“These are the generations of the heavens and of the
earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens (Genesis 2:4)”
I.
The Existence of
God
a. The Bible does not attempt to prove God by formal
proofs
II.
Why do we try to
prove the existence of God?
a. To help convince the genuine seekers after God (Luke
16:31)
b.
To strengthen the
faith of those who already believe
c. To enrich our knowledge of the overall nature of God
(II Tim. 2:15; John 14:7).
III.
The Cosmological
Argument
a. The argument from cause and effect
i.
Everything begun
owes its existent to some producing cause which must be equal to or greater
than it
b.
God alone is
eternal, self-existent, and independent, the only uncaused (Heb. 3:4)
c. If anything exists, then either something must be
eternal or something eternal must have come from nothing
d.
This argument
shows the existence of some cause of the universe indefinitely great.
e.We
cannot tell if this cause is intelligent or unintelligent, infinite or finite,
one or many, being or simply a cause of change.
f.
We must realize
that the effect cannot be greater than the cause
IV.
The Teleological
Argument
a. This is the complement to the Cosmological Argument
(Ps. 19:1; 8:3; 94:9)
b.
This is the
argument from design
c. The order and specific arrangement of a system implies
the existence of an intelligent designer
i.
Principles and
laws are always the same everywhere
1.Law
of Gravity
ii.
the world reveals
intelligence, harmony, and purpose
1.With
the human body being so complex, it could not just have happened
2.If
you unassembled a watch and place all the parts in a zip-lock back and shake it
for one millions years, at the end of the time period, the watch will not have
been reassembled into a functional watch through evolution
V.
The Anthropological
Argument
a. This argument comes from the composition of man
b.
If one goes back
to the Cosmological argument, there are certain elements in man that owe their
existence to some cause which is also composed of these elements
c. There are several different elements to this argument
i.
Man is a mental
being capable of reasoning
ii.
Mann has a moral
nature
iii.
Man is a personal
being
iv.
Man is an
emotional being
VI.
The Ontological
Argument
a. The innate concept of an absolute or perfect being is
necessary to man’s thinking
b.
All men have an
idea of God and that He is infinitely greater than man therefore the universe
could not have its origins in man
i.
A finite being
cannot think up an infinite, perfect being therefore He must exist as the cause
of that thinking
c. The argument does not actually prove His existence or
that He is a necessarily a being but if He does exist then He must be absolute,
infinite, and perfect
VII.
The
Christological Argument
a. When we examine all the elements of Christianity,
everything must be accounted for
b.
There must be a
reason for everything
c. We must account for the Bible, fulfilled prophecies,
the history of the nation of Israel, miracles, the supernatural character of
Christ, whose existence in history cannot be denied, the influence of
Christianity, and the face of conversion (Moral and spiritual change).
i.
These things may
be accounted for individually and explained but collectively they represent an
insurmountable argument for the existence of the God of Christianity
d.
He must exist and
exist as thought of in fundamental Christianity
VIII.
The Religious
Argument
a. This is the argument from universal belief (Rom 2:15;
Job 32:8)
b.
No culture is
totally devod of relgion and a belief in a God
c. Often times, this idea of God is perverted and have
grotesque forms but is noene the less a belief in God
d.
Man will always
worship but the question is “What will he worship?”
e.This
religion includes that he has not left himself without a testimony
IX.
The Argument from
Congruity
a. The existence of God is the key that fits the lock
b.
The belief in God
is the best answer to fit all of he faces presented
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