Preached by Andrew Smellie, 6/6/2008

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Does God Exist or Are You an Accident? - Outline

Andrew N. Smellie, B.S., M.H.A.
Evangelist, Washington DC International Christian Church

This is an age-old question that has been debated for thousands of years. We can examine this question from a variety of philosophical, theological or scientific viewpoints, but for the sake of time, we are going to examine some of the major evidence for God that is easy to understand. My name is Andrew Smellie, and I serve as the minister for the Washington DC International Christian Church. Just to give you a little background about myself, I graduated from pre-medical program at Cornell University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Human Biology and completed a Masters degree in Health Administration at Cornell before God called me into the ministry. This month I have been given the opportunity to provide logical, scientific and practical proof of the existence of God, the validity of the Bible and the claim that Jesus is the Son of God. Today we are going to examine the evidence for God, and allow you to make a decision or a verdict. Kind of like a jury. The question is whether God exists, or whether you are an accident. A freak of nature that has a personality. So let’s jump in.

Click here for the slide show of this lesson

The Study of Apologetics

What is it?
- The Science and Art of Christian Persuasion!
- Christian (1 Peter 3:15)
Jesus is Lord and the people need to know the truth!
- Persuasion (Acts 17:2-4)
We are called to persuade others like Paul did!
- Science (Isaiah 40:22, 55:10, Job 26:7)
Study of archeology, astronomy, medicine, & physics!
- Art (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)
Building loving relationships with people that will break down the roadblocks of pride, sin, and false beliefs through discussion and challenges!

Why Is This Important to Study?

- To deepen our love for God and our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-38)!
- We need to love God with all our “mind”!
- To prepare us to answer the claims of the world (1 Peter 3:15-17)!
- We need to be confident about the basics!
- To protect our brothers and sisters in the church from false doctrine (Acts 20:30-31)!
- Even disciples of Jesus in the past have distorted the truth!

The Bible states:
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Psalm 14:1-3

Pretty intense Scripture! Many people say that they don’t believe in God because they don’t want to believe in an absolute truth. They call themselves “good” people, but who defines what is good? Either our Creator gives us our standard of right and wrong, or we make up the standard ourselves, essentially becoming our God – our own Judge and Jury. This is what I did for years.

Darwin’s THEORY of Evolution & Natural Selection

“Mutations” supply the new raw material
“Natural selection” retains the mutations which provide a reproductive advantage
All life (plant and animal) has derived from a common ancestor
YET Darwin also stated, “I cannot look at the universe as a result of blind chance.”

The “Theory of Evolution” was described by Darwin in 1859 in his famous book “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. There had been evolutionary ideas before Darwin’s time (such as the ancient “Great Chain of Being”) but Darwin was the first to propose a reasonable scientific mechanism for how life forms could change through natural means.

The basic idea of organic evolution is that randomly occurring mutations introduce a small change into an organism. Natural selection retains those changes which end up providing the organism with some slight advantage, because the individual with the change is more likely to survive and reproduce at a higher rate, whereby the beneficial change is eventually spread throughout the entire population. “Differential reproduction” describes this idea.

The theory also speculates that all life, including both plants and animals, derived from a single simple life form through a very long series of small changes. “Descent with modification” describes this idea.

Evolution: Proved or Not?

The word “evolution” is used in different ways - one true, the others not

“Micro-evolution” – gradual changes within a kind of animal (Ex: several generations of dogs

“Macro-evolution” – gradual change from one kind of animal to another (Ex: from fish to amphibian to reptile - is “a research topic”)

So … is evolution really true or not? Has it been proved? Most scientists will say it has been proved beyond doubt and should no longer be called a “theory,” and in a sense they are right. Others will say there is not a shred of evidence evolution has occurred, and they are also right. The problem is that the same word is being used in different ways.

The adaptation of populations to form new species through natural selection is well-proven. It is a fact. This is what textbooks and popular shows call “evolution.” It is better labeled “micro-evolution”. Creationists prefer the terms “adaptation” or “speciation”. All “examples” of evolution fall into this category.

Change beyond the species level is also popularly termed “evolution” (including the formation of the structures of the universe and the first life). Above species-level changes are better labeled “macro-evolution”. Evolutionists acknowledge that macro-evolution is still a theory (actually more like a concept) without much proof, requiring further research. It is still a question whether macro-evolution uses the same mechanisms as micro-evolution, or something else.

