Conversational apologetics

How do you know that God exists?

How do you reconcile Science (The Big Bang and Evolution) with the Genesis Creation story.

The argument from first cause

How doesn't really matter - it's the Why? that does. Science deals with the Why, but who cares really? The Genesis creation story may have been how God made the world, or he may have created it through the Big Bang and evolution. But it doesn't matter. When we get to heaven, God's not going to ask us, "Ok Evolution, or Genesis, which one?" No.

The Genesis Creation story isn't a how to make your own universe set of instructions, but it does definitely contain truth about why God made the universe and that we as human beings are the most important beings in the universe. Likewise, the Big Bang and Evolution, although there are flaws in the theory, couldn't have happened without God being involved…Both of the theories point to God. The Big Bang theory is that in the beginning there was nothing…

Everything in the universe is caused, i.e. brought into existence, by something else. There is nothing that doesn't have a beginning or an end. These causes in turn have something that caused them, and so on, back up the chain of causes. Eventually there must be something that started off the chain and which is dependent on nothing else as its cause. This thing is the 'first cause', and the first cause, I believe, is God. The Big Bang theory is that in the beginning there was no time, no space, no matter, nothing at all. I find it easier to believe that something outside the system i.e. God, made it all appear in that Big Bang, than everything just randomly appeared out of that nothingness, which is impossible to imagine.

The argument from design

This argument states that the world is so complex and intricately fitted together that it could only be the result of design, rather than random chance. If this is the case, it is logical that there is a designer, and this designer is God. If you were walking along a beach one day and you trod on something hard, you looked down and realised it was a working watch, what would you assume? I would assume that somebody had dropped it i.e. that the watch had been designed and put together in a watchmaker's shop somewhere. I wouldn't assume that somehow the sea, sand and wind had got together and made the watch appear by random chance. If this is true about the watch, I look at the world around me, which is much more complicated than a wrist watch, and come to the conclusion that this must also have a designer and a creator, i.e. God.

The argument from experience

There are different types of religious experience, which may persuade those who experience them that God exists. These range from seeing God's hand in the blooming of a flower or the beauty of a sunset, to witnessing a breach in the laws of nature (a miracle) or experiencing a direct encounter with God. One experience that has happened to me is prayer that I believe was answered. My sister, when she was a teenager had anorexia. She is now fully recovered, which is brilliant, but while she was anorexic she went down to five stone. Damage caused to her body by anorexia, along with the fact that she has polycystic (i.e. dodgy) ovaries, meant that doctors told her that she wouldn't be able to have children without the help of IVF treatment. This is something she doesn't agree with as, being a Christian, she believes that unborn foetuses are fully human, and IVF treatment would involve destroying a number of these. Anyway, to cut a long story short my sister got married, asked her Church and family to pray for her, as she and her husband really wanted to have some children, and she fell pregnant almost straight away and now has two very healthy boys. You could say it was just a coincidence, but the medical staff don't understand it to this day. Personally I believe God decided to intervene and change his laws of nature, a miracle.

The argument from morality and conscience

If there is no God and we are the product of blind chance, then there can be no such thing as morality. The fact that we instinctively have a sense of right and wrong is incompatible with a random origin to human life. Our moral sensitivity points towards the existence of some external basis for determining morality, and the source of our sense of right and wrong is God.

How can you believe in an all-powerful, all loving God, when there is so much evil and suffering in the world?

Interestingly, this question can not be used to prove that God does not exist.

You believe there is evil and suffering in the world? ... Yes.
You therefore believe that there is moral law (a difference between good and evil) in this world? ... Yes.
You therefore believe in a moral law giver? ... Yes.

Well that would be God, who you are trying to disprove. You can't talk about good and evil, without first assuming that God exists. If God doesn't exist, there is no good and evil, we are just dancing to our DNA, as Dr Richard Dawkins suggests.

However, that doesn't answer the question, so . . .

Can there be an all loving God if there is suffering in the world?

