Many people say that they believe in God but when asked the question, “How do you know?” It causes them to question and they have their faith shaken. We live during a time where we must know why we believe in God. He is not just a crutch or some fairy tail myth! So, how do we know that there is a God?
There are several philosophical answers to this question. Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Descartes’ and many others have philosophized about this for years. There are several arguments for the existence of God:
The Ontological argument – Extremely simplified, this argument says that since we can conceive of a God then God exist.
The Cosmological argument – This argument is also called “The First Cause” says that the universe must have been caused by something that was itself uncaused, which was God.
The Teleological argument – This argument looks at nature – the order, purpose, design, and direction – or some combination of these – and says that there must have been someone who put it all together. Much like a watch does not exist without a watchmaker the world and universe does not exist without a creator.
The Moral Argument – According to this argument, there couldn’t be such a thing as morality without God. The fact that there are moral laws and that not everything is permitted proves that God exists.
Each of these arguments are good arguments for the existence of God, however they are not foolproof. I remember sitting in a philosophy class at a Christian college where the professor took each of these arguments and totally obliterated them. After he destroyed these arguments for the existence of God he gave no solid alternatives for his students to grasp on to. Was my belief all based on just faith or was there something more? As I wrestled with this I discovered that there was one argument that could not be philosophized or argued away. That argument was based solely upon one person – Jesus Christ! He is the only foolproof argument for the existence of God! Next time we will look into who Jesus Christ is!
God Bless you this week!
Because of HIS Amazing Grace,
Myron D. Atkinson
Pastor
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