The band Blind Faith (with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood) produced some great music, but blind faith is a lousy way to think about God. From the ancient Israelites to all of us today, God does not expect blind faith. We possess eyes to see, ears to hear, and a mind to think. Examples from the Bible include Moses hearing from God in a burning bush and seeing the Lord’s mighty works (Ex. 3-12), the disciples listening to Jesus’ preaching and witnessing his resurrection (Mk. 9, Lk. 24), Mary pondering what she was told (Lk. 2), and Paul saying that believers should think of all the good things of God (Ph. 4). In addition, we receive further reasons to believe through science, logic, and personal experience.
Certainly, belief in God’s existence requires faith and trust. Although we can never "prove" God's existence in this life, the accumulated evidence steadily leads to the conclusion that God truly is real. Still, strictly speaking, none of us can actually "prove" anything. To prove is to absolutely establish that something could never be another way. We cannot prove we exist or that we are actually reading this essay. Perhaps we are dreaming, or we are just a brain in a vat being fed experiences. In actuality, none of us base our lives on proof; we base our lives on accumulated evidence that leads to the best conclusion. The pilot cannot prove to me that the plane we are on won't fall out of the sky. However, the accumulated evidence tells me that the plane has been well-constructed and maintained by the airline, the pilot is well-trained, planes rarely fall out of the sky, and the pilot is equally motivated to stay in the air and land safely. Based on this accumulated evidence, I board the plane confidently because I have faith and trust that it is the best conclusion.
God continues to reveal Himself in remarkable ways that tip the scales heavily in favor of belief. That’s why we present this series: to explore some of those reasons to believe. If you are a Christian, we hope to strengthen your discipleship. If you have not given God much thought, we hope to inspire you. If you have doubts, we hope to engage you. If you have been hurt by the church or hurt by Christians, we hope to encourage your healing. In all, we hope you’ll “Explore the Way” of faith in Christ.
First, we begin with the fundamental question, the first among questions. Before we can explore who God is, whether the Bible is trustworthy, or did Jesus really rise from the dead, we must ask why is there something instead of nothing; how and why are we here at all instead of a vast, dark nothingness? The moment something begins to exist, an explanation is expected. How and why did something come into existence in the first place? If we look at a violin, we don’t assume that it “popped” into existence out of pure nothingness. We presume it began to exist (it had a beginning, it was created), and thus it had a beginner (it was caused to exist in the first place).
Thus, the proposition follows:
In addition, Einstein's theory of General Relativity shows that space, matter, and time are co-relative, which means they had a co-beginning; they came into existence together. Theologian Thomas Aquinas referred to God as the Uncaused First Cause, and Aristotle described God as the Unmoved Mover. Or, as mathematician John Lennox stated, "Either matter gave rise to mind, or mind gave rise to matter." We know that matter (physical substance) is not eternal. All matter decays. Yet, John 1 in the New Testament speaks of the eternal presence of the Word, the non-physical mind of God, prior to creation. The accumulated cosmological evidence supports this assertion.
Does this evidence-based Uncaused First Cause proposition demonstrate without a doubt that God exists? Perhaps not on its own to everyone, but this foundational proposition is also the first piece of a large and extended family of evidence that makes the case for God’s existence and thus compels our attention. This series of essays, in a brief and discernable format, present accumulated evidence that faith in God and Jesus Christ is the most rational conclusion.
Science, logic, the Bible, history, archaeology, philosophy, personal experiences: God is not hidden, just veiled. God offers various types of evidence for His existence, and God reveals Himself in ways that fortify faith without halting our desire to pursue more of Him. Our challenge is to pursue and ponder what God reveals in order to believe and grow in faith – deep faith, but never blind faith. There are reasons to believe. When Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood sang, “Can’t find my way home,” we can imagine Jesus responding, “Yes, you can. Follow me.”
Certainly, belief in God’s existence requires faith and trust. Although we can never "prove" God's existence in this life, the accumulated evidence steadily leads to the conclusion that God truly is real. Still, strictly speaking, none of us can actually "prove" anything. To prove is to absolutely establish that something could never be another way. We cannot prove we exist or that we are actually reading this essay. Perhaps we are dreaming, or we are just a brain in a vat being fed experiences. In actuality, none of us base our lives on proof; we base our lives on accumulated evidence that leads to the best conclusion. The pilot cannot prove to me that the plane we are on won't fall out of the sky. However, the accumulated evidence tells me that the plane has been well-constructed and maintained by the airline, the pilot is well-trained, planes rarely fall out of the sky, and the pilot is equally motivated to stay in the air and land safely. Based on this accumulated evidence, I board the plane confidently because I have faith and trust that it is the best conclusion.
God continues to reveal Himself in remarkable ways that tip the scales heavily in favor of belief. That’s why we present this series: to explore some of those reasons to believe. If you are a Christian, we hope to strengthen your discipleship. If you have not given God much thought, we hope to inspire you. If you have doubts, we hope to engage you. If you have been hurt by the church or hurt by Christians, we hope to encourage your healing. In all, we hope you’ll “Explore the Way” of faith in Christ.
First, we begin with the fundamental question, the first among questions. Before we can explore who God is, whether the Bible is trustworthy, or did Jesus really rise from the dead, we must ask why is there something instead of nothing; how and why are we here at all instead of a vast, dark nothingness? The moment something begins to exist, an explanation is expected. How and why did something come into existence in the first place? If we look at a violin, we don’t assume that it “popped” into existence out of pure nothingness. We presume it began to exist (it had a beginning, it was created), and thus it had a beginner (it was caused to exist in the first place).
Thus, the proposition follows:
- Whatever begins to exist has a cause (a beginner of some kind).
- The Universe began to exist (via the Big Bang).
- Therefore, the Universe has a cause (the Beginner, a.k.a. the First Cause).
In addition, Einstein's theory of General Relativity shows that space, matter, and time are co-relative, which means they had a co-beginning; they came into existence together. Theologian Thomas Aquinas referred to God as the Uncaused First Cause, and Aristotle described God as the Unmoved Mover. Or, as mathematician John Lennox stated, "Either matter gave rise to mind, or mind gave rise to matter." We know that matter (physical substance) is not eternal. All matter decays. Yet, John 1 in the New Testament speaks of the eternal presence of the Word, the non-physical mind of God, prior to creation. The accumulated cosmological evidence supports this assertion.
Does this evidence-based Uncaused First Cause proposition demonstrate without a doubt that God exists? Perhaps not on its own to everyone, but this foundational proposition is also the first piece of a large and extended family of evidence that makes the case for God’s existence and thus compels our attention. This series of essays, in a brief and discernable format, present accumulated evidence that faith in God and Jesus Christ is the most rational conclusion.
Science, logic, the Bible, history, archaeology, philosophy, personal experiences: God is not hidden, just veiled. God offers various types of evidence for His existence, and God reveals Himself in ways that fortify faith without halting our desire to pursue more of Him. Our challenge is to pursue and ponder what God reveals in order to believe and grow in faith – deep faith, but never blind faith. There are reasons to believe. When Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood sang, “Can’t find my way home,” we can imagine Jesus responding, “Yes, you can. Follow me.”
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