FREE ESSAY ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
During this class we have looked at a wide range of theories about God from the creation
of the universe to the theory of being reborn and life after death. What this all comes
down to is whether God exists or He doesn't. There is no middle ground. Any attempt to
remain neutral in relation to God's existence is automatically synonymous with unbelief.
It is far from a moot question, for if God does exist, then nothing else really matters;
if He does not exist, then nothing really matters at all. What follows are some of my
views on the existence of God. Also thrown in are some amazing facts I found during
research I did during this class. 
One might wonder why it is necessary to present evidence for the existence of God. How
can we sit here and pretend that logic in any way applies to religion? Everyone's talking
about faith vs. intellect and one can't really expect them to cross much more than your
own introspection. Christianity never claimed to have all the answers. Christians profess
a God infinitely beyond our comprehension, since having neither parts nor limits he bears
no relation to us. If Christians were to attempt to answer everything, they would not be
keeping their word. The very lack of answers shows they do not lack sense. What they can
do, however, is try to clarify issues.
If you take a look at the Bible this is a resounding YES for the existence of God. The
Bible contains 66 books, written by an enormous variety of authors over a period of 2000
years in 3 languages. All the writers tell the same story. They all had the same view of
God, the same understanding of human nature, the same view of Jesus Christ, and the same
hope.
The Old Testament: The transmission of its text is extraordinarily reliable. The Dead Sea
Scrolls, found in 1947, give the Hebrew text of a number of Old Testament books. Written
between 150 BC and AD 70 they are 1000 years older than any other Hebrew manuscript of
the Bible previously know. But the text is practically identical.
The New Testament: the text of the New Testament is so sure nobody makes hypothetical
alterations for fear of being laughed out of court. We have so many manuscripts of the
New Testament, written so near the events themselves that we can be sure of having the
correct text. The interval between the date of the original composition and the earliest
extent evidence becomes so small as to be negligible, and the last foundation for any
doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now
been removed.
Can we trust what the Bible contains? Although the subject in the Bible is complex, it is
true that no books in the world have been so minutely examined as the Bible, over two and
a half centuries of scholarly criticism, and yet their credit stands today as high as
ever.
Can God's existence be proven? Can we `know' God exists? The answer is a resounding YES!
The psalmist said, Be still and `know' that I am God (Psalm 46:10) as he echoed the
Creator's sentiments to man. The allusions to the manifestations of Deity in the created
world are profuse. David exclaimed, O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all
the earth, Who has set thy glory upon the heavens? (Psalm 8:1). In the same psalm, the
inspired writer was constrained to say that the heavens are the work of thy fingers and
the moon and stars thou hast ordained (Psalm 8:3). Later David was to utter the beautiful
words of Psalm 19:1--The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his
handiwork. 
The most common mistake is to think that evolution contradicts the design argument. There
are four possible explanations for the universe. (1) It is but an illusion, and does not
really exist. This is hardly worthy of consideration. (2) It spontaneously arose out of
nothing. This view is absurd, and cannot be entertained scientifically. (3) It has always
existed. This theory, though held by many atheistic scientists of our day, is
scientifically untenable. (4) It was created. This is the only remaining alternative and
the only reasonable view of the origin of the universe. Since our finite, dependent (and
contingent) universe (of matter/energy) did not cause itself; it was obviously caused by
an infinite, independent, eternal Mind. The argument simply states that everything in the
world fits together so well that there must be something behind it, and we can call that
God. Evolution states that everything fits so well together because, through the survival
of the fittest, organisms adapt to their environment. Where's the problem? So God set
everything off from the stage of bacteria and watched them all evolve. God knows what's
going to happen whether it's random and by chance or not, just like he knows what choice
we're going to make before we make it even though we exercise free will. He knew, before
they evolved, just what species would make it, and was happy with that. Had he known what
species would evolve and not liked the results, before they happened, he would probably
have chosen a different mechanism to evolution. But he designed evolution to produce a
world that runs smoothly and keeps the universe in balance. 
Infinite regress. Interesting concept. Imagine we trace the causes back to the world.
Contradictory to what has been proposed, the world must have had a cause because we have
a scientific estimate of how old the world is. The world has not existed forever. The big
bang is an option for the world's cause, but what caused the big bang? And what caused
whatever it was that caused the big bang? The answer is that we don't know. It seems to
me, however, that as we really don't have a clue, it's just as likely that it was God and
that there was a beginning as it does that there is an infinite regress. It is just as
hard to imagine infinite regress as it is to imagine a God that started the whole thing
off. Take your pick. If the universe had existed forever unlikely events would have
happened the same total amount of times as likely events and all events would have
already happened, even the destruction of the universe. We are led to foolish
conclusions. I chose to believe that God was the ultimate creator of our universe.
The Ontological Argument
Which is greater (more real); the God that exists only in my mind or the God that exists
both extramentally and intramentally? If I offered you an intramental 500bf note and an
extramental 500bf note which note would you take? You would take the real one. There is
something about actually existing, outside of a mind, which seems qualitatively better
than mere intramental existence. The Ontological argument does not, however, allow us to
argue anything into existence. For God to exist in a persons mind they must have the
faith and spirit in their mind and heart. This is hard to explain to a non-believer.
