strike this planet daily, creating a hundred million tons of usable nitrogen plant food in the soil every year.” “The ozone layer is 40 miles above the earth, if condensed it would only be ¼ inch thick.” (These and more facts can be found in D. James Kennedy’s book Why I Believe). To think that even, just this, could happen by chance is foolish. This is why the Bible tells us that it is the fool who says in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 53:1)