Does God Exist?

You Are Here

Like the map says, “You are here.” Question is – how did you get here? Where did you come from? Well, obviously, you came from your momma and she came from her momma and, if we go back far enough, somewhere back there was the very first momma! But then, where did she come from?!

Only Two Choices

Basically, everything boils down to two options: 1) we got here by accident or 2) we got here by purpose. (Would you agree that these are really our only two choices?). Is there any way to know which one is true? It depends on what you mean by “know.” You see, whatever you believe about the origin of life and intelligence, it will ultimately come down to faith. “But wait,” you say, “what about science – doesn’t science provide some answers?” Yes and no. Science can give us some clues based on what we can observe in the present but science cannot “prove” anything about the origin of the universe.

Faith vs. Faith

The scientific method involves such things as forming a hypothesis about something, then testing it, observing it and drawing conclusions from the observations. The origin of the world has never been tested, repeated or observed. There were no eyewitnesses (unless you take God’s account as an eyewitness account!). Since it cannot be observed or repeated, whatever you believe about the beginning of all things ultimately comes down to faith – whether you believe it was by accident or by purpose. Does that make sense? So it is certainly not a matter of science vs. faith. It is a matter of one faith vs. a different faith. As I said earlier, however, science does provide some valuable clues – as does history, archaeology, psychology, linguistics and other fields of study and research.

Evolution

If we believe in the accident model of origins, then the most popular doctrine representing that belief is what we usually refer to as “evolution.” There are many different denominations of evolutionary thought but they all seem to have some basic points in common. The evolution model basically starts with matter having always existed – it didn’t come from anywhere – it just is. Somehow, we don’t know by what means really, this matter exploded and formed the planets – including earth. The non-living matter on earth somehow, we don’t know by what means really, spontaneously generated life. Life sprang into existence from non-life. The early chaos of earth began to self-direct itself into more organized and complex organisms. Natural selection took place and the most fit organisms survived and somehow changed into different species - we don’t really know by what means.

Simple Model of Evolution

We are here by accident – a random assortment of atoms and chemicals.

• Matter is eternal
• Life comes from non-life
• Things naturally move from simple to complex/from chaotic to organized
• Species change into different species

Some possible conclusions of the view might include:

1. Life has no ultimate meaning or purpose
2. Right and wrong don’t really exist
3. No hope for anything after death

Creation

The other option, that we are here by purpose, implies that we are created by some intelligence/life – a very powerful intelligence and life at that. There are many different denominations of thought about the creator but since we have to start somewhere, let’s start with the biblical account of creation since it is a prominent view.

Creationists believe that life and intelligence have always existed. It didn’t come from anywhere – it just is. This intelligent life, let’s call it “God,” created the universe with design, organization and purpose. On earth (at least) God created life according to its kinds – in other words, one species did not transform into different species. The basic kinds of life existed from the beginning (they have, however, experienced variations within their kind – we don’t all look alike – but cats have always had kittens, they have never had ducklings, and humans have always given birth to humans).

Things have gone from a state of perfection and have deteriorated over time. Things tend to go from complex to simple, from ordered to less-ordered. Natural selection has caused the extinction of many organisms but did not cause one species to change into a different species.

Simple Model of Creation

We are here by design and our lives have purpose and meaning.

• Life/intelligence is eternal
• Life comes from life
• Things tend to move from complex to simple/from organized to less organized
• Species reproduce after their own kind

Some conclusions:

1. Life has ultimate meaning and purpose
2. Right and wrong exist
3. There is hope beyond death

Clues from Science

Earlier we said that science can provide us with some valuable clues to the question of origins. Let’s compare the two models with actual empirical observation and see what we find.

Evolution

• Life comes from non-life
• Chaos to order
• Species change into different species

Creation

• Life comes from life
• Order to chaos
• Variation within species only

Empirical Observation

• Life comes from life
• Order to chaos
• Variation within species only

Now, admittedly, those are very basic comparisons but even at this basic level it is not difficult to see which model seems to fit with actual scientific “laws” and processes. Which one fits better? Which one actually takes more faith to believe?

Conclusion

Obviously, we are just scratching the surface with this little introduction but, hopefully, it illustrates that creation shouldn’t be dismissed so quickly and that evolution actually has some significant obstacles. We could also talk about evidence from other fields of study and even that sense of moral law implanted in each of us. There is a list of recommended resources for delving deeper at the end of this article.

One Final Thought

One final thought – if I were to tell you that this wrist watch of mine is unique in all the world because it actually made itself through a combination of raw materials that just exploded for no known reason or cause – would you believe me? If I told you everything organized itself into this mechanism and it even spontaneously formed its own life source (battery) and even had the right date and time on it – would you think that possible or likely? Why not? It’s too complex? Too intricate and complicated? I would agree. But which is more complex – my watch or a human brain (or even a single cell organism for that matter!)?

If it doesn’t make sense that something as complex as my watch could happen by accident without purpose or design, then how much sense does it make that something infinitely more complex like life and the universe could happen by accident without purpose or design?

- Steve Curtis