Exploring Whether God Exists

Certainly, one of the most hotly contested issues throughout history is whether a God exists or whether humans are on their own. Although no one can definitively prove or disprove God’s existence, Christians consider several aspects in order to make an informed decision. In this section, I provide a snapshot of the many debates that range in this arena. 

If you want to look further into this topic, check out the resources available on my Web site at digitalwalk.net. 

The world appears to be intelligently designed

On a vacation in Colorado a few years ago, I gazed upon the brilliant sun as it made its slow, swooping descent toward the purple mountain skyline. The sunset was drop-dead gorgeous, and in my amazement, I remember saying to myself, “Who can deny that a God created this?” Later, when my first child was born, I uttered a similar line as I held my 7-pound, 14-ounce miracle in my arms. I’m certainly not alone in experiencing these thoughts when confronted with the wonders of this world. This kind of intuitive belief or “gut feeling” is enough to convince many that a God who created the earth and its inhabitants really exists. 

This intuition-based claim is similar to the teleological argument, a theory to prove God’s existence that William Paley originally put forth back in the 19^th century. Paley argued that if you found a watch when you were on a walk through the woods, you could quickly size up the object and conclude that such a highly engineered piece of equipment didn’t just bud on a nearby maple tree. The logical conclusion is that the watch wasn’t formed by accident, but was designed and constructed by an intelligent being. After establishing this idea, Paley told his students to back up and look at the universe – like the watch, its engineering is so complex, precise, and ingenious that it screams out evidence for a designer. 

Although this argument is logical and can be compelling, it doesn’t convince everyone. An atheist looks at the same sunset or the same human birth and sees these incidents as nothing more than evolution in action. Ultimately, the intuitive argument helps confirm suspicions you have toward believing in God, but doesn’t often change a diehard sceptic’s mind. 

However, a second, more compelling argument goes beyond mere intuition and says that not only does the world appear to be designed, but correct science cries out that there must be a designer. For example, in his critically-acclaimed book Darwin’s Black Box (Free Press, 1998), biochemist Michael Behe argues that evolution can’t sufficiently explain the complexity of organisms. Darwin insisted that evolution occurred through a series of small steps that transformed simple structures into complex ones. Yet, the more scientists discover about the complexity of cells, the more they realize the practical impossibility of them developing gradually. (See Chapter 16 for more on Behe’s arguments against Darwinian evolution.) 

People (most, anyway) can think and reason

A second argument that Christians hold up as proof that God exists is what goes on in that noggin of yours and mine. The fact that people have the ability to think in a logical and rational manner is explainable only by claiming the existence of God as designer and creator. Okay, I admit, not all people think rationally, but for the sake of argument, let’s keep the discussion using you and me as examples... okay, you. 

The fact is that people reason – no one can deny that. Therefore, God either created people with the unique ability to think, or else reason developed on its own. But believing that people acquired rational thought in small steps through natural selection reduces people’s ability to reason to nothing more than a biological process. In his book Mere Christianity (Harper San Francisco, 2001), C.S. Lewis points out the problem in this line of thinking by comparing human reason to human eyesight. Your vision is far more helpful and useful to you than the vision of a single-celled organism that’s sensitive to light but doesn’t have eyes to see. Now, suppose you give that cute little creature a set of eyes and throw in a pair of eyeglasses to boot. In doing so, you would enable the organism to see better, but you wouldn’t bring it any closer to an intellectual understanding of what light is. Remember, it’s not scientists with really good eyes who are experts in light. Instead, it’s the ones who’ve specialized in the related sciences. From this perspective, trying to fit human reason into an evolutionary process is like trying to watch a 3-D film without wearing those funny-looking glasses – everything important is lost in the process. 

A faith-filled atheist?

A step of faith isn’t unique to Christianity. Every religion, theory, or system of belief that attempts to explain the world requires faith – believing in something that can’t fully be proven. At first glance, you may think an atheist is exempt from this rule, but that’s not true. An atheist has faith, all right – not in a divine God, but in the belief that God doesn’t exist.