Last Sunday I shared some reasons to believe in God and as promised here is some links to dive deeper into each one. The first five of this list is taken from the Christian Apologist (someone who makes a reasoned defense of the faith) Sean McDowell. But the arguments themselves, come from a variety of places, and I have put some together some resources for you to explore them as deep as you want.
I want to make it clear, I don’t like the language of ‘proofs’ but rather reasons. Reasons help strengthen my faith and I’m sharing this because it’s near the holidays and there may be family members and old friends getting together and you may have an opportunity to address some questions they have. I don’t say ‘proofs’ because I can’t prove to you my own mother exists, if you really didn’t want to believe she did, you could come up with reasons to doubt my testimony, and even your own eyes. But I sure can trust she does, I got a reason to, and so I live like she does, and that is what we mean by ‘reasons to believe.’
I don’t think faith and reason are enemies, but believe that our faith ought to be reasonable. 1 Peter 3:15 states “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Here are 6 reasons, with a bunch of links if you want to dive deeper.
#1 The universe is not eternal, so it’s beginning points to a beginner.
A form of this argument goes all the way back to the Greek Philosopher Plato. You can go a lot deeper in this article by Willian Craig Lane. To go even deeper still (fair warning this is written at an academic level) you can check out his book “Creation out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration“.
#2 Like a piano, the laws of nature are fine tuned to make life possible.
In an article found on the Templeton Foundation it describes this reason that “The masses of subatomic particles, the strengths of atomic forces, and the nature of space and time have values that allow for the existence of matter, stars, galaxies and planets hospitable to the formation of life” If any thing was slightly different, the world would be chaotic, and life would never be possible.
Oxford Mathematician and bioethicist John Lennox has this really helpful one minute video description of this argument. He also wrote a really helpful book that discusses this argument and many others called “God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?”
#3 DNA points to an author.
Their is more information in the DNA of just one human cell, than a half million movies. If you came up on a stop sign, you would assume sombody put it there, if you found a great book, you might think there was an author. It’s amazing how much complex information is coded into every cell of our body.
This point will be controversial to some, but the renown geneticist who was the head of the Human Genome Project, and the head of the National Institute of Health, wrote a great book called “The Language of God.” He is an evangelical Christian who also believes in the theory of evolution. If the book is too much, this interview can also give you a good introduction to him, and his reasons for believing in God from one of the lead scientists in the world on human genetics.
#4 A Moral law points to a Law Giver.
CS Lewis points out that the same moral principles can be found in all cultures, even though the reality of that morality is usually not practiced.
He turned the age old question of “how can there be suffering in the world if God is good and all powerful” on it’s head, and points back to this issue that there is in us a deep longing for truth, beauty and goodness, that points to the reality of God. He writes in his classic “Mere Christianity” (which if you are only going to read one short book like this, it might as well be this one,)
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I gotten this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too — for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist — in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless — I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality — namely my idea of justice — was full of sense. Consequently, atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.*”
#5 The empty Tomb
This is an argument from history, and is so important to the faith, because the entire thing rises and falls on this claim that Jesus is who He said He is, was crucified, died and buried, and on the third day rose from the dead, that I wrote a short blog on 20 reasons I believe in the resurrection. If you want to go really deep into the history, I would recommend “The Resurrection of the Son of God” by N.T. Wright.
#6 The work of the Holy Spirt in your life
This is the most important reason, and for many the only reason they believe. God stepping into your life, healing you, forgiving you, freeing you, carrying you when you could not carry the burdens of your life. When we look at the beginning of the book of Acts in the New Testament the author Luke states that it is going to be a part two of what Jesus began to do. Through the Holy Spirit our Lord Jesus continues to work on our world today.
When I was a brand new Christian, I saw more conversions around me than at any other point in my life. I didn’t know much, but what I did know is that God had crashed into my life and changed everything. I went from a kid on several different anxiety meds, in a special outpatient program instead of regular school in my freshmen year to having my mind and heart healed and in all honors classes by the time I finished high school.
My appeal back then to everyone was to hang on this promise, and I make it you today, Jesus promised “if you seek me you will find me.” (Matthew 7:7, Jeremiah 29:13). To me those words and His life are either made up, or He’s lying or it’s the truth, and something we can experience. Seek after Him, ask God to show up in your life. He will!
Reach out to me, I believe God is more willing to show up in our lives, than we are sometimes willing to seek after Him.