Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Is there a God?

I want my blog to be more of an apologetics blog. So, toward that end, I’m going to be posting a series of blogs dealing directly with apologetics. Ultimately, I want to be able to provide a list of questions commonly asked by critics and provide links to posts dealing with that question. I thought I’d start with the most basic of questions: is there a God?


The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” Romans 1:20. So, according to Paul, the divinity and power of God are clearly seen in His creation. We do not have an excuse to not believe in God. So, do we see God in the creation?


I always like to start at the very beginning. Where do you think everything came from? Most scientists propose an original “Big Bang” from which all matter/energy expanded to become the universe. But the Big Bang doesn’t explain where the energy came from in the first place – it only claims that it all once existed in one place.

Science really has no explanation for the origin of energy. As a matter of fact, in physics, there is the law of the conservation of energy, which basically says that energy (or matter) can neither be created nor destroyed but can only change forms. So they not only have no explanation of the origin of energy, they also acknowledge that energy CANNOT be created. Yet energy exists. If energy exists, there are only 2 possible explanations of its origin: it has either always existed or it was created. That’s it. There are no other choices.

If someone wants to believe that energy has always existed, they are merely making a statement of faith and ascribing divine-like qualities to nature. We cannot know, scientifically, that the universe is infinitely old. Rather, the opposite is true. If the universe were infinitely old, everything in the universe should be the same temperature. What happens when you put ice into hot coffee? They eventually become the same temperature. The same is true with everything in the universe. Eventually, all the stars will burn out, all motion will cease, and everything will be the same temperature. If the universe were infinitely old, this should have happened long ago.

So, if energy cannot be infinitely old, then it must be created. Logically speaking, nothing can create itself so it must have been created by something outside of itself. Therefore, there must have been a Creator.


Consider this: if you see a painting, what more evidence do you need to know there was a painter? If there is a building, the building itself is evidence there was a builder. Likewise, the creation, by itself, is evidence of a Creator.

Now, the next question is, “Where did the Creator come from?” Let’s apply the same two options that we did to energy: the Creator must be either eternal or be created itself/Himself. Now, if the Creator were created, then where did THAT creator come from? Another creator? Where did the other creator come from? Still another creator? You can see where this is going. It’s a (fallacious) logical argument known as an “infinite regress”. Ultimately there had to be a first cause, a Creator that was itself/Himself not created.

The conclusion is inescapable. The universe has an eternal Creator. Now, if that Creator is the God of the Bible is the subject of another post. But to the question, “Is there a God?”, the answer is a resounding, YES!!

2 comments:

  1. that was dumb. i dont believe.

    - Atheist comment

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  2. Anonymous,

    Thanks for visiting my blog. OK, so you don't believe in God; I guess a lot of people don't but you didn't really address any of my points except to say, "that was dumb." Your comment was certainly direct but rather vague.

    I used the existence of the universe as evidence for a Creator. You're welcome to not believe but could you please explain how you believe matter came to exist? Perhaps you know something I don't.

    If you care to respond I'll quickly publish it. Otherwise, thanks again for visiting.

    God Bless!!
    RKBentley

    ReplyDelete