Understanding the difference between micro and macro-evolution is key to understanding a big part of the creation/evolution controversy. The other key is to realize that the controversy is less about scientific fact than about promotion of a theistic versus atheistic world view.

If Macro-evolution is True

Evolutionary biologist and historian William Provine of Cornell University said that if macro-evolution is true, then there are five inescapable conclusions:
- There’s no evidence for God.
- There’s no life after death.
- There’s no absolute foundation for right and wrong.
- There’s no ultimate meaning for life.
- People don’t really have free will.

Radical concessions from an ardent Darwinist!

Reference: See Philip E. Johnson, Darwin on Trial, 2nd edition (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 126-127.

The Appeal of Evolution

Basically only two choices:
- God exists and He created us
- There is no God, so natural processes must explain how we got here

The appeal of evolutionary thought: it provides a way for people to justify to themselves that there is no God, so they can live and do as they want

What is the appeal of evolutionary philosophy? Many people believe in evolution because it is what they were taught and are ignorant of the actual facts. But its ultimate appeal is that it provides an excuse for people to justify their selfish behavior. It is part of the “long war against God” that has been fought throughout the ages. Evolution provides a necessary support for “humanism,” “secularism,” “communism” and other man-centered philosophies.

Now that we have examined some of the arguments that are out there against the existence of God, let’s look at some of the proof.

#1) The Origin of the Universe: Cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the universe and how it began. It attempts to answer the questions, “Where the universe came from?” “Why does it exist?”

Two Possibilities:

- The universe has always existed
If that’s true, then it was not created!

- The universe has NOT always existed
If that’s true, then the universe was created!

Since the universe could not create itself, there must be some sort of Creator!

Since it is a given that the universe exists, there are two possibilities which follow this reasoning. Either the universe has always existed or it has not. If it has always existed, then it was not created. If it has not always existed, then the universe was created. A thing cannot create itself. Physicists and philosophers call this the law of causality. Since the universe could not create itself (cause itself to exist), that would imply some sort of creator.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1

“The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.”
Psalm 97:6

Over the past few hundred years, there has been a widening gulf between science and Christianity. The popular perception today is that science and the Bible contradict each other. However, over the past 100 years scientists have made some amazing discoveries that have affirmed the truth of God’s eternal word. Psalm 19:1 and 97:6 says that God’s creation declares his glory, and that declaration has never been more clear than it is today in your and my lifetime.

Why should we care what science says? The pronouncements of scientists will not affect our faith.

The first point to realize is that God reveals himself through science. This is called “general revelation.” It is God’s revelation of himself to all people at all times and in all places. Psalm 97:6 says, “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.” As we investigate science we see the glory and the righteousness of God. We can see his power, his creativity, his beauty, his precision and order. God does not call all of us to be scientists, any more than he calls all of us to be professional theologians. But he does call each of us to heed his revelation of himself – his general revelation in nature, and his special revelation in his Word (the Bible).

Our Assumptions

Big Bang
Old Universe (14.5 billion years)
Old Earth (4.5 billion years)

Modern science claims that the universe began with a big bang about 14 billion years ago and the earth is 4.5 billion years old. You may not believe in the big bang, and you may not believe in an old earth, but modern science is virtually unanimous in these beliefs. So my approach is to show how modern mainstream science testifies to the truth of the Bible. Whether the earth is old or young is a controversial subject in Christianity and it is worth a separate discussion. For now I will ask you, for the sake of argument, to grant the modern scientist his belief in a big bang and an old earth. Perhaps it is not true that the universe and the earth are billions of years old. But for the purposes of this discussion I will assume that modern science is correct that the universe and the earth are old, and I will proceed from that point to show how modern science testifies to the truth of the Bible.

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

“For any spontaneous process in a closed system, entropy increases.”
What does that mean in Laymen’s terms???

With the absence of “supernatural intervention,” the universe will run down completely. Order leads to disorder!

The first discovery of science that supports the Bible is that universe indeed had a beginning. Less than 100 years ago scientists believed that the universe had always existed. It wasn’t created. It just always was. But then Albert Einstein came along and formulated his theory of relativity in 1915. The theory of relativity has been confirmed by hundreds of experiments, and it implies that the universe and time itself had a beginning about 14 billion years ago. Before 14 billion years ago there was no space and there was no time. But if the universe and time had a beginning, who began it? Something with an existence beyond the universe and beyond time must have created the universe, just as the Bible claims.

