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The Existence of God An Argument for Christian Theism

The Existence of God An Argument for Christian Theism. Dr. John Oakes Perth, West Australia 1/19/2013. Outline. Atheist arguments against the existence of God The failure of Atheism Arguments for theism. Arguments Against the Existence of God. God cannot be seen/observed.

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The Existence of God An Argument for Christian Theism

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  1. The Existence of GodAn Argument for Christian Theism Dr. John Oakes Perth, West Australia 1/19/2013

  2. Outline • Atheist arguments against the existence of God • The failure of Atheism • Arguments for theism

  3. Arguments Against the Existence of God • God cannot be seen/observed. • Hypocrisy of believers. • The problem of suffering. • Atheism is the default position.

  4. God Cannot Be Observed:Therefore He Does Not Exist. • Yuri Gagarin, first man in space: “I didn’t see any God up here.” • The Wrong God. • Electron, wind, consciousness, love, hope, beauty. • Existence inferred from the observed effects.

  5. Hypocrisy: The Evil Done by Believers Argues Against the Existence of God. • Evil has certainly been done in the name of Jesus Christ. (Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, priest abuse, us!) • But what is evil? • Is this a valid argument? This is not even an argument. It is a smoke screen. • The difference: When a Christian does such things, it violates an absolute moral standard he or she holds to.

  6. The Problem of Suffering • If God is omniscient, omnipotent and loving/compassionate. • Then, in view of suffering, that God certainly does not exist. • Argument based on false premises.

  7. Suffering and Evil: Twin Problems • Assumes that a loving, omniscient, omnipotent God ought to prevent all suffering. • Free Will. • Natural Causes. • Pain, physical and emotional, are not evil or even “bad.”

  8. Free Will: God Gives Us a ChoiceWhy? Because he loves us.The result: We rebelled and brought evil into the world. Is this God’s fault? What is the alternative? • Deuteronomy 30:15-20 • Joshua 24:15 • John 7:17

  9. Free Will, An Illustration: The Prodigal Son

  10. Causes of Suffering • Free Will • Sin • Natural Disasters • Foolishness

  11. God’s Moral Law is Simple: Sin Produces Suffering • Exodus 20:5-6You shall not bow down to them (the idols you have made) or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commands. • God is love and God is just. • Bear in mind Ezekiel 18:19-20

  12. Is Sin the Cause of All Suffering? • Job: Why did he suffer? • John 9 • Is AIDS God’s punishment for homosexuality? No!

  13. Causes of Suffering: Natural Causes • Plate Tectonics • Weather • Bacteria • These are all very good things.

  14. Question: Is Suffering Evil? • Psalm 30:5 For Humans, without suffering there is no joy. • John 9:1-3 Suffering, if received correctly, glorifies God. • Romans 8:28 All kinds of suffering can be used for good (but be careful how you use this passage) • Romans 5:3, James 1:2-3 Suffering produces good character. No pain, no gain. • 1 Peter 2:20-22, 2 Tim 3:12. Suffering is the natural result of doing good. • Coll 1:24-29, 1 Pet 4:12-17 Suffering is how we come to know Christ and to fill up his suffering. • Through shared suffering is how we become close to one another.

  15. The Christian Response to the Problem of Suffering: Compassion! • James 1:27 Pure religion… • John 11:35 Jesus wept. Matthew 23:37 • Jeremiah 12:1 • Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:15. Jesus understands • Matthew 9:36-38 Compassion

  16. Julian “the apostate.” (332-363) “Atheism (i.e. Christian faith) has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.”

  17. No God Is The Default Position • Says who? • The majority of intelligent, well-educated, psychologically healthy people believe in some sort of higher reality.

  18. Why Atheism Fails • Based on Circular Reasoning. • Atheism Cannot Answer the Hard Questions. • The Bankruptcy of Atheism.

  19. Circular Reasoning • One would have to be transcendent to know that a transcendent being does not exist. Flatland. • There is no absolute truth. How do you know that? • The strongest argument that God does not exist is that it is obvious he does not exist.

