With the amazing interest that was generated by my last post, I've decided to start a series of posts building the case for Christianity. I hope to gear these posts towards two purposes; to strengthen Christian's perspectives of their religion, and to shed some light to non-Christians as to what our religion stands for.
This first post will start with building a case for a God. This is not specifically the Christian's God, but rather just the case for a higher power. I will then continue in later posts to build a case for the Christian's God specifically, and then for Jesus, and the Bible, and so on.
I believe that undeniably there is a God, and I believe that this is one argument that can be won. Even if you don't agree that the Christian God is true, or even that the term God is correct, subconsciously everyone knows that there is a higher power that was and is still at work amongst us. As of 2009, according to the LA Times, 95% of American adults accepted the fact that there was a higher power. Surprisingly, more than half of American scientists also believed in a higher power.
Those that deny a higher power usually have an interesting story behind their choice. It may be turmoil, previous abuse, e.t.c. that influences this decision to stubbornly turn away from the evidence. Most times, after much intense discussion, the truth is revealed, but the person will continue to deny the facts. For those who would like a good view of this scenario, or documented situations where scientists have openly admitted God is a plausible explanation for the universe, check out Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed starring Ben Stein.
Anyways, moving on to those facts; I believe that building a case for a God has to begin at the start, which is creation. No matter how you want to explain how our world came into being, there is still a massive void that needs to be filled. Whether it be the Big Bang Theory, or the Multi-Verse Theory, the odds for any explainable possibility are so astronomically low that it is mind boggling. Now that doesn't necessarily state that the theories are impossible (although I can definitely produce facts that do argue against the theories), rather it simply states the need for something else. There had to be a catalyst, or an original simulation that sparked this creation process. The only plausible explanation would be an eternal, almighty, intelligent power.
Not only do the mathematics point to a power, but the design of our world would also point to an intelligent creation. Again, the odds of such a perfect environment that seems to be designed specifically for our race are crazy low! Our position in the solar system, how perfectly we are placed away from the sun, our specific tilt and spin as a planet, our atmospheric chemistry, and the amount of resources that thrive on Earth aren't just a random 1 in a billion (scientifically even more that that) occurrence.
And that's not even bringing up our intricate design! How could we randomly come into existence? Our bodies that contain so many cells that weave together to create an interdependent structural system, created by accident? Is that even possible? Even if you do follow the train of thought that we evolved (which is a theory that can be disproven, but is still interesting to explore), how can you explain the starting point of this evolution process? How did the perfect conditions just happen to come together just once for this single cell? And what provided the catalyst for the process?
Perhaps my favourite argument is contained in C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity. He argues that our intelligence is the largest piece of evidence supporting a power. There is absolutely no way that such a developed intelligence could simply randomly appear out of nowhere. We must be based off of a model, or an idea, or something. And our moral intelligence is perhaps the best demonstration of this. We all just seem to have ideas of what is right and wrong. But how originally did we gain this perspective? Expand the situation for a second, and go beyond society, beyond your family, to the beginning. How did the first human decide what is right and wrong? Again, the only explanation is a higher power who dictated how His creation should function.
This is only the beginning of an extremely large discussion. Next, we argue for the Christian God, then the Christian creation, and continuing to the Christian's current beliefs. But ignore that for a second, and just see if you can wrap your mind around a simple higher power who created or even just started the creation process?
I'm extremely interested to see if anyone doesn't believe in a higher power, so let me know what your beliefs are! I'm looking forward to another intense discussion!
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