Transcript Slide 1

Welcome
Existence of God
I did not see God!!
Gherman S Titov
Soviet Cosmonaut
In the beginning God created the
heavens…..
American Astronauts
Frank Borman, James Lovell, William Anders
What is Truth?
TRUTH
Universal
Objective
Does God Exist?
Why should I think of God?
More consequences for life
follow from that one issue
(belief in God) than from any
other
Mortimer Adler
Editor, The Great Books of western world
Consequences of beliefs (Lenin)
Consequences of beliefs (Stalin)
Consequences of beliefs (Freud)
Can God’s Existence be Proved?
 God’s existence cannot be proved in a
mathematical or scientific sense.
 Physical, Conceptual & Emotional realms
 Instead we should ask if belief in God’s
existence is reasonable.
Evidence for God
 The Cosmological Argument
 The Teleological Argument
 The Axiological Argument
1. Cosmological Argument
Cosmological Argument
 The universe had a beginning
(2nd law of thermodynamics & Big bang
theory)
 Anything that had a beginning must have
been caused by something else.
(Law of Causality & 1st law of
thermodynamics)
 Therefore the universe was caused by
something else (a Creator).
Conclusions of Cosmological argument
The material universe had a beginning
and, therefore, is not eternal
 The CAUSE of material universe must
be eternal
 The CAUSE must be something
immaterial, spiritual or supernatural
2. Teleological Argument
The Teleological Argument
Argument (William Paley)
Argument based on the design
in the Universe and Life.
Argument from Psalms 19:1-4,
Psalms 139:14
Watchmaker design.
God
OR
Chance
CREATION
DESIGN
ART
ORDER
Complex Design in Universe
51 Fine-tuned Parameters to our
Galaxy, Solar System, and Planet
distance from the sun
size, temperature, & type of sun
size, axial tilt, rotation speed, moon, &
composition of earth
stability of Jupiter and Saturn
Complex Design in Universe
 Jupiter acts as a comet and asteroid magnet
shielding earth from catastrophic collisions.
 Our sun is located between spiral arms of
the Milky Way Galaxy where there are
fewer stars (less harmful radiation and
disruptive gravity) and less gas and dust (we
can see the rest of the galaxy and universe).
God’s Incredible Creatures
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What does the Bible say about
the Creation of Creatures?
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Let’s look at some of these Creatures
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Gen. 1: 11(1), 12(2), 21(2), 24(2), 25(3)
“according to its kind” used 10 times
Any evidence that creatures evolved?
Do creatures appear to be designed?
By whom?
Is Evolution really true?
Is God the Designer/Creator of these
incredible creatures?
The Cheetah
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Cheetah cat can run at up to 70 mph over a
distance of 700 yards or more
Cheetah can reach 45 mph in 2 seconds!
Cheetah is the fastest land animal
The Giraffe
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Ten ft. high at the shoulder
Eight foot neck
Seven neck bones
Huge heart to deliver
blood to the brain
Large lungs (8 * human)
Slow air intake
Eight-Armed Octopus
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Eight-armed, ink-shooting octopuses
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Jet-propelled and fast swimmer
Shoots ink to create smoke
screen and dull a predator
Can re-grow an arm if it
loses/eats one
The Weddell Seal
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Weddell seals that can remain underwater
for 45 minutes
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Dive to depths of 1500 feet
The Archerfish
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Archerfish that can shoot water
15 feet into the air and hit a bug
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Mouth at surface
Eyes underwater
Cicada Insect
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About 2500 species exist
One (magicicada) can live
underground for 13 to 17 years
Does not bite or sting and not a pest
Make a real racket when they emerge
Migratory Instincts
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White-throated warbler
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Summers in Germany
Winters in Africa
Parent birds take off for Africa at end of Summer as
young birds become more independent
Young birds take off a few weeks later, flying
instinctively across 1000’s of miles of unfamiliar land
and sea to rejoin their parents
Brains of birds have inherited knowledge
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Can tell latitude, longitude and direction by the stars
Have “calendar”, clock and navigational data
Alaskan Golden Plover
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Born in Alaska
26 days of incubation
After few months,
parents fly to Hawaii
4500 Km from Alaska to Hawaii
Average weight of bird is 140 grams
Put on 70 more grams of weight as fuel
Cell Structure
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Average human body contains 75+ trillion cells
Examining the Cell
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How to examine the cell?
