1 Why should I believe in a God I can’t see?

2 What does the future hold? Unfortunate fact Virtually everything in our world is deteriorating Sooner or later that includes us as well No long-term future

3 What does the future hold? Help has to be trustworthy Helper must have ability & be willing to solve our problem If good evidence of God –willing AND able to help Please at least consider whether there could be a solution to our problem

4 What does the future hold? Good reasons to believe the God of the Bible Answers other questions as well!

5 Belief can sometimes be difficult Please take time to consider the possibility that there may be a God No one can see God Suffering Peer pressure Busy lives Why should I believe?

6 Why Should I Believe? There probably IS a God. So stop worrying and fulfil your life.

7 Assessing the evidence Judge or jury: Weight of many pieces of evidence compelling! Looks at the evidence One or two pieces of evidence coincidence? More evidence – more convincing

8 Assessing the evidence Weigh up the evidence Maybe wasting our time? Maybe evidence of a God offering a long term future? Foolish not to consider evidence of a God offering a long term future! Should we believe in a God?

9 Design Our “just so” world The laws of physics Moral law The Bible Please weigh up the evidence for yourself... What is the evidence?

10 Design WDLMNLTDTJBKWIRZREZLMQCOP –Random sequence no design ABCDABCDABCD –Ordered sequence but design? THIS IS A SENTENCE –example of specified complexity

11 Chance and Design Carved heads on Mount Rushmore clearly different from eroded rocks

12 The Argument of Design Looks complicated Features have purpose Features been thought about Been designed Something Complex Needs a Creator

13 Information in life Information stored Information controls systems Vast amount of information Information produced by intellegence

14 Where did life come from? What does the evidence of nature tell you?

15 A “Just so” world Features “just right” –distance from the sun –stability of the sun –size of the sun and earth –angle of axis tilt –speed of rotation –proportion of land and sea –composition of the atmosphere Universe & our earth have been “arranged” to support life

16 The laws of physics Very precise laws Pendulum For a given length, time of swing exactly same Laws imply a law giver

17 Moral Evidence Every culture has laws Murder, lying, stealing universally rejected Everyone has a sense of right and wrong Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a God?

18 Evidence in the Bible Claims to be message from God Accurate predictions Law ahead of its time Variety of Bible writers Ring of Truth Bible “echoes”

19 Bible evidence - Accurate predictions Our predictions based on past experience Varying degrees of success Bible makes many predictions – some highly unlikely All 100% accurate

20 Bible evidence - Accurate predictions Clear and direct Written before event Writers have no influence to make them happen Fulfilled by people not aware Predictions:

21 Bible evidence - Accurate predictions To be generally disliked Have history unlike any other nation Predictions about Jews: Couldn’t be guesses based on other nations All 100% accurate!

22 Bible evidence - Accurate predictions Clear and different for each city and nation Right prediction chosen for each city and nation Predictions about other nations: Evidence of Power greater than ourselves

23 Bible evidence – Law ahead of its time Advanced community health practice Morally advanced civil law Ideas adopted by countries in 19 th century

24 Bible evidence - Writers and their messages Different:  backgrounds  centuries  and places Writers They do in the Bible! Give the same message?

25 The Bible writers Doctor Shepherd High ranking Jew King Fisherman Musician Prisoner Slave

26 The Bible writers 440 BC 630 BC 580 BC 1000 BC 62 AD 750 BC 96 AD 1450 BC

27 The Bible writers

28 The Bible writers The challenge …  Different backgrounds  Different times  Different cultures No other book in the world can make this claim … ONE consistent message

29 The “ring of truth”  The painful truth  Abraham – betrayed his wife  King David – murdered to cover earlier misdeeds  Early apostles – all wanted to be leader  Paul - murderer No other record of history is so honest !

30 Bible echoes  Similar themes  Show how Scripture fits together  ‘Treasury’ contains 500,000 links

31 More evidence in later sessions What is the evidence? Design Our “just so” world The laws of physics Moral law The Bible - accurate predictions - law ahead of its time - variety of writers - ring of truth - echoes

32 Summary Evidence for God Evidence of design A “just so” world Laws of physics Moral law The Bible as evidence There probably IS a God so stop worrying and fulfil your life!