Wednesday, April 20, 2011

How Do We Know God Exists?

Ironic though it may seem, when I think of faith, I can’t help but think of Richard Dawkins as one of the greatest examples of a man of faith. Dawkins, despite the total lack of evidence that it is even possible for one species to evolve into another, continues to preach the message that evolution is the only possible way that man could come into existence. At one point, he even said that he believes that it is more likely that some alien race populated Earth with the seeds of life than that a God created the Universe. He writes book after book, preaching his message to anyone who will read it. There isn’t much of what he says that I can agree with, but I can’t help but admire his faith.

I don’t have the kind of faith Richard Dawkins does. I don’t have much use for blind faith. You see, I’m from Missouri—you’ll have to show me. I think a lot of people have the idea that the faith God asks for is more like the faith Richard Dawkins has. They think that God calls us to believe he exists without evidence. They have the idea that they are somehow more spiritual if they can believe God without evidence. But let me offer up another example of that kind of faith. Consider the belief in Santa Claus. In story after story, we are told that Santa won’t give presents to people who don’t believe in him. In other words, if you don’t believe in Santa he won’t give you the evidence you need to see that he exists. Atheists are quick to draw a connection between the belief in Santa and the belief in Jesus. Their claim is that if the lack of evidence for Santa is enough for us to know that he doesn’t exist then the lack of evidence for God should be enough to prove that he doesn’t exist. Amen!

If God exists, don’t you think he would give us proof that he exists? Don’t you think that he would communicate with us in some way and tell us that he is there? Do you really think that he would call for us to put blind trust in him, so that we are no more certain that he exists than we are that Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny exists? If God is real, of course he would! And he has!

The very existence of the Universe and our own existence tells us that there must have been a creator. It is beyond our comprehension to understand why there is something instead of nothing. Scientists have theorized a big bang, but where did the energy and matter come from? If God exists, where did he come from? It is beyond our comprehension, so we must conclude that something exists outside of our comprehension that can create something from nothing. That is the very definition of a creator, so we know that a creator exists.

But the Creator is not silent. He has spoken to us through the Bible. We need not accept the Bible as God’s word on blind faith either. It isn’t like other books. It is accurate to the finest detail. It is historically accurate. It is scientifically accurate. It is accurate in its predictions of the future. The prophecies are accurate 100% of the time. That is a verifiable fact. No other book can make that claim.

The faith God calls for isn’t the blind faith that Richard Dawkins has. God calls for us to believe that what he says will happen because he has revealed himself to be powerful trustworthy. We don’t put our trust in a god that requires belief without proof, but in a God who has given us so much proof that we can’t even open our eyes without seeing it.