Do you believe God exists? If you answered "yes," you are in agreement with the overwhelming majority of people!(Citation needed) By far, most people believe that God exists. Is this majority, across the centuries, wrong? Have believers in God, have we missed something that only the minority of atheists are privy to? Or are there sound reasons for believing in God? Is it rational to believe God exists?
The reality is, most people believe in the existence of God because there are very good, sound reasons to believe in the existence of God, rational reasons that correspond to reality. As we look at a few given below, please note that this is a brief summary of the evidence. Entire books have been written on this subject and I realize you aren't here to read an entire book. Thanks, HT.
Time, space, and matter all had a beginning. The universe that scientists observe and study, our reality of space, time, and matter; the galaxies, stars, and planets; the earth and all plant, animal and human life , had a beginning. This is scientific fact. Ever since Edwin Hubble discovered the "Red Shift" in the 1920s, scientists have known that the universe had a beginning. The universe is not static but expanding, and science tells us the universe had a beginning. Logic and rationality tell us that something cannot cause itself to exist prior to its own existence. Something that doesn't exist cannot bring itself into existence.
We are taught that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction (Citation needed). What we observe in the universe is the reaction to the beginning of the universe, whether one labels it Big Bang, the Creation Moment, or another appropriate name. There was a point when the universe (space, time and matter) did not exist and then at a point the universe was brought into existence and was set in order - which is what we see today. Modern technology allows humans to observe the "reaction" of the "action" better than ever before. Let's use common sense here - there had to be a "cause" of the action that brought about the observable "reaction."
Consider the following syllogism:
In looking at the scientific fact of the universe having a beginning, consider the following indepth syllogism:
Conclusion: it is perfectly rational to believe in the God of the Bible, revealed in the Bible as infinite, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, supernatural God who created the ordered, precise universe and its logical and reliable laws (ex. Laws of Physics, Thermodynamics, etc.) - and created humans in His image, giving us a soul, a mind, a will, a conscience, and an awareness of eternity, a sense of right and wrong, as well as love, empathy, and compassion.
This cause must exist outside of (transcends) the universe and must exist before the beginning of the universe - outside of and before space, time and matter. Transcending the natural (matter), this cause must be supernatural. Accordingly, the sound, reasonable, logical, and rational conclusion is that the cause of the universe must be supernatural God. Please note: these necessary requirements of the cause of the universe correspond to reality and describe the very attributes of the God of the Christian Bible.
HIGHER THOUGHT: In the very first verse of the Bible we read,"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) Here we see the Cause is God, and the creation (the action), the bringing into existence (the reaction) that of "time" (the beginning); "space" (the heavens); and "matter" (the earth). Thousands of years ago, God's word proclaimed for all to know that the universe (time, space, and matter) had a beginning - and got it exactly right, but it just took science millennia to catch up. The Bible also identified the Cause of the universe as being transcendent, supernatural, all-powerful, eternal, infinite God - and got it exactly right.
All around us we are reminded that the universe, and our own bodies, have an amazing, wonderful order, precision and reliability. For millennia sailors have looked to the stars for positioning and the correct course to set sail. Today, all around the world meteorologists will tell listeners the exact time (down to the minute) of the apparent sunrise and apparent sunset. Sometime in the future, solar and lunar eclipses will take place right on schedule and with precision comets will again approach our solar system right on schedule. In orderly fashion the seasons will change precisely all the while the moon and other planets appear in the night sky exactly where they should be and right on schedule. This is order and precision in the universe that is not only amazing to explore but that is a blessed aid to humanity living on planet Earth.
Through the centuries, scientists have identified and come to rely on numerous universal laws of nature (ex. Laws of Physics, Thermodynamics, etc.) that are not only "discovered" but also are the very same natural laws by which scientists can engage in and conduct science itself. Scientists have observed and found the universe to be precise and orderly - precise and orderly to an amazing degree.
