Search for Truth: Is there a God?

Does God exist? Is there some being out there that is greater than me or this earth or this universe?

By the definition of I God I mean a supreme being who is perfect. By definition this being is above the bounds of the universe in which I live.

So, Is there a god?

My initial belief is yes, there is a god.

The universe had a beginning. Modern science agrees that there is some point in the past in which things began. If the universe did not have a beginning then the history of the universe would have to stretch into infinity. In more simple terms time has a linear direction. It passes from one time to the next. If there was no beginning to the universe then time must have been going on infinitely before this present period. 

Now, with this idea of an infinite beginning there lies a serious problem. Just as you can’t count down from infinity to zero you can’t count up to zero from negative infinity. Infinity is a never-ending number which you can’t begin a count. Because we know time moves in this linear way and there exists a present, or a “zero” then the past cannot stretch back into infinity or else there would exist no present. Therefore the universe must have a beginning.

Okay so the universe has a beginning. There was a point in which there was nothing and then there was a point in which there was something. The question is, how did this come to be?

The universe is so incredibly complex. Things just work together. Trees provide oxygen and need CO2. I breath out CO2 and need oxygen. The sun is the perfect distance away to provide life so that the earth doesn’t burn up or is incredibly cold. Organisms themselves are beings of incredible complexity. The eye of a human is more technologically advanced than anything we have currently.

But there are also other aspects of the universe that are incredible. I need food to eat and be nourished but it is also pleasing to me. The smell of a cheeseburger or pepperoni pizza is incredible. They are pleasing to eat.

The relationship between men and women is incredible. There is physical attraction to the other which sets off a pool of chemicals and hormones that create a myriad of emotions. However there is also something deeper. Between a couple there is a special bond, a connection. There is an intimate sharing of emotional and physical experiences that are between two people. How did this ever come to be?

The universe is so incredibly amazing. It’s awe inspiring and breathtaking. Did it all emerge from a “Big Bang” or the millions of patient years of evolution?

I believe it didn’t . The universe is too wonderfully put together for it all simply to happen by the chance of a bang which sent matter flying into all directions which somehow formed into planets and stars which somehow aligned in such a way to allow for life to exist which somehow was put together with such complexity to emerge as it does today. That is a long string of “which somehows”. It is far more likely that there was a creator. The universe is too well created. It shows the markings of intelligent design at every level and in every place.

As to the evolution theory there lie two problems. The first is that evolution does not explain the beginnings of the universe. The second is that there are serious flaws in the evolutionary timeline. There are huge gaps in the fossil record. There has been no archeological evidence of transitional organisms. If we all came from apes and it took millions of years for us to evolve one would think that there would be millions of fossils to dig up that would show the markings of this evolution. However, there have been none. What has been discovered has been either apes or people, no in-between. There have only been hoaxes which have been disproved.

The more I see the more the evidence suggests that there must be a creator. It is far more likely that there was a creator than the universe exploded into being or evolved from something that came from nothing.

No, there is a creator.

Now because there exists a creator and the universe had a beginning then the creator must be outside of the bounds of time. In order to be the creator of a universe that had a beginning then he must be outside of time. He (I use “he” as a convention) must be timeless with no beginning but must have always been.

Also because he is the creator of the universe he is not held by any of the rules we are. Everything we live in and everything we are is created. He made it. And because he made it he is not held by it. He must be above it.

Lastly, from my last post I introduced the idea of a good and evil. Because we are created beings then the internal moral compass was also created. God instilled in us a knowledge of what is right and wrong. That is a curious notion. Why would he put that sense of good into us? Why do we feel guilty when we do wrong?These are questions for the next post.

Do I believe in a creator? Yes. Do I believe in God? Yes. 

Search for Truth: Good and Evil

This is the first post of a series I am beginning about my journey in the Christian faith. Three weeks ago I was challenged by one of my christian mentors to explore the roots of my faith and really understand why I believe what I believe. He told me to find the evidence in my faith and see why I really believe what I do. I had never been challenged like this before. The chance to find a firm foundation in the fundamentals of what I believe had never been presented to me before. In this series I will explore basic Christian principals such as if there is good and evil, is there a god, if there’s a god how does he feel about humans, who is Jesus Christ, what makes Christianity different from other religions, and ultimately why should I be a Christian. These questions come from the belief that you do not have to check your brain at the door to be a believer. This is my quest.

Okay, so, starting at the beginning, is there a good and evil. By this I mean are there things thoughts or actions that are considered universally good or universally evil.

My initial belief on the subject is “yes” there is a universal good and evil.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that murder is wrong. No person needs to have it explained to them that killing another person is wrong. Everyone simply has the idea that murder is wrong and it is ingrained into them. I think murder is wrong. Everyone I know thinks murder is wrong. Why is that? 

Some would argue that the idea that murder is wrong is simply a product of culture. Children are raised to understand that murder is wrong. The culturalist would believe that all morals come from learning and growing in a culture that believes in those morals.

The idea that murder is wrong coming from being raised in a specific culture does not hold the test. Every people group across the planet knows that murder is wrong. Even isolated groups such as nomads or some indians know that to kill another is wrong. 

The notion of right and wrong is not something that has simply been pulled from the ideas of people groups who want to create a good society. No, right and wrong, it seems, are something that we are born with. It is something deep-rooted within us. 

How is it that we all know that murder is wrong?

How is it that we all know that rape is wrong?

How is it that we all know that stealing is wrong?

There is a universal good and evil. Somehow we all know it and feel it. Almost anyone would agree that certain things such as murder are ”right” or ”wrong”. Within us as people we know things are unquestionably wrong. We may not know why that is however we know it is true.

We know there are things which are universally wrong, therefore the opposite must be true. There are things that are universally not wrong. There are things that are also universally good.

Also, this idea of right and wrong bring up another point. These ideas are not something that are made up or come from culture or society. We are not sure where they come from except deep within us. They are as real to us as oxygen or rocks.

If these ideas are not the product of learning and they are known automatically and universally, then there must be something to life that is more than what we can see and touch. There must be something which puts these ideas into us. There is some connection to people that simply is,  just as our idea of right and wrong simply is. There must be some reason we all have these thoughts deep within us. There must be something more.

I believe there is a good and evil.

A Quest

I have started a series titled: Search for Truth. It is about processing through my faith and why I believe what I do. It is a personal journey and a search for truth.