There are some people who say that going to church to worship God is a waste of time because there is no God and it’s silly to believe in one. If someone asked me, “Do you believe in God?” I should say, “Yes, certainly”. If the person went on to ask me, “Why do you believe?”, my reply would be, “Because I find it so much more difficult not to believe”.
In fact there are very good reasons which make it easier to believe that there is a God than to disbelieve.
General consent
All over the world people have always believed that there is a Being far greater than ourselves whom we call God. Everywhere you will find some sort of belief, though many of the ideas are non-Christian and may seem strange to us.
You’ve probably heard of Stonehenge – it’s in the south of England, on Salisbury Plain. There you can see the remains of a circle of great blocks of stone called Stonehenge. Long ago the ancient Britons used to gather at Stonehenge to worship the sun at a great service on Midsummer’s Day, the longest day of the year. They saw how the sun makes things grow when the winter is over, and so they thought the sun must be God.
The ancient Greeks believed in many gods, and used to think that they all lived together in a fine palace on top of a mountain called Mount Olympus.
In some parts of the world today, people make figures of wood or stone which they worship. From time to time they hold festivals after nightfall, dancing in the firelight in honour of their god or gods.
So all over the world, whether in great cathedrals like St Paul’s in London or in clearings in the rain forests, people show their belief in some sort of god. They differ in the ideas they have about God but they all agree that there is a God. But this isn’t a good enough reason why we should believe too. There are much better reasons.
The Universe as a long series of causes
Everything we see is the effect of a previous cause; and every cause is itself the effect of an earlier cause. So one can think of the Universe as being a long series of causes. Christians believe that God is the first cause who set the series going and who is himself uncaused. If there were no God, it would mean this series of cause and effect would stretch back into the past without any beginning.
The origin of the Universe
If you came into my garden and saw a rabbit hutch, you might say, “Did you make it?” Now supposing I replied, “No one made it, it just happened”, you would wonder whatever I was talking about. I am quite sure that none of you would believe me because things do not make themselves. So another reason why we believe in God is that the Universe could not create itself. You’ve probably heard of the Big Bang theory – for many years it has seemed to be the most likely theory of the origin of the Universe. According to this theory, the Universe began as a ball of light 13.7 billion years ago. From this high energy light, all the matter in the Universe was created. So everything in the Universe, including the stars and the Earth and human beings, evolved from light. (1) The Big Bang was the point when space began to expand. (2) Christians believe that God created the initial ball of light and started the process of evolution that led to the formation of the Universe.
The likelihood that this all happened by chance is incredibly difficult to believe. Much more believable is the idea that there is an intelligence that brings about the exact conditions needed for the Universe to form and to provide the conditions needed for life. Christians believe the intelligence is God.
Recently it has been suggested that the laws of physics, such as the law of gravity, mean that the universe can create itself from nothing. (3) However, this theory, even if ever proved to be true, does not disprove that God created and sustains the universe. The theory does not explain where the laws of physics come from. Christians believe that God is the origin of these laws.
More recently many scientists have started questioning the idea that there was nothing before the Big Bang and they suggest that the Big Bang was not the beginning of the Universe – there was something in existence before it. (4)
All these scientific theories are exciting for us as Christians because they give us new insights into the infinite wonder of the Universe and how it may have come into being and they remind us of the greatness of God who created the Universe and sustains it.
Existence of life on Earth
For life to evolve and be maintained the conditions must be right. For example, if there were less than 12% of oxygen in the atmosphere, no fires could be lit. But if there were more than 25% of oxygen, fires would never go out and so once a fire had started the whole planet would burn. As you probably know, the level of oxygen in our atmosphere is 21%.
Some scientists think that there are mechanisms which work to maintain the conditions necessary to foster life. Religious believers will see God as the origin of these mechanisms. For people who don’t believe in God it is much more difficult because there is no obvious reason why these mechanisms should exist. (5)
Intelligent design
Our whole world is full of wonder and Christians believe that Someone with an amazing mind must have thought it all out and planned it. For example, think of the problem of producing a butterfly, like a Red Admiral, from a tiny egg smaller than a pin’s head. And then think how ingeniously the problem is solved. From the egg there comes the caterpillar which crawls and eats and grows until it is time for it to go to sleep and turn into a chrysalis. And inside the chrysalis it turns into the butterfly and comes out with its beautiful wings all powdered with colour. And so the problem is solved, but Christians believe it could not have been solved without a Mind to solve it. And the same applies to all the wonders of Nature.
Some people would argue that the beauty and order in the world are not the result of a Designer but the result of evolutionary forces that ‘just happen’. But for Christians it is not a question of the beauty and order in the world being the result of an Intelligent Designer OR of evolutionary forces. Rather, we see God as the Intelligent Designer who planned and sustains the process of evolution.
Religious experiences
Throughout human history there have been people who have had an experience or awareness of God. These people include prophets and holy individuals whose lives have been devoted to prayer. But they also include ordinary people.
Some people argue that religious experiences are the result of some sort of mental illness. However, there are some very good reasons for rejecting this argument; for example, people who report religious experiences are often well-balanced, intelligent and have the ability to be self-critical. Genuine religious experiences also tend to change the people concerned and remain important to them for the rest of their lives. Research has also shown that religious experiences often only occur once and come to many people who are not ‘religious’ or do not belong to any particular faith. (6)
Quantum science
Quantum science has turned upside down our understanding of the Universe and revealed that the world is far more complex and strange than any previous generations could have imagined. Isaac Newton described three dimensions (length, breadth, depth). We now know that there is not just a fourth dimension (time) – there may be many more dimensions. It is possible that religious experiences may sometimes be a temporary ability to experience dimensions other than those we usually experience. (7)
Christians would argue that God, as the creator of the universe, is the creator of all the dimensions. If quantum science and the idea of many dimensions is difficult to understand, it’s not surprising that we find it impossible to understand God fully. (8)
Christian belief in God
We believe in God because it makes much more sense to believe than not to believe. We believe that he is the Creator and Designer of all and holds everything in existence. God himself had no beginning – he always was, he is, and he always shall be.
As the Psalmist wrote long ago:
“Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (NSRV, Psalm 90:2).
God is Spirit. He is present everywhere because everywhere is in his presence.
SUMMARY
1. Christians believe that God exists. Among reasons for believing this are:
• The Universe could not create itself. It needed someone to create it.
• The Universe is a series of cause and effect stretching far back into the past. God is the First Cause who set the series going and is himself uncaused.
• The way the Universe started and life is maintained could not have happened by chance but rather by the design of a Supreme Intelligence – God.
• Throughout human history there have been people who have had an experience or awareness of God.
2. God had no beginning. He always was, he is, and he always will be.
3. God is Spirit. He is present everywhere because everywhere is in his presence.
References
1. Potter, C. (2009) You are here. A portable history of the universe, London: Hutchinson.
2. Allaby, M. et al (2008) The encyclopedia of Earth. A complete visual guide, Sydney: Weldon Owen.
3. Turner, L. (2010) 'God didn’t create the universe, says Hawking', The Independent,02 September. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/god-didnt-create-universe-says-hawking-2068289.html (Accessed 14 September 2010) (Internet).
4. BBC Horizon ‘What happened before the Big Bang?’ Broadcast 11 October 2010.
5. Vardy, P. and Arliss, J. (2003) The thinker’s guide to God, Ropley: O Books.
6. Vardy, P. and Arliss, J. (2003) op cit
7. Vardy, P. and Arliss, J. (2003) op cit
8. Vardy, P. and Arliss, J. (2003) op cit