For example, if you cleaned your room and then went in and out of it consistently, it would become more disorderly as time went on unless there is an outside effort made to clean it. To think that there was no Creator implies that disorder leads to order – that design came out of nothing – a direct contradiction to the 2nd law of Thermodynamics.

Evidence from The Big Bang?

Astrophysical evidence points to an event otherwise known as the “Big Bang” 15 billion years ago, where it is believed that physical space, matter, energy and time were created in the universe. Fred Hoyle, an astronomer, explains that the Big Bang theory requires that the creation of the universe came from nothing. If you were to go back in time, you would reach a point in which, in Hoyle’s words, the universe was “shrunk down to nothing at all.”2 Therefore, the Big Bang evidence requires that the universe began to exist and was created out of nothing, a conclusion that agrees with the beginning of creation by God in the Bible. Without a Creator, the universe is an accident, the planets are accidents, and human beings are accidents. Nothing is special or has any purpose. The evidence is clear that we are not accidents, but rather were planned and designed by a Creator.

The Big Bang was Fine-Tuned!

When the universe was one second old, its rate of expansion had to be exactly the right value to within 0.000000000000001%

The creation event that scientists call the big bang was fine tuned to allow for the formation of stars and planets. When the universe was one second old, if its expansion had been one 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a percent higher, then all the matter in the universe would have dispersed so rapidly that stars and planets would never have formed. We would not be here. On the other hand, if its expansion had been one 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a 1000th of a percent lower, then all the matter in the universe would have collapsed back on itself because of gravity, and the universe would have lasted only a few seconds.

Stephen Hawking
An infinitesimal change of the universal expansion after the Big Bang would have caused the universe to re-collapse!

60 mph for 40 years: 21,024,000 miles
(plus or minus one hair width)

How hard is it to be this precise? The accuracy is plus or minus 10–17. Suppose that you need to adjust the speed of your cruise control on your automobile to 60 mph with this accuracy. So you set the cruise control and you travel for forty years. You get good gas mileage so you don’t have to stop for gas. After forty years you’ve traveled around the world over 800 times. You’ve traveled exactly 21,024,000 miles. If you are off by more than 15 microns (one hair width) then your tuning was not accurate enough. That’s how accurately the expansion of the big bang had to be fine-tuned in order to allow for the existence of the universe.

Gravity was Fine Tuned!

The strength of gravity must be within .00000000000000000000000000000000000001% in order for life to exist in the universe

Stronger gravity: inconsistent sun burning
Weaker gravity: not enough metal

But not only was the big bang fine-tuned, gravity was also fine-tuned. If force of gravity was slightly stronger, all stars would be larger than our sun because their stronger gravity would suck in more matter from outer space. Larger stars burn more rapidly than smaller stars. These larger stars would burn too rapidly and inconsistently to support life. The fluctuations in the intensity of their burning would result in huge temperature variations in their solar systems, and life could not survive.

John Barrow & Frank Tipler
A change in the strength of gravity by only one part in 10100 would have prevented a life-permitting universe

Dimes up to the moon on 48 billion Earths!

It’s hard to visualize this level of precision, but here’s an analogy. Pile dimes from here to the moon, a height of about 240,000 miles. Now suppose each of the 6 billion people on Earth have 8 of their own worlds. That makes 48 billion worlds. Pile dimes on 48 billion other worlds the same size as Earth. Paint one dime red and mix it into the 48 billion piles of dimes. Blindfold a friend and ask him to pick out one dime. The odds that he will pick the red dime are the same as the fine tuning of gravity in our universe.

Fine-Tuning

Over 200 parameters had to be fine-tuned for life to exist in the universe.

The odds are one chance out of 10237

That is like flipping a coin and getting tails 787 times in a row!

We could actually list 200 parameters that need to be fine-tuned in order to support life, which reduces the probability of any planet existing with the capability to support life to one out of 10237.

