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By Robin Schumacher
Recently, the Unbelieveable podcast interviewed pastor Bruce Miller about the seven most googled questions about God on the Web, which Miller had turned into a book a few years ago (The 7 Big Questions: Searching for God, Truth, and Purpose). I doubt any of them will surprise you, and maybe you’ve even asked one or more of them yourself as you navigated the path of Christianity.
How about we take a look at each one, I’ll crack my knuckles, and then do the best I can at giving a brief answer to each in the short space I’ve got for these posts at CP.
#1 – Is there a God?
Seems like a reasonable place to start, right?
Theologian Jonathan Edwards summed up his thoughts on why you and I are here in the following way: 1. Something exists; 2. Nothing cannot create something; 3. Therefore, a necessary and eternal something exists. Unless you can come up with a better explanation for everything we have, the debate over what that “necessary and eternal something” is comes next.
Thinkers throughout history have come up with four basic possibilities. First, reality is just an illusion; what we see isn’t what we think we see — sort of like The Matrix. The problem is that there has to be a reality and something concrete behind that illusion, so that’s out.
Second is that reality is self-created — something scientist Stephen Hawking proposed. That’s impossible, though, because something can’t be ontologically prior to itself so the theory is analytically false.
That leaves an eternal universe or an eternal creator. And since every drop of science points to the fact that the universe had a beginning and is not eternal, you’re left with the reasonable position that an eternal creator exists. If you want to dig deeper into this, see my presentation here.
#2 – Why does God allow pain and suffering?
You knew this one had to be on the list. If we’re being honest here, I’ll bet you’ve asked it yourself at least once. I know I have.
Many skeptics try to say God can’t exist because evil does, but as atheist Richard Dawkins says that’s flawed thinking: “The problem of evil, to me, shouldn’t be a real problem because you just say, ‘Well there’s an evil god’ and so that’s a lesser question.”
No, evil doesn’t cancel out God but it does raise the question of why He allows it.
The Bible isn’t shy about saying that an all-good God and evil are both real, with Jesus Himself admitting, “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34). He should know — He experienced a lot of it in His life and it ultimately led Him to the worst form of death ever invented.
It took three days to get the answer as to why God allowed the cross. Sometimes it takes a lot longer to gain an understanding of the pain we experience, with some of us having to wait until eternity for an answer.
I wrote a recent article on this topic that goes into more detail on why God allows evil. You can also look at this presentation which has a little more material on the subject.
#3 – Is the Bible reliable?
Comedian and atheist Penn Jillette once remarked, “If you believe that the Bible is real because of faith, we can’t touch you … But if you want history or fact in your Bible, you are so screwed.”
Disagree.
If by reliable, we mean historically accurate and trustworthy, countless volumes have been written showing that Scripture is exactly that. Although many skeptics have pounded away at it, as many have correctly observed, the Bible is the anvil that has worn out all hammers. I discuss why that is in this short presentation.
But if we take the term “reliable” to mean “dependable,” then the question is more along the lines of, can we rely on the Bible to tell us what we need to know when it comes to God and our salvation? And Scripture isn’t reticent in declaring a strong yes to the question with John saying, “… these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
#4 – Is Jesus God?
Straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were, Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM” (John 8:58). In saying that, He made a clear and unmistakable claim to deity by referencing God’s name in the Old Testament (Ex. 3:14).
But not so fast — some skeptics say that the book of John is unique in declaring Jesus to be God. That’s incorrect though; the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) have plenty to say about Jesus being God too as I point out in this article.
What about Paul? Paul tells us that Jesus “existed in the form of God” (Phil. 2:5) and Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). The writer of Hebrews states: “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever’” (Heb. 1:8).
So yes, Jesus is God according to the best book ever written about Him.
#5 – Can I know God personally?
The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word became fresh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14). God visited us personally through Christ who says, “… if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).
Unlike other faith’s gods, the one true God is personal and is eager for us to reach out to Him in worship and prayer.
#6 – Is Christianity too narrow?
If this question implies that Christianity deliberately excludes people with the church being a walled-off country club-type establishment, then the answer is no. The Bible says: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).
But if the question is complaining that Christianity teaches other faith’s doctrines are wrong when they contradict what the Bible proclaims, well, guilty as charged. But that’s not a bad thing.
In the same way the answer to 2+2 is a very narrow one, the answers to the big questions of life and salvation have to ultimately be singular also. This is why Jesus said, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:14).
#7 – Does life have a purpose?
Apart from God, no.
The reason is something can’t give what it doesn’t have. So, if we’re all a product of nothing more than time + matter + chance, then we should expect that an impersonal, amoral, meaningless, and purposeless universe would only produce impersonal, amoral beings with no meaning or purpose.
But that’s nothing like what we are. Instead, we are personal, moral beings who are obsessed with meaning and purpose. Now how’d that happen?
If God told Israel, “‘I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11), it’s not unreasonable to believe He has the same thing in mind for each one of us.
Now finding out the will of God for your life, well, that’s a topic for another day. But even that’s not as hard as you might think. I’m teeing up an article on this soon so be on the lookout for it.