Does God exist? Is there evidence for the existence of God?

Answer: The existence of God cannot be proved or disproved. The Bible says that we must accept by faith the fact that God exists: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). If God so desired, He could simply appear and prove to the whole world that He exists. But if He did that, there would be no need for faith. “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

That does not mean, however, that there is no evidence of God’s existence. The Bible states, “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 display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). Looking at the stars, understanding the vastness of the universe, observing the wonders of nature, seeing the beauty of a sunset—all of these things point to a Creator God. If these were not enough, there is also evidence of God in our own hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” Deep within us is the recognition that there is something beyond this life and someone beyond this world. We can deny this knowledge intellectually, but God’s presence in us and all around us is still obvious. Despite this, the Bible warns that some will still deny God’s existence: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). Since the vast majority of people throughout history, in all cultures, in all civilizations, and on all continents believe in the existence of some kind of God, there must be something (or someone) causing this belief.

In addition to the biblical arguments for God’s existence, there are logical arguments. First, there is the ontological argument. The most popular form of the ontological argument uses the concept of God to prove God’s existence. It begins with the definition of God as “a being than which no greater can be conceived.” It is then argued that to exist is greater than to not exist, and therefore the greatest conceivable being must exist. If God did not exist, then God would not be the greatest conceivable being, and that would contradict the very definition of God.

A second argument is the teleological argument. The teleological argument states that since the universe displays such an amazing design, there must have been a divine Designer. For example, if the Earth were significantly closer or farther away from the sun, it would not be capable of supporting much of the life it currently does. If the elements in our atmosphere were even a few percentage points different, nearly every living thing on earth would die. The odds of a single protein molecule forming by chance is 1 in 10243 (that is a 1 followed by 243 zeros). A single cell is comprised of millions of protein molecules.

A third logical argument for God’s existence is called the cosmological argument. Every effect must have a cause. This universe and everything in it is an effect. There must be something that caused everything to come into existence. Ultimately, there must be something “un-caused” in order to cause everything else to come into existence. That “un-caused” cause is God.

A fourth argument is known as the moral argument. Every culture throughout history has had some form of law. Everyone has a sense of right and wrong. Murder, lying, stealing, and immorality are almost universally rejected. Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a holy God?

Despite all of this, the Bible tells us that people will reject the clear and undeniable knowledge of God and believe a lie instead. Romans 1:25 declares, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” The Bible also proclaims that people are without excuse for not believing in God: “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

People claim to reject God’s existence because it is “not scientific” or “because there is no proof.” The true reason is that once they admit that there is a God, they also must realize that they are responsible to God and in need of forgiveness from Him (Romans 3:23, 6:23). If God exists, then we are accountable to Him for our actions. If God does not exist, then we can do whatever we want without having to worry about God judging us. That is why many of those who deny the existence of God cling strongly to the theory of naturalistic evolution—it gives them an alternative to believing in a Creator God. God exists and ultimately everyone knows that He exists. The very fact that some attempt so aggressively to disprove His existence is in fact an argument for His existence.

How do we know God exists? As Christians, we know God exists because we speak to Him every day. We do not audibly hear Him speaking to us, but we sense His presence, we feel His leading, we know His love, we desire His grace. Things have occurred in our lives that have no possible explanation other than God. God has so miraculously saved us and changed our lives that we cannot help but acknowledge and praise His existence. None of these arguments can persuade anyone who refuses to acknowledge what is already obvious. In the end, God’s existence must be accepted by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in God is not a blind leap into the dark; it is safe step into a well-lit room where the vast majority of people are already standing.

Oh...how disappointing...I thought this was going to be a debate, not a one sided bombardment of "proof"...anyway...

A fourth argument is known as the moral argument. Every culture throughout history has had some form of law. Everyone has a sense of right and wrong. Murder, lying, stealing, and immorality are almost universally rejected. Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a holy God?

I just wanted to ask something about this part of your argument. As an atheist I know that it is wrong for me to murder, lie, steal etc. but how did I get those morals? I'm certain they didn't come from a God...

reply to post by SerialVelocity


How can you be certain that your morals did not come from a god?

reply to post by SerialVelocity


because everyone has good and evil in them, it is your Gods given to choose what your path is

I don't believe that the god of the Old Testament is the creator of the Universe. The god of the Old Testament walked on the planet at one time, spoke to its inhabitants, directed wars, murders, rapes and slavery. He was a jealous and unreasonable psychopath who valued ignorance in his followers and is not worthy of faith or worship. I believe that deity, who ruled with hatred and fear, was an imposter and is gone.

I also believe that this deity of the Old Testament belonged to a heirarchy and probably had to answer to someone higher, who removed him from authority over us. Thank God!

reply to post by windword


So then it is a safe assumption to say that you are a theist?

Originally posted by dudeguyman
reply to post by SerialVelocity

 

because everyone has good and evil in them, it is your Gods given to choose what your path is

So are you saying I have no choice whether to be good or evil because God already made the choice for me? So there is no point trying to change it either way?

reply to post by SerialVelocity


All I am saying is its your Gods Given choice, God didn't make us robotic for a reason, cause he loves us and he wants us to enjoy life to the fullest, and believe in him and trust and follow him

reply to post by dudeguyman


If God made me robotic surely I would be robotic in the sense that I would mindlessly believe and follow him. I don't. If I had to choose a religion I would choose one of the Far East religions such as Buddhism or Taoism. Surely that makes me autonomous because I have choice, not a robot?