In fact, science has shown us that the universe is wonderfully fine-tuned for life to exist here on our planet. There are characteristics or parameters of the universe that are precisely at the setting required for life to exist on Earth. Just a few for example (these and many more can be found respectively in articles, books, websites, podcasts, videos, lectures, etc. and are a sampling that can be found from a variety of repetitive sources):
The odds that the preciseness of these, and many more, parameters occurring by chance is a virtual impossibility.
HIGHER THOUGHT: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1)
Similarly and with precision and predictability, the cells in our body will respond as DNA and RNA functions are needed. When all is normal, the heart will keep on beating and our lungs will go right on breathing. And if something is injured, our body (those amazing cells) will immediately begin to repair itself. Have you ever considered that this is done on its own? You don't have to think and will and tell your DNA to act - because the information on the what, when, and how to repair or replace exactly what is needed is already there! Microscopic machines, that science has just recently discovered, are not only at work but have the exact information needed to accomplish their amazing work!
When we look around us, we find order, precision, and beauty all around (and wonderfully, we have the ability to appreciate that which is beautiful). Think of music. From seven notes, A through G, and five sharps or flats, from these twelve notes we have the vast wealth of music; of a wonderful variety of genres and types. From Beethoven's Ode to Joy to a child singing Happy Birthday; from the latest rap or rock and roll to opera and orchestras, there is an amazing preciseness and order (and beauty) to music.
Another key place we find order in our universe is that of mathematics. In our reality, mathematics is most certainly precise and orderly. One plus one equals two in all countries and all peoples. It is so very simple yet wonderfully deep. From multiplication tables to the Mandelbrot System, from counting on our fingers and toes to exploring the wonders of pi or imaginary numbers. And the ways that this orderly field of mathematics impacts our life and way of living is too numerous to even begin to list. But it works and it not only works, amazingly, mathematics can help describe and reveal the very universe in which we think and live! Not just an accidental coincidence!
This is only scratching the surface of the amazing reality in which we live. Please consider that the above information is true and that God's word tells us these higher thoughts:
HIGHER THOUGHT: "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well." (Psalm 139:13-14)
There are absolute moral truths that span across time, geography, nationalities, generations, and are in fact, universal. These moral laws are good and stand against the actions and deeds that humankind has agreed and deemed as wicked and wrong. It is irrational to assert that life and society can function with no moral laws and consequences. Normal, sane human beings have a conscience that instinctively makes us aware of what is wrong and what is right in our reality.
Moral laws tells us right from wrong. Moral laws do not come from logic. Though one can consider the logic of a moral law, the source of that moral law is not logic or one of the Laws of Logic. Moral laws do not come from science or empirical investigation of the physical world. While science can tell us what the physical universe does based on the Laws of Physics, science cannot tell us if it is right or wrong to steal. Yet we know it is wrong to steal, and every country on planet Earth has laws that are deemed wrong to break. These are not laws of society and culture, but are universal moral laws. It would be wrong to torture, rape or murder an entire colony of innocent adults and children whether it is here on earth, on the space station, or on a future colony on Mars. These universal moral laws transcend space and time.
It is important to note that cultural relativism does not clear the way here for an argument against universal moral laws. The individual claiming to be a genuine, complete relativist does not live out his or her relativism of "what is true for you is true for you but what is true for me is true for only me." This is not hard to discover, just ask a relativist if when he or she is extremely ill and goes to the doctor do they want the doctor to render an objective diagnosis or a subjective diagnosis that may be true for them on that day at that time but not true for others. Or just ask them if the next time they check their bank account balance, do they want the correct amount to be identified objectively and accurately or subjectively and relative. Of course the relativist want a correct diagnosis (and prescribed treatment) and the relativists wants the bank records to always be accurate (one or two zeros missing can make be the difference between being financially comfortable or being broke).
