The Living GodThe Living God
Conclusion
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ObjectiveObjective
Not to “prove” the existence of God, but
to REASON to FAITH in the existence of God
Look at some recent developments in science on the question of God
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The Arguments for GodThe Arguments for God
Man’s Intelligence
Ontological Argument
Spiritual Consciousness
Cosmological
Argument
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The Teleological ArgumentThe Teleological ArgumentPossibilities
Final Cause – Law, Order, Structure, Beauty, Design
This world is very real!
Plainly illogical
Why should it happen?
Big Bang
Entropy
So much Design cannot result from mechanistic chance.
The one and only logical option
E = mc2
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The EvidenceThe Evidence
• The Decline of Naturalism
• The Anthropic Principle
• The Death of Darwinism
• Intelligent Design
• Lessons from Medical Science
• Failure of Human Wisdom
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““Large Number Evidences”Large Number Evidences”
• Today, a great abundance of scientific data and research support arguments for the existence of God
• Growing support from believing scientists
• Tide has turned against atheism
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Tell-tale SignsTell-tale Signs
“The heavens declare the glory of
God; And the firmament shows His
handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)
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Tell-tale SignsTell-tale Signs
• “ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” (Romans 1:20)
• “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
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Paley’s WatchmakerPaley’s Watchmaker
William Paley, 1743-1805
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The ResponsesThe Responses
• The true scientist has no problem examining the data before him and make the inevitable conclusion concerning God – as many have done, and have been converted
In contrast:
• The hard-core atheist would rather abandon objective science than discard his atheist paradigm, preferring myths
Gaia
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The Real IssueThe Real Issue
Not about being scientific or non-scientific – it is a choice of paradigm by faith
The Atheist Paradigm
The Theist Paradigm
Facts & Observations
E = mc 2
“Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” (Albert Einstein)
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Our Basis for FaithOur Basis for Faith
Our objective faith in God comes from
• Divine revelation in the Scriptures (the Bible, the word of God)
– There is a separate set of strong evidences why we believe the Bible to be God’s revelations to Man
• Reason, i.e. scientific objectivity when we examine all the facts, observations and experiments before us
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No Blind FaithNo Blind Faith
• We reject mythologies of ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman gods, Chinese myths, etc
• We also reject the new myths : Gaia Theory, Panspermia, Multiverse Theory, etc
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A Dreadful Alternative:A Dreadful Alternative:
A World Without GodA World Without God
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The “Original” SinThe “Original” Sin
Tree of knowledge of good and evil
Tree of Life
Atheism GOD
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The Godless Alternative - AtheismThe Godless Alternative - Atheism
• “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
– Man wants to be like God, from the very beginning
• “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)
– Man has no fear of God. Man rejects God, even the idea that there is a God.
– He conducts his life without the fear of God.
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The Godless Alternative - AtheismThe Godless Alternative - Atheism
“'Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,” Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god” (Ezekiel 28:2)
Man not only wants to be like God. He wants to be a god!
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ConsequencesConsequences
Supremacy of “Self” is the only thing that matters, and self- gratification is the only worthwhile objective in this life.
Social oppression
Moral decay
Breakdown of the family
Social collapse
AnarchyMan has been down this road time and again!
Results
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A Hopeless AlternativeA Hopeless Alternative
The Gentile world before Christ, is the example of the godless alternative:
“that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12)
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God gave them up!God gave them up!
Haters of God (Romans 1:20-32)
• They are without excuse
• Futile in their thoughts
• Foolish hearts were darkened
• They became fools
• God gave them up to uncleanness
• God gave them up to vile passions
• God gave them up to a debased mind
• Deserving of death
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A Fiery EndA Fiery End
• “Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up” (Psalm 28:5)
• “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8)
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“But the Day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in which the
heavens will pass away with a great
noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat; both the earth
and the works that are in it
will be burned up.”
(2 Peter 3:10)
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Blaise Pascal’s Wager Blaise Pascal’s Wager (1623-1662)(1623-1662)
Revelation teaches that God rewards faithful believers with eternal happiness and those who reject God suffer eternal torment after death. There is no way for reason to know whether this claim is true. But we may consider our life as a wager. If we bet against God and revelation proves to be true, we will suffer eternal torment. If we bet for God, and revelation proves to be an illusion, we lose nothing, for we shall cease to exist at death.
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Decision MatrixDecision Matrix
EternalGain
Peace of Mind(in this life)
Status Quo(No loss)
EternalMisery
God ExistsGod
Does Not
Exist
Believing in God
Denying God
Result of believing in God is always better than the result of denying God
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The Hope - the way of escapeThe Hope - the way of escape
• No escape for anyone who disregards and remains in disobedience (Romans 2:3, Hebrews
2:3). Why?
Because none is “without excuse” since the evidences of God are too clear to deny (Romans 1:20)
• The only way of escape is to fear God: “For he who fears God will escape them all.” (Ecclesiastes 7:18)
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So which paradigm?So which paradigm?
Basic question that demands a reasonable answer: Can design, patterns, order, law
randomly arise out of chaos?
Atheism GOD
Your eternal future depends on your choice today!
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Faith is requiredFaith is required
• “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
• “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
A proven “God” no longer requires faith to be present.
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““Is God Dead?”Is God Dead?”
Emphatically, NO!
• The Teleological Argument - reject it and remain lost for answers concerning life
• The Spiritual Consciousness - deny it and suffer the consequences in mental and physical health
• The Moral Law - ignore it and pay the price of evil
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God is Our LifeGod is Our Life
“God does not die on the day when
we cease to believe in a personal
deity, but we die on the day when
our lives cease to be illuminated by
the steady radiance, renewed
daily, of a wonder the source of
which is beyond all reason.”
Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961), Markings, p.
56 [1964]
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God is Our LifeGod is Our Life
“God, who made the world
and everything in it, since
He is Lord of heaven and earth, …that
they should seek the Lord, in the hope that
they might grope for Him and find Him,
though He is not far from each one of us;
for in Him we live and move and have our
being” (Acts 17:24, 27-28)
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The Christian & ScienceThe Christian & Science
• The Christian establishes his faith by the word of God (Romans 10:17)
• Science discovers God’s laws and design.
Hence, true science and the Bible can never be in conflict – same Author
• He is always mindful of and respects Deuteronomy 29:29
• And faith in God is his anchor