To know God you must become like God - for like seeks the company of like.

A couple of Billion years more to go, or so, eh?

Originally posted by micmerci
reply to post by windword

 

So then it is a safe assumption to say that you are a theist?

I think it is wrong to worship a being that happens to be of a different vibration or dimension. I don't consider myself to be theist but closer to a deist. Nature is observable, and god is the "law of nature" that we are constantly discovering.

Although society has installed judges and lawmakers, enforcers and protectors, these ideals are not a reflection of "god," so to speak, but they are evidence of a consciousness and a desire to live in harmony and in cooperation with each other and nature. There are jails on earth, but no such thing as eternal hell, put in place by a terrible and judgemental god.

Good question. I feel that there is no god outside of you, because it´ll cause division within you, and that is the core of the problems we face it, nationalisms, religions, racism, agression, violence, competitiveness, politics and so on. If you keep searching outside, you will find so many things but not your own true. So what about a deep look in the mirror... and not in a book no matters how old it seems to be

Originally posted by windword

Originally posted by micmerci
reply to post by windword

 

So then it is a safe assumption to say that you are a theist?

I think it is wrong to worship a being that happens to be of a different vibration or dimension. I don't consider myself to be theist but closer to a deist. Nature is observable, and god is the "law of nature" that we are constantly discovering.

Although society has installed judges and lawmakers, enforcers and protectors, these ideals are not a reflection of "god," so to speak, but they are evidence of a consciousness and a desire to live in harmony and in cooperation with each other and nature. There are jails on earth, but no such thing as eternal hell, put in place by a terrible and judgemental god.

Actually, Judges are considered Priests of Ba'al.

Yes, God does exist. If God was non-existent there would be no thread to debate the existense of the issue. If God did not exist we would not know of it and there would be ZERO discussion.

The question that should be debated is how is God defined. Is God outside of us or within us? Can we even give God parameters? I could go on... but, the question of whether he does or doesnt exist is not understanding.

Originally posted by greenCo
Good question. I feel that there is no god outside of you, because it´ll cause division within you, and that is the core of the problems we face it, nationalisms, religions, racism, agression, violence, competitiveness, politics and so on. If you keep searching outside, you will find so many things but not your own true. So what about a deep look in the mirror... and not in a book no matters how old it seems to be

edit on 30-9-2011 by greenCo because: (no reason given)

edit on 30-9-2011 by greenCo because: (no reason given)

edit on 30-9-2011 by greenCo because: (no reason given)

I believe God exist inside and outside of you. If God did not exist outside of you, then you would be the only person who has God (which is possible if you believe that you are living a dream in which you are the main character and everyone outside of you is a manifestation of your subconcious).

I also God plays a part in everything not just the positive side of life. Religon, racism, violence, and competitiveness are obstacles that we need to LEARN to overcome or work with. We can litterally measure these negatives only by our prior knowledge and the perspectives they give us to see what lies beneath. Violence could mean the slaughter of thousands of people simply because of their religous views or it can simply mean cutting down a tree, we can argue degrees, but it is essential to understand it is still violent when you destroy life. From a mountain top perspective we can see this, but it is different when you try to justify a thousand human lives to a thousand tree lives. We can remember being the tree therefore the only thing that matters is the human life that we are currently experiencing, its a matter of degree.

God is the man at the top of the mountain, the lord in the clouds, the king of the castle, the tallest of munchkins. God sees all from an objective point of view. Creation and Destruction are one in the same.

Originally posted by ImmortalThought
Yes, God does exist. If God was non-existent there would be no thread to debate the existense of the issue. If God did not exist we would not know of it and there would be ZERO discussion.

The question that should be debated is how is God defined. Is God outside of us or within us? Can we even give God parameters? I could go on... but, the question of whether he does or doesnt exist is not understanding.

That argument doesn't work...many have discussed the existence of the teapot that orbits the sun, just because it is up for discussion doesn't mean that it exists purely on that basis. What about the Spaghetti Monster in the Sky? Enough people have talked about his existence that surely by your reasoning he now exists? We must now work out how he is defined...

use the search function and stop reincarnating threads.

resurrect an old one.

An ex-service man and a person I only met about 5 weeks ago gave me their views on the bible yesterday and I have to agree with them to a certain extent.

They said the bible is the way the ancients could only explain the way they felt about ours or the universes origins simply because they did not have science or scientific evidence or technology to back their thoughts back in those days.

God may well be real, but you will never get evidence to back this. If it was real, it created the evidence aswell....

reply to post by ImmortalThought


All you have to do is take a look around.... Before humans the universe existed, we did not create the universe, and even if the universe was created by a mythical explosion, what ever caused that, is much more powerful than 6 billion people crammed together on a planet, which is 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the universe, possibly sh!t loads lower than that.

The truth is, something that defies logic did happen before we even existed, the question is what??????

If we have a blackhole at the centre of the universe and black holes occur after supernovas, is it possible our galaxy is the remnants of an exploded Superstar?

Black holes of stellar mass are expected to form when massive stars collapse in a supernova at the end of their life cycle. After a black hole has formed it can continue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings. By absorbing other stars and merging with other black holes, supermassive black holes of millions of solar masses may be formed.

just sayn, still doesn't explain gods existence though....

reply to post by dudeguyman


The evidence?

Who aske the question...