Dear Conrad- I do not believe in God, although I have searched to see if I feel I should. I have many friends that are religious and many have tried to help me find God but I do not feel empty with out Him. I was not raised going to church so scientific ways of looking at the world make more sense to me. People do not usually understand how my point of view is plausible and even though I do not feel empty with out God I still sometimes search to see if I believe he is out there. People say I should just have faith that he is out there, but how can one have faith without even a glimmer of proof. Do you have any suggestions for how to decide whether or not to believe in God if the Bible has not done it for me and neither has talking to my religious friends? Thanks for your time, Alicia
Alicia, these are really good questions. This answer might be a little long since the question is so large in scope. And since you seem to be sincere about your search for answers, I'll try to answer your question thoroughly.
First off let's talk about evidence of the existence of God. People like myself would say there's a whole ton of evidence. Everything we see is evidence of God. Other people who don't believe in God see it as evidence that the universe simply exists.
You mentioned you like seeing the world through science – which is fine. But how does science fit into this question? Science is just the study of the universe – whether you say God created stuff or it happened by chance.
But science, like religion, is built on faith. Many people believe science is opposite of faith. But in fact, science is still based in faith.
No scientist can prove where the universe came from. Science can hypothesize that the big bang started everything, but it cannot say 1) where the big bang matter came from or 2) what caused the big bang. Science has to make an assumption – and that is faith. The scientists have faith that the matter somehow came from nothing. It also has faith that somehow life came from non-life – and not just life, but life that could somehow reproduce itself.
So that's where science and faith come together. Atheist scientists have faith that matter and life came from nothing, and Christian scientists have faith that God created everything. So science is still based in faith.
(Side note: Here is a recent article of an atheist scientist who came to the conclusion that a God had to have made the universe.)
Science is a great way of looking at the universe, but it cannot give all the answers. Science has its limitations…
…It can answer how the universe runs, but not why the universe was created.
It can answer what happens when a person gets cancer, but it cannot console him when he is feeling depressed.
It can answer what happens to a person if someone else chokes him to death – but it cannot answer if the action was right or wrong.
Science can answer, "Do I live?" but not, "How should I live?"
This is morality. Science doesn't try to seek answers to questions of morality.
No matter how someone was raised, everyone believes in right and wrong. Most everyone believes that murder is wrong or pedophilia is wrong. Even if laws are different, all cultures morally regard bravery and despise cowardice. This shows us that people are made with a sense of morality.
That is evidence that we were created with more than just physical parts – more than what science can see. We have non-physical parts. We have thoughts, emotions and morals.
Now if everyone believes in some sort of right and wrong, it would be useless to abide by it unless there was some agreement to what was right or wrong.
If there is no God to say what is right or wrong, then it is up to humans. And who is to say one human's view of morality is right or wrong? There would be no absolute right or wrong. I could define "right" as mass murder and "wrong" as feeding the hungry and no one could tell me otherwise because I could just say, "Well, that's your view. Since it's up to us to define right and wrong, I'm going to define it my way."
Even if one believes that there is no absolute right or wrong, the fact that that person is even talking about right or wrong shows that they believe in absolute right and wrongs. If there were no black and white, there would be no gray areas. Just like how there can be no center if there is no left or right. If there are no limits, no boundaries, no absolutes - then mass murder and pedophilia are simply life-choices that someone can make and we couldn't comment on that person's behavior.
Obviously that isn't the case in the world. People call other people right or wrong all the time, from politicians, to children, to teachers, to criminals. Most people believe Hitler was evil, but without absolutes we couldn't call him evil at all. We could only say - Hitler wasn't good or evil, he merely killed 6 million Jews. He is just as good or evil as the babies he killed.
The more people call someone good or evil, the more they affirm that there is an absolute right and wrong.
But where do we get that sense of right and wrong? Genetics? If it is genetics, then how can one person choose to tell the truth one moment and tell a lie the next. Did their genes change? And if their genes changed and it is genetics, why punish wrong doers? Their body just told them to do that. We don't jail people for having birth defects. Genetics made them that way.
