The Substance of Faith An Evidence and Foundational Christian Curriculum Part 2

Part 2: Does God exist?

Can God be disproven? People who do not believe in God should be sure they are right.

Where are my shoes?

Where is God?

The problem with trying to disprove God Human knowledge is limited, but God could be infinite. If we do not know all knowledge, we could never absolutely know that God does not exist.

Can we put God in a box?

Two assumptions to claim God does not exist 1.Humans are infinite 2.God is limited

Two assumptions to claim God does not exist 1.Humans are infinite 2.God is limited No definite proof!

Is human knowledge infinite? The bubble represents human knowledge Creation

Is human knowledge infinite? Science may have only uncovered a small piece of all that happened during creation. Creation

Is human knowledge infinite? Atheists do believe in god: humans are gods (Romans 1:25).

Is God limited? Is God limited because there is evil in the world? Evil may exist as a consequence of freedom of choice despite the presence of an all good and all powerful God.

Is God limited? God thinks like me. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9 NKJV)

So…does God exist? Let’s return to the affirmative question

Does God exist? Can God be proven by science or other human knowledge? Science and human knowledge is limited and inadequate for ultimately answering the question

Logical proof of God What God says – God exists if He says He exists God’s Word is not based on limited human knowledge

The voice of God is absolute proof Ummm… maybe God does exist! “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14)

The voice of God is identifiable God has put within us the ability to recognize His voice God’s voice has identifiable characteristics like a fingerprint, signature, or DNA sample These identifiable characteristics are expressions of the glory of God

All creation speaks of God’s distinctive glory “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1-2 NKJV)

All creation speaks of God’s distinctive glory “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1-2 NKJV)

All creation speaks of God’s distinctive glory “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1-2 NKJV)

All creation speaks of God’s distinctive glory “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1-2 NKJV)

Specific examples Scientific knowledge is used not as a scientific proof As we gaze through the telescope of science, we see even more examples of the glory of God

Examples: science has not answered the question of how we exist Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Does evolution answer the question? No, what started evolution? Does the big bang answer the question? No, what started the big bang?

Examples: the universe had a beginning Disorder (entropy) is increasing The universe is expanding

Examples: precision design 122 precisely tuned constants If gravity was altered by % the sun would not exist (Geisler, 102).

Examples: precision design Probability that all 122 constants could exist for any planet in the universe, assuming planets in the universe (Geisler, p. 106): 1 chance in OR 1 chance in…

Examples: life Complexity of design Moral conscious Spiritual tendencies

Examples: complexity of life Randomness + time = order ????

Examples: complexity of life Randomness + time = order ???? Randomness + time = disorder

Examples: the code of life Can the vast information contained in the genome originate by random processes? Let’s say that a boy found that his alphabet soup spelled out the message, “Take out the garbage – Mom.” Would the boy be justified in concluding that the message just spontaneously appeared?

Alphabet soup example probability_illustration.xlsx The human genome contains vastly more complex information than a simple sentence. Could it have originated by random processes?

Examples: moral conscious Humans have an inborn understanding that murder is wrong Hitler’s holocaust was a logical extension of evolutionary theory Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL is only logical if there is a moral law founded on bigger principles than survival of the fittest

Examples: spiritual tendencies Artistic and spiritual behaviors are distinctly human All humans worship something Our god is anything that we think about constantly, dream about, and look to for purpose or hope

The voice of God: “I AM” “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him… (Genesis 1:27 NKJV) If God exists, how do we have a relationship with Him?