Question: How can I have faith in God’s existence in light of scientific reason?To answer this question, let's first address the common misconception that faith and reason are opposites. Many naturalists contend that they are not people of faith and some even contend those who trust in God's existence are not people of reason. Both contentions are false. All naturalists are every bit as much people of faith as people who trust in the reality of God's existence. If the following sounds harsh, please forgive me. I share it with people's best interest in heart and as someone who placed his faith in nothing for many years before coming to reasonable faith in God. With that said, naturalists are people of faith who are banking on the false hope that nothing beyond the material exists. This is an often unrecognized escape attempt that is doomed to failure, and it is usually based on false assumptions about the consequences of reckoning with the reality of God. Such avoidance has many tragic consequences, including the distortion of logic and reason about spiritual matters in the minds of those who must twist them to continue hiding from ultimate reality. To help us better understand faith, let's consider the Biblical definition of it in Hebrews.
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…By faith we understand the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of visible things…Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe He exists and rewards those who seek Him.”– Hebrews 11:1- 6
In a sense faith is non-sense...that is non-sensory. It is our convictions about things that we cannot perceive through our physical senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. In another sense faith is wishful thinking. By that I don't mean irrational thinking, but that what we believe about non-sensory matters is greatly influenced by our core desires. The Bible declares that "the fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" People convince themselves there is no God because they do not want there to be a God. People think life and freedom are found in independence from God and God's rule -"Free at last...Free at last...Great nothing almighty...We're free at last!" In reality, the exact opposite is true, but our natural disposition since the rebellion of our ultimate ancestors has been to run from God rather than to Him. We do not naturally seek God for the same reason criminals don't naturally seek judges. We are guilty! Though we run and hide, God keeps seeking us and stirring us to seek Him. Contrary to our fears, God is not seeking us to condemn us, but to save us! It is just as Jesus declared, "I did not come to judge the world, but to save it" - John 12:47. When we avoid God, we are unwittingly avoiding true life, freedom, peace, joy, comfort, hope and meaning. With all this in mind, please consider the following statements of faith (one in nothing and one in God) from two notable scientists, who are both men of faith and reason, and then let's examine a couple good reasons for faith in God instead of faith in nothing.
“I cannot know for certain, but I think God is very improbable. I live my life on the assumption that He is not there.”– Dr. Richard Dawkins (Oxford, The God Delusion)
“When you make a breakthrough, it is a moment of scientific exhilaration…It is also a moment when I feel close to the Creator.” – Dr. Francis Collins (Director of Human Genome Project)
Good Reason for Faith in God from Without:
The Existence and Exactness of Creation
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness…of men who suppress the truth…because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” - Romans 1:18-22
The Bible declares that creation itself provides enough evidence to leave people without excuse for suppressing the truth about God's existence. If we think about it, we see that every effect has a cause. If we see light, we know there is a light source. If we hear a noise, we know there is a noise maker. If we apply that logic to the universe, we have good reason to expect there to be a universe source/maker. It is difficult to believe that nobody x nothing = everything. Some people ask "well, who made God?" The Bible declares that God is the alpha (first) and omega (last) - the self-existing Creator and self-sustaining Sustainer of everything else that exist. The magnificence and precision of the universe and the irreducible complexity of the life within it are also evidence of intentional design and thus a purposeful designer.
Good Reason for Faith in God from Within:
The Longing and Law in our Hearts
“God has…put eternity into man’s heart.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11
“When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law…show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” - Romans 2:14-16
If we think about it, the things we desire actually exist, though we may be deprived of them at the moment. For example, when I hunger for food, I am longing for something that actually exists - food. This even holds true for non-material things, such as love and peace. I may lack the present experience of real love and thus long for it, but I am not longing for something that does not exists. Real love really exists. I am just deprived of it in that scenario - not in real life, thankfully. So, what if we apply this to God? People in all cultures throughout history have expressed deep desire, even extreme longing, for God. Is God the only thing people desire that does not really exists or does the universal longing for God indicate that God, though people experience alienation from Him, actually exists?
Humanity also appeals to a universal code of right and wrong. Why? If matter is all that exists, nothing really matters in any ultimate sense. There is no real right and wrong or fair and unfair. There is only your opinion and my opinion and his and hers, etc. If there is no actual objective morality, then literally everything is relative and subject to "says who?" debates that set us up to slide down into 'might makes right' morality. The Bible says that we intuitively know that there is actual right and actual wrong and that we are accountable to live accordingly. The existence of universal objective moral law, points to a universal law giver. Please take a moment to watch this interview with Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the Human Genome Project, which mapped the 3.1 billion letters in the human genetic code.
While these external and internal evidences point to God, they do not prove God's existence. As Scripture declares "he who comes to God must believe He exists and rewards those who seek Him”– Hebrews 11:6. I hope you will genuinely seek God with all your heart, and I know from His promises in the Bible and my personal experience that you will find Him when you do.
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