Is God Dead?: Where to begin?

Where to begin? Two weeks ago, we made the comment that for Christians, everything needs to have a warrant or approval from Scripture. That includes how and what we study about God. In search of scriptural warrant last week, we looked in Scripture at Paul’s repeated use of classical philosophy in his speech and teaching as an example for us. The week before last, we looked at God using observations from nature to present an apologetic (defense) of Himself to Job (Job 38-41). Thereby giving us approval from Scripture to use created things from nature (science, philosophy, and history) in building a defense of the existence of God and the truthfulness of Christianity (1 Pet 3:15). And so, the question now is this: with scriptural warrant from God and Paul in hand, where do we begin to answer the question, “is God dead?”

Since we introduced the Bible skeptic “Michael” a few weeks ago, it would seem to make sense to begin to answer the question “Is God dead?” by looking for some common ground that we both can agree upon. Christians, and rightly so, always want to begin with the Bible. However, since Michael does not believe that the Bible is God’s Word but is “a creation of man,” the Christian needs to find some common ground that both can agree upon. How about this: what if we take the same approach that God took with Job (Job 38-41) and look to the world around us to see if it can serve as a witness to the existence of God? The universe is a vast and complex system of planets, moons, suns, and stars. In turn, each planet has its own unique complexity, especially planet Earth. Although the complexity of the universe is an apologetic defense for another day, the mere existence of the universe should speak to mankind. Now, it seems to me that there are only two possible conclusions that the universe could speak to us about its existence: either it has been here all along, or it had a beginning at some point in time past. That is it: either one or the other. 

Now, we human beings are both creatures of habit and creatures of observation. In fact, at a base level, habits simply outweigh observations and experiences. If we think about our observations and life experiences, we know that nothing comes into being without something causing it. We often talk about cause and effect because we understand that all effects have a cause. We can think about how a tree comes into being, and we all know that a seed causes it. The same is true of pigs and cows, cars and houses, and even human beings. Everything that comes into being has a cause. Known in classical philosophy as the cosmological argument, some version of this idea of cause and effect concerning the universe has been summarized in a simple way, going back to Aristotle and Plato. 

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause

2. The universe began to exist

3. Therefore, the universe had a cause

The first statement, “everything that begins to exist has a cause,” is undoubtedly true. Almost no one disputes this claim. Centuries ago, it was thought that life spontaneously came about from decaying meat. If a piece of meat was laid out, a few days later, life had spontaneously appeared and could be observed in and on the meat. Later, they discovered that this spontaneously generated “life” was simply the hatchlings of fly eggs. In modern times, a few claim there are some subatomic particles (quarks, gluons, leptons, etc.) that seem to begin to exist out of nothing without a cause. Still, since these subatomic particles are observed by smashing two atoms together, they actually have a cause and do not come from absolutely nothing. Even so, today, it is safe to say that everything that begins to exist has a cause.

The second claim is that the universe began to exist. Rather than having existed since an infinite time past, the universe, at some moment in time past, began to exist. This is a bold claim sitting at the heart of the argument because it can lead directly to a capital “C” Cause, depending on how this particular claim is answered. Remember, there are only two options: the universe began to exist, or it has been here for eternity. This is where observations from the common ground of science have much to say about how Christians can engage with the Michaels of the world to answer the question, “Did the universe have a cause?” Answering that question is the first in a line of questions that ultimately lead us to answer the big question; “is God dead?” Join us next week as we pick up the story and continue investigating the claim that the universe had a beginning.

   

Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife, Vicki, are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.