Proof of God

Dear Victorious,

How do we know there is God? I mean, what evidence has been found to substantiate the claim that God even exists? We always hear people talk about believing or not believing. Wouldn't the evidence mandate one or the other?

Dirk R. - Landover Hills, MD

Dear Dirk,

Many books have been written to substantiate God. Two that come to mind are Evidence That Demands A Verdict (Josh McDowell) and The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel). Both books take the approach that history, if it can be confirmed, is a reliable source of evidence. So they walk through the verifiable history that points to the existence of God and to the fact that Jesus is who He said He is.

I believe there is an inherent evidence though, that is much stronger than anything that's ever been written. Since the beginning of time, people have worshipped gods. They have always believed that there was a higher power. Many would argue that this is something we all need to believe. In other words, many think we were created with this innate need to believe there is a higher power. (Count me among them that think this.)

Then too is the fact that things have been created and that cycles in nature exist. And I'm not just talking about annual cycles like spring and winter and summer. Other cycles, like the ice age, the age of dinosaurs and things like that all point to some grand master plan (and planner) that orchestrates all of it. While I might accept that some things could be coincidence and just occur by chance ... I could never accept that all those coincidences fit together so perfectly. Sure one would have collided with the other over several million years. Yet they never have. To me, this is the most compelling evidence of God that mankind will ever get.

Finally, there are those who experience God. For them, there is no chance of not believing. Once you've experienced God for yourself, there is no evidence required. In fact, evidence of God seems silly and moot.

So back to your question: Wouldn't the evidence itself dictate a belief one way or the other? I don't think it does. People have always had the ability to believe things that are not true - or not believe things that are true. Apparently we don't base our belief systems on actual evidence as much as we do on experience and circumstances.