If you find the time Bill perhaps you can read the following paper I wrote awhile back.
Does God Exist?
When I was a child I was introduced to Christianity. I grew up from the age of 5 in a Christian household. I took for granted the blessed life I had. As time passed I grew ashamed of what I professed to be and turned my back on my Creator. Time passed and I became like the majority of hopeless souls wandering the world wondering what the point of it all was. Then one day something radical happened. There was a soothing voice that beckoned from beyond time. I could not deny the inward pull to something much bigger than myself. I fell to my knees and cried out, “God, if you are real, show me.” From that day on, my life has not been the same. In the following paper I would like to do my best to prove the existence of God. I believe He can be clearly seen through nature, science, reason, psychology, and any other device man has used to try and explain what is far beyond the explainable. Not only will I prove the existence of God, but I will also show that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s supreme revelation of Himself to mankind.
In the beginning God created the universe in a span of six days according to the bible. There is mounting evidence in the scientific world that the universe was created by a Big Bang. There has been many studies done by various scientists and it has become the belief of most within the field of cosmology that the Big Bang is true. The Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite, or (COBE) returned valuable information in 1992. Among the discoveries was the temperature measurements of the COBE gave evidence of a hot origin for the cosmos. It documented that, according to The Creator and the Cosmos, by Hugh Ross “the specific entropy (entropy is the degree to which energy in a closed system disperses) of the universe- about one billion- is beyond all comparison.” (Ross, p.24) In other words, the universe came into existence by “a single explosive event that by itself accounts for at least 99.7% of the radiant energy in the universe.” (Ross, p.28)
The reason I believe this points to the existence of God is because of the amazing specifics involved with this. In the book God: The Evidence, by Patrick Glynn “The slightest tinkering with a single one of scores of basic values and relationships in nature would have resulted in a universe very different from the one we inhabit-say, one with no stars like our sun, or no stars, period. Far from being accidental, life appeared to be the goal toward which the entire universe from the very first moment of its existence had been orchestrated, fine tuned.” (Glynn, p.8) Some examples of this fine-tuning from the universe are:
Had the nuclear weak force been slightly weaker than it is, all the hydrogen in the universe would have been turned to helium (making water impossible). Another point is that if the difference in mass between a neutron and a proton were not exactly as it is, then all neutrons would have become protons or vice versa. This would cause life to cease to exist. Another interesting proof of God’s hand in nature is water. Unique among molecules, water is lighter in its solid form than its liquid form: ice floats. If ice did not float, the oceans would freeze from the bottom up and the earth would be covered in solid ice. With such amazing “coincidences” it is difficult to argue that this all just happened by chance. In my opinion it points to a Creator, and not just any Creator, a Creator who cares for human life.
Hugh Ross states the following when speaking of this Creator, “One characteristic that stands out dramatically is His interest in and care for living things, particularly the human race. We see this care is the vastness and quality of the resources devoted to life support.” (Ross, p. 125) Instead of us catering to the world, it is the exact opposite. The world and all that is in it appears to cater to us.
Another “just right” coincidence would be the relationship between the galaxy, sun, earth and moon. According to Ross, “Our moon is unique among solar system bodies in that it is so large relative to its planet. As a result, our moon exerts a significant gravitational pull on Earth. Thanks to this pull, coastal sea waters are cleansed and their nutrients replenished, also the rotation axis of the Earth is stabilized.” (Ross, p.138)
Apart from the moon we must take into account our perfect galaxy. Supernovas and White Dwarfs are essential to our existence. Supernovas have supplied Earth with enough heavy element enrichment to allow Earth to form. White Dwarfs provide fluorine, which is essential in life support.
We live a perfect distance from the sun. We must have liquid available to us, and we need the suns heat to warm us. If the sun was too close, water would evaporate and life would cease. Plus, we would all be burnt to a crisp. If the sun was too far, water would freeze (as would I), and life would again cease.
Jupiter is two and a half times more massive than all other planets combined. Due to Jupiter’s huge gravity, it draws comets into itself or deflects them away from the solar system. In both cases, Jupiter protects Earth.
All these examples are for one purpose. To prove that there is a Creator, and to prove He cares for us. Why else would He have created the entire universe to comply together in order to give life to a tiny planet unless He cared immensely? I believe that God shows Himself to us in His creation. The universe is gigantic. To me this represents the enormity of God. We have yet to find the end of the universe. This represents the infinite nature of God. The Earth revolves around the sun. This shows us that we are not the center of the universe. God describes Himself as light. Therefore, our lives flow around a constant body of light and fire. God also describes Himself as a consuming fire. Nature also shows us the characteristics of God. From the beautiful sunsets, to the gentle ocean breeze, we witness the gentleness and beauty of God. There are also signs of His power in earthquakes, and storms of various kinds. All around us are signs of God. His is the master artist and He has created a beautiful masterpiece for all to see that have eyes to see.