Free-will. (Robots.) An all loving God gives us freedom and great power. Love is impossible without free-will.
Sin. We are selfish. God has to 'hold this world together' or it falls apart.
We live in a world where God doesn't keep changing the rules i.e. gravity. Therefore accidents can happen.
Suffering can be good. (The Emperor Moth.)
There is an evil force wanting to destroy human beings - Satan.
Jesus Christ went through the worst form of suffering possible - the worst possible death and even experiencing Hell for three days, so how can we complain?
Flip the question. How can there possibly not be a God, when there is so much goodness and love in the world?

Evil?

The university professor challenged his students with this question.

"Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil".

The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name --- Albert Einstein

Why does the devil exist? Is there a need for us to believe that the devil exists?

I guess the answer is, if he does exist, then yes, we need to know. It's dangerous to pick and choose the bits we want to believe from the Bible and then reject the rest.

Satan was God's most beautiful angel.
He believed that he was better than God and was therefore thrown out of God's kingdom.
Jesus was tempted by the devil (Luke 4) and definitely believed he exists, but he said that we as Christians have been given more power than Satan, so we don't need to fear.

Read Luke 10:17-20.

Satan doesn't want us to believe that he exists, because it makes his job easier.

What is the fate of people who belong to one of the other faiths, who genuinely believe theirs' is the only way? Should we be tolerant with people?

If you invited me for dinner and cooked and we had a good evening together and the next day you overheard a conversation between me and some people who were asking me if I had a good time with you and I said,' They were tolerable.' Would you take that as a compliment? Tolerance is about how much error you are able to put up with before the whole thing doesn't work. Where metal is concerned, tolerance is about how much movement you can put in before the whole thing falls to pieces. If I was to say I tolerate Muslims do you think they would be pleased to hear that? Once again that sounds arrogant. It is me that is doing the tolerating and therefore the one who is good, but if I say I respect Muslims, who benefits? Muslims do. We have respect for other people because they are made in God's image. Therefore we must respect all people, even those who claim they believe that God doesn't exist. But I haven't got any time for tolerance.

Teaching all six of the major world faiths isn't a problem for me. I believe each of the other five have something of the gospel, but not everything. Christianity is the only one that involves grace, forgiveness and Jesus. All the other Major World Faiths talk about sin, but then suggest what we need to do in order to escape from sin. Buddhists talk about Dukka (suffering/sin) and then tell you what to do to experience enlightenment. Jews tell you which rules to follow to escape from sin. Hinduism and Sikhism tell us what we have to do to break the bondage of sin. Islam talks about doing more good things than bad things to earn God's favour. What do Christians need to do to receive God's forgiveness? Nothing, we just have to accept the free gift of forgiveness. Christianity and Jesus stand out as the truth by themselves if you teach all the Major World Faiths correctly. When talking to people who have other faiths, our starting point must therefore be where they are and point out what is missing. This is what Paul did with the statue of the unknown God. At the end of the day though, we are told that only faith in Jesus can redeem us, as Jesus is the only one who has paid the punishment for the wrong things that we have done, so God can once again see us as perfect and accept us into heaven. Although, it is God's job to judge, not ours….and I'm glad about that. There is no room for tolerance, but there is a lot of room for respect.

What do you believe and why?

Why did you become a Christian?

What we're talking about here is testimony, so it's very difficult, and not right, to give an off pat answer. However, what I would say is be careful you don't answer a 'Why did you become a Christian?' question, with a 'How I became a Christian' answer. This suggests there is no logic to it and you were just in the right place at the right time. I normally explain why I find it impossible to believe that God doesn't exist, using the arguments we talked about earlier, and then talking about Grace - God reaching out to us in Jesus. Grace is what makes Christianity stand out from the other World Faiths.

What happens to those people who never have the opportunity to hear the gospel?

I have to say I've found this question the most difficult to answer. There isn't anything that I could find in the Bible about whether those who haven't heard will be going to heaven or hell, and it's a difficult question, especially when you are talking about miscarriages and children who die before they get to understand the gospel. But I'll tell you what I do know, and you'll have to come to your own conclusions.

