DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD EXISTS?

"Do you really believe that God exists? Is it even possible to prove God’s existence?"
It’s not unusual to hear this question if you are engaged in a conversation with someone about your faith. The impetus of the gospel is that there is a God. How can we rationally explain that concept to someone? Responding to this question can create a healthy tension. The reality is we can’t prove or disprove God’s existence in the strict sense of absolute certainty. We know very little with absolute mathematical certainty, so certainty is neither a reasonable or necessary standard. But that does not mean that there is no convincing evidence for God’s existence. In fact there are several compelling arguments for God’s existence. Once these arguments are understood the critical question becomes “How does God reveal Himself to us?” 1

One of the most appealing arguments for the existence of God is popularly known as the “Argument from Design.”
An explanation of this position is that the design of the universe infers an intelligent designer (God), just as the purpose, order and design behind any product shows that it must have had a purposeful designer. Classically philosophers have referred to this as the “Teleological” argument. The meaning of teleological is the study of a purpose or an end.

William Paley, a nineteenth century British philosopher, was a proponent of the teleological argument. Paley’s book Natural Theology, published in 1800, advanced an analogy for the design argument using a rock and a watch encountered by a traveler in the woods. The observation made concerning the rock is that it could have been in place for an undetermined amount of time. But the same conclusion cannot be made concerning the watch. Upon examination of the watch the conclusion is reached that it differs from the rock to a significant degree.

In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone and were asked how the stone came to be there, I might possibly answer that for anything I knew to the contrary it had lain there forever; nor would it, perhaps, be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think of the answer which I had before given, that for anything I knew the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone? Why is it not as admissible in the second case as in the first? For this reason, and for no other, namely, that when we come to inspect the watch, we perceive -- what we could not discover in the stone -- that its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose.2

 The expansion of Paley’s argument infers that the design and order that we see around us suggest the involvement of an intentional designer. Paley suggested that the same principle could be seen in the design of the human eye, the animal kingdom and “all the organized parts of the works of nature.”3

The structure and order of the world around us reflects an overwhelming amount of intelligent design. The constant force of gravity--which holds in check the earth’s positional relationship to the sun, the strength of the magnetic field, the ratio of protons to electrons, the tilt of the earth upon its axis; each is calibrated to precise measurements conducive to life on earth. Many contemporary scientists ranging from astrophysicists to engineers acknowledge these facts as compelling evidence for an element of intentional design.4 The teleological argument’s conclusion is the existence of an intelligent Creator. Paley’s work echoes the words of Paul found in the book Romans.

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. 

Is it a reasonable assumption that the order and design of cosmos suggest an intelligent designer? Blaise Paschal commented, “God has given us evidence sufficiently clear to convince those with an open heart and mind.” The Psalmist reinforces this notion in Psalm 19. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. ” It is not an untenable position to recognize God as the best explanation for an ordered universe that contains and sustains life.


Does the design argument convincingly prove that God exist?
Perhaps not, but it does increase the probability of God’s existence. So the subsequent question becomes “How has this God revealed Himself to us?”

The Bible speaks to this issue. It discloses to us that God desires to have a relationship with each of us. This desire on His part is so significant that throughout recorded history He has pursued a relationship with mankind. One leader of the early Christian church made this observation: “Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words! ”

The Bible communicates to us that the ultimate revelation of the God of creation is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Recommended Resources

  • Probe Ministries: www.probe.org Probe’s mission is to present the Gospel to communities, nationally and internationally, by providing life-long opportunities to integrate faith and learning through balanced, biblically based scholarship, training people to love God by renewing their minds and equipping the Church to engage the world for Christ. The website has an excellent collection of articles and PowerPoint presentations that cover apologetic and worldview issues.
  • Fatal Flaws and The FACE that demonstrates the Farce of Evolution; both by Hank Hanegraff. Hanegraff, the host of the “Bible Answer Man” radio program and president of the Christian Research Institute, provides an examination of the implausibility of chance occurrences being responsible for life and order in the universe. www.equip.org
  • Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a collection of radio broadcasts originally aired in the 1940’s. Lewis used the forum to discuss many fundamental issues ranging from the nature of God to proper Christina conduct and behavior. The work is regarded as essential reading for the Christian apologist.
  • Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity, J.P. Moreland; includes a chapter on the design argument as well as discussion of the cosmological and moral argument. Moreland is one of the leading contemporary Christian apologists.
  • The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. Strobel a former investigative journalist interviews experts from a variety of fields of study to reinforce the Christian faith. His interview with Dr. Walter Bradley concerning intelligent design is a valuable resource.

Additional Resources concerning Intelligent Design (the Teleological Argument):

  • How Blind is the Watchmaker? Nell Brown
  • Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe
  • Many Infallible Proofs, Henry Morris

These and other helpful resources are available through the Immanuel Christian Bookstore. 

Sources cited:

1. “answers” Michael Horner Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada, 1988
2. Paley’s book Natural Theology is in the public domain. Portions of the work may be accessed at http://www-phil.tamu.edu/~gary/intro/paper.paley.html
3. Paley, Natural Theology, previously cited.
4. Sue Bohlin, “Evidence for God’s Existence” and John Studebaker “Using God’s Design to Communicate Faith” from the PROBE Ministries website www.probe.org