How do I know God really Exists?

Great question, but let's start with another question first: how do we know a car exists? A bit random, but think about it. Or how do we know a bike or computer exists? May sound a bit surreal, but there is a point here: either they exist or they don't exist and whether or not we feel they exist does not make them exist or not exist. Either they exist or they don't exist. And to answer the question of God's existence, we must begin by agreeing God's existence is not based on whether I feel he exists (I'll use the male pronoun to describe God for the sake of having a pronoun for description purposes). God's existence is a factual issue like a car or bike: either he exists or he doesn't exist. If agreed, we now face the task of examining the evidence and coming up with the best reasonable, rational conclusion as to whether it supports his existence or non-existence..

The reason I clarify that stems from some philosopher's suggestions that we define reality by what we want to think and/or feel it to be. The concept that reality is composed of absolute facts that transcend our influence is being mocked. For instance, the Jim Carry movie of a few years ago, The Truman Show, showcased some of the current philosophy that reality may not be what we see and hear. It challenges us to question our sense's perception of data and the use of logic, the traditional tools used to define reality. This deceptive philosophy destroys our ability to function in reality for reality becomes what we want, think or feel it to be. Life does not work that way: either the car exists or it doesn't exist. God exists or he doesn't exist. And if we are even going to begin to dialogue intelligently about God's existence, we have to start thinking in factual terms.

Evidence for God's Non-Existence

Those espousing a theory of non-existence are faced with a dilemma from the start: how do you prove something does not exist? Or in other words, how do you prove something is nothing? For example, if I wanted to prove there is no red car in the parking lot across the street from me, red cars must exist and the parking lot must exist in order to explain they don't exist. In this case, something has to exist in order to prove it does not exist. For instance, does a cure for aids exist? Some would say no. I would say yes, but it has not been found. The same with cancer. The fact that we can even conceive of a cure for aids is an indication that it exists. Why else would we look for it? It is the same with God. The attempt to factually disprove God or even to discover God, is good evidence that He exists.

Thus, to prove God does not exist, logic and reason must be discarded, and irrational thoughts and feelings enter the picture. Atheists (those who do not believe God exists) often argue, "How can you tell me God exists when things seem out of control?" It is an appeal to our emotion. Questions like, "If God exists, why would he let little babies be abused?," are attempts to disprove God from an appeal to emotion. Regardless of the emotional questions that reality may raise, such as "Why do bad things happen to good people," the questions cannot be factored into our conclusion about existence. Existence is a factual conclusion, not an emotional conclusion. Whether God is in or out of control, or whether he is good or bad, cannot be factored into proving whether he exists or not. Is the red car in the parking lot across the street a good car or a bad car? Probably depends on who you ask. But whether the car exists or not cannot be questioned. Same with God. Whether you like him or not does not effect whether he exists or not.

Other atheists would try to argue a more factual case citing evolution, and that this planet and human life as we know it evolved over millions and millions of years. We'll review this momentarily, but the buck stopping question is: "Well, no matter how far back you want to go, where did it come from?" Something can't come from nothing. Something bigger the something had to exist in order to create the something that came from nothing. Sounds like confusing double-talk, but think about it.

Atheist's arguments fall generally on either of those two grounds: an appeal to emotion, or an appeal to evolution without defining the source of the evolution. Even if those arguments are considered arguable, let's see how they measure up to evidence for God's existence.

Evidence for God's Existence

We all came from something: our parents for starters. But where did they come from? Their parents of course: and we could go on and on, but no matter how far back we want to go, at some point there had to be a beginning. Science argues for this. The 2nd law of thermodynamics (that the earth is within a time dimension that will some day end - the earth will run out of energy), as well as the law of cause and effect (every effect has a cause - or everything that happens had to have been caused by a preceding action) substantiate that there had to be a beginning. Some atheists will concede cause and effect and choose to jump on the evolution band-wagon. But what they lack is an explanation for the beginning. How did it all start? At some point there had to be a beginning: scientifically, there is no way around it.

For the atheists who concede a beginning, they will cite the "Big-Bang Theory," stating that there was this cosmic blast and voila, earth and life was started. Do you know what the odds are of some random blast in space creating something as complex as this planet, the atmosphere, space and what we now call life? I guess it is a theory - and you are welcome to believe if you want, but think about it: the probability of it being true is an odd beyond our numerical explanation. The intricacies of the human body, such as the eye, the brain, the nervous system, the reproductive system, let alone the planet in terms of vegetation, heating, cooling, watering etc. are so complex that it could not have happened by chance. Nature itself testifies to purpose and design. If you choose to think it was chance, then why with all of our incredible technology can we not prove it? Show it to me - show me where it came from and how it happened on its own. Where did the stuff that supposedly "banged" come from? The likelihood is so remote that the burden lies upon the people defending that theory to prove it. I am open to listen to anybody, but unless some radically strong evidence appears, in my opinion it is like betting on a turtle in a horse race. You just ain't gonna win . . .

So what I am suggesting thus far is that there had to be a beginning, and it could not have been some random accident that created the beginning. Where does this leave us? I am suggesting to you that there had to be a very unique, purposeful, creative, emotional, willful, intelligent being who created all that we have today. Think about this: how can someone without those attributes create something with those attributes? And philosophically, it is a solid argument that even the fact that we can conceive in our minds of a god is good reason to believe one exists. And he wasn't just an Einstein+. He had to be some super-being who somehow existed or exists beyond the limits of our dimensions (time and space) in order to have created time and space. This is what and who we call God. So the choice is yours: does God exist or doesn't he?

In the near future I hope to include more complex explanations for the solid reasons to believe in God's existence, but if that is something you are not sure of, I wanted to give you some basic ideas to think about. Let me hear from you with comments and suggestions.

Before we conclude this section, I want to close with a question, "Could there be multiple Gods?" Really, if we believe God exists, the next logical question is, "What is he or they like? Even if they did create this planet and life, do they have any kind of ongoing relationship with it?" And what about all the different religions: do they believe in the same God or Gods? For some thoughts on that, read on in the next section about the various world religions and their beliefs.

Back to Questions in "Spiritual Issues"

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