I would like to talk about the human being for a while. DNA is the basis of life. In the journal Scientists Find Evidence of God by Stephen Goode, he writes on the DNA molecule and how it refutes Darwinian evolution and points to intelligent design at the same time. The DNA molecule is a message. The molecule is an elaborate design that is a message. He quotes Chemist Charles Thaxton who stated, “We humans know from experience that, when there’s a message, an intelligence created that message.” Goode goes further stating that no other explanation will suffice to account for the existence of the message. Goode quotes Thaxton again who says, “We know from experience that when there is a design, there is a designer.” So by the DNA molecules being designed to do what it does, it did not evolve randomly or by accident, which is the way Darwinian evolution claims DNA came about.
Even further refutation of Darwinian evolution, and a further case for creation would be the human eye. According to the web site 50 Reasons to Leave Your Faith (evolution), the human eye is capable of 100,000 separate functions each day. While we sleep, it does its own maintenance work. According to the site, “Considering the amount of complex structures that went into the eye, as well as the highly integrated synchronization, it is difficult to understand how the evolutionists can believe the eye came from a natural trail and error process.” It goes on to state that there are five different types of eyes in nature- man’s, squids, vertebrates, arthropods and trilobite eyes. If we evolved and formed eyes, the chances that each different eye being formed randomly would be astronomical. I don’t even think there is a number big enough to show the likelihood of this occurring by chance.
From the stars in the universe all the way down to the smallest molecule on Earth, there is an amazing amount of evidence that point to a vastly intelligent mind behind it all. There are way to many coincidences to believe this all happened by chance. Hopefully my point is made that there is a Creator. Now I would like to go a step further and talk about how this Creator made a world of order that is directed by the greatest power, which is love, and that the Creator chose to show us the way to true living by giving to us an example of how to do it in Jesus of Nazareth.
According to Patrick Glynn in his book God: The Evidence, Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis was a major force in the secularization of twentieth-century society, “inspiring a virtual revolution in manners and morals”. (Glynn, p.57) Freud repeatedly attacked religious belief, branding faith as a “universal obsessional neurosis” which he believed humanity would eventually grow out of. Glynn states that to Freud, “psychoanalysis was more than a critique of religion; it was designed as a replacement. Freud’s doctrines fed the loosening sexual prohibitions and rising divorce rate that characterized the racy pre-Depression era.” (Glynn, p.59) By the mid twentieth century psychology appeared to have the upper hand and it was thought among some circles that it would eventually replace religion as humanity’s moral guidance.
However, strangely enough, “scientific research in psychology over the past twenty-five years has demonstrated that, far from being a neurosis or source of neuroses as Freud and his disciples claimed, religious belief is one of the most consistent correlates of overall mental health and happiness.” (Glynn, pp.60-61) A number of studies show that religious believers are far less likely to commit suicide, abuse drugs or alcohol, lower rates of divorce, increased marital and sexual satisfaction, and overall more happiness and psychological well being. The more dedicated the individual is to their faith, the more the above is true.