The Human Eye
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Staggering complexity
Can’t be explained by step-by-step
random mutation and selection
Darwin’s Black Box
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Behe showed that the cell, Darwin’s Black Box,
is filled with irreducibly complex molecular
machines that could not be built by natural
selection
Darwin’s Black Box - 2
Over 100 molecular motors are now known to exist inside the cell with very
specific analogies to human designed motors.
Evolution Cannot Explain
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More features of God’s incredible creatures:
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Visual beauty – where from? why?
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Mimicry – how did it develop?
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One type of organism imitates/mimics another type
e.g. spiders disguising as ants (8 legs vs. 6 legs)
Angler fish
Convergence (similar organs/structures)
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Exhibited by fish deep in the sea
Sonar systems in bat and porpoise
Wing mechanisms “evolved” separately in insects, bats,
flying reptiles, birds
No evolutionary mechanism can explain this!
3. Axiological Argument
The Axiological Argument
 Is there a Law Written on Our Hearts?
 The argument is based on Morality in
human beings.
 Moral laws imply a Moral Law Giver.
 There is an objective moral law.
 Therefore, there is a Moral Law Giver
Moral Laws Imply a Moral Lawgiver
 Moral Laws are different from natural laws.
 Moral laws describe what ought to be.
 “human beings all over the earth, have this
curious idea that they ought to behave in a
certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.”
C. S. Lewis –Mere Christianity
Summary
 Life without God is absurd.
 The universe requires a sufficient Cause.
 The design of the universe and living things
implies a designer.
 Our universal sense of right and wrong
implies a Law Giver.
 Therefore belief in God is reasonable.
Belief in God is reasonable and I do
believe in God
But, what if, God calls
you as an
‘ATHEIST’ !!!!
Types of Atheists
 Dogmatic
 Critical
 Philosophic
 Practical
Practical Atheism
 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who
rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their
chariots and in the great strength of their
horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of
Israel, or seek help from the LORD – Isaiah 31:1
 Do not look to the Holy One
 Do not seek help from the LORD
 Do not rely on Him/ Trust Him
Practical Atheism
My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living
water, and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah 2:13
Practical Atheism
 13Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“Inquire among the nations: Who has ever
heard anything like this? A most horrible
thing has been done by Virgin Israel.
 14Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from
its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from
distant sources ever stop flowing?
 15Yet my people have forgotten me; they
burn incense to worthless idols – Jeremiah
18:13-15
Why study of doctrine of GOD?
Importance of Doctrine of GOD
 Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name
trust in you, for you, LORD, have never
forsaken those who seek you.
 Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a
fortified tower; the righteous run to it and
are safe
Attributes of God
and
Acts of God
 Attributes of God are those qualities of God
that constitute what he is, the very
characteristics of his nature
 Acts of God are creating, guiding and
preserving and his corresponding roles as
Creator, Guide, Preserver.
Nature of Attributes
 The attributes are permanent and intrinsic
qualities, which can not be gained or lost.
