Questions?

What is the number one reason you believe in God?
submitted by Will Johnson, Washington, DC

by Tom Crawford

12/10/2008 - revised 12/24/2008

What is the number one reason I believe in God? Or maybe I should reword this as: What is the number one reason I put my trust in God? Dissertations could be written about this simple answer. God's faithfulness! Two words, but an infinite number of facets to this diamond of truth. Following are some ways God has shown His faithfulness. Unfortunately I can only touch on these subjects right now.

• Scripture - God's divine revelation to us
• 66 books by a number of authors (Old Testament and New Testament) which fit together having one theme: God's love and salvation for mankind.
• fulfilled prophecy - detailed in both space and time accurately fulfilled down to the letter .
• historical and archeological accuracy - time and again, the Bible has proven accurate and the critics wrong.
• realistic - it speaks to my spiritual condition without fluff; it explains and solves my spiritual need; it reveals a realistic God .
• comfort - it gives comfort even "in the valley of the shadow of death."
• Natural Revelation - God has made Himself evident through what is seen:
• Laws of Physics - no matter where you look in the universe, the speed of light is the speed of light, an electron is an electron, orbits are predictable (the sun comes up every morning), etc.
• The universe (time, space, matter) had to have a beginning (follows from General Relativity and the Big Bang). Every effect since then goes back to the First Cause. I believe the probability of no God is much much less than 1 e -100.
• DNA - the information contained within the human genome had to come from somewhere. Information can be duplicated (cells dividing, Xerox machines, packets of information on the internet), but new information cannot be created without a creator. It can only be corrupted and lost (follows from the Second Law of Thermodynamics). The genetic information found in life had to have been put there by the Creator.
• Complex Systems require an Intelligent Designer - Lately we have been sending probes to Mars, looking for (among other things) the basic building blocks of life and life itself. Suppose in our exploration, our Mars rover bumps into and unearths (un-Mars-es) a rover similar to itself that we did not send there. We would conclude that Mankind or some alien being had previously had the technology and the will to explore Mars at some point in the past. Suppose instead the rover discovers a one-celled animal or plant (a living system much more complex than a Mars rover). Why should we conclude it just happened?
• An Empty Grave - Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross by professional executioners - the Romans. Yet more than 500 people saw Him alive after the fact! Many of those witnesses were martyred (executed) for testifying to this one fact. And the enemies could have squelched the whole Christian religious movement at the beginning by doing one thing - producing the body - but they could not because Jesus had risen!
• A relationship with God - I have been a Christian for not quite 50 years now. God has forgiven (and continues to forgive) my sin. God has made me right before Him in His eyes (through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ). God tells me when I have disobeyed Him (convicts me of my sin). God tells me what His will is (usually through the Scriptures, but occasionally indicates it in other ways). God has given me the hope and assurance of eternal life (through the resurrection of Jesus Christ). I could go on. The Faithful God is faithful, and worthy to be trusted.
• The death of my father - God has given comfort in the darkest hours of my life. My father died almost 22 years ago. It is unexplainable, but at that time (and to this day) I had assurance that I would see my father again. I certainly missed my father, but I remember commenting to my brother-in-law at the time that the worst part about his death was that I just couldn't pick up the phone and call him. But I knew that I would see him again! I don't know how to explain this comfort except through God working within me. Most people, when they have a loved one die, grieve with no hope about the future. This experience demonstrated to me that a Christian has a firm hope in the future resurrection!

Each one of these bullets could be expanded on almost indefinitely. And the list could certainly be made longer. But it does give some indication on what went through my head as I was comtemplating this question.