Showing That God Exists Without Using the Bible

The Youth have been studying the book of Acts on Wednesday nights, seeing over and over again how much believers can accomplish when they just have confidence that God's Word is true and that the Holy Spirit will actively build the Church. This week, we were in the second part of chapter 17, where Paul is in Athens (the other Athens) engaging the philosophers on Mars Hill (also called the "Areopagus"). Paul knew that his normal message of how Jesus is the Messiah anticipated in the Old Testament would not work on these philosophers who knew little to nothing about the Old Testament. Instead, Paul preaches the same Gospel, but in a completely different way - in a way that did not refer to the Old Testament at all.

Discussing this passage, the students thought about ways to present the Gospel today without referring to the Bible specifically - which we need to know how to do in an age when the Bible is not universally regarded. There have been volumes written on how to do this - there are even writings from before Christ on how to demonstrate that God exists without using the Scriptures as proof.

Below is a quick summary of one such argument. Space does not allow a full explanation of this approach, but a summary will still give you a good idea of how the argument goes. Just like Paul's approach in Athens 2000 years ago, the approach starts with statements that the audience will readily agree with. Each step, however, should be discussed in much more detail when sharing this with others.

1. Everything that has a beginning has a cause.
2. The universe has a beginning.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
4. At the beginning of the universe, matter, energy and time also began.
5. Therefore, the cause of the universe cannot be comprised of matter or energy, and cannot be bound within time.
6. The universe bears evidence of design (this statement needs a lot of explanation for skeptics)
7. Therefore, the cause of the universe must be intelligent.
8. The existence of the universe is not necessary (it could have been the case that the universe never came into existence).
9. Therefore, the cause of the universe must have a will.
10. The universe exhibits beauty (ahthough beauty is subjective and could be accidental).
11. Therefore, it is likely that the cause of the universe appreciates beauty.
12. Since the cause of the universe has intelligence, a will, and likely emotions, the cause of the universe is a Being with personhood.
13. Also from evidence of the universe, we can discern that this Being is very powerful (or even omnipotent), very large (or even omnipresent), and very intelligent (or even omniscient).

So far, we have established that a Being (whom we can call "God") exists. We haven't proven it beyond all possible doubt, but at least we have shown that believe in the existence of God is rational. We have not shown, however, anything about Jesus or His Gospel.

1. The universe is finely tuned to allow life to exist (there is a lot of evidence to support this, which may be necessary to reference).
2. Therefore, God demonstrates care and concern for living creatures.
3. The basic human condition includes struggles with the existence of evil and the reality of death.
4. The nature of the universe suggests that God would be aware of man's basic condition, and furthermore, would have care and concern for it.
5. Question: Based on what we can tell about God from the universe, would you think that He would be the kind of God who would do nothing about man's basic condition, or would He be the kind of God who would do something? (If they say "nothing", then you may have to continue on the assumption that He would do something.)
6. Explore the major world religions with the one you're talking to and openly discuss which of these most effectively deals with man's basic condition. (Christianity is the only religion that offers a complete solution that fits with all we've discussed so far.)

If you can successfully walk someone through to this point, then the next step is crucial. People won't likely believe in Christ because they feel worked into a philosophical corner. So, we don't want to badger them into trying to make a decision. Simply tell them, "All we've done so far is to show that belief in Jesus is rational. So, let's conduct a spiritual experiment. Live life for the next month on the assumption that this is all true - just as an experiment. Do everything under the assumption that Jesus is who the Bible claims - follow the ways of righteousness, pray (even if you're praying to a God you don't fully believe in, yet), confess and repent, and so on. Experimentally live as you would if you knew for sure all this was true - and then after a month, assess whether or not you want to seriously explore the claims of Christ."

This is a lot fo information, and I don't expect you to absorb all of it at once. Rather, save this article and become familiar with the basic points, and when you find opportunities, explore one or two items with someone in conversation. When you become more and more familiar with the concepts, you'll find that you can talk with people about the God who exists without being preachy or pushy.

(Thanks to Dr. Doug Geivett for the idea of the "spiritual experiment".)

How to Respond to California's Decision

You have to be intentionally avoiding the news if you are unaware that the court system in California has recently "legislated from the bench" to legalize same-sex marriages. When I read of such things, I have a mixed bag of reactions:

• Anger: My reasons for anger are many. Rulings such as this are clearly against God's written Word, and therefore clearly against God's will. Although I strongly abhor any form of discrimination or hateful responses to individuals, a homosexual lifestyle is a choice to violate God's express will. It is a defiant act against the perfect and holy God. Some dear loved ones of ours have made these choices - we are not angry with them, but we are angry about those choices. Furthermore, these choices are harmful to those who make them, and harmful to our society. A society that embraces a God-defying lifestyle harms itself thereby. When I see people choosing ways to harm our society, I get angry.
  

