Why do we need to think about the existence of God?
We take so much for granted in our 21st Century culture. We have easy access to everything we need via modern technology, commerce and transportation. Prevailing science says that we don’t need God to explain how we got to this point in history because it is all due to the evolutionary achievements of ‘man.’
Atheists and secular evolutionists make it their mission to attack and vilify the scientific evidence presented by Christians (even though the science is solid). They make it their calling to teach our next generation that God is not needed to explain our universe, our world and life itself.
But what does the evidence really show us? Why are students in our public schools and universities not allowed to openly evaluate what current science discoveries are finding? If the evidence out there points more towards intelligent design features rather than random chance evolution, should it then be presented in the educational arena for everyone to discuss?
The (Kalam) Cosmological Argument:
Premise #1: Whatever begins to exist must have a cause. All effects must have a cause.
*Premise #2: The Universe began to exist. All that we see in the universe, the explosive beginning and the fine tuned mechanisms, give evidence for a cause.
Premise #3: Therefore, the Universe has a cause. Evidence of an effect implies a cause, therefore there must be a causer.
*We must provide evidence for premise #2 for premise #3 to be true.
Cosmological evidence:
The Cosmos
Scientists had previously assumed that the universe was static and constant, without a beginning.
As Carl Sagan would say in his 1980’s PBS show: The Cosmos is all there is, all that ever was and all that will ever be. This could be considered the “Atheist’s Creed.”
Herbert Spencer, A famous science philosopher of the 1800’s showed that… “The ingredients we find in the makeup of our universe are time, force, energy, space, and matter.”
But, Genesis tells us that from the beginning…
- In the beginning = time
- God = force
- Created = energy
- The heavens = space
- and the earth = matter
The 2nd law of thermodynamics (the law of entropy) as evidence that the Universe must of had a beginning:
In a closed system the amount of useful energy is moving toward zero, or in other words it is being used up. A closed system is where no matter or energy can come in from the outside. Within this system you have energy in it, entropy, and over time it is being used up.
Relating this law to our Universe the evidence shows that it is winding down, energy is being lost and stars are cooling down. Like a hot cup of coffee, it is not going to stay that way.
If something is coming to an end, it must have had a beginning.
The Bible tells us that God has set it up this way…
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. –Psalm 102:25-27
The Theory of Relativity:
In 1905 Albert Einstein accidently proved that the Universe was expanding (he thought he had made a calculation error).
In 1920 Edwin Hubble and his studies confirmed Einstein’s theory and showed that the movement of the galaxies was away from the earth based on…
- Red Shift
- Background radiation and noise:
The Bible also tells us that in God’s creation of the Universe He did it this way…
This is what God the LORD says – he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it… –Isaiah 42:5
The Big Bang Theory:
- Definition: The sudden and immediate expansion resulting from an explosive beginning.
- Confirmed based upon Einstein’s work, Hubble’s experiment, the red shift evidence, background radiation and background noise showing that everything is expanding.
- If everything is expanding, or moving out, then by rewinding there must have been an initial point of beginning.
- The term “Big Bang” was coined by Astronomer Sir Fredrick Hoyle in 1950.
- On April 24, 1992 ABC News Nightline reported on the implication of the Big Bang in support of a Biblical account of creation.
“That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” -Robert Jastrow, Astronomer and Director of Mount Wilson, Founder of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies
If the universe is continually expanding, then at earlier points in history, it must have been smaller and smaller. This literally represents the origin of the universe from nothing. – Dr. William Lane Craig, Christian Philosopher and Apologist
Additionally, Dr. Craig in his debates, uses a philosophical approach to the Kalam Cosmological Argument:
Premise #1: An infinite number of days has no end.
Premise #2: But today is an end day of history (history being a collection of all days).
Premise #3: Therefore, there were not an infinite number of days before today (i.e. time had a beginning).
YOUTUBE PRESENTATION BY J. WARNER WALLACE FROM HIS BOOK, GOD’S CRIME SCENE: Click on this link to watch: “How the Cosmological Evidence Points to the Existence of God”
GOOD ARTICLE TO SUPPLEMENT THIS ARGUMENT: Click on this link to read, “Why the Universe Points to God, The Kalam Cosmological Argument”
THE EXPERT ON THIS ARGUMENT: Dr. William Lane Craig (click on his name to go to his website and view articles, talks and his debates)
Concluding thoughts on the Cosmological Evidence:
- Something cannot come from nothing; being cannot come from non-being; life from non-life; and intelligence (a mind) from non-intelligence.
- The Causer/Creator of a thing must be outside and beyond the scope of the thing that was caused/created and would therefore have to be outside the current time-space continuum in order to cause/create it.
- The Causer/Creator is not held to the rules of the thing that was caused/created.
- The Causer/Creator would have to be, by definition, an uncaused causer.
- For something to be caused/created there must have been a reason or purpose in the Causer’s/Creator’s mind–could it be that He desired a relationship with His creation and that He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us?
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. –Psalm 19:1-4
Oh LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praises because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea. O LORD, our lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! –Psalm 8
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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!
Join us this year as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.
Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.
Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.
Teri Dugan