Jesus of Nazareth taught that the world would know that they are His disciples if they have love for one another. Not just for their fellow Christian, but for every man and women on Earth. Through the teachings of Jesus we can see the incredible truth of the universe in what He taught. According to Jesus there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. Jesus taught that the least is the greatest and that serving others and giving to others was one of the most rewarding things to be a part of in life. Jesus taught us what true living is. The reason I am pointing this out is to give my reader an understanding of why Jesus is the greatest teacher of mankind. However, He had to be more than just a great moral teacher. He had to be God Himself. As C.S. Lewis points out in his book Mere Christianity, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (Lewis, p.56)
In Jesus we have a great moral teacher who claimed to be God himself. But in order for all that He taught and said to be true, He would have had to arisen from the dead. There are many theories pro and con on this subject. One of the best I have read is from Moreland. “The resurrection of Jesus offers the best explanation for the incredible success of the early church. Without the resurrection there would have been no early church. Furthermore, it explains how a large generation of Jewish people (remember, most of the early Christians were Jewish) would have been willing to risk the damnation of their own souls to hell and reject what had been sociologically embedded in their community for centuries; namely, the Law must be kept for salvation, the Sabbath must be kept, nontrinitarian monotheism, and there is only a political messiah, not a rising and dying one. How does a group of people in a short time span, a society, disenfranchise themselves from that into which they had been culturally indoctrinated for centuries and risk the damnation of their own souls to hell to follow a carpenter from Nazareth? The most reasonable explanation is there was something about that man that caused this change. He was a miracle worker who rose from the dead.” (Moreland, p.42)
Moreland continues that other religions do not offer the same authenticating signs as Jesus did. “Mohammed never claimed to be God, and he never claimed to authenticate his revelations by miracles. He is in his tomb; Buddha is in his tomb; Zoroaster is in his tomb; and so is Confucius. Jesus Isn’t. Jesus rose from the dead and He authenticated His divine Messiahship by performing works that men couldn’t do. The reason that I hold to the Christian revelation, as opposed to the Muslim revelation and others, is (apart from conceptual difficulties I find in those), I don’t see enough evidence for them – that is, authenticating signs which demonstrate that they are revelations from God.” (Moreland, p.73)
According to J.P. Moreland in the book Does God Exist, “If God does not exist, it is hard to see how there could be any such thing as prescriptive, nonnatural morality. It just doesn’t seem that the Big Bang could spit out moral values, at least not at the rate it spit out hydrogen atoms.” (Moreland, p.36) C.S. Lewis that there is a moral law that is known to everyone, and though try as we might to keep it, we all fall short of what the ideal human should be. No nation rewards a man for being a coward, for being selfish, for bullying those weaker than him. We see these characteristics in others and we greatly dislike them and know in our heart that they are wrong. Why is this? There must be a moral law that exists and is guiding human kind into behaving in a certain way to one another. Lewis points out that if it was just instinct that humans followed than we would choose the greater of the two feelings. But that is not the case. When we see a building on fire and children are trapped inside our first reaction would be fear. Yet, deep inside we are stirred by something greater. Our conscious drives us into that burning building. We are all led by something that is instilled within us. Our Creator wrote His law on our hearts.
A famous atheist once said if there is no God, than all things are permissible. For if there is no divine creator behind all of this, than what is to stop us all from behaving, as we would like. That is the premise of the satanic cult. Do what ever you feel like as long as it doesn’t directly harm another. But, even the satanic cult stops at not harming another physically. Without God, I do not understand why anyone would stop there. From James Kennedy’s book, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? Witness the lives of Hitler, Mao, and Stalin. All atheists. All ruled in hate. Together they are responsible for the death of over 127 million people. This is what happens when you take love out of the equation. This is what happens without God in the equation.
I once read that cold can only reach –480 degrees, while there is no end to heat. Basically, cold is the absence of heat. I believe this is a very real truth on both the physical level, as well as the spiritual. For example, the absence of light would be darkness, for there is no darkness in a universe of light. But let us go to the next level and say that the absence of love is hate. Those who hate have no love, or are afraid of receiving love. The last thing I would point out is, the absence of God is hell. For that is what a life without God is. Now we just multiply that by everlasting and we can understand where all those who choose to turn their backs on God will reside. For this is not a place God has sent them, but a place where so many have chosen to go. For we are free to choose, to choose love or reject it; to choose peace or reject it; to choose God or reject Him. And this is eternity: living with Him, the almighty creator of the universe the creator of the heavens, the creator of love; or living with ourselves, the complete absence of all that is good.
Jesus was the most amazing man who lived the most amazing life. He was a perfect man who died in place of me in order that I might have life in Him. God took on the form of a man, of a baby, being born in a manger. He humbled himself to the utmost, in order that I might have life to the fullest. This is why I worship Him. He is my Creator and He has crossed the span of time to find me. I have made an attempt to show that God does exist and that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s supreme revelation of Himself to mankind. It was the most difficult paper I have ever written. I have no idea how to end, so I will leave you with this: I am a man who Jesus has found; peace has found me.
Bibliography
Goode, Stephen “Scientists Find Evidence Of God.” Insight on the News 19 April, 1999, v15 i14 p14(1).
Glynn, Patrick, God: The Evidence, The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World. U.S.A.: Prima Publishing, 1997.
Kennedy, James D. What If Jesus Had Never Been Born. Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.
Moreland, J.P. Does God Exist: The Great Debate. Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1990.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1943.
Ross, Hugh The Creator And The Cosmos: How The Greatest Scientific Discoveries Of The Century Reveal God. Colorado: NavPress Publishing Group, 1993.
“50 Reasons To Leave Your Faith.” Evolutionlie.Faithweb.Com |