• Sadness: I also experience feelings of sadness. By openly defying God's will, people are missing out on a tight relationship with Him, as well as missing out on His greatest blessings. Not only are they hurting themselves, but they are cutting themselves off from a relationship with Christ where He abides with us because we obey His Word from a heart of love (John 14:21-24). We've known several who claim Christ and yet still choose a homosexual lifestyle - they talk very warmly about Christ. However, they are missing out on the deepest relationship Him possible because they deny the clear meaning of certain parts of the Bible. That makes me sad.

• Political ire: I also want to go all activist and help change the laws. And I believe we should be actively involved in the political process to defend the definition of marriage given to us by God.

• A sense of fulfilled expectations: And yet, I also feel a sense of no surprise whatsoever. These are the types of things Scripture tells us to anticipate as we approach the End Times. These developments are inevitable for a society that works so hard to relegate God to tiny corners of our lives. Nations that do not submit to God's most basic edicts invariably end up with this kind of moral degradation of its social norms. The more this nation says it doesn't want God's involvement, the more we will see the gravitational effect of fleshly desires to draw us ever downward morally.

• Confidence: I usually end up, though, with a sense of confidence. Marriage is something God defined, and it doesn't matter what a government says about it (even if it's the judicial branch performing a ventriloquist act to sound like the legislative branch). God is the one who determines what marriage is. He is the one who determines who is married and who is not married. A legal status, even if it uses the word "marriage", has no bearing on God's definition or God's declaration of marriage. The state cannot (CANNOT!) pose any threat at all to what God has established. The state can muddy the waters and make it hard for us to see clearly, but it cannot (CANNOT!) redefine biblical marriage. People are either married per the Bible or they are not, and no government can affect that standing. There is nothing (NOTHING!) they can do to stop us from practicing God's definition. The state could declare that people can get married to trees or their lawn furniture, but that doesn't mean that Christian marriage has changed in any way. God is not threatened by this. He is saddened, perhaps even angered, but not threatened.

In my opinion, we should fight the political fights for the good of our society. We should practice the biblical definitions of marriage no matter what the state says. We should not hate anyone on the other side of this debate. We should not feel threatened by decisions such as these. We should teach our children and our society that God has His own, unchanging definition of "marriage."

But the best thing we should do is to throw our greatest energy into having strong, healthy, Christ-honoring marriages. If we simply defend "marriage" as between one man and one woman, we are not defending the biblical definition of marriage. The biblical definition is far greater than getting the right number of each gender into the definition. The best way we can defend marriage is by husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the Church, and by wives serving Christ through the way they respond to their husbands' God-given responsibilities. We can defend God's definition of marriage by raising our children to know and love Christ from the heart. We defend marriage by modeling good ones more than by arguing semantics.

In just a few weeks, we'll be starting a sermon series on biblical manhood and womanhood. Naturally, a biblical definition of marriage will be a big part of this series. I'm learning a lot as I prepare for this series, and I'm looking forward to walking through these lessons with you.

Indy 500

The number "500" represents the total number of minutes I slept the whole week of the youth mission trip with World Changers to Indianapolis.

If you missed our last Sunday School class, the youth did an excellent job of telling stories and answering questions about our mission trip. God was clearly at work in and through our youth, and it was my distinct privilege to be a part of their mission. What I appreciated most was getting to know our students at a deeper level than I've known them so far. God has created some great qualities in our youth.

My job was primarily as a driver. Get the youth there and back again safely. Betty Ann is the one who did the lion's share of the work. She has been working on this trip for the entire year with all the coordinating, all the training of our youth, all the leadership of fundraising, and even being a group leader while we were in Indianapolis. I'm sure even I am underestimating how many hours, how much lost sleep, and how much effort Betty Ann put into this trip. She was an absolute champ, and the fantastic trip that our youth had is in large part a result of her work and ministry for the Lord.

I've received a number of kind comments for my part in the trip, but she deserves ten times the accolades because she did at least ten times the work. Please make a point to share with Betty Ann your appreciation for her ministry. (I happen to know she likes coffee houses and anything chocolate, just so you know...)

To the youth, thanks for sharing your week with your old pastor. More importantly, thanks for sharing your lives with me.