Reject the existence of a loving God and you're stuck trying to explain kindness,
goodness, love and humanity, unselfishness and gentleness. Where did they come from? Wipe
out all evil... and where would we stand? Would not humanity be destroyed? We ourselves
are the problem of evil. And if a simple wipe out of evil were the answer, we would have
no hope.
Christianity doesn't offer a knock-down solution at a philosophical level, but the Bible
does give ground to stand on as one tries to live in a world where suffering is real.
God did not create evil and pain, as we read in the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. It
wasn't part of his plan. The world he made was utterly good until humanity turned against
him, but God does not attempt to control our minds. If he did we could never truly love
him or anyone else because it wouldn't have been our choice. There is a war between the
forces of good and evil - we all suffer from that same war in our head on an everyday
basis. 
Although God did not create evil and suffering, and although he does not will it,
nevertheless he can and does use it. The presence of evil in the world has led many to
strive for good. The presence of suffering in the world has produced qualities of
character that would have been impossible without it - courage, endurance,
self-sacrifice, compassion... God uses pain in a profound way to draw us to him when
normally we will not listen. In our pleasures he whispers. In our suffering he shouts. He
took personal responsibility for all our wickedness. It cost him unspeakable suffering.
It cost him hell.
If you jump off a bridge you should not get too upset with God when you hit the bottom.
Alcoholics can expect to have problems getting their brains to function properly in old
age, people who smoke can expect to have lung problems, etc. If we abuse ourselves, we
cannot be angry with our Creator for not stepping in and helping us avoid the
consequences of these things. It would be unreasonable to expect God to stop us from
hitting the bottom when we jump off a bridge. Man, as he did from the very beginning,
still has the responsibility to take care of the world. Much of the suffering and tragedy
man experiences is because he has not discharged this responsibility. In California,
there is an area where there are a tremendous number of cracks, and geologists have
warned the builders in that area that this is a place where they need to be extremely
careful not to build tall buildings etc. Yet at this time a hospital, of sixteen stories
tall and no earthquake provisions of any real consequence in it, is under construction.
Who will get the blame when an earthquake rolls through that area, knocking down the
brand new hospital and perhaps killing ten million people, including everybody in the
hospital? Who is going to get the blame? Well, I will guarantee you that there will be
those people who will say, If there was a God that wouldn't have happened.
There are some; for example, who suggest to us that pain is something that should not
occur if there is a God. And yet, physical pain and other types of pain are absolutely
necessary if we are to survive in a physical way. Pain is our warning signal, our alarm
when something is wrong. If it weren't for physical pain we would all be dead by the time
we were 10 years old from numerous possible accidents. This same type of thing is true in
the emotional sense. What kind of man would it be who could not experience guilt and
sympathy and compassion and who could not relate to the needs of fellow human beings?
What if one were to marry such a person? Would he be able to relate to your needs? Would
he relate to your feelings? Would he have compassion for what you need in life? And when
you fail, would he be sympathetic and understanding? If God had created a society where
there was no emotional pain, there would be no intimacy, no communication or meaningful
relationships.
A Christian ought to be able to look at life much more positively because of death. As an
atheist, a person has to look at life with all of its problems, with all of its
suffering, with all of the pain, with all of the terrible things that one has to endure
as the absolute best that he is ever going to experience. And yet a Christian can look at
life with all of its joy, with all of its beauty, with all of the wonderful things that
we all enjoy as the absolute worst that he is ever going to have to endure. Christianity
unashamedly looks beyond this life for the final solution to the mystery of evil and
suffering. Christians don't waste their time going out of their minds trying to account
for it all.
The critics of most of the proofs for the existence of God tend to be the mathematicians,
the physicians, and those who are so totally concerned with the material world, sometimes
without even realizing it, that they need a proof - a touchable, measurable proof - for
anything and everything. God is neither touchable nor measurable. He does not aim to be.
He does not need to be. If he were easy to prove, less people would try to find him and
even less would genuinely worship him - for it would be so easy and not true. If science
could prove God, it would then try to prove something greater, as science by definition
does not stop. But there is nothing greater than God, by definition. Science with its
fancy measurements and formulas claims to be something more than philosophy, and people
trust numbers, not people. That is where the problem lies. The problem doesn't lie with
God.
The arguments from historical fact are additional proof that there is a God, and He is
not silent. That Christ existed cannot he doubted by any rational person. His miracles
and other works are documented, not only in biblical literature, but in profane, secular
history as well. The empty tomb stands as a silent but powerful witness that God does
exist (Acts 2:24; Romans 10:9) and that Christ is His Son. The Bible exists; therefore,
it must be explained. The men who wrote it were either deceivers, deluded, or telling the
truth. What do the evidences say? The internal and external evidences are enough to tell
the story of God's existence, and the fact that He has spoken to us from His inspired
word. Additional evidences are available at every turn. Little wonder Paul stated that in
him we live, and move, and have our being... (Acts 17:28). Moses' statement still stands
as inspired testimony to the fact of the existence of God: In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Enough said!! I am a very firm believer that God
exists and this class has opened my eyes to the faith that I had lost in him.