As a college student, I (Sean) explored significant doubts I had about my faith. It bothered me that God didn’t make his existence more obvious. In fact, one skeptic made me wonder, Why doesn’t God write “Jesus Saves” on the moon or “Made by God” on each cell?
After carefully examining the evidence, however, I became convinced that God has made himself known (Rom. 1:18–21; 2:14, 15). Consider a few prominent arguments for the existence of God:
- The Cosmological Argument: Both scientific and philosophical reasons help us conclude that the universe, at some point, had a beginning. Given that something can’t begin to exist without a cause, the cause must be outside the universe. Since matter, time, and energy simultaneously came into existence at a finite point in the past, the cause is plausibly timeless, immaterial, intelligent, powerful, and personal. Simply put, the beginning of the universe points to a Beginner.
- The Fine-Tuning of the Laws of Physics: The laws of physics that govern the universe are exquisitely fine-tuned for the emergence and sustenance of human life. The slightest changes in any number of physical constants would make our universe inhospitable. The most compelling and reliable explanation for why the universe is so precisely fine-tuned is that an Intelligent Mind made it that way. Simply put, the fine-tuning of the universe points to a Fine-Tuner.
- The Design Argument from DNA: Massive amounts of genetic information orchestrate cellular organization and the development of living creatures, but natural forces cannot explain the origin of information (such as DNA). Yet every day we attribute the origins of information to minds. Simply put, then, the vast amount of information contained in living organisms points to an Information Giver.
- The Moral Argument: This argument reasons that since objective moral values exist, so must God. If God does not exist, then moral values are ultimately subjective and nonbinding. Yet we know objective moral values are real. Therefore, since moral values do exist, God must as well. Simply put, the existence of moral values points to a universal Moral Lawgiver.
Much more could be said—entire chapters and books, in fact! Ongoing debates about these arguments continue both inside and outside of academia. But after considering the scientific evidence for God, and in particular from DNA, skeptic-turned-believer Lee Strobel concluded, “The conclusion was compelling, an intelligent entity has quite literally spelled out the evidence of his existence through the four chemical letters in the genetic code. It’s almost as if the Creator autographed every cell.” (Strobel, CC, 244) We could not agree more. While God has not provided exhaustive knowledge of his existence, he has given sufficient knowledge for those with an open heart and mind.
But God is interested in much more than simply convincing us of his existence. William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland explain:
Unsatisfied with the evidence we have, some atheists have argued that God, if he existed, would have prevented the world’s unbelief by making his existence starkly apparent (say, by inscribing the label “made by God” on every atom or planting a neon cross in the heavens with the message “Jesus saves’). But why should God want to do such a thing? As Paul Moser has emphasized, on the Christian view it is actually a matter of relative indifference to God whether people believe that he exists or not. For what God is interested in is building a love relationship with us, not just getting us to believe that he exists. Even the demons believe that God exists—and tremble, for they have no saving relationship with him (James 2:19). Of course, in order to believe in God, we must believe that God exists. But there is no reason at all to think that if God were to make his existence more manifest, more people would come into a saving relationship with him. Mere showmanship will not bring a change of heart (Lk 16:30–31). It is interesting that, as the Bible describes the history of God’s dealing with mankind, there has been a progressive interiorization of this interaction with an increasing emphasis on the Spirit’s witness to our inner selves (Rom 8:16–17). In the Old Testament God is described as revealing himself to his people in manifest wonders: the plagues upon Egypt, the pillar of fire and smoke, and parting of the Red Sea. But did such wonders produce lasting heart-change in the people? No, Israel fell into apostasy with tiresome repetitiveness. If God were to inscribe his name on every atom or place a neon cross in the sky, people might believe that he exists; but what confidence could we have that after time they would not begin to chafe under the brazen advertisements of their Creator and even come to resent such effrontery? In fact, we have no way of knowing that in a world of free creatures in which God’s existence is as obvious as the nose on your face that more people would come to love him and know his salvation than in the actual world. But then the claim that if God existed he would make his existence more evident has little or no warrant, thereby undermining the claim that the absence of such evidence is itself positive evidence that God does not exist. (Craig and Moreland, PFCW, 157–158)
If you find the evidence still wanting, perhaps consider whether you hold to non-evidential reasons for your nonbelief. Belief and unbelief often have more to do with psychology than rational argumentation. If you have a broken relationship with your father, for instance, you may find it difficult to believe in a loving, personal heavenly Father. This was certainly true for me (Josh). In fact, the idea of God as a “father” repulsed me, since my own father was an abusive alcoholic. Given the failure of my earthly father, I certainly didn’t need a cosmic father telling me how to use my time, spend my money, or live my life. I didn’t want to believe in God because it would mean radically reorienting my entire life.
Psychologist Paul Vitz has studied some of the great atheists of the past, such as Bertrand Russell, Jean Paul Sartre, Karl Marx, Camus, and Nietzsche. Remarkably, he found the vast majority had either a dead, distant, or disappointing father. He concludes, “If our own father is absent or weak or abandons us, even by dying, or is so untrustworthy as to desert us, or is so terrible as to abuse and to deceive us in various ways, it’s not hard to put the same attributes on our heavenly Father and reject God.” (Vitz, PA, 150)
Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World.