We aren't told because we don't need to know. God makes the ultimate judgement decision about those who have, and haven't heard.
God is a just God and will judge accordingly.
The Psalms tell us that God's glory is written over all the heavens, so God has communicated his love already and 'seek and you will find'. It's a promise. I don't think any of us would want to claim that God (who is omnipotent - all powerful) can not communicate with babies and children, or those who haven't heard the gospel.
But, we are commanded to tell as many people as possible. Matthew 28:19. This is our responsibility.
Fortunately acceptance into heaven isn't based on knowledge or understanding of the gospel. We're not going to get a test, but it's based on a relationship with Jesus.

Why do you go to church?

Why is the church full of sinners?

Why are there so many hypocrites in the church?

Why do you think you are better than me?

These questions stem from a misunderstanding of Church. These are questions about the nature of Church. People out there think we come to church, this nice, neat little club, because we deserve to. Because we think we are good enough. Let me ask you a question. Do you think you are perfect? No. Didn't think so. So we need to break this misconception.

I like to compare Church to a Drug rehabilitation centre. Wouldn't expect everyone to be cured, to be perfect, but wanting to get better. Like us.
Therefore, we come to church, because we know we aren't as good as we should be, and we want to get better.
The church is therefore always going to full of sinners; if we weren't sinning, we wouldn't need to come.
We know we're hypocrites, because we keep getting things wrong, but we'd be even worse if we didn't come.
I don't think I'm better than you, in fact I know I'm not as good (perfect) as I should be. We compare ourselves to Jesus, nobody else.

How do you reconcile the God of the Old Testament (God's wrath, eye for an eye, stoning) with the God of the New Testament (Turn the other cheek, love your enemy, forgiveness)?

It is the same God. There is only one.
God is a God of justice and love, and none of his actions are wrong. We deserve to be stoned and go to hell if we disobey God's will and we're not perfect. This is the just result.
The Old Testament therefore emphasises God's grace even more, as shown in Jesus and the New Testament. He doesn't have to show us grace, it wouldn't be wrong of him to reject us and show his wrath because we're not perfect, but he chooses to send his Son to redeem us because he loves us. This is still just, because instead of us paying the just punishment, it has already been paid for us by God himself. The only reason we can be forgiven, is because the price has been paid once and for all.

Am I still a Christian if I have doubts?

Yes. Faith and doubt go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. Faith would be fact without doubt. The fact that you're conscious about your doubt shows that your faith is important to you, and is a sign that your faith is getting stronger, because you want to tackle and overcome your doubts.

How do I know I'm coming to Church for the right reasons? I come because I get so much out of Church. Is this OK?

Of course it is. In fact you will find that the more you give, the more you will receive. (Parable of the Talents) So if you're receiving a lot, you must be giving a lot as well.

I find prayer difficult. Does this mean I don't have a close relationship with God?

No. God doesn't sit in heaven with a scowl on his face if we're not communicating with him. He shouts yippee and all heaven rejoices when we do. Sometimes big speakers can make us feel guilty because we don't feel as 'spiritual' as them. God doesn't want you to feel like this. He loves you.

Mother Teresa was asked by a journalist what she said when she prayed. She said, 'Nothing. I just listen.' The journalist said,' Well, what does God say?' She said, 'He doesn't say anything, he just listens, and if you can't understand that, I can't explain it to you.' We don't have to sit down straining for half an hour to communicate with God. We can communicate all the time. God loves to hear what's on your heart, and you don't need to tell him with words.

Given the amount of food on the table, why aren't there more tramps or homeless people on the table, if you call yourself a Christian?

Our GCSE students have to tackle a similar question for their Wealth and Poverty coursework -

Give your response to the view that :
'There should be no rich Christians as long as there is poverty in the world.'
Give reasons for your answer showing that you have considered other points of view.

