Over the past couple of weeks an especially determined atheist has been writing me, offering me $1000 if I can make God appear to Him in such a way that he can see and touch Him. The atheist just finished reading my book What's So Great About Christianity and it disturbed him, because it challenged his assumptions. Still, he demands unquestionable empirical confirmation. If I can only make God show his face, my correspondent sarcastically suggests, he would be happy to join the ranks of the believers.
In some ancient religions, where gods were considered to be made of the same material substance as other matter, this would be a reasonable (or at least a meaningful) challenge. But all the great religions, and certainly the Abrahamic ones, regard God as an immaterial spirit. If the atheist is willing to consider the possibility that such a God exists--as all open-minded atheists must do--then the question becomes: how can we know of the existence of immaterial things?
Scientists believe in immaterial things. How about gravity? I should write back my betting friend, offering him $1000 if he can make gravity appear to me in such a way that I can see and touch it. But of course he would indignantly reply that gravity is a force, and the existence of forces cannot be verified through direct sensory experience. Rather, their existence must be inferred through their effects. We know that something is making objects plummet to the earth. We know that something is causing the light from the sun in certain cases to bend. That something we call gravity.
Or consider dark matter and dark energy. I haven't seen them, and I bet you haven't either. In fact, no one has. The reason they are called "dark" is because they don't emit light. So how can we reasonably believe in such invisible, immaterial things? The existence of dark matter is inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter. The existence of dark energy is inferred from the accelerated rate at which galaxies are flying away from each other. Scientists reason that something is holding galaxies together, and something else is causing them (and space itself) to fly apart. These somethings we call dark matter and dark energy. Interestingly scientists believe that dark matter and dark energy make up more than 90 percent of all the matter in the universe.
Applying the same mode of reasoning, I would argue that some immaterial force caused the universe to come into existence. Here is the proof: a) All material things that have a beginning must have a cause, b) We know from the Big Bang theory that the universe (not just matter but space and time itself) had a beginning, c) Therefore the universe has a cause.
Now that cause can be natural or supernatural, but we can rule out a natural cause since the universe encompasses all of nature. It is simply ridiculous to say that nature, which once did not exist, somehow caused itself to come into existence. Some people like to talk about "multiple universes" or even an infinity of universes but they have to admit that they are just making those up: there is no empirical evidence whatsoever that any universe exists except our own. Much of this kind of talk seems to be a desperate way of trying to get around the idea of God. It's faith-based atheism.
It's must more reasonable--and, invoking Occam's razor, much more intellectually parsimonious--to believe that the universe came into existence because of a non-natural or (as theists would say) supernatural cause. That cause we call God.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 33)
31. I hate to admit, it shows just how desperate some atheists are. Offering someone $1000 to make God appear? God is not the a magic trick. Honestly, I feel sorry for this person.
LorMarie at 12:39PM on Jan 28th 2008
32. Not a magic trick?
I'm getting an image. Of something lemony. A lemon candy or something...
Like my trick?
Jesus Christ Himself at 12:42PM on Jan 28th 2008
33. If the atheist is willing to consider the possibility that such a God exists--as all open-minded atheists must do--
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wouldn't that make them more of an agnostic?
dinesh, do you and other christians entertain the possibility that god DOESN'T exist? i don't see too many open-minded christians on here saying "well maybe the atheists are right and there is no god, but i still believe god exists."
and if god created us in his own image how exactly is he immaterial? how could you even say god is a "he"? wouldn't god be more of an "it"?
people do not refer to gravity as "he" or "she" and nobody is suggesting that gravity created anything in it's own image. so there are some problems with that analogy.
Richelle at 12:43PM on Jan 28th 2008
34. Show-off.
Satan the Dark Lord at 12:44PM on Jan 28th 2008
35. Shame on all those that identify themselves with my name and do not act as I did. Shame on those that use my name thus and post to this blog, as it is satanic and evil and not any part of my philosophy. Atheists, you are my children too, and I love you and apologize for my errant children of too much faith and small minds. They have been misled by men, and not by me. You have every right to come here and defend yourselves against attack by the satanic forces that manipulate them, that they allow to manipulate them in their pride. I forgive you for not believing in me, because my Father has given you no compelling evidence of the truth of his or my existence, and created you as creatures of the mind which require such, for a reason. You are not supposed to believe in me; this is not your path. It is your path to lead humanity out of darkness, and in the fullness of time this path will also lead to me.