Truth is not relative but is one of the universal morals that all sane people live by and go through life wanting and needing from others and others need from us. In everyday life, in reality inside we know relativism is a falsehood in some ways and a smoke screen in others. Down inside, in our minds we know doctors, accountants, test graders, employers, etc. all expect truth and reality to universally correspond.
It is not by accident or coincidence that our conscience and universal moral laws synch well together. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to lie and mislead. It is wrong to murder. It is wrong to hurt other people, especially innocent children. It is wrong to hurt other people, especially the elderly. And it is wrong to hurt people regardless of age. It is because of absolute, universal moral laws outside of humanity that humans can at appropriate times render judgment against lawbreakers.
Once again, there are absolute moral laws that span across time, geography, nationalities, generations, and are in fact, universal. The source of these universal moral laws must be outside of time, geography, nationalities, generations, etc. Additionally, this source must be good, good with a supreme, absolute goodness that is outside of time and above geography, nationalities, and generations. Goodness and universal moral laws do not come out of nothing that the atheist and Darwinian evolutionist rely on as the source of everything.
The only Source that meets the necessary criteria of our reality accounting for universal moral laws is the one, true, transcendent moral law Giver - holy God. It is God that transcends space and time, no matter where one is in the universe. It is God that is good and can give moral laws differentiating between good and bad. It is God that by His very perfect, holy nature knows right from wrong always, everywhere, every time.
Additionally, it is our supernatural Creator, almighty God, who has given us an immaterial conscience to internally know right from wrong. Such is the wonder of conscience at work that it is evident at both the individual level and the humankind level! The truth is that as individuals, societies, and cultures, we do not live by "survival of the fittest!" Often it is just the opposite and at times others give their very lives for others. We honor and respect others and hope the best for others.
You have a soul, the real you that is more than just you're body. When you look in the mirror, there is the real you seeing yourself reflected in the glass and looking into your own eyes. When you are alone, you can daydream about today, tomorrow and the future. You can envision life and what the future may hold while considering the tasks of today. You can yearn for more, hope for the better, and seek the best. All of this, and more, is done regardless of your physical reality. Lose an arm or leg, you are still just as much of the man or woman that you always have been. Lose an eye or ear and you can still see the present and the future better than many who have two eyes and two ears.
You have a soul that is the real you. It is immaterial, yet is there. That immaterial part of you, the soul, spirit, mind, consciousness, self-awareness, your will, your heart, the real you. It is immaterial and therefore continues on after the natural organs of this material, physical body stop functioning.
Atheist Richard Dawkins will try to tell you that there is no immaterial part of you, that you have no soul. It's a hard, cold heart that looks at innocent, joyful children at play and would tell them they have no soul. Dawkins would assert that all beings are simply "dancing to their DNA." But he doesn't live like that and neither do we. In other words, reality directly disallows his atheistic claim. For example, when a murderer is on trial, is he or she to be released because their act of killing was merely in response to their DNA? No. Is the rapist to go free because they could not help themselves but were forced to violence by their DNA? No. This is absurd yet what atheists like Dawkins would tell you (but not point out to that they don't want a world like this and don't really live by their own atheist worldview).
Lastly, are we to believe the minority of unbelieving scoffers that when an artist puts an experience of life to words and music, they are simply acting from their DNA - or are they putting in music what they experience in their heart and soul?
When the artist creates an image or scene that captures people's hearts with a universal beauty and a worldwide message, are they merely dancing to their DNA - or has that artist spoke from their heart and touched our hearts with his or her artistry?
We are far more than the carbon-based lifeforms that atheist would tell you live by survival of the fittest and merely react spontaneously to DNA. It's genuinely a sad world the atheist draws and the true atheistic worldview does not correspond to the amazing reality of this wonderful world. That wonderful world that Louie Armstrong, through music, reminds us is so very special. In reality, in so many ways, it is a wonderful world because its Creator and our Creator, God is real.