 God’s attributes are essential and inherent
dimensions of his nature
 His attributes are not our perceptions
projected upon him. They are objective
characteristics of his nature
God’s Being is not a collection of
Attributes added together
God’s attributes are not additions
to His Real Being
God’s Love and Justice
God’s Love, Justice, Holiness
and Wisdom
Classification of Attributes
 Communicable and Incommunicable
 Immanent (Intransitive) and Emanant
(transitive)
 Absolute and Relative
 Natural and Moral
Communicable and Incommunicable
 Communicable attributes are those qualities
of God for which at least a partial counter
part can be found in his human creatures
• e.g. Love, Omnipotence – infinite in God, at least
partial form in humans
 Incommunicable attributes are those
qualities of God for which no counter part is
found in humans
• e.g. Omni presence
Immanent and Emanant
 Immanent attributes are those qualities
which remain within God’s own nature
• e.g. spirituality
 Emanant attributes are those qualities which
go out from and operate outside the nature
of God, affecting the creation such as mercy
which require an object
Absolute and Relative
 Absolute attributes are those he has in
himself, and has always possessed,
independently of the objects of his creation
• e.g. Infinity
 Relative attributes are those manifested
through his relationship to other subjects
and inanimate objects. The relative
attributes are the absolute attributes applied
to situations involving created objects
• e.g. eternity and omnipresence
Natural and Moral
 Moral attributes (goodness attributes) are
those which in human context would relate
to the concept of rightness (as opposed to
wrongness)
• e.g. Holiness, love, mercy, faithfulness
 Natural attributes (greatness attributes) are
the non moral superlatives of God
• e.g. knowledge and power
Attributes of greatness
 Spirituality
 Personality
 Life
 Infinity
 Constancy
Attributes of goodness
 Moral Purity
– Holiness, Righteousness, Justice
 Integrity
– Genuineness, Veracity, Faithfulness
 Love
– Benevolence, Grace, Mercy, Persistence
Attributes of God
 God is SPIRIT (John 4:24)
– Does not have the limitations involved with
physical body
– Not limited to a particular geographical/spatial
location (Jn 4:21, Acts 17:24)
– He is not destructible as is material nature
– Anthropomorphisms, Theophany – express
truth about God through human analogies
– God’s spirituality was a counter to the practice
of idolatry and of nature worship
Attributes of God
 God is personal
– Individual being, self consciousness
– Will
– Capable of feeling
– Choosing
– Reciprocal relationship
Attributes of God
 God is personal
– God has name
– Names that the personal God assumes refers
primarily to his relationship with persons – his
concerns with directing and shaping the lives..
Names of God
 I AM
 EL
 Elohim
 El Elijon – ‘the most high God’ Gen 14:18
 El Shaddai – ‘the Almighty God’
 El Olam – ‘the Everlasting God’
Compound Names of God
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Jehovah – Elohim
Jehovah – Jireh
Jehovah – Rapha
Jehovah – Nissi
Jehovah – Shalom
Jehovah – Raah
Jehovah – Tsidkenu
Jehovah – Saboah
Jehovah – Shammah
Adonai – Jehovah
Attributes of God
 God is personal
– Because God is a person, he can be approached.
– Relationship is not merely one way. He is living
and reciprocating
– To be treated as a being…idea of God is not some
thing to be used, solve our problems and meet our
needs
– God is an end in himselfnot a means to an end
– He is of value to us for what he is in himself, not
merely for what he does
– Exod 20:3 I am the LORD your God who brought
you out of Egypt….you shall have no other Gods
before me
Attributes of God
 God is LIFE
– Exod 3:14 I AM
– Jeremiah 10:10 …the living God
– God does not derive his life from any external
sources
– The continuation of God’s existence does not
depend anything outside of him
– God relates to us but by his choice not because
he is compelled by some need
God is Infinite
 Finite objects have a location. Greatness is
measured by how much space they occupy.
With God whereness (location) is not
applicable. God brought space and time into
being (Acts 17:24-25)
 God’s Infinity – there is no place where he
cannot be found. Tension between Immanence
of God (God is every where) and his
transcendence (he is not anywhere) – Jer 23:23
God is Infinite
 God is infinite in relation to time Ps 90:1-2
 God is time less – he does not grow or
develop. He is aware of that events occur in
particular order
 Implications – Elijah
– Beware of sacred connotations to certain places
God is Infinite
 God is infinite with respect to objects of
knowledge
– Ps 147:5, Proverbs 15:3, Mathew 10:29, Heb
4:13
 God’s infinity in relation to as the
omnipotence of God
– Gen 17:1, Jeremiah 32:15. Mathew 19:26
Holiness
 There are 2 aspects to God’s Holiness
1. His uniqueness
2. His absolute purity
Holiness
 Holiness – His uniqueness
– Exodus 15:11
– 1 Samuel 2:2
– Isaiah 57:15
– Isaiah 6:1-4
 Objects and places associated with him
– Exodus 3,19,26:33
Holiness
 Holiness – His absolute purity
– Habakkuk 1:13
– James 1:13
– Job 34:12
 Biblical writers repeatedly emphasize that
believers are to be like God
Thank you