Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : Jewish Messianic Concepts, part 3 of 5

Mariano has started a series on one of his blogs exploring the idea of who and what the "Messiah" is supposed to be from the point-of-view of Judaism. This is a great start to what I know is going to be a great series of posts! Here is part 3!

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : Jewish Messianic Concepts, part 3 of 5

Showing the Belief in God is Reasonable

Update 08-11-09. I'd like to thank AdamJTP for discussing this post with me on Twitter. As per his points I decided to add a little more points of clarification. My additional comment s are in red.

It's funny to me how when people try to discredit the Bible on the grounds of what it says, history, or science, the conversation always devolves into "Oh yeah, prove there is a God!" and "Oh yeah, prove there is no God." It gets to that point because the Bible is unassailable. You can confirm much of what it says but can't refute anything it says. Therefore a common objection against proving that God does not exist says "You can't prove a negative." Of course this dodges the question. If you can't prove that God does not exist then why do you close your mind to the possibility? The next part of the challenge to the Christian Theist is to prove that God exists. Of course to the staunchest atheist it really is as the Bible says. It doesn't matter how much evidence you present they refuse to see God's truth.

I've recently been challenged to show that God exists in a logical proof of the kind used in mathematics. They want me to state my givens - state the axioms on which my argument rests. I admit that i wasn't clear in my twitter exchanges. The Bible itself states that we understand that God created everything because of our faith. This faith is not blind, nor is it defined the way the non-believing, secular world defines faith. No, when I use the word "faith" I mean it the way the Bible uses it, not colloquial America. Therefor, I ask if anyone comments on the post or have as problem with it that they remember that I am making the following axiom from Hebrews 11: 1-6

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

This is just one of the axioms, I'm suggesting. If you want argue that I can't use it, keep in mind that the validity of the Bible is another, separate issue - and out of scope in this discussion. In addition recall that in geometric proofs it is just assumed, and without proof, that two lines determine a point and three points determine a plane. If you want to argue that the above is not faith (pistas - in Kione Greek) then please also explain why we can define line and point without proving that there are "points".

As I stated earlier, I intend to list all of my assumptions and then show that the Bible ascribes all the attributes of the creator of the Universe, given what we know. Before I go farther, I want to remark that it has been said that this post is silly because no one has been able to successfully argue for the existence of God. Let me be clear: I am arguing that the preponderance of the evidence points to the God of the Bible and if you honestly consider the evidence and trace it out, you will have either decide to outright reject God consciously or fall to your knees and in worship and adoration. There is no middle ground. I'm not naive enough to think that this one post will have the desired effect, but what I am intending is to give anyone who reads this and "sitting on the fence" to have a starting point to make a decision.

Let's get started with my assumptions. If anyone wants to debate or argue any of these, I will take on such challenges later on. Just let me know.
1. The universe is not eternal.
2. At some point time and space came into existence.

AdamJTP had suggested that I don't need to state axiom 1 because it logically follows axiom 2. I placed it there because it's not an obvious point to some people.

3. Something that begins to exist must have a cause

AdamJTP challenge me that there is something that can happen without a cause. He cited radiactive devay as an example which according to the Copenhagen interpretation radioactive decay is causeless. I had to point out that not all physicists agree. You can check out the article I sent him here at Nuclear Decay Cause.

4. Something can only be brought into existence by something greater than itself.

AdamJTP offered the example of how a simple equation [The Julia set (z^2 + c)] can generate a complex graph. The thing is a mind came up up with the equation and that mind is more complex than the graph. We still have something being made by something not greater than itself.

5. The universe is so fine-tuned in such a way that only the reality that we observe is possible.
6. The Bible describes a personal, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and omniscient supreme being.
7. In order that something is designed, there must be a designer.
8. A designer must have person-hood, thought, purpose, and will.
9. There is no other known god, worshiped by human beings that fits the description of God in the Bible.
10. For every event, there are possible alternative outcomes.

Logic
If the universe is not eternal, then it had a beginning.
If the universe had a beginning then it had a cause
If the universe had a cause then the cause must be greater that itself.

If the constants and laws governing the universe is fine-tuned to result in the reality we can measure, observe, and predict, then it must be so because it was set up to be so.

If the universe is set up a certain way, then it was designed purposely.
If the universe is designed purposely then there was an intellect who know knows all things in the universe it designed.

If the universe is designed then the sum total of all its matter and energy must have been in control of its designer.

If the universe is designed and there are so many possible alternatives that could have become reality instead of the one we experience, then the designer would have had to be able to manipulate multiple events in diverse locales simultaneously.

If the universe is designed, then it must have a designer greater than itself.

If the designer is greater than the universe and everything in it, then by definition the designer is omnipotent.

If the designer is greater than the universe and everything in it, then the designer must know everything about it therefore the designer is omniscient.

If the designer is aware of and sees multiple locals of the universe simultaneously, then the designer is omnipresent.

If the designer is greater then the universe, then the designer is eternal - no beginning. No end.

If the designer fits all the characteristics I have outlined then HE must be the God of the Bible.

The God of the Bible exists.

QED

I'm sure there are many people who disagree with my assumptions and my proof based on those assumptions. If you disagree, explain why you disagree. If you think it's not worth your time, that is your rifght, but bear in mind that I'm correct, your soul hangs in the balance. Go search out the evidence and be really, really sure. There is nothing worse then to be cut off from God. Seek God while you can.

A lot of great men and women have done great work on looking at the evidence of God as a creator. Some of them I have covered in previous blog posts. Here is a list of some previous post I recommend reading, which will lead you to other resources.

Sunday Quote: Stephen Hawking on the Big Bang - Apologetics 315
Does Faith Make Sense In An Age of Science?
Richard Dawkins and John Lennox: Has Science Buried God? MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315
Astrophysics Points to the God of the Bible MP3 Audio by Hugh Ross - Apologetics 315
Lee Strobel's "The Case For A Creator"
Jay Richards Vs Christopher Hitchens - Intelligent Design
“Fine Tuned Cosmos” by David Heddle (Faith and Science Part 2)

If I were to pick a single chapter out of the bible that I would say goes with this post, it would be Romans 1.

In case it was missed, I want to make sure that the point of God's eternality is something non-negotiable. It's taught throughout the entire Bible. The divine name literally means that God has no beginning or end. To ask "What caused God?" makes no sense because the God Iam declaring has no beginning. As a human being it's hard to imagine anything that has no beginning but that is how God describes Himself. If you want to argue that a god who has a begginiing and and is bound by time then I will agree with any atheist - that god does not exist. However that is not the God of the Bible.

Mormonism 101

TurretinFan, one of the contributors to the Alpha and Omega Ministries blog has compiled previous resources regarding mormonism by Dr. James White. You can find it at the following link: Mormonism 101 - Index Page.