Does God Exist, Free Course, Lesson 9

Let Us Conclude !

We covered a lot of ground in the last seven chapters. Whether you accept what I said is entirely up to you. Most of the chapters give you a lead using which you can do further investigation. If these chapters did not convince you then consider at least this :

Assume for a moment that all what is said in this book is wrong. Even then the theist is on a safer side. If God does not exist, then the theist has nothing to lose anyway ! On the other hand, if God really exists, the believer has everything to gain while the atheist has everything to loose. This is the minimum !

Let me repeat : Even if all the arguments above are wrong, the believer in God has NOTHING to lose. But even if a single reasoning is correct, the atheist looses EVERYTHING . This is the minimum strength of the ground on which the theist stands. But we believe, and any sensible inquirer will accept, that the believer in God stands at a ground firmer than that.

WHAT DID WE SEE

The existence of God is a hotly debated subject in the twentieth century. But the contention that "Science has disproved God" is false. Only a person ignorant about the nature of science can indulge in that kind of foolish talk.

Sciences were designed to study the material world. They can deal with matter and energy, but no more. If there is any reality beyond matter and energy, then science cannot handle it. Since God is neither matter nor energy, sciences cannot be pressed into investigating God.

Logic can, however, be used to see if God’s existence is needed to explain it all. Many writers have pointed out as many as thirty logical reasons for belief in God, and just two of them are sufficient for any serious inquirer — the reasoning from cause/effect, and the reasoning from design.

The theory of probability can be pressed into service to investigate whether the universe can be explained in terms of blind chance and random phenomena. The answer is : NO ! Probability demands an all-powerful designer behind it all.

The historical testimony of Bible is another factor to believe in God. The history recorded in Bible has never been refuted by archaeology. Rather, every day more and more details are becoming confirmed. Further, the fulfilled prophecies offer another compelling evidence to believe in God of the Bible.

Many have pointed out the problem of pain and evil. The presence of pain and evil perplexes us all, but it does not automatically disprove God.

The best way to examine God is to enter into a personal relationship with Him. If a simple truth like the existence of love needs relational verification, then a subject like God surely needs relational verification.

Instead of restricting ourselves to just one subject, we used a multi-pronged approach to investigate the existence of God. Each line of reasoning indicates that God is a reality. The collective weight of all these evidences put together is more than sufficient to compel any honest inquirer to confess that "YES ! GOD DOES EXIST !!"