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Vol. 11 No. 11 November 2009 |
Page 16 |
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Vol. 11 No. 11 November 2009 |
Page 16 |
How Can We Be Sure
That God Really Exists?
Louis Rushmore, Editor
“How can we be sure that God really exists?” This was the question asked me by a young teenage girl as I visited a family’s home in Bangalore, India recently. It is a fair question, one that needs to be answered as well as a question for which there are several good answers. Notice the following answers that I provided her and the several teenagers and adults who were present on that occasion. There are evidences of God’s existence that are both external and internal to the Bible. First, we turn our attention to some external evidences for the existence of God.
Every society of mankind from earliest history (e.g., the ancient Sumerians near the Persian Gulf) to the present, whether primitives or advanced people, have always worshipped a god that they believed to be superior to themselves. Sincerely misguided, they may have worshipped a rock or a stump, the sun or about anything one could imagine, but they worshipped. Such would be ignorant (Acts 17:23) and vain (Matthew 15:9) worship. This universal compulsion to worship a god speaks to the innate, inbred human characteristic of assenting to the existence of God. Atheists are not born, but they convince themselves that there is no God whom they are obligated to obey. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1). Since mankind universally has assented to the existence of God, knowing it in his very being, the first verse of the Bible introduces God without making any attempt to prove the existence of God (Genesis 1:1).
Second, Bible archaeology, when given an honest evaluation, always validates the Bible as being correct. Hence, since the Bible through the science of archaeology (and any other area on which the Bible makes some statement that can be tested through the sciences or exact observation), the Bible is what it claims for itself—divine revelation from Almighty God. Therefore, God exists forasmuch as He has given mankind His divine revelation.
Let us consider one archaeological discovery that proves that the Bible is reliable, even though secular history and the Bible disagreed for thousands of years. The secular historical record mentioned nothing about a civilization of people called the Hittites, though about 40 references to the Hittites appear in Scripture; Bible critics denied the existence of God on this basis and imagined that Christians were pathetic persons who placed a misguided confidence in the Bible, instead of facing reality. All of that changed following the 1906 discovery of the capital city of the Hittites in the remote mountains of Turkey, and since then, several archaeological digs in greater Syria and beyond attest to the existence once of a superpower called the Hittites.
In fact, the earliest armed conflict between nations about which enough information survives to reconstruct the various troop movements of either side was between the Hittites and Egypt. The Hittites won the battle, overrunning the Egyptian camp and causing the Egyptians, among whom was Pharaoh himself, to flee. Subsequently, the Hittites plundered the camp instead of pursuing the Egyptians, and the Egyptians in the meantime received 10,000 reinforcements. Instead of resuming the battle, the warring nations signed a peace treaty, three copies of which have been found in Egypt and Turkey.
The Hittites had also conquered Babylon and sacked it. Today, stone carvings of Hittite warriors and married couples, Hittite pottery, Hittite seals and pictures of Hittite chariots carved on stone walls contribute to the mountain of physical evidence which conclusively demonstrates that the Bible is reliable even when it conflicts with the secular, historical record and has done so for thousands of years. The Hittites themselves fell victim to a war of extermination without occupation from invaders to their north; the devastation was so complete as to expunge the Hittites from the pages of history until modern times through archaeology when they were rediscovered. The Bible is equally reliable when it speaks about the existence of God, how God wants to be worshipped, salvation, Christian living and Christian service.
Third, the incredible design evident in plants, animals, humans, the universe, etc. demands recognition of a Designer (God) with powers far above anything that mankind can do. Let me illustrate the relationship of design to a designer. Were an explosion to occur in a junkyard, after the dust settled, no one—nobody!—would expect to see a jumbo passenger jet sitting there as a result of the explosion, because a jet airplane demonstrates intricate design and demands that a designer is responsible for its existence. Likewise, were an explosion to occur in a print shop, no one—not one sensible person—would expect to see as a result of the explosion a new book, in any language, perfectly produced and bound, because the design evident in a book demands that a designer made it. Likewise, the apostle Paul penned by inspiration that mankind is without excuse if he fails to understand that the universe had a Designer, because the universe exhibits minute design, calling for a Designer (God). “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-21).
Evolutionary Theory, by which atheists try to explain the existence of everything, is flawed on every hand. For instance, the universe and with all of its component parts (including we human beings as we grow older) are wearing out or breaking down instead of reaching higher and more perfect or enhanced levels of existence. Evolutionary Theory lacks a valid explanation for design and only offers a sure pattern for destruction. Simply adding a few zeros to the true age of the earth does not resuscitate the gasping and flawed Evolutionary Theory. A Designer (God) is the only reasonable explanation for the design evident in the created universe. God exists!
Fourth, the internal evidence of biblical prophecy and fulfillment proves that the Bible is exactly what it claims for itself, divine revelation from Almighty God. Therefore, God exists. Prophecies about the establishment of the spiritual kingdom or the church and the coming of the Messiah were given 700 years (e.g., Isaiah 2:2-3) or more (e.g., Genesis 3:15) before those hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled in every minute detail. Someone without divine inspiration may be able to make a few predictions about what may occur within coming days, weeks, months or a year, and one or two predictions come true (and the rest not come true), but no human can make hundreds of predictions in specific detail hundreds of years before their fulfillment and everyone of them come true exactly as prophesied. Yet, the Bible does just that! For instance, there are about 333 prophecies about the Messiah alone, every one of which was fulfilled in every detail. Self-serving, self-fulfillment is not a possible explanation to the exact fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies made hundreds of years before they were fulfilled. The Bible is God’s divinely given revelation to mankind, and therefore, God exists.
We can be sure that God exists because there is sufficient evidence from a number of different perspectives to warrant the conclusion that God exists! Further, there is no other logical or reasonable alternative to concluding that God exists that is consistent with evidence. God exists!