These are the same odds as flipping a coin and getting heads 787 times in a row. If I flipped a coin and got heads 787 times in a row, would you want to bet that I would get tails the 788th time? You would be absolutely certain that I had a two-headed coin. If you had to bet, you would bet that the next flip would be heads again. And that is exactly what we are doing as Christians. We see the design in the universe, and we say, “I bet that there is a Creator,” because 787 heads in a row is too many to be a coincidence. The design that we see in the universe is too much to be a coincidence. And it’s a great bet because if we’re wrong, what have we lost? But if we’re right we get to go to heaven for an eternity of happiness.

But the non-Christian is betting that the next coin flip will be tails. The non-Christian thinks that those 787 heads in a row are just a coincidence, and that the next flip will be tails. And it’s a bad bet, because if he is right, what has he gained? But if he is wrong … well, he’s taking a terrible risk.

#2) The Complex Order in the Universe: The Anthropic Principle

Looking at the above facts as well as other evidence, many scientists have come to the conclusion that the observable universe points to a Creator, known as the Anthropic Principle. The Anthropic Principle is the observation that the universe has all the necessary and narrowly defined characteristics to make human life possible.3 When we look at the world around us, it would seem, at least at first glance, that the universe was somehow designed to support and nourish human life. It seems obviously clear that the laws of nature had been designed with the specific purpose of creating a universe which can support advanced life forms.

Constants Which Had to be Just Right For Life

Constant…………………………A Little Bigger…………….A Little Smaller

1. Gravitational constant………….very short-lived stars………no stars

2. Strong Nuclear Force……………no hydrogen, fusion…………only hydrogen

3. Weak Nuclear Force……………..all H2: He at big bang………no He at big bang, no heavy elements

4. Electric Force…………………no chemical bonding…………no chemical bonding

5. Expansion rate of universe………no galaxies………………..universe collapses quickly

6. Ratio of electrons to protons……no stars and galaxies……….no stars and galaxies

7. Ratio of matter to antimatter……too much radiation for life….not enough matter for galaxies to form

8. Proton/neutron mass difference…..protons decay, no nuclei…….protons decay, no nuclei

9. Decay rate of 8Be………………no elements heavier than Be….catastrophic explosion of stars

10. 12C to 16O nuclear energy ratio…almost no oxygen……………almost no carbon

11. Many others

The perfect size of the Earth

Consider these facts about the Earth alone:

a) The perfect size of the Earth. The Earth’s size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth’s surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter. If the ration of carbon to oxygen had been slightly different than it is, none of us would have been here to breathe the air. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth’s Distance From the Sun (narrow orbital life zone)

b) The Earth’s distance from the Sun. The temperature swings we experience on Earth are roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would all burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth’s position to the sun would make like on Earth impossible. The earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis (23.5 degrees), allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

Can a junkyard produce a 747?

Sir Fred Hoyle: The likelihood of a cell forming by chance is the same as a “tornado sweeping through a junk-yard and assembling a Boeing 747 from the material within.”

The late Sir Fred Hoyle, a world-renowned astronomer, stated that the likelihood of a cell forming by chance is the same as a “tornado sweeping through a junk-yard and assembling a Boeing 747 from the material within.”7 I always give an example of my cell phone when explaining the need for a Creator. I ask my friend who is questioning God’s existence, “If I were to take my cell phone, smash it into a thousand pieces, and put it in a brown paper bag and shake it vigorously, would it come back together in perfectly working order?” The answer is obvious. No.

#3) Irreducible Complexity – Biochemistry

“A single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.” – Prof. Michael Behe

A system is irreducibly complex if it has a number of different parts that all work together to accomplish the task of the system, and if you were to remove one of the parts, the system would no longer work. One example of this would be a car. If you removed the battery, it would not work. There are also hundreds of other vital parts to make it work. Michael Behe, a renowned molecular biochemist and author of the book Darwin’s Black Box – and the champion of the concept of irreducible complexity - uses the example of the common hardware store mousetrap to explain this issue. “If you take away any of these parts – the spring or the holding bar or whatever – then it’s not like the mousetrap becomes half as efficient as it used to be. It doesn’t catch half as many mice. Instead it doesn’t catch any mice. It’s broken. It doesn’t work at all”.8 According to Behe, a basic mousetrap doesn’t have any unnecessary parts you could take off and still achieve the same result. In scientific terms, when a machine can’t be simplified any further, it is said to have irreducible complexity. Why is this important? Behe states that “We’ve learned that the cell is actually run by irreducible complex micro machines. The existence of these machines challenges a test that Darwin himself provided.”8

