Does God Exist?
Atheism vs. Theism

"Can Atheists Live by Bread Alone?" by Dr. Norman Geisler
This is an informative talk by Dr. Norman Geisler given at Calvary Chapel in Modesto, CA on
March 14, 2010 providing sound reasons and evidence for the existence of God.  (Theism).

	Click word "Teaching"

Dr. Norman Geisler (born 1932) has been a leading voice in Christian Apologetics for over 50 years. He has written or co-written some 70 books and many articles on philosophy and Christian apologetics a sample of which are listed below.   Since 1985 he has debated atheists, agnostics and skeptics on college campuses throughout the United States. 

Evidence Discussed:  The universe is now accepted as having had a beginning.  (Logically it must be either eternal, or not-eternal. Current estimates for the beginning of the Universe are at 13-14 billion years ago.  (Note: There are many Christians who believe the universe is much younger, created with the appearance of age, as God created Adam and all the animals. )

The point debated here is philosophical, the universe must either be caused or uncaused. Geisler presents evidence showing that the universe had a beginning and therefore was caused.  Since the universe exists, something has to be uncaused.  It doesn't make sense to ask, "Then who made God?" If there is a God, then by definition, God would be eternal.  So we are left with a choice:  Either the universe is eternal, or God is eternal, which one makes more sense?  Either Mind made matter, or matter made mind.

Geisler uses reasoned arguments for the existence of God, some are summarized below:

The Cosmological or Causal Argument: The universe had a beginning. Everything that has a beginning, has a cause, therefore the universe has a Cause. 

Sample Citations: (There are many more in the recording)

U.S. Astronomer Robert Jastrow   “Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy.”   Jastrow also said in an interview, "Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. . . . That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.”

Geneticist Francis Collins famous for mapping the human genome:  "The big bang cries out for a divine explanation it forces us to a conclusion that nature had a definite beginning i cannot see how nature could have created itself. only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that."

Consider that if there is no God, than everything was formed by random chance and therefore even the thoughts of the atheist is no more significant than the random wind blowing through the trees.

The Design Argument:  Every complex design has a designer. The world has complex design, therefore the world has a complex Designer..

 If one finds a watch which shows design and purpose, one doesn't assume it was created by random actions, but rather assumes a watch-maker.  There are 1,000 sets of encyclopedias of organized information within the single-celled amoeba.  We call this a simple life form.

Astronomer Alan Sandage concluded that “The world is too complicated in all of its parts to be due to chance alone. I am convinced that the existence of life with all its order in each of each its organisms is simply too well put together. Each part of a living thing depends on all its other parts to function. How does each part know? How is each part specified at conception? The more one learns of biochemistry the more unbelievable it becomes unless there is some kind of organizing principle—an architect for believers . . .”

Sir Fredrick Hoyle said, "Biochemical systems are exceedingly complex, so much so that the chance of their being formed through random shuffling of simple organic molecules is exceedingly minute, to a point where it is no different from zero ... For life to have originated on earth it would be necessary that quite explicit instructions should have been provided for its assembly."

Famous philosopher Immanuel Kant - “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me”

Famous atheist Anthony Flew who has become a theist. "

The Moral Argument: Every objective moral law has a moral law giver.  There is an objective moral law, therefore there must be a moral law giver.  We all have this knowing of right and wrong. 

Former atheist C.S. Lewis described his journey to belief in God through his observing of an objective moral law that seems to reside inside all people. He observed that we are all very insistent about the existence of right and wrong.  Not that we think it's a human cultural invention, but that certain acts are real evil. But if we are all just random particles thrown together in a universe of chance, why do we understand some actions as clearly good, and others as clearly evil?  Who taught us good and evil?   CS Lewis even found that his main objection to God, the existence of evil, actually proved God's existence.

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too–for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist–in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless -I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality–namely my idea of justice–was full of sense."

More Arguments for the Existence of God

Articles: Dr. Stephen Hawking believes that matter can spontaneous create itself. 
And they argue that science is not a 'faith proposition".   This is why Geisler wrote, "I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist"

Sample of Books by Dr. Norman Geisler