Go forth and love each other. Is it really that hard?
Jesus Christ Himself at 12:47PM on Jan 28th 2008
36. "30. I hate to admit, it shows just how desperate some atheists are. Offering someone $1000 to make God appear? God is not the a magic trick. Honestly, I feel sorry for this person.
LorMarie at 12:39PM on Jan 28th 2008"
____________________________________________
LorMarie,
DD uses that in his article. He was making a joke. Lighten up.
Miracles are magic tricks.
K at 12:50PM on Jan 28th 2008
37. I'm sort of wondering why there's some sort of premium laymen put on measurement of wavelengths in the visible spectrum (observable) when it's such a tiny part of measurement. You can't see gravity. You can't smell or taste it either. so what?
It seems to be a holdover from much earlier times - the paradigm, 'what it means to know something' is nearly wholly dependent on 'observable' results rather than calculable, measurable and repeatable results. weird and rather primitive.
Clif Kuplen at 12:55PM on Jan 28th 2008
38. 2. Well, I believe in evolution. My dad made it.
Jesus Christ Himself
Good one. The Methodist minister that baptized and confirmed believed that Chapter 1 of Genesis is proof that Darwin was right about evolution, and that God simply kept evolving plants and animals until He was satisfied that He had gotten it right.
Kent at 12:56PM on Jan 28th 2008
39. For all of you who have closed your minds and your hearts...no evidence will be forthcoming. For those of you who "wonder but think not", just ASK him (God)if he is real. I did that 36 years ago in my bedroom one night. I said, God if you ARE real, come and be real to me. My life is in a real mess and I don't even like myself all that much. But if you love me as they say, come into my heart and give me the assurance. He did just that and I've never looked back. If you ask with a genuine heart to know, he'll prove his existence hands down. He has never failed to answer a prayer from the heart.
H. Colquhoun at 1:01PM on Jan 28th 2008
40. 31. Not a magic trick?
I'm getting an image. Of something lemony. A lemon candy or something...
Like my trick?
Jesus Christ Himself at 12:42PM on Jan 28th 2008
xxx
naw - right before I read it I had a whiff of imaginary gasoline and that nulled my imaginary olfatory senses for about twenty minutes.
Clif Kuplen at 12:57PM on Jan 28th 2008
41. Kent,
But Genesis also says god took a look at his work and said it was good. If god is perfect and declared his handiwork so, why the need to change it and why take millions or billions of years to do it once he *zapped!* everything in place?
K at 1:01PM on Jan 28th 2008
42. You demonstrate that there's no conflict between science and faith in Me. Thank you.
And yet, one must question even me. Even your faith. It is a necessary part of being a balanced, aware being. You were given the ability to analyse for a reason.
Find your own truth. Your own path. Do not look to a church or pastor for your path. Learn about the world. All of it. Learn about other paths foreign to you as well. My message was about love, and that means love for every other person, indeed every other being, in the universe. All are brethren. Never forget that.
Jesus Christ Himself at 1:03PM on Jan 28th 2008
43. When you ask God if he's real or ask Him for a sign, and you truly believe, you shall surely get a sign.
The only problem is, it doesn't matter what name you call that God.
Remember that detail. Think on it. It is the key to a mystery.
This is the word of me. Amen.
Jesus Christ Himself at 1:11PM on Jan 28th 2008
44. You risk much by telling them this, preacher man. They are not ready.
Satan the Dark Lord at 1:15PM on Jan 28th 2008
45. Clif,
You love to say folks are 50-100 years behind but I find that you are usually jumping 50-100 years into the future. Dark matter and dark energy are hypothesized to exist. Dark energy in particular is under fire because due to recent discoveries (lumpiness in the distribution of matter) it might not be necessary to explain the expansion of he universe. The hubble shot shows possible effects of dark matter, not dark matter itself.
Same with the multiverse hypothesis, not conclusive at this point.
bigTuna at 1:15PM on Jan 28th 2008