The Human Eye… A wonder

Schematic diagram of the “irreducibly complex” human eye:

1: posterior chamber, 2: ora serrata, 3:ciliary muscle, 4: ciliary zonules, 5: canal of Schlemm, 6: pupil, 7: anterior chamber, 8: cornea, 9: iris, 10: lens cortex, 11: lens nucleus, 12: ciliary process, 13: conjunctiva, 14: inferior oblique muscle, 15: inferior rectus muscle, 16: medial rectus muscle, 17: retinal arteries and veins, 18: optic disc, 19: dura mater, 20: central retinal artery, 21: central retinal vein, 22: optical nerve, 23: vorticose vein, 24: bulbar sheath, 25: macula, 26: fovea, 27: sclera, 28: choroid, 29: superior rectus muscle, 30 :retina

In his Origin of Species, Charles Darwin stated, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous successive, slight modifications, my theory (macro-evolution) would absolutely break down.”9 In order for these “micro machines” within human cells to have developed over time, they must have achieved this one step at a time. In the case of a mousetrap, it would be like starting with just the platform, evolving over time into a platform with a hammer, then to a platform with a hammer and spring and so on. But Darwin’s theory of natural selection, or “survival of the fittest”, says that the best systems will work, therefore surviving and develop further. A mousetrap that is just a flat wooden platform doesn’t work, so according to natural selection, it wouldn’t develop further; it would become extinct. Like the mousetrap, molecular machines within cells are irreducibly complex. If their parts are not in the correct places, they will not work.

Any incomplete molecular machines would die, one by one.

“Intelligent Design” is the Answer

According to Behe, “My conclusion can be summed up in a single word: design. I say that based on science. I believe that irreducibly complex systems are strong evidence of a purposeful, intentional design by an intelligent agent. No other theory succeeds; certainly not Darwinism.”8 I agree.

God provides the best explanation for fully functioning biological organisms, systems, an subsystems that couldn’t come about through a gradual macro-evolutionary process, without totally ceasing to exist at lower, evolutionary levels. The alternative theory is that biological systems took huge, unseen leaps from simple to complex without any guided process or forward-looking instructions. From a one-celled ameba to a 100 trillion-celled human being? Cellular systems are much more complex than a mousetrap or a car. We’ll examine their amazing capacities in my final point.

#4) Biological Storage of Information

DNA

The storage capacity of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is unbelievable.
DNA is the carrier of genetic information for all complex organisms. DNA contains a four-letter chemical alphabet for all the proteins from which our bodies are made. No theory has come close to explaining how this information got into biological matter by natural means. However, if we were to find this kind of information in a book or computer code, we would know it had an intelligent source! Would a book or computer code write itself? The answer is obvious. The information in DNA points to an Intelligent Designer who created the genetic material with its protein-building instructions. Through the entire chain of DNA uses only six essential ingredients, the tiny chain is enormously long – often containing billions of parts. If you were to take the amount of DNA in a single human body, straighten it out, and lay it end to end, it would extend for 50 billion kilometers (from the Earth to beyond the solar system)!10 Obviously the amount of complex information on a single strand is enormous.

The Complexity of Proteins

When scientists announced that they had finally mapped the three billion codes of the human genome – a project that filled the equivalent of 75,490 pages of the New York Times – geneticist Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, said DNA was “our own instruction book, previously known only to God.”11 In the six feet of DNA tightly coiled inside every one of our body’s 100 trillion cells, it is amazing to see how the genetic information is provided to create all of the different proteins out of which our bodies are built. In fact, each one of the 30,000 genes that are embedded in our 23 pairs of chromosomes can yield as many as 20,500 different kinds of proteins.12 The evidence is clear: if you can’t explain where the information comes from, you haven’t explained life, because it’s the information that makes the molecules into something that actually functions.

A minimum structure in a protein requires at 75 amino acids. For a protein molecule to form by chance you would need:

The right bonds between the amino acids

Amino acids come in right-handed and left-handed versions, and you have to get only left-handed ones

The amino acids must like up in a specified sequence, like letters in a sentence.

The probability of a protein molecule forming by chance would be 1 x 10^126! Impossible!

