CAN GOD BE PROVEN?

“In the beginning God created...” — GENESIS 1:1

The first five words of the Bible are, “In the beginning God created”, which states unambiguously the existence of God, but a question frequently asked is: “Can we prove God?” This is actually a poor question, because you can’t apply standards of proof to non-material things. What you can do is provide evidence, and belief or disbelief in God must be based on the evidence or lack of it.

There are some things, which are provable and some things which are not. For example, we can’t prove Julius Caesar. We’re told he lived in the first century B.C. and ruled the Roman Empire, but we can’t observe that, can’t repeat the event, and we can’t measure it, because we’re unable to place ourselves back in that time. Although we can’t prove Julius Caesar, we can look for evidence of him. Coins can still be dug up with his head embossed on them. There are many historical books and records we can read, and we can view artifacts, marble busts and statues of him in various museums in Rome. We can put these things together and conclude there is very strong evidence that Julius Caesar did exist, but we cannot expect to produce objective proof.

Science deals with objective proof, but non-material things are not observable, repeatable or measurable, so we cannot apply the scientific method of proof to things in history, philosophy, moral issues or religious knowledge. There is a movement, however, called, “Intelligent Design”. That isn’t just Christians finding their way to God, but scientists agreeing that there is overwhelming evidence of a great mind behind creation, and the functioning of planet earth and the universe.

The writer of Hebrews says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, and that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). What he says there is that by faith we understand God formed the universe simply by His word. Understanding by faith is not naivety, but is looking at the evidence and coming to a point where we say, “Alright, I’m going to trust this.” We take a leap, not into the dark, but a leap into the evidence. If God is not God, nothing will happen, but if He is, and we’re seeking Him, God promises we’ll find Him.


PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are the great mind behind all of creation, and I pray for everyone who is seeking You to take that leap of faith into the evidence.

TO REFLECT UPON: What evidence do I see that convinces me of God’s existence?