Apologetics

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Colin Bernreuter
4/12/12
Phil 201
Dr. Ehlke
Faith: The Existence of God
How did we get here? Why are we here? Multitudes of people from different millennia have contemplated these questions vigorously in the hopes of an absolute answer. There are three major theories that point to a single, all-powerful deity that created and maintains life on Earth: Cosmological, Teleological, and Ontological. There are also several other theories that also provide legitimate arguments for God. Although faith alone is enough for believers, the existence of the Christian God can be substantiated by physical evidence and rational thinking.
“Nothing can come from nothing.” This phrase, originally spoken by Greek philosopher Parmenides, is now common knowledge, even scientific law. The law of conservation of mass proposed by Isaac Newton gives the Cosmological argument for God a reasonable basis. Plato also expanded on this principle in The Laws. He theorized that there must have been a “prime-mover”. There must have been a start. This theory lost some sway in the Middle Ages when the idea of an eternal universe became popular. An eternal universe however, does not refute the existence of a starting point. An eternal universe would be without time. Time would not have existed, therefore the “starting point” would have happened, but it would not be considered “at the beginning”.
C.S. Lewis (1943) gives a useful metaphor concerning time in Mere Christianity. He says, “If you picture time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all (pg. 168).” This concept of a starting point and an eternal being also goes along with Thomas Aquinas’ theory that:
1. Everything has either been caused to exist by something else or else exists uncaused.
2. Not everything has been caused to exist by something else.
3. Therefore, at least one thing is itself uncaused.
The One thing that is uncaused can only be a deity. The God of Christianity is a perfect fit. In Genesis, the creation story also shows that the universe has a definite beginning; it did not just pop into existence (Genesis 1). The Bible teaches very clearly that God is the uncaused First Cause who created the universe by willing it into existence.
Paul Edwards (1959) gives counter-examples as to the legitimacy of the cosmological argument. He specifically targets Aquinas for his argument. Edwards, while agreeing that Aquinas’ argument is sound and that a powerful something started the universe, he doesn’t believe it to be what we call God (Sect II). The problem is that if finite existence (the universe) is created by an infinite existence (God) then Aquinas’ logical argument makes sense. The infinite must be rational, beyond space and time, and omnipotent. Edwards also gives a metaphor to relate his theory. He asks us to imagine a train-car, but instead thinking of them as individual cars as opposed to one train. Each car moved because the car in front and behind moved. His problem is that there IS a locomotive at the front of the train, powering the train (Sect III).
A Teleological argument deals with the apparent order and design of our world. The complexity of life on Earth and the age-old tale of good defeating evil are both examples of this. Earth is the perfect distance from the Sun, any farther and the water would freeze, any closer and the water would boil. The amount of water is also perfect for life. The 70-30 ratio of water to land has a moderating effect on the temperature of the air, which means it never gets as cold or as hot when water is around. Our atmosphere has just the right amount of CO2 and oxygen to support life, as well as the capability to contain greenhouse gases (Bowden, 2008).The gravity of Earth is at just the right amount. More gravity would allow poisonous gases like SO2 to stay in out atmosphere. Less gravity would allow breathable chemicals like oxygen to drift out of the atmosphere. The fact that Earth is the only planet with any layer of soil is testament to intelligent design. Our soil has exactly the right composition to support a diverse amount of life (Bowden, 2008). If the Earth was not tilted at 23.5 degrees and if the orbit was a perfect circle, seasons would be disrupted. It would either be extreme summer or extreme winter. A faster rotation would make our days shorter and windier. Slower rotation, things would dry out. It would be too hot (daytime side) and too cold (night time side) on earth (Bowden, 2008).
All of these points can be grouped together into one theory proposed by William Paley. He called it the “Watchmaker”. In much the same way a watchmaker makes a watch, with all its tiny parts working together, so too our world with all its tiny working parts needs a Creator (pg. 85). This example, along with many others, gave former atheist Anthony Flew enough confidence to say that he was wrong. He converted to theism shortly after admitting that the extreme complexity and apparent fine-tuning was evidence of a Creator. British empiricists Locke and Berkeley both agreed that through perception, there must be an omnipresent force always perceiving. When we fail to perceive something, according the Locke and Berkeley, it fails to exist (pg. 185-210). We know however, that things do continue to exist. There must be an omnipresent force continuing to perceive, God.
St. Aquinas also had an idea similar to the teleological in Summa Theologica. His 5th law discusses the apparent plan behind the movement of non-intelligent things. He states: “We see that things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result. Hence it is plain that they achieve their end, not fortuitously, but designedly (pg. 53-55). Now whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is directed by the archer. Therefore, some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.” David Hume argued against this way of thinking, believing that the universe was far too big a place for us to assume that is order everywhere. There may in fact be chaos somewhere in the universe; we just haven’t found it yet. He interestingly also believes that by looking at nature it is apparent that there is design. His view is that it didn’t have to intelligent, something of a “first attempt at design” (pg. 88-95).