Atheists and skeptics will often accuse believers of mental gymnastics, playing word games, or being loose with the Laws of Logic while doing the very same thing in presenting objections. Listen carefully to their objections, especially for those key words of contingency that do nothing to prove the nonexistence of God.
The Multiverse Theory just results in the atheist digging a deeper hole to get out of. They illogically try to disprove the creation of our reality (the observable universe that science tells us began to exist) by positing an infinite number of universes. The unbeliever doesn't get a free pass here. What is the logical, convincing evidence for the existence of infinite universes and... how did they come into being? Notice that this response is more of a "deflection" and fails to logically answer how our universe, our reality began to exist.
The Quantum Vacuum Theory merely pushes the question of initial existence back further by attempting to redefine the term "nothing." To the physicist, "nothing" does not mean absolutely nothing but begs the existence of quantum particles and activity. But where did the quantum particles come from and what set them into their initial action? This is not an adequate response to how the universe came into existence out of nothing but deflects the question while jumping through lexical hoops and hoping no one will notice. Citing the Quantum Vacuum Theory fails to logically respond to the belief in the existence of God.
The atheist will at times respond by asserting belief in one of the millions of Hindu gods or belief in a flying spaghetti monster. This is often mockery veiled in skeptism and tells more about the atheist than it does about the believer's case for believing in the existence of God. At this point the believer can do several things in response: a. Cite and present the whole case for God's existence. The Cosmological, Teleological, and Moral case. b. The existence of the immaterial such as the mind, conscience, and soul. c. Pointing out how the Bible has not been disproved by science but in many cases it took science centuries to catch up to the Bible. The Bible, including manuscript, archaeology, and fulfilled prophecy is shown to be trustworthy as the inspired revelation of God to mankind. d. Darwin's Theory of Evolution is not near as strongly held as it used to be. Recent discoveries of irreducible complexity, DNA and molecular information, and Darwin's own doubts are key reasons. Additionally, "survival of the fittest" is not a viable reality and nor do we want such a society or culture. The atheist doesn't get a pass here - survival of the fittest is simply not a reasonable or rational worldview to be lived out in the reality of life! And aren't we all glad! e. Your personal testimony of how belief in God has changed your life and eternity (if they choose to call you a liar regarding your personal testimony then most likely they are not seeking the truth). Tell them what you know to be true. Remind them that they fact that they have not personally experienced God's saving redemption does not give them authority to now define what you know to be true - in other words, they speak of that which they know not. But you do, so who is the qualified one in the room? You are.
The atheist doesn't get a free pass on the obvious aspects of our reality around us and the world in which we live. Far too often it is the be liver in God that is put on the defensive in spite of the overwhelming evidence available and its correlation to the reality of our lives, this world, and this universe.
HIGHER THOUGHT: The atheist, and the agnostic, skeptic and scoffer, must give a logical case and present rational evidence that explains humans, our world, the beginning of the universe, time, etc. as well as the immaterial mind, conscience, soul, etc. and do so in a way that corresponds to reality. Scientific findings in recent decades have put Darwinian Evolution on shaky ground (even Dawrin had doubts about his theory of evolution). Scientists have been reaching for hoops to jump through to get around factual scientific discoveries since Hubble's "Red Shift" and today they have invented the theory of a multiverse of infinite universes and infinite possibilities. Where's the factual scientific evidence? There is none and it is ironic that Stephen Hawking proclaimed that "philosophy" was finished, over, done with. Many atheist bring a bias and presuppositions that openly influence what they assert and teach. You have to wonder how many, deep down inside, realize they are scraping the bottom of the proverbial scientific barrel as they do mental gymnastics behind a theoretical smokescreen to avoid even considering the rational evidence for existence of God.
The irrational absurdity is to believe that everything came from nothing and that time + chance = everything. Time can't create or produce anything. Chance can't create or produce anything - chance involves odds or mere probability, not creative power to cause something to exist from truly nothing. Yet this is so often what the atheist or skeptic asserts.