Is there evidence for believing in God?

Introduction / recap

Welcome!

Recap....

What have we talked about?

Worldview definition is: a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.

Everyone has a worldview - its the way you view life and the way you think about life.

And what you believe about reality is what shapes your worldview.

Now, I used another term - “reality” - what do I mean by the term reality? Who wants to take a shot?

The definition of reality is: the world or the state of things as they actually exist

So our worldview is affected by what we believe about reality.

A good worldview is going to be logical, fit with reality, and be livable - you have to be able to live it out - if you can’t live with the consequences of your beliefs, that is a major red flag.

The first week we looked at Islam and saw a lot of problems with having Islam as a worldview...

Last week, we looked at atheism… what If atheism is true… what would that mean for reality? What would be the logical conclusions?

What were some of those conclusions we came to last week about atheism?

One of the things we looked at last week, was that if there was no God, that there would ultimately be no real source of meaning, or purpose, or value to anyone’s lives.

Tonight we will look at an argument for God’s existence that can be taken from that fact and used as evidence that God exists.

There are many arguments for God’s existence. Arguments from philosophy, nature and science, from experience, etc…

But for tonight we are probably only going to look at what is called the Moral Argument for God’s existence.

Sit with your small groups and leaders for discussion

How Logic Works

Often people speak about logic, but they aren’t actually using it.

Often people will say a statement or argument is logical simply if it is convincing.

Sometimes people may say things in a way that makes something feel convincing… but this does not mean something is logical.

usually this is a skill called rhetoric

How logic works and is not the same as rhetoric.

Sounding convincing is powerful, and is good if it has truth to back it up.... but if there is a lie behind it.... it is very dangerous because it can deceive people.

Show example of a deductive logical argument

Premise 1: All bachelors are unmarried men.

Premise 2: James is an unmarried man.

Conclusion: Therefore, James is a bachelor.

Examine each premise, and if they are true… then the conclusion must logically follow.

Someone may argue that John is a married bachelor, they may use rhetoric… use communication techniques that SOUND convincing, but just aren’t true.

“I disagree, John can be both married and unmarried at the same time...”

Maybe they twist it up.. you can argue against anything you want…

“well, John may be married to his wife but he is unmarried to all the others… so he is a bachelor...”

What is wrong with this?

Bachelor BY DEFINITION means an unmarried man.

And once you start changing definitions of basic terms, it is very hard to have a meaningful conversation.

So anyway, that is an example of a logically deductive argument.

Each premise may have to be defended… and if they are true… then the conclusion MUST logically follow.

The Moral Argument

So here is a Moral Argument for God’s existence.

Premise 1: If God does not Exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.

Premise 2: Objective Moral Values and Duties DO exist

Conclusion: Therefore, God exists.

Premise 1:

What we talked about last week is connected to premise 1 but

First, let’s define what we mean by objective vs subjective - who has a guess?

What is subjective?

Subjective: based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

What is objective?

Objective: not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

What is a moral value? Something is either right or wrong, better or worse. It is a value.

What is a moral duty? These are things you should do, or not do. It is a duty… a moral obligation… for example, If you are on a boat, and someone falls off and is drowning, and you have a life preserver in your hand… you SHOULD throw it to them.

Premise2:

In order for Premise 2 to be true, all we need is for ONE thing to be objectively wrong, all the time, no matter what.

Watch Video

Let’s do an exercise in your small group

You have an atheist friend… and you are talking to him about God… and they say this:

I do not need to believe in God in order to be a good person.

(unless God exists, what standard for goodness are you using? What does it mean for something to be good?)

I just know what is right and wrong, I don’t need a God to tell me what that is.

(then what makes your opinion more valid than another persons?)

Morality is from a society, it is based on agreed upon rules.

(then what about then societies are different in what they agree upon? Do you believe slavery was OK in America because our society once agreed it was ok?)

No… slavery was always wrong… but societies are always getting better as we learn more.

(what do you mean by better? what is the goal of a society that has no objective standard it is aiming towards? Hitler thought he was making the world better too… who’s “better” are we going by?