All of these nuances and minute details of our planet cannot simply be coincidence or a result of chance. History also shows us that the ideas of “good” triumph over the ideas of “evil”. Sure, at times evil ideas seem more prevalent than good ones, but in the end it is the good that remains. If evil were to win, our world would be much different in that it would not work. There would be continual war, famine, and disasters. That is not the case. While there are still wars, famines, and disasters, they are certainly not a dominant percentage of our daily lives.
The 3rd major argument is called the Ontological Argument. It is different than the other two in that it is deals more with rational thinking and empirical evidence. The argument contends that the actual definition of God determines His own existence. St. Anselm of Canterbury details this in his work Proslogion. If we conceptualize the greatest possible being (GPB) in our minds, then it must also exist in reality. If it only exists in our mind, then there must be an even greater being both in our mind and reality (Oppy, 1995).
Rene Descartes provides, to me, a more credible and interesting theory. He argues that even though he has never seen a triangle in nature, he is sure it exists because he can draw its dimensions and it is a definite structure. In the same way, Descartes can conceptualize God in his mind, even though he cannot physically see God in person. He can clearly explain God’s qualities, thereby defining His existence.
Immanuel Kant provided perhaps the most influential argument against Descartes theory. Kant argued that Descartes was using a circular argument. The example of the triangle works because we know triangles exist. That’s why we can conceptualize it. Kant believed this idea could not be applied to God since we have not yet proved His existence. David Hume also saw problems with Descartes’ logic. He argued that a priori reasoning is not a viable way to prove existence. By having an idea of God, we can both believe Him to exist or to not exist (Hume, 1776). Having an idea does not imply existence. It does not go against logic to deny God’s existence based on Descartes’ argument.
As a Christian, I take the Bible to be true. I take it to be so on faith. There is, however, reason to believe that the Bible is a legitimate means of argument for the existence of God based on archaeological evidence, first-person testimony, and the existence of evil in everyday life.
The Bible, written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different authors, is taken to be the inspired Word of God. While the miracles and spiritual message cannot be proven and must be taken on faith, the places, people, and prophetic predictions can all be substantiated by modern science and archaeology.
Other ancient texts besides the Bible depict similar stories regarding a world-wide flood. The 11th tablet of Gilgamesh tells a story of great kings that ruled for great lengths of time, but then a flood came, and afterwards kings ruled for a much shorter life (Wood, 1995). The Story of Adapa recounts an instance where mankind is no longer perfect because of food, much like Adam and Eve. There are also Sumerian tablets that tell of a “temple tower” that was destroyed by the god of wisdom. After the collapse, the uniform language was scattered and men spoke in tongues. Parallels can be drawn between this and the collapse of the Tower of Babel. There are many other examples of Biblical stories recounted in other ancient documents such as:
* Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.
* Revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27), recorded on the Mesha Inscription.
* Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of Assyria, as recorded on his palace walls.
* Defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1), as recorded on his palace walls.
* Campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib against Judah (2 Kings 18:13-16), as recorded on the Taylor Prism.
* Siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17), as recorded on the Lachish reliefs.
* Assassination of Sennacherib by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37), as recorded in the annals of his son Esarhaddon.
* Fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah(2:13-15), recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolasar.
* Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-14), as recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.
* Captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16), as recorded on the Babylonian Ration Records.
* Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:30-31), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.
* Freeing of captives in Babylon by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.
* The existence of Jesus Christ as recorded by Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, the Talmud, and Lucian.
* Forcing Jews to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54) (Acts 18:2), as recorded by Suetonius.


The last part of this paper deals with a deeply spiritual and personal concept, faith. These are my experiences, how they relate to my faith, and how my faith relates to God. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Physical evidence is not needed for Christians in order to believe. Faith is enough. No one will ever be able to prove that God exists until the Last Day. No matter how strong the argument; no matter how many people believe it, God’s existence will never be unanimously believed until that day. On the other hand, no one will ever be able to disprove the existence of God, simply because it cannot happen. Sometimes however, people need proof in order for them to believe.
As Christians, we know God exists because we speak to Him every day. We do not audibly hear Him, but we can feel Him working, we can feel His presence, and most of all, we feel the need for Him. There are some things that happen in our lives such as miracles, phenomena, or close-encounters that scientifically cannot be explained. None of these arguments can persuade anyone who refuses to acknowledge what is already obvious. In the end, God’s existence must be accepted by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in God is not a blind leap into the dark; it makes sense. Science does not refute our faith, it strengthens. Science helps us to reveal the mysteries of God.

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