09 Feb God Cannot Be Proved or Disproved
Blog Series: Renew Your Mind ~ Transform Your Life
So far in our series, we have made the case that, in order for Christians to grow from where they are to where they want to be, they must first abandon themselves to an eternal perspective. Not to do so is to try to play soccer while God is playing basketball. It can’t end well.
We must live in this world according to the truth and reality of the next.
There are three steps we must take to cultivating an eternal perspective:
- Believe the “unbelievable”
- Choose the undesirable
- Fight the invisible
Today, we will begin looking at the first one, believe the unbelievable.
C.S. Lewis once said, “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.”
There couldn’t be a better description of a committed Christian. With a temporal perspective, the whole world is “running towards a cliff.” The believer must run away from it. In doing so, he will look as though he has lost his mind.
So many things in Scripture are counter-intuitive and take us 180 degrees in the opposite direction of our natural inclination. That is why it is so hard.
When I say we must believe the unbelievable, it is not really unbelievable. It just looks that way at first glance. It just looks that way to someone with a temporal perspective. On second glance, however, if we take all available evidence at face value and carry it to its logical conclusion, it is the only thing that can be believed.
Within the category of “unbelievable” things, there are three sub-categories of things we must believe:
- We must believe that God exists, in spite of no scientific proof.
- We must believe that God is good, in spite of rampant evil in the world.
- We must believe that God loves me, in spite of the fact that He doesn’t make my life go better.
We will be unpacking these three points over the next several weeks. Today, let’s begin looking at the first thing we must believe that, to someone with a temporal perspective, seems to be unbelievable.
GOD EXISTS IN SPITE OF NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF
Atheists want proof that God exists
If you visit atheist sites to see why atheists don’t believe in God, they have some common arguments. This is a summary/paraphrase:
No one has ever seen God. A few people claim to have had an encounter with him, but how do we know they’re telling the truth? How do we know they’re in touch with reality? Some people in mental institutions claim to actually be God, but no one believes them, either.
If you could simultaneously interview the 7 billion people on the planet, 99.999% would tell you that they have not come close to seeing God. So why in the world would anyone believe in someone so elusive?
If there were a God, and if he wanted to be accepted and worshiped, wouldn’t he make himself more obvious? And if God were good wouldn’t he do something about all the pain, evil and suffering in the world?
Plus, there is not a shred of scientific proof to suggest that God exists. What we know from science is that there was a big bang, molecules gathered to form stars and planets. At least one of the planets happened to be capable of creating and supporting life, which evolved slowly over many millions of years. That’s all there is and all there ever will be, and anyone who thinks otherwise believes in the Tooth Fairy.
Well, how do we answer such reasoning?
God cannot be proved or disproved
First of all, requiring proof of God is unrealistic. God cannot be proved, or disproved.
God lies outside the capacity of the scientific method to prove or disprove.
Well-known atheist and scientist Carl Sagan had a famous program in the ‘80s on public television called Cosmos. He started each program with, “The cosmos is all there is, or was, or ever will be.”
Oh really? How do you know that, Dr. Sagan? Can you prove that?
Of course not! Proof depends on the scientific method. That is how scientists get proof.
- Start with the question of interest.
- Propose a hypothesis (an educated guess as to what you expect).
- Conduct an experiment to test your hypothesis, using methods that are reproducible.
- Record your observations and analyze the data.
- Conclude whether to accept or reject your hypothesis.
If you can repeat the experiments and get the same results, you have what is accepted as “scientific proof.” Carl Sagan’s conclusion about the cosmos was made without applying the scientific method because some things are outside the realm of possibility for the scientific method, including the existence of God and the creation of the universe.
Whenever a scientist speaks about anything outside the scientific method, he is speaking not as a scientist but as a philosopher. And he has no more inherent authority or credibility than a non-scientist.
Insisting that you must have proof of God is both absurd, because it is not possible, and inconsistent, because atheists themselves believe and accept all kinds of things that they cannot prove.
So, in the absence of proof, what do you look for? You look for evidence. You move from the laboratory to the courtroom. And when you do that, we are all on an equal footing with scientists.
And when we look at evidence, the ground shifts dramatically.
There is compelling evidence that God exists
An unbiased, open mind can be wonderfully reassured, and absolutely convinced of God’s existence. So, next week, we will begin to look at compelling evidence to believe that God exists, in spite of the fact that He cannot be proved.
In case you’re new here
This blog post is part of a series titled “Renew Your Mind, Transform Your Life”, introduced on January 5, 2021. As the series continues, each succeeding post will be added to and available in the blog archives at www.maxanders.com.
If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this study, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to go to my web site (www.maxanders.com) and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blogs on this subject.
In addition, I am creating a new online membership site, The Change Zone, that will provide information, strategies and resources to help motivated Christians renew their mind and transform their lives. If you would like to learn more about this and get updates to know when The Change Zone will be available, click here.
I look forward to going through this life-changing journey with you.
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