My son Patrick walked into my home office the other night while I was working and made a startling pronouncement. It was not what he said that startled me exactly but it was the degree of confidence with which he said it that took me back. “Dad, at this point in my life, I definitely believe in God,” he said. After the waves of sheer joy finished sweeping over me, I asked him, “And what helped you come to that belief, Patrick?” His answer was interesting but not at all surprising.
Patrick and I have had a number of conversations over the years about the rationality of believing in God. He is very intellectually curious and will often spend hours following up a conversation he and I have had with his own research on Wikipedia. I imagine that he must be part of a very select group of 17 year-olds who know who Soren Kierkegaard is or why Christopher Hitchens consistently attacks the Christian faith. So when Patrick came to me the other night to make his pronouncement, I had an idea where this conversation was going.
“Well, Dad,” he started, “I just can’t get past the question of where the concepts of good and evil come from if God does not exist.” Patrick was referring here to a “pre-suppositional” argument for the existence of God, something he and I have covered often in our conversations together. Simply stated, the idea here is that if we are living in a universe where there is no God, the idea of “good” and “evil” is meaningless. We are merely matter in motion. And here is the rub - nobody lives that way. Everyone I know presupposes that good and evil are real, substantive realities. And everyone pre-supposes that these are real concepts in order to make sense out of the way they live their daily lives. Good and evil refer to a transcendent law code, which must have been created by a transcendent lawgiver - God.
This type of powerful argument (or “apologetic”, as Christian philosophers call it) is one of many other powerful arguments for God’s existence. Another argument that impresses Patrick is the thought that either something eternal exists or matter began to exist out of absolute nothing. Think about it – where did the world come from and what was before it? Where did the universe come from and what was before it? Something must always have always existed and it makes sense to believe that something is God.
Our Christian faith is under extreme assault these days. Whether it is academia or the media, there is no shortage of people claiming that it is foolish to continue to believe in a personal God in a modern scientific age. In response to this attack, I echo the writer of the book of Hebrews, who says we must not “throw away our confidence” or “shrink back”. The Christian faith is the only belief system that can fully account for life as we know it and live it today. The existence of God, the reliability of the Bible and the uniqueness of Christ are ideas that can be confidently defended in the public square and Christians do not have to be on the defensive. If you have any questions on how your beliefs can be defended, please consider coming out to a Discipleship Training class on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. Any question is fair game at those studies so please come and ask away! I love having those discussions.
June 20th is Baccalaureate Sunday and I would like to ask you to please pray for the graduates, as they get ready to go out into the world. They will face many challenges to their faith and beliefs and they need our ongoing prayers. Also, with the help of other folks in the church, we have an idea to put together a training and support program for our youth as they graduate from high school and go off to college or into the work force so please pray for that idea to take root and flourish. Also please remember your prayers our kids who are being commissioned this Sunday, as they commit to study, over the coming year, what it means to follow Christ and be His disciple. And above all, have confidence! You have every reason to.
Pat
My lot is to approach Thee with godly fear and humble confidence,
for Thy condescension equals Thy grandeur,
and Thy goodness is Thy glory.
I am unworthy, but Thou doest welcome;
guilty, but Thou art merciful;
indigent, but Thy riches are unsearchable.
Thou hath shown boundless compassion towards me
by not sparing Thy Son,
and by giving me freely all things in Him.
This is the foundation of my hope,
the refuge of my safety,
and the new and living way to Thee.
from The Valley of Vision, Puritan Prayers and Devotions