It is because, deep down we all have a sense of morality. And that morality is evidence that a moral being created us. We were created with a sense of good or evil. And what "good" or "evil" is has to come from somewhere. And that sense of good or evil can only from the one who actually says what "good" and "evil" is. And people like myself call that being God…
...the same God that brought the universe into being (which science can't explain)
...the same God that created life (which science can't explain). That is the God that tells us there is a right and a wrong.
Now okay, at this point you might be asking yourself, "So maybe there's a God, but there's a ton of religions out there - how do I figure out which one actually has the right view of God?"
Now I can't speak for everyone out there, so I'll just say why I believe in the God of the Bible.
God didn't want to create robots, so he gave humans choice. A choice to love him or disobey him. If you program a computer to print out "I love you," the computer doesn't love you, you merely told it to do that. So that is why we were created with the ability to choose good or evil. But obviously we chose evil. The simple fact that you have to have keys for protection of your house and car show that humans aren't good.
Since God is just, he has to judge fairly those who have commited sins. A fair and just judge cannot say to a convicted mass murderer, you're free to go. That would be unjust. So since God is just, there must be punishment of sin.
But God is also a God of love. So he wanted to provide a way to pay for our punishment. It's like this. Each time we sin, we owe God more money. So how in the world can we pay off our debt to him if we keep going further into debt? It's like having a credit card – every month you have a bigger debt, but you can't pay it off because you keep spending more. So how can our debt be paid for? I can't pay it off for you since I too owe God money. The only one who can pay my debt is someone who doesn't owe God anything – someone who is perfect.
That is why God himself had to pay for our sins. We can't do it. So he did it. Since Christ lived a perfect life, and didn't owe God anything, he took our punishment. If he pays our debt, we don't owe God anything else, then we're free from punishment.
So how can we get his payment applied to our debt? Simple. Picture this, you're in the courtroom and the judge says, "Either you pay for your sins, or Christ does. If you want Christ to pay it for you, you have to be his servant. So which is it?" If you go, "Okay, I'll be Christ's servant." The judge goes, "Okay, Christ, do you got the payment for this person?" Christ goes, "Yes. I died for their sins and that payment can be used for this person." The judge now says to you, "Right then. You're free to go."
Here's the opposite… You're in the courtroom and the judge says, "Either you pay for your sins, or Christ does. If you want Christ to pay it for you, you have to be his servant." If you go, "I don't want Christ to pay for my sins." The judge goes, "Okay, then you pay for it. Off to your punishment. See ya."
So when Christians talk about needing a faith in Christ, what they mean is "Christ died for me and I choose to live my life for him." Faith is not just believing Christ existed on this earth. Everyone knows that. Faith is about making him Lord and Savior of your life.
No other religion has payment for sins. Other religions say "Be good and you go to heaven." But their view has no payment of sins. Therefore they believe in an unjust God, a God who can dismiss sins, a judge who can let criminals go free. Why even be good if God doesn't punish evil? Why love a God who doesn't differentiate between good and evil?
Those are some of the main reasons why I believe in the God of the Bible. I believe it is an accurate portrayal of a God that can be good, just and love all at the same time.
I believe too, that I am a sinner. I sure ain't perfect (show me someone who thinks they're perfect and I'll show you someone who just committed the sin of lying or pride). So I need something beyond myself. I also believe that Christ was more than just some radical thinker, teaching "Love your enemies." I believe that He is God, coming in the form of man, to provide payment to those who would accept him as Lord. He didn't have to do that, but He did. That is love. And I love Him for that. He is not my Lord because I'm afraid of the punishment, He is my Lord because He died for me – I owe my life to Him for that.
I don't know where you are at with God, but I'm sure you do know that you're not perfect. And at the end of our lives, judgment will be handed down to everyone – no matter if they believed in God or not.
I hope something in all of that helps you with your search.
You might also want to consider the writings of an atheist who searched and found God. His book is written plainly and very straightforward. It is the one book (besides the Bible) for anyone searching for God. It's called Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
Here's a link to it.
"Now that I am a Christian I do not have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable."
--C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
