Why Believe In God?

Believe in God because of the physical universe, marvelous even beyond all knowing or imagining. Such complexity and perfection indicates a cause, and causes are always greater than their effects. It is incomprehensible that the carefully worked-out design in this universe could have come about with no supervising intelligence. To believe in no Creator is more absurd than to believe in an omnipotent God who called all these intricate scientific processes into being.

Believe in God because there has been an inclination in the entire human race and throughout history for persons to believe in a Supreme Being. Every culture, however remote or primitive, has recognized the presence of a higher power. Most individuals find some of that same intuition in themselves.

Believe in God because throughout the ages persons have tuned their hearts toward that higher power, seeking, studying, opening themselves to the possibility of a divine revelation. From the long history of religion, we have come to understand something about God, even though different cultures arrive at different views about his nature. The testimony of the ages points in the direction of God, rather than no God.

Believe in God because the Bible has stood all the tests of time, scholarship, and criticism and it is a valid record which is trustworthy, both intellectually reliable and spiritually satisfying.

Believe in God because he is not so obvious that he can be explained away, like an earthly phenomenon. In fact, knowledge of God really can only come by faith. It is so subjective that like most great truths, it can only be known from within. Consider how love or music or friendship or art or almost any other meaningful experience in life is not observable from the outside. You may observe something happening, but the genuine joy and appreciation comes from sharing the experience.

God might even be a figment of imagination if he were subject to analysis like pulling apart the petals of a daisy. Jesus said boldly to Nicodemus that unless a person views the Kingdom of God from the inside, from the perspective of faith, he can never understand the gospel message (John 3:3). It would be like trying to explain green to someone who is blind; it just can't be done.

The most important reason to believe in God is that he can be experienced in your own mind and heart. He is not something you can put under a microscope, but He is just as real.