does god exist?… · nothing that exists is the cause of its own existence. 3. the causation of...

TUESDAYNIGHTTHEOLOGYSCHEDULE

WEEK1(6/20):DoesGodExist?WEEK2(6/27):WhatAboutOtherGods?WEEK3(7/11):IsTheBibleTrue?WEEK4(7/18):DidJesusClaimToBeGod?WEEK5(8/01):WhoIsTheHolySpirit?WEEK6(8/08):WhatHappensWhenIDie?WEEK7(8/15):PotluckDinnerforEveryone!!!

*Note:TherewillbenoTNTonJuly4th (forholiday),oronJuly25th (N.O.W.onthe27th).

WEEK1:DOESGODEXIST?

UnbelieversHaveGoodQuestionsTheobjectionsthatunbelieversraiseareusuallynottrivial.Theyoftencutdeepintotheheartofthe

Christianfaithandchallengeitsveryfoundations.Ifmiraclesarenotpossible,thenwhyshouldwe

believeChristwasGod?IfGodcan’tcontrolevil,ishereallyworthyofworship?Faceit:iftheseobjectionscan’tbeanswered,thenwemayaswellbelieveinfairytales.Thesearereasonablequestionsthat

deservereasonableanswers

ChristianityHasGoodAnswersMostskepticshaveonlyheardthequestionsandbelievedthattherewerenoanswers.Butwehave

somegreatanswerstotheirquestions.IfChristianityistrue,thatmeansthatrealitywillalwaysbeonourside,andwejustneedtofindtheappropriateevidencetoanswerwhateverquestionisasked.

Fortunately,ChristianthinkershavebeenansweringthesequestionseversincePaul’stime,andwecandrawontheirknowledgetohelpusfindtheanswers

weneed.

GodCommandsUstoGiveThemtheAnswersThisisthemostimportantreasonofall.Godtoldustodoit.In1Peter3:15weread,“ButinyourheartshonorChristtheLordasholy,alwaysbeingpreparedtomakeadefensetoanyonewhoasksyouforareasonforthehopethatisinyou;yetdoitwithgentlenessandrespect”(ESV).Thisversesaysseveral

importantthings.First,itsaysthatweshouldbeready.Wemayneverrunacrosssomeonewhoasksthetoughquestionsaboutourfaith,butweshouldstillbereadyjustincase.Butbeingreadyisnotjustamatterofhavingtherightinformation

available;itisalsoanattitudeofreadinessandeagernesstosharewithothersthetruthofwhatwebelieve.

DOESGODEXIST?

FOURTRADITIONALARGUMENTSFORTHEEXISTENCEOFGOD

Cosmological(causation)Teleological(design)Moral(ethics)Ontological(existence)

Cosmological(causation)1.Everythingthatweperceiveasexistinginrealityhadapriorcausetoitseffectofexistence.2.Nothingthatexistsisthecauseofitsownexistence.3.Thecausationofallthatexistscannotinfinitelyregressintothepast,asthen,therewouldbenothingthatexistsinthepresent(time).4.TheremusthavebeenaFIRST,UNCAUSEDCAUSEforallthatweperceivetoexistinreality.5.ThisUN-CAUSEDCAUSEisGod.

Teleological(design)1.Thematerialuniverseresemblestheintelligentproductionsofhumanbeingsinthatitexhibitsdesign.2.Thedesigninanyhumanartifactistheeffectofhavingbeenmadebyanintelligentbeing.3.Likeeffectshavelikecauses.4.Therefore,thedesigninthematerialuniverseistheeffectofhavingbeenmadebyanintelligentcreator.5.ThatintelligentcreatorisGod.

Moral(ethics)1.Objectivemorallawsanddutiesexistinreality.2.Ifmorallaws/dutiesexist,theremustbeamorallawgiverthatalsoexists.3. Therefore,themorallawgiverisGod.

Ontological(existence)1.Itisaconceptualtruth(truebydefinition)thatGodisabeingthanwhichnonegreatercanbeimagined(thatis,thegreatestpossiblebeingthatcanbeimagined).2.Godexistsasanideainthemind.3.Abeingthatexistsasanideainthemind&inrealityisgreaterthanabeingthatexistsonlyasanideainthemind.4.Thus,ifGodexistsonlyasanideainthemind,thenwecanimaginesomethingthatisgreaterthanGod(thatis,agreatestpossiblebeingthatdoesexistinreality).5.ButwecannotimaginesomethingthatisgreaterthanGod(foritisacontradictiontosupposethatwecanimagineabeinggreaterthanthegreatestpossiblebeingthatcanbeimagined.)6.Therefore,Godexists.