“How do you know God exists”-
Its an interesting question to ponder, and something I believe every Christian and one point of time in their lives should consider…
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Christianity is a reasonable and rational faith, it doesn’t require one to blindly accept whatever ideas people throw to you. Rather we should always consider and know why we believe in certain things, and consider whether we think it is worth it.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”Luke 14 :28 - 32
First of all we cannot ‘prove’ that God exists simply by saying “because the bible says so” - that itself is committing a fallacy of begging the question.
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As with scientific enquiry - we cannot ‘prove’ without doubt that a particular theory is true or false - it is ‘tentative’. We choose to accept knowledge as the simplest solution to answers - by making the least assumptions in our judgements - also known as ‘Occam’s razor’
Similarly while we cannot conclusively prove that God exists per se, we also cannot conclusively disprove the existence of God. It becomes the responsibility of the person to choose to weigh the choices and assumptions in each argument and make their own decision, or choose not to at all (like some agnostic ‘free-thinkers’)
Anyway there are a large number of arguments the typical Christian likes to produce to ‘prove’ the existence of God. Sadly many of these arguments are full of logical fallacies, or otherwise have an assumption or two. Similarly theories that ‘disprove’ the existence of God usually involve other assumptions as well.
C.S. Lewis’ argument on the basis of Christianity - also known as Lewis’s Trilemma, is probably one of the most well known and popular Christian logical arguments. Its interesting to note that C.S. Lewis, a highly intellectual person, was previously a staunch atheist prior to his ‘reluctant’ conversion to Christianity
In C.S Lewis’ Trilemma, he proposes this:
Jesus could either be:
- A Liar
- A Lunatic
- Lord (i.e. God)
He cannot simply be just a ‘good man’ or teacher, because it wasn’t congruent with his teachings or behaviour in the bible.
If Jesus was a liar, its difficult to understand why a person would want to die for something he knew was a lie, it’s difficult to see how a person could be receive intrinsic or extrinsic reward to be motivated to die for a lie, dying itself goes again our biological instincts to survive. Not unless you propose Jesus was some sort a non-human creature from some alien race - would be a rather far-fetched assumption. Additionally it would be very hard to see how Jesus could possibly intentionally make effort to fulfil the large quantity of prophecies about him – unless you propose that the bible was re-written to accommodate him - not very likely as we have sources that predate Jesus.
If Jesus indeed was a lunatic, and was deluded about his teachings, its seems rather strange that his followers ( who called themselves Christians) be equally convinced about his deception - and allow themselves to die for a false cause after his death( since he would not have been resurrected). Even if they tried to cover up, stole his body and pretended he rose again, I would hardly see the disciples facing certain death under the Roman authorities holding on to something they knew was a lie.
Jesus claimed he was God. If he wasn’t lying or deluded about this claim, by deduction - he is God.
However C.S. Lewis’ argument is based upon one very important premise – the bible and other other historical sources of information we get about Jesus is reliable, and not merely just fictional constructions – to the point that Jesus becomes merely a legend - in the likes of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.
Nevertheless its a pretty safe assumption to assume the bible – crossed referenced to various other sources, is relatively reliable as a historical record. Secondly, if the bible is indeed a reliable source of information - are we able to interpret it in a manner that is reliable - is our transduction from the words in the bible to our cognitive perception of information reliable?
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From a more personal level, I always wondered too, whether my belief was false, whether it was merely a delusion, whether I got conned into believing and accepting what people have told me about Christianity. But somehow I know there are always points in my life where I can remember being assured about the reality of God, and how at that particular point God seems so real, whether it be answering a prayer, giving me a ‘sense of peace’ about decisions, and comforting me in my distress.
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it is a common experience among most Christians, we live with the assurance of a God who loves us deeply and will take care of us,
not in fear of angry idols who would cause calamity if we do not satisfy their demands,
nor the despair of a lonely world of entropy without the presence of God.
There is one argument popular among atheists - quoted from the 1st century BCE philosopher Lucretius:
Nequaquam nobis divinitus esse paratam
Naturam rerum; tanta stat praedita culpa
Which translates from latin to:
"Had God designed the world, it would not be
A world so frail and faulty as we see."
We wonder – if God is the same loving God claimed in the bible - why is there such pain and suffering in the world today? Why doesn’t he step in to do something about it?
Perhaps we can note that according to the bible:
- God created the world to be perfect
- God gave free will to men – the only creature to be created in His image
- God is a righteous and just God, he cannot tolerate sin
- Men rebelled against God - and this resulted in destruction and the problems we see all around us
- God embarked on a ‘rescue plan’ to save men. He sent Jesus to fulfil the requirement of the law to be the sacrifice. He paid the price that had to be paid by us by dying himself.
- We’re living in a world doomed for destruction, but God promises a new beginning beyond this age… in the right time so as many as possible can be brought to salvation.
God doesn’t promise a perfect world… and the world itself was made imperfect because of men’s rebellion. God will step in – but only in the end.
While these are just a tip of the iceberg with regard to the many theories to prove or disprove God and Christianity, God is real to me because I have experienced Christianity in my life - and it has been a very fulfilling and purposeful. Although I cannot say for sure that what I believe in is hundred percent true, I think its the best answer I have for life now…