AGAINST

Life is unfair. To have equal opportunities is impossible to achieve.
Heaven will be a utopia, not earth.
The world as a whole is wealthier than at the time of Jesus, and therefore everybody is better off anyway.
Poor countries may be around because of the idleness of their governments.
It is the 'love of money' that is the root of all evil, not money itself. (1 Tim 6:6-10.)
God wants to give more money to those people who use it wisely. Therefore wealth is God given and we can't do anything about it.
Why should rich Christians feel guilty about having lots of money? They've worked hard for it.
Jesus himself said, 'You will always have the poor with you.' Therefore it won't make any difference if the rich give all their money to the poor. John 12:8. The anointing of Jesus.
Poverty isn't only about the distribution of money - see Liberation Theology. It is more about making sure the voices of the poor are heard and freedom being sought and skills being taught.
Rich is relative. There will always be someone with more money then you.
God will look after the poor anyway won't he? He doesn't need Christians to do it. (See the Lilies of the Field - Matt 6: 25-34.)
Cliff Richard is very rich and a Christian.
Rich Christians giving up their money only means poor governments have more to spend on weapons and war.

FOR

It is unfair. What about equal opportunities?
Jesus asked his followers to love and look after everybody. The golden rule :'Love your neighbour as you love yourself.'
Jesus said, 'Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.' Matthew 6: 19-21.
If it is the government's fault, then surely the innocent should be looked after.
Jesus said, 'If you have two shirts, give one away.'
God has provided the rich person's possessions, so surely they should share them.
Poor people work just as hard as rich people, but they don't receive as many rewards.
The amount some people earn for doing very little is obscene. (i.e. footballers.)
Liberation Theology. Christians are called to be like Jesus, hating injustice, and they should therefore stand up and get involved if injustice is taking place.
Christians should want to change the world like Jesus. Rich Christians aren't following Jesus' example.
God chooses to look after the poor through Christians. They are his arms and legs.

Is this our only chance to be saved?

I would answer this question with a question.

Why don't you want to be saved now? Why put it off? Jesus said, 'I have come that you may have life (now), life in all its fullness.' Being redeemed isn't pie in the sky when you die, but steak on your plate while you wait. If I said to you, 'Here, have this cheque for £50 000.' Would you reply, 'Well, is this my only chance . . . ?'

The answer is,' Yes, we only have this life to make a choice', but if we did have another chance, there would always be somebody that would say, 'but don't we get another chance after this one. . . and another. . . and another. . .' So, less of the only . . . we get another chance ! of being forgiven and made perfect by God. One chance is more than we deserve.

Does homosexuality bar someone from heaven? Why should I be condemned for something I can't control?

Is it a choice or genetics?

I prefer to talk about all sex outside of marriage when talking about active homosexuality, because we are told clearly in the Bible that any sex outside of marriage is wrong. According to the Bible, it is wrong because it destroys the family. However, both straight and gay fornication can be temptations. We aren't condemned for temptation, as long as we don't give into them, because Jesus was tempted and perfect.

Does active homosexuality or fornication bar me from heaven? No. I can be forgiven for both because of Jesus.

Why should I be condemned for something I can't control? Having sex (homosexual or straight) can definitely be controlled. We have free will.

Is it a choice or genetics? The act of having sex is without doubt a choice, or we need to stop punishing people for rape.

When thinking about whether some people are born homosexual, or whether environment and choice have a part to play, there is probably a mixture of all of these. We know this world is messed up and getting worse, because God starts to let go, because he can't stand sin. Therefore it is possible that some people are born being attracted to the same sex, in the same way that some are born with disabilities; it's not how it's supposed to be. This means, of course, that we have a responsibility to give homosexuals as much support as possible, in the same way that we would help those with disabilities. Choice is also involved as well, because we are humans who like to rebel. Some are homosexual to rebel and be controversial. I am sure that environment has a part to play as well. The more people are openly homosexual, the more people decide to experiment. Sadly there are links to other sexual crimes here as well.

How can I be saved if I haven't received the call?

Louis Palau asked his mother this when he was a lad and she answered,

''The call? The call? The call went out 2000 years ago. God's waiting for a reply!''

At the end of the day, what we have been thinking about is reason and theology. What is more important is Jesus. The thief crucified next to Jesus was told by Jesus that he would be with him in paradise.

It doesn't matter if you haven't got an understanding of all the answers, none of us have. The thief certainly didn't. There's only one person who knows everything - God, so we mustn't annoy people by pretending you know everything. But the good news is that the thief will be in heaven when we get there, and he didn't know much at all.

Colossians 4:2-6.