Does God Exist, Free Course, Lesson 3

Logic And God’s Existence

God is not made up of matter or energy, and therefore no scientific experiment can be used to test His existence. But then many sincere inquirers might ask, “Does this mean that belief in God is a blind jump into an unknown darkness. Isn’t there any way in which I might investigate the possibility of His existence ?” And the answer is, YES ! There are many lines of reasoning that converge together to suggest that belief in God is not a blind and thoughtless affair. 

Logic, Theory Of Probability, Relational Verification, and the Testimony Of Bible can be used to investigate the subject. When the weight of all these investigations is added, there is overwhelming reason for believing in God. 

WHAT ARE THE LOGICAL REASONS

Since God is neither matter nor energy, methods of experimental sciences will not work here. But methods of logical analysis will work. These methods of logic have been investigated in detail, and they form the basis of all historical, legal, and sociological analysis. 

Logic helps one to sort out arguments, classify them, and then analyze them for their validity. This method is used very frequently in decision-making, specially when several arguments and counter arguments are present. This kind of analysis provides the basis for all kinds of investigations, including decision-making in computers that use Artificial Intelligence or even Fuzzy Logic. 

Numerous logical reasons for belief in the existence of God have been investigated, but here we will present only two of them. 

1-Reasoning From Cause And Effect

We know that every event in the Universe has a cause for it. The whole world is a maze of cause and effect networks. Apples fall down because of gravity while rockets go up because of thrust from burning fuel. Stars twinkle because of earth’s atmosphere while tides result due to moon’s pull. Everything has a cause, and nothing is there without sufficient cause. 

It is possible to start from an effect and go backward to discover the cause. Every effect has a cause. That cause in turn has another cause behind it. This cause in turn must have another cause behind it. If one keeps on going back like this, an end has to come somewhere seeing that cause and effect processes are not circular. To be an end that has no cause for itself, it has to be an absolute end — the First Cause that was not caused by anything else. That is God. 

Everything in this Universe has a cause except the First Cause. This first and absolute cause gave rise to everything else. This reasoning is the logical end to the search for the First Cause. It was God. 

2-Reasoning From Design

I had a professor who used to be a staunch atheist. He maintained that evolution explains it all. I had the privilege to work with him on many research projects. One day I left a completed project on his table. It was a complex electronic circuit, soldered carefully and painstakingly on to a circuit-board. It was the result of over thirty hours of gruelling labour. He was not aware that I was working on a project of such a complexity. 

On our next meeting he praised that circuit very much and asked me how long I took to make it. I teased him by saying that this circuit just put itself together in our electronics workshop, and that there was no maker behind it. He was puzzled for some time, but then in a flash he saw my point! If there is order and complexity, it points to a plan and a planner behind it. None can deny it. 

The Universe is a highly complex system. Design is evident everywhere. In fact one goal of science is to discover designs in the natural world. Everyone knows that designs do not happen by themselves. Computer programmes do not get written automatically, nor is music composed when stones slide upon each other. Every meaningful structure demands three things : a design, a designer, and a mechanism to implement the design. 

Man’s intelligence is incredible. Yet he has not been able to understand a fraction of the Universe. Even a microscopic entity like the atom eludes his wisdom. It is clear therefore that the intelligence behind the design of the Universe had to be an all-knowing person who is also all-powerful to implement this design. 

When one sees a beautiful painting, his thoughts immediately go to the artist who worked painstakingly. When one looks at the infinitely complex Universe, one has to think of the infinitely intelligent and powerful Artist who put it all together ! 

3–Other Logical Reasons

Many other reasons have been proposed, but we will mention them only in passing. This is because the two logical reasons mentioned above are so powerful and convincing that most inquirers don’t feel a need to go beyond them. 

The other reasons include the argument from man’s moral nature, man’s universal commitment to a power above him, and man’s inherent commitment to a law above him. 

The Theory Of Probability, Relational Verification, and the Testimony of Bible also come in this category, and we will discuss each of them in chapters devoted exclusively to them. 

LIMITS OF LOGICAL ARGUMENTS

Many atheists have rejected logical reasons with the contention that all these reasonings have limitations. They point out, for example, that these reasonings are not sufficient to tell more about God’s nature. 

It is true that none of the logical reasonings reveal God’s full nature, but then these reasonings are not meant for that. Their purpose is just to examine the existence of God, and here they do a remarkable job. Demanding anything more, for which they have not been designed, is a manifestation of ignorance. Every tool of investigation has its own limitation. This does not invalidate the tool or the conclusions. It only tells how far the tool will go. 

Logical reasonings deal only with the existence of God and not with His character. They were not designed for that. They are successful in achieving the purpose for which they have been designed. The fact that they cannot be used for other purposes, for which they were not designed, does not in any way invalidate them.