Apologetics and Proving the Existence of God

I recently put together two videos discussing the proof of God's existence. 

In the first video, I look at the so-called "classical proofs" that people traditionally use to argue the existence of God.  However, as reasonable as these views might be, they have their logical limitations. 

I believe in God: But the "Proofs" of His Existence Suck:

After looking at the limitations of traditional apologetics that people use to prove the existence of God, I make a call for a more Biblical, Christ-centered, and Spirit-filled approach to apologetics. 

Proving the Existence of God through Jesus Christ Alone

 

 

Let me know your thoughts! I'd love to hear your feedback.

Can God Make A Rock He Cannot Lift?

There is an old philosophical question that asks, "Can God make a rock He cannot lift?"

If God can create a rock he cannot lift, then He is not all powerful.  And if He is not all powerful, then He isn't God, and therefore, God does not exist, or at least, God is not truly all powerful.

At least, that's how this riddle goes. It's known as the "omnipotence paradox."

And, lest you think this problem is something that atheists have constructed in order to take cheap shots at Christianity, you would be wrong.  It was a problem that some medieval monks and priests toyed around with.  Over the centuries, great philosophers and theologians, like the legendary Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, and C.S. Lewis have attempted to solve this problem.

There are a lot of varied answers to this problem.  Some attack the question itself, saying the question is illogical, and is like asking if a two-sided triangle can exist.  Others treat the question as being less hostile, and end up saying that our minds have to understand that God being all powerful doesn't mean that God can truly do everything that is theorized in some abstract questions.  Rather, God simply has the ability to do everything that needs to get done. So, God is all powerful they say, but in some limited sense of the idea.

It occurred to me as I mulled over this problem recently, that God long ago solved the omnipotence paradox, long before the question was ever asked by all the great thinkers of the past centuries.  He did this in the person of Jesus Christ.

As a Christian, I believe that God came to this world in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ was not merely a man, but He is "God made flesh."  And in the incarnation of God as a man, Jesus Christ lived in this world, subject to all its forces, and the limits placed on His humanity. Yes, He is fully God, but fully man at the same time.

Even though Jesus did amazing things like walk on water, heal the sick, and raise the dead, He was ultimately limited by His humanity.  Everything you and I are limited to in our humanity, He was also limited by.  And, anything supernatural that Jesus Christ did, was as a man empowered by the same Holy Spirit that had empowered prior prophets like Moses, or Elijah.

In the person of Jesus Christ, God was limited and weak.  So much so, that the world and people He created eventually took hold of their Creator, stripped Him naked, and crucified their God on a tree.

So, to answer the age old question, can God make a rock He cannot lift?

The real answer to this question gets answered every Easter, as we tell the story of the Passion.  In it we learn of Jesus Christ, the crucified God.  It is the story of the God who created a rock that He could not lift.  It is the story of the God who was crushed by the world He created.

Reasons Why I Don't Believe In God

I don't believe in God because of philosophical speculation.

I don't believe in God because of scientific evidence.

I don't believe in God because of historical proof of Biblical events.

I don't believe in God because I've done a comparative study of all the worlds major religions and made a determination that one of them is most likely right.

Indeed, philosophical speculation about the existence of God turns up to be a vain excercise of the mind, that while healthy, is like trying to get somewhere while running on a treadmill. 

Scientific evidence is entirely lacking, as God cannot be observed under a microscope.  

The historicity of many major events in the Bible can easily be doubted, and the archaeological evidence thus far is bit underwhelming.

And comparing all the major world religions and making a determination as to which is best, is the equivalent of choosing Pepsi over Coke.

And yet in spite of saying all the aforementioned things that give me little to no reason to believe in God, I still find myself entirely convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He was bodily raised from the dead, three days after having been crucified under Pontius Pilate.

Why do I believe this?

Because years ago, as I was a teenager sitting in a church, I heard the Gospel message preached for the first time, and suddenly, it felt like Jesus Christ was real to me.  And from that moment in time, through all my struggles over the things of the faith, I've continued to sense the reality of Him in my every day life.  There hasn't been a day since then that has gone by where I wasn't aware that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He is alive and well.

I believe Jesus Christ is alive, because I believe it pleased Himself to reveal Himself alive in me (Galatians 1:15-16). Nothing more, and nothing less.

While I believe all the aforementioned disciplines of study yield some very interesting results and some insights into things about God, they aren't enough to compel me to be a Christian.  At the end of the day, I am a Christian because I believe God Himself made me one.  And truth be told, you nor anybody else in the universe has ever become one except God made you a Christian too.

This is my apologetic.  It should become yours too.