  20. A recent BBC broadcast forum: • Questioner: How do you know that physical reality is all there is: that there is no God? • Response of a vehement materialist (after much prodding): I simply believe it to be true. • Questioner: Well, now we at least have it out on the table! • In other words, the strongest argument I have that physical reality is “all there is” is that I believe physical reality is “all there is.”

  21. Questions Science Can Answer • When? • What? • Where? • How many? • By what means?

  22. Questions Scientific Naturalism Cannot Answer:(that Christianity does answer) • Why am I here? • Is that the right thing to do? • How valuable am I? • Does God exist? Does God act (theism)? • Will that God respond if I pray? • Do supernatural events (miracles) happen? - Why is there evil and suffering in the world?

  23. If Materialism/Naturalism is right then: • “I” do not exist. Consciousness is just random moving around of chemicals. • No soul, no spirit, no non-physical reality. • Belief in God is just a “meme” the unfortunate accidental result of brain evolution. • Life has no value. Human beings have no value. What is value? • Love is chemicals moving around (vs. God is love)

  24. The Bankruptcy of Atheism • Atheist “experiments.” • USSR • Red China • North Korea • Pol Pot Cambodia • Myanmar • French Revolution Where will a society whose compass is set by scientific materialism go?

  25. Arguments For Theism • The Moral Argument • The Cosmological Argument • The Teleological Argument • The Ontological Argument • The Argument From Desire • The Argument From Experience • The Argument From Changed Lives • The Argument From the Inspiration of the Bible.

  26. We Cannot Prove the Existence of God: Inference to the most reasonable explanation = God

  27. The Moral Argument • Do moral absolutes exist? • Is it wrong to rape a young child? 1. Absolute moral laws exist. 2. Such laws must be promulgated by some authority. 3. That authority is God. If this argument is false, then justice is a meaningless word Moral law is a real as the law of gravity.

  28. The Moral Argument • That moral absolute exists implies a source of this moral absolute, which is, by definition, God. • Do the words good, evil, right and wrong have any objective meaning? • If so, then there must be a metaphysical authority. • Alternatives: Naturalism and Postmodernism.

  29. The Cosmological Argument 1. Everything which exists has a cause. 2. The universe exists. 3. The universe was caused to exist. 4. That cause is God. Q: Why does anything exist at all?

  30. The Kalam Cosmological Argument(William Lane Craig) 1. Everything which begins to exist has a cause. 2. The universe began to exist. 3. Therefore the universe was caused. 4. God is that cause. That the universe began to exist has been virtually proved.

  31. Accident or Design? The Teleological Argument William Paley

  32. The Teleological Argument Evidence for Design in Nature The Anthropic Principle Boeing 747 Design or Accident?

  33. Physics: The Finely Tuned Universe

  34. Fine Tuning of the Gravitational Constant .00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

  35. Fine Tuning of the Universe Constant A Little Bigger A Little Smaller 1. Gravitational constant very short-lived stars no stars 2. Ratio of electrons to protons no stars or galaxies no stars or galaxies 3. Strong Nuclear Force no hydrogen, fusion only hydrogen 4. Weak Nuclear Force all H2He at big bang no He at big bang no heavy elements 5. Electric Force no chemical bonding no chemical bonding 6. Expansion rate of universe no galaxies universe collapses quickly 7. Ratio of matter to antimatter too much radiation for life not enough matter for galaxies to form   and many more….

  36. Fred Hoyle on Fine-Tuning “… a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology.”

  37. The Ontological Argument • Anselm of Canterbury 1077 • God is the thing “that than which nothing greater can exist.” • Questionable value as apologetics

  38. The Argument From Desire (C. S. Lewis) • Every known human desire has a corresponding real thing which can fulfill that desire. • The desire to know God and ultimate truth is as basic as any human desire. • Therefore God, the object of that desire, exists.

  39. The Argument From Experience/Changed Lives • Tens of millions of rational, well educated people have experienced God through prayer, revelation, etc. • Changed lives: For what it is worth, Christianity works. • Marriages saved • Lives lived with purpose and meaning

  40. Argument From the Inspiration of the Bible • If the Bible is supernaturally inspired, then God exists. • Fulfilled prophecy • Fulfilled prefigure and foreshadow • Consistency • Historical/Archaeological accuracy • Scientific accuracy • It works

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