Bulletin Articles
Why I Believe
Why do you believe in God? I like asking this of myself because being reminded of our why is good. This is not just about responding to critics, but rather articulating reasons to help sharpen our own faith and thinking. Additionally, we may find more reasons as we think deeper. Here are some of my connected reasons:
1. I believe in God because it is not tenable to believe that everything is explained by cosmic nothingness. Either something has always been or not. If not, there is no viable explanation for how something came from nothing. “Nothing” has no creative abilities because it has no existence and no foundation for anything else to exist. There is no explanatory power in nothing; something else is going on.
2. I believe in God because if something has always existed (not nothing), then it is more reasonable to accept that there is an intelligent mind that has always existed and not merely mindless, purposeless matter that has no reason or purpose. Raw matter is not eternal. There is a greater power behind the material that explains existence. That power is called God, and believing that God has eternally existed is more reasonable than thinking that matter alone can explain everything.
3. I believe in God because the human ability to think and reason is not explicable by raw, mindless, purposeless material. Consciousness, reason, and conscientiousness are not mere material corollaries, nor can it be established that raw material, independent of a foundational mind, can possibly create such abilities. Thinking and reason are not products of brute materialism, but are best understood as coming from an ultimate Mind who is not dependent upon material for its existence. This Mind is called God.
4. I believe in God because I accept that there is a real moral nature to humanity. Morality is not an illusion caused by mindless evolutionary processes. A moral nature is not necessary for survival of the fittest or natural selection. In evolutionary thought, many living things have survived without needing to develop a moral nature. Everyone knows that human beings are different, that there is moral accountability and responsibility human beings share that is not expected of any animal creatures. Since morality cannot be explained by brute materialism, and since it cannot be explained by mindless, purposeless, accidental processes, the best explanation is there is a moral entity behind it all, and this is who we call God.
5. I believe in God, specifically the God as revealed in the Bible, because there is a recorded story that no one would have just invented. The story is that of an obscure Jewish peasant from Galilee who made divine claims and was subsequently put to death as a criminal on a Roman cross. Crucifixion was the most humiliating way to die. This was a stumbling block for the Jews as they would have seen a crucified person as cursed (Deut 21:23). The Gentiles would have seen this as foolish (1 Cor 1:18ff). If neither Jews or Gentiles would have considered this story as anything other than folly and shame, we are left with questions about who would have invented the story in the first place, why, and how did so many Jews and Gentiles become convinced of its veracity so much that they were willing to stake their lives on it? More, how does the story of a crucified Jewish criminal become accepted by large Gentile audiences who accept this man no longer as a criminal but as their Savior and Lord? As it stands, it makes no sense, unless there is more to the story — and there is. In an epistle written by Paul about 20 years after the events in question (so recognized even by unbelieving scholars), the story is told of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The historical record given in such a short time does not support that these things were invented generations later. The most logical explanation is that they were telling the truth about what really happened.
The resurrection makes the story believable because without it, there is no rational sense as to how the story gained any traction in a way that accounts for large Jewish and, especially, Gentile audiences accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Without the resurrection, there never would have been a Pentecost (Acts 2), and there never would have started a church, an assembly of followers who would be willing to die for the truth of these events.
In short, I believe in God because I believe that the story of Jesus can only make sense if it is true. Volumes more has and can be said about this. I believe in God because the alternatives are not defensible. Usually the burden of proof is put on the believer, and while this should not be avoided, fairness requires that the unbeliever also take on a burden of proof. That is, the unbeliever should bear the burden of showing that mindless, purposeless processes arising from nothing are capable of explaining everything. I submit that this cannot be done.
