Three Reasons I Believe In God
Recently, I watched an interview with an atheist.
I felt sad for him.
In his mind, he had concluded there is no God.
This person did not seem to be arrogant or angry. He had no difficult questions and conclusions about life such as, "If there is a god, why does he allow evil to exist?" He said he did not have problems with those who believed in a god. For him, he just did not believe in a god.
The interview left me thinking. Can a person simply conclude in his mind that God does not exist? Wouldn't a rational thinking person at least consider the evidence pointing to the existence of God? And once this evidence was presented, wouldn't it take more faith to believe God doesn't exist than it does to believe God does exist?
I believe there is overwhelming evidence pointing to the existence of God a rational person must consider before simply concluding there is no God.
For some, unanswered questions concerning the difficulties and pain of life keep them from believing in the existence of God altogether. However, the determination if God does or doesn’t exist cannot be based upon a person's unanswered questions about life or painful experiences in life but upon the evidence for or against the existence of God.
There are three reasons why I believe God exists.
Reason #1: The Intellectual Design of the Universe and the Human Body
The universe and the human body are both amazing. There is an intellectual design to both. To see the intellectual design of the universe and human body leads us to believe there must be an intellectual mind that designed both. To conclude the amazing design of the universe is accidental, resulting from a chemical explosion in space billions of years ago, which ultimately led to the process of evolution where the amazing design of the human body was produced, is illogical.
The logic of concluding the existence of something with an amazing design happened by mere chance is like saying a computer, iPad, and iPhone are all the results of a chemical explosion that over time produced each of them. However, no one would ever make that illogical and unreasonable assumption. Rather, when we look at these technological devices, we conclude these were intentionally designed by someone, rather than mere results of random chance.
We make these reasonable conclusions daily.
We conclude the airplanes we fly in and cars we ride in are designed by someone rather than the result of a tornado whipping up metal in a junk yard producing an airplane ready to fly or a car ready to drive.
We conclude the books we read were written by someone rather than the chance that 1000's of scrabble letters fell to the ground from the sky and landed in the form of a sentence with structure and thought…not one sentence, but hundreds of sentences perfectly arranged from the beginning to end to form a book.
We conclude the meals we eat were prepared by someone rather than accidentally appearing on a plate complete with knives, forks, and spoons ready to be used to eat the meal.
Any rational, logical, and reasonable person would have to conclude the universe and the human body are far more advanced than anything mankind has designed. And, therefore, must further conclude the universe and human body are not the result of random chance but purposeful choice or intelligent design...God.
Reason #2: The Historical Authenticity and Accuracy of the Bible
Those who have never considered the substantial amount of evidence giving credibility to the Bible write the Bible off as mere fiction, fables, and fairy tales. Yet the Bible provides us with an authentic historical account of the history of Israel, the prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ, his birth, life, death, and resurrection.
The authenticity and accuracy of the Bible as trustworthy historical literature stands educational tests. The two educational tests used to determine the authenticity and accuracy of ancient literature are as follows:
How many manuscripts are there of the original copies and how close are the manuscripts to the original event?
The Bible has more manuscripts of its original copies than any other book in ancient history. Furthermore, the manuscripts are closer to the actual events than any other manuscripts of books in ancient history.
To simply dismiss the Bible as inaccurate without first weighing the evidence for its authenticity and accuracy is again irrational, illogical, and unreasonable. Before anyone can reject something as inaccurate, he must first study the evidence for or against its accuracy.
When someone honestly considers the evidence for the authenticity and accuracy of the Bible from an educational point of view, he must admit it is far beyond fiction, fables, and fairy tales. If the Bible proves to be authentic and accurate from historical evidence, then its content must be accepted as fact. This leads us to admit there is a God because the Bible speaks of God from beginning to end.
Reason #3 (for why I believe that God exists): The Factual Account of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Apart from the writers in the Bible who were eyewitnesses testifying to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, such as Matthew, John, Paul, and Peter, there are mounds of evidence from Roman history proving the resurrection. There is more evidence proving the resurrection of Jesus than there is evidence George Washington was the first president of the United States.
In his books, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, More Than A Carpenter, and The Resurrection Factor, one-time atheist, Josh McDowell, shares the evidence he discovered apart from the Bible concerning the resurrection of Jesus that led him to conclude Jesus really did rise from the dead.
Also, Lee Strobel, once, too, a practicing atheist and investigative reporter, investigated the person of Jesus and concluded Jesus really did rise from the dead. His discoveries can be read in his books The Case For Christ, The Case for Christmas, The Case for Easter, and The Case for Faith. He also writes about the existence of God in his book The Case for a Creator.
J. Warner Wallace was a homicide detective who explains his journey from atheism to Christianity in his books Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels and Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible.
What I like about Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, and J. Warner Wallace is they simply did not make a subjective decision about the existence of God.
Initially they did.
Yet, eventually, they understood the belief that God did not exist must be supported by objective facts, not subjective feelings. Then, through investigative research, each collected and analyzed their findings which overwhelmingly refuted their initial belief that there was no God.
The Bible says that a fool says in his heart there is no God. The reason a fool says in his heart there is no God is because he has never seriously considered the possibility that there just may be a God. He has never honestly studied evidence pointing to the fact there is indeed a God. He has simply concluded subjectively that God doesn't exist. And this is foolish.
Additionally, one may hold to the belief there is no God because to admit there is a God means he is accountable to God for his life. This person is actuality running from a God he says doesn't exist; yet in reality, deep down, he knows God does exist.
This God he is running from loves him unconditionally and wants to know him personally. This God who loves him and wants to know him created him with talents, gifts, and abilities to be enjoyed by himself and others. Sadly, by falsely denying the existence of God, he is furthering himself from all God has for him. Yet, in grace, God patiently waits for the one he loves unconditionally, wants to know personally, and created uniquely to come to him.
Knowing God personally comes by grace through faith in Jesus…the One who loves us, gave his life for us, and then rose from the dead to give his life to us.
I couldn't help but think as I watched the interview with this practicing atheist if he had ever seriously and honestly considered the evidence there is a God as seen in the intelligent design of the universe and human body, the historical evidence for the authenticity and accuracy of the Bible, and the factual evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that one day he will consider the evidence and come to the God who loves him, created him, and wants to know him.
If you are reading this article and would like believe in Jesus, you can do that right now…right where you are.
Jesus said that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus went to cross to die for the sins of the world.
He then rose from the dead.
We experience salvation simply by believing.
If you would like to study further about the evidence for God, the historical accuracy and authenticity of the Bible, and the factual evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, below are the links to Lee Stroble's, Josh McDowell's, and J. Warner Wallace’s websites.
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