Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if he found himself standing before God on judgment day and God asked him, “Why didn’t you believe in me?” Russell retorted, “I would say, ‘Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!’”

One wonders what kind of evidence Russell was referring to when he made this statement. Did he expect God to appear to him in the flesh? Write him a personal message in the clouds? Give him the ability to fly?

From my perspective, God has given us evidence — a lot of it, for that matter. I would say there’s so much evidence for God, it seems unreasonable to doubt His existence. Let me give you one quick argument to show you what I mean. There’s more here as well.

Cosmological Argument

This argument’s name comes from “cosmos,” as you’ve probably guessed. It goes like this:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
Therefore:
3. The universe has a cause.

This is a logically valid argument. That is, if premises 1 and 2 are true, the conclusion (3) necessarily follows. Let’s look at the premises in turn:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

The fundamental principle in science is the law of causality. That is, every effect comes out of an underlying cause. We know of no single effect in the universe that came about uncaused. The computer I’m using exists because programmers, engineers and technicians all worked to create it. The desk I’m using was made by a craftsman. The tree used to make my desk grew because a seed was in the ground and the sun and rain helped it grow. I could go on. The point is that cause-and-effect is the way things work. We don’t know of any exceptions.

Prominent eighteenth century skeptic David Hume even declared, “I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that something could arise without a cause.” For centuries, though, skeptics never saw any problem with this. They asserted that the universe itself was eternal — it didn’t begin to exist — so they thought it could exist without any cause. 

Recently, however, skeptics have changed their tune, because it’s become virtually undeniable the universe had a beginning. Therefore, they sometimes respond by saying cause-and-effect is true of everything in the universe, but not for the universe as a whole. But can anyone really believe the universe came into being without any cause at all?

2. The universe began to exist.

The evidence the universe began a finite time ago is overwhelming. Let me give just a few pieces of evidence. First, in 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered a “red shift” in the light from distant galaxies, which meant they were flying apart from us and each other at rapid speeds. In other words, Hubble discovered, through observation, that our universe is expanding.

If our universe is expanding, all one needs to do is imaging our universe rewinding back in time to see that it eventually collapses to a point — the time of its inception. Hubble’s discovery by itself is enough to demonstrate a definite beginning of our universe. But there’s more.

Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity demands that all space, time and matter came into existence simultaneously. Furthermore, his calculations predicted an expanding universe — much like the one Hubble discovered through his telescope.

Einstein, not a theist himself, was troubled by his findings because of the theological implications. He even tried to fudge his numbers to avoid a definite beginning of the universe. Later on he called that the biggest blunder of his career.

Finally, the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the universe is running out of usable energy. Much like a car driving down the highway that will eventually run out of gas, the universe will eventually run out of usable energy. But if the universe has existed for all eternity past, it would have already run out of energy. It had to have begun a finite time ago.

3. Therefore the universe has a cause of its existence.

Since space, time, and matter all came into existence simultaneously, whatever caused it must be beyond space, time, and matter. In other words, the cause must be spaceless, timeless, and immaterial. Furthermore, it must be personal to choose to create, and all-powerful to create a universe as massive as ours.

This isn’t the only version of the cosmological argument, by the way. This one is called the “Kalam” argument, and you can learn more about it here.

Overwhelming Evidence

So what kind of cause are we talking about? I don’t have space to spell it all out here, but it’s clear that whatever caused our universe to come into existence must be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, personal, all-powerful, supremely intelligent and purposeful. That sounds an awful lot like God, wouldn’t you say?

So why do skeptics, like Bertrand Russell, say there isn’t enough evidence? I submit to you that they’re looking in the wrong places. They’re looking for God to do something inside the creation — like do a miracle, appear to them or give them a special message.

This would be equivalent to me denying D. R. Horton’s existence (my home’s builder) because I don’t see him anywhere in my house. I’ve checked all the rooms, the garage, and even the attic, but I can’t find him. Therefore, I conclude, he must not exist.

But that’s absurd. Of course he exists! How do you suppose my house got there? And what about all the evidence for design on in the inside and outside of the house? It’s evident, based on the house itself, that D.R. Horton exists. In the same way, when we consider the origin of our universe, it’s evident that God exists too.

Excerpted from JesusIsNotFakeNews.com. Used by Permission.