A Practical Guide to the Logic, Philosophy and Thoughts of Christianity

Section 1 - Article 2

Article 2 - Is there a God??

The first question to ask in the decision of a religious belief is without a doubt, "is there a God"? What proof is there of one? Why should anyone care if there is or isn't a God? Did not science provide all the answers and technology that we have now? And did not bad things happen to both good and bad people; believers and non-believers? Can anyone show the evidence of a God?

These are age-old questions, and it is impossible to prove objectively either the presence or absence of a God. One major reason to this impossibility is the type of evidence demanded for. Are the unbelievers looking for a photograph of an old man on a throne beyond the Milky Way? Or are they looking for a giant hand from the sky to move humans and animals, or perhaps a tiny God in a test tube? Maybe a loud booming voice that declares that it is God speaking?

Personally, I do not have God in my pocket for a 'show and tell', nor do I have a picture of God. I am also not able to direct anyone to any location where God can be found geographically or astronomically. Similarly, I am unable to prove that God lives in Heaven (wherever Heaven may be), or state confidently that God lives in a God galaxy or a God planet (yet there are non-believers who believe in a Multi-verse or alternate dimensions). Yet, in spite of all these "cannots", I can point to things that are indicative of the presence of a God. For this, let us first go back in time and address some issues in science and religion.

The following subsections of the article discuss certain philosophical and scientific theories. I have added subheadings throughout this article, and the reader can skip them if they so wish.

Creation VS Evolution

The debate of Creation or Evolution is one of great importance and interest between the religious and the atheists alike. Some have managed to find middle grounds to stand on, but an in-depth analysis would show that the middle grounds are not realistically possible. Hinging on the position, lies numerous central doctrines to faith and religion, as well as the meaning and purpose of life. In one instance, the account of Genesis has to be completely correct for the Bible's message of grace, salvation and redemption to make sense. Whether we were created or evolved by accident has a strong bearing on how we should and can lead our lives, and also to tell us the purpose and point of our existence.

Creationists believe in God's creation of everything we currently and will ever know of. God's sovereignty is displayed in creation whereas evolutionists put their faith on the natural order of things. There are two types of evolutionists to note: 1) Theistic evolutionist, where God used evolution during creation; 2) atheistic evolution, where things just happen, and given a long enough time for accidents, things happened. Since neither the creationist nor evolutionist can go back in time to prove either stance in a scientifically reproducible manner, both sides can only draw on observations and bits of evidences to support their chosen stance. On this, let us explore the reason of both positions, and how I came to the conclusion that atheistic evolution is near impossible to occur, and that theistic evolution is a major compromise.

Evolution is a widely-accepted theory that is taught in mainstream schools throughout the world. Whilst theories may not necessarily be reliable or factual, some are well-proven (e.g. theory of gravity). On the other hand, evolution is a reasonable but flawed theory and attempt to make sense of the unknown. Similarly, theological doctrines (e.g. baptism by immersion vs sprinkling), which are used to explain things that we may not fully comprehend. Just as theological doctrines should be aligned with and not antagonize fundamental teachings of the Bible or be rejected as doctrine of devils and heresies, the theory of evolution and how life came about, should not contradict fundamental understandings in science. Yet, atheistic theories on the beginnings of life do work in contrary to scientific sense and many fundamental understandings of science. Gasp! For example, the beginning of the universe with the 'Big Bang' requires belief in random matter being organized to an orderly fashion by itself. This is evident in the belief that molecules came together from chaos and randomness to collide to form life and order; where cells organized themselves into multi-cellular organisms. Yet, this functioned in contrary to the 2nd law of thermodynamics (that states the universe on the whole, is getting more random and entropic); as well as the law of diffusion (where molecules would move from a concentrated area to a less concentrated region). Thus, based on these laws, there is no possibility for the bio-molecules of life such as DNA or proteins to come together to form functional units.