Imagine trying to make even a simple book by throwing Scrabble letters onto the floor. Or imagine closing your eyes and picking Scrabble letters out of a bag. Are you going to produce Romeo & Juliet in anything like the time of the known universe? Even a simple protein molecule is so rich in information that the entire history of the universe since the Big Bang wouldn’t give you the time you need to generate that molecule by chance.

Books by Accident?

“Human DNA contains more organized information than the Encyclopedia Britannica. If the full text of the encyclopedia were to arrive in computer code from outer space, most people would regard this as proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But when seen in nature, it is explained as the workings of random forces.”1
- George Sim Johnson

Simplest Life Form: break it down

- E. coli contain about 500 billion atoms.
- E. coli have 3000-4000 different proteins.
- DNA and RNA to make and be made by these proteins.
- Dozens of lipids (membrane)
- Saccharides
- Other organic molecules

A Feat of Engineering

Design a robot:
- Less than 1/4 inch tall
- Can carry heavy loads
- Can dig large holes
- Can cross any terrain
- Can find its own energy sources
- Can make other robots like itself
Do this and you would be famous - people would marvel at your skills

Suppose you were an engineer and were told that your job was to design a robot having the listed specifications. To build such a robot is today beyond our technological capabilities, and if we ever build such a robot, you can sure that a lot of planning and designing will have gone into the effort. People recognize the tremendous intelligence and skill that would be needed to perform such a task.

Engineering Performed

- This work has been done
- The robot is called an “ant”
- We squash them because they are trivial and unimportant compared to man
- Complex things require a designer, intelligence, and a plan!
- Evolution has NO designer, NO intelligence, NO plan!

Yet, the task outlined on the previous slide HAS been performed. It is a “robot” we call an “ant”. And even though an ant is marvelously designed and has many capabilities, it is trivial and unimportant compared with man. If the intelligence and planning needed “just” to build an ant/robot is so great, how much greater intelligence and planning must have been required to create the universe, the earth, and all living things! Evolution and naturalism, having no designer to supply intelligence, following no plan, is absolutely, totally incapable of having produced the world we know.

Summary

- Cause and effect must trace back to a “first cause” (God)
- Complexity cannot arise by chance
- Design and purpose in nature requires intelligence
- Ultimately there are only two origins choices (natural or super-natural), and the random, undirected processes of evolution are incapable of creating life or advancing it to higher forms, or explaining how something (the universe) came from nothing - the super-natural is necessary!
- The biblical revelation

In summary, what are the top evidences in support of God?

First, The well-known principle of “cause and effect” requires that there must have been some infinite “first cause” (which we label “God”), as an effect is always less than its cause.

Second, complexity never arises through the results of random, chance processes. This is a common sense observation consistent with known scientific laws. Living things are complex machines.

Third, nature exhibits a tremendous amount of design. The universe, the earth, and living things are not only highly complex, but have function and purpose. The ecosystem of the earth is finely tuned with every part of it related to the rest in a delicate balance.

Finally, all theories of origins ultimately come down to either a supernatural or natural (or no) cause. Evolution postulates that complex living systems self-developed from dead chemicals. Macro-evolution has never been demonstrated. A naturalistic big bang into people scenario is unscientific. Supernatural causes are a necessity.

What is Your Verdict?

“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature –have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20

So what is Your Decision?

If people don’t believe there is a God, they believe that nothing produces everything, non-life produces life, randomness produces fine-tuning, and chaos produces information. To be honest, it sounds like they need more faith to believe that there isn’t a God than to believe that there is a God! The decision is yours to make. Consider the following scripture and ask yourself the question, “If God did exist, would I want to know him?” Therein lies your answer. Examine the evidence and your heart in order to discover the truth.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” - Romans 1:20

For those of you who are faithful disciples of Jesus, I pray that you will preach the Word and develop a conviction to be “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason or the hope you have.” (1 Peter 3:15) If you are trying to make a decision about believing in God, I encourage you to seek God with all your heart through His Word. As Jesus states, “Seek and you will find.” Matthew 7:7

Helpful Websites:

logos.upsidedown21.org
www.doesgodexist.org
www.evidenceforchristianity.org
www.godandscience.org
www.bethinking.org

Seek the Truth and enjoy!

Categories: Apologetics, Sermons