Hey, all! A friend of mine posted this article, which attempts to prove that God does not exist. Somewhat inspired by the movie, "God's NOT Dead", I took it upon myself to write rebuttals to each individual argument. Please, read this and consider all that you have read! I have put the original arguments in red. As usual, reviews, opinions, and 'Likes' are welcomed! Please, keep it friendly; no foul language or name calling, got it?
Note: I realize that not all people who question God's existence ask these specific questions; this was simply a response to that particular article. 'Kay? I will try to respond to this as best as I can. Since the site itself uses the Bible to try to make its points, I feel that it is okay to use it in my response as well.
Original argument #1: Where’s the proof? If God is so powerful, why doesn’t He show Himself?
In response to #1: Many people want God to show a sign to "prove Himself", but there is no sign He could show that would convince everyone. In the Bible, it says that "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.", and "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Psalm 19:1 and Romans 1:20) There ARE signs there; not everyone wants to accept them, especially if looking to disprove God. If God literally wrote it in the sky "I, God, DO exist", then people would find some other explanation as to how it got there. (Can't planes make pretty designs/messages in the sky?)
Original argument #2: Why do bad people exist and get away with things? If God is loving, why does He permit so much suffering in this world?
In response to #2: If you got rid of all the bad people, there would be NO ONE left. Why? Because EVERYONE (including me!) has done bad things. Ecclesiastes 11:9 says "You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." This is saying that people WILL one day be accountable for all the bad they have done, even if it seems that they are getting away with it now.
Original argument #3: How can one say God exists, but not all those other gods? Everyone is talking about so many different deities, it’s hard to suggest that yours is “right”.
In response to #3: I’m not sure how this disproves the existence of God. It’s wondering how an individual can say that the God of Abraham is the only true God, but it does not prove that there is no God. Just wanted to throw that out there.
Original argument #4: Where are the miracles? We certainly haven’t seen any for a long time.
In response to #4: Let me give you a list!! I personally know a couple people who have died and have been brought back to life after a couple of hours, even days. I know people who had cancer, DID NOT RECEIVE TREATMENT, and were pronounced at a later visit to be cancer-free, and remained that way. One friend of mine tried 6 times to kill himself, and failed all 6 times. On the last attempt, he tried to drown himself. NO ONE WAS HOME. He blacked out in the pool. He heard a voice telling him that he still had things to do here on earth, and woke up on the concrete next to the pool. There was STILL no one home. Want me to give more examples of miracles nowadays?
Original argument #5: If God created everything, what created God? Doesn't using God as an answer for what created things defer the question and ignore the main issue?
In response to #5: If God were created, then He wouldn’t be God. He has always existed. Can I explain it beyond that? No; because I’m not God. I can’t understand everything now.
Original argument #6: Geological evidence contradicts the Bible, Koran, and other religious texts. The earth appears to be much older and more naturally occurring than any religious scriptures seem to acknowledge.
In response to #6: The methods used to date the earth and whatnot don’t always produce the same results; many of them contradict each other. (Here is a link if you wish to know more.) There are also many things found in the Bible that were believed to have not existed, and were then later found in archaeological digs, exactly where the Bible said they were.
"In addition to Jericho, places such as Haran, Hazor, Dan, Megiddo, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Gezer, Gibeah, Beth Shemesh, Beth Shean, Beersheba, Lachish, and many other urban sites have been excavated, quite apart from such larger and obvious locations as Jerusalem or Babylon. Such geographical markers are extremely significant in demonstrating that fact, not fantasy,is intended in the Old Testament historical narratives; otherwise, the specificity regarding these urban sites would have been replaced by “Once upon a time” narratives with only hazy geographical parameters, if any." (Check the end of this for the link to the website this quote was taken from.)
Original argument #7: Hypocrisy among religious followers. Why is it that some of the most fervent believers don't believe in abortion but support the death penalty, which directly contradicts one of the ten commandments... which they claim to know and honor?
In response to #7: Again, this doesn’t seem to disprove the existence of God. Just because people are messed up and hypocritical, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t exist. That argument really doesn’t make sense. If a student is given a math test and gets a 40% on it, does that mean that the teacher doesn’t exist?
Original argument #8: Isn’t it very possible the whole “Immaculate Conception” thing was a cover-up… for an unwanted pregnancy?
In response to #8: Yet again, this does not disprove God’s existence. I don’t believe that this concept was used in the correct context, though I think it’s only Catholics who believe in the Immaculate Conception, anyway. The question is phrased so that one is lead to believe that the original writer mistook that term to talk about the virgin conception of Christ; which, in reply to the second half of the argument, was not very probable to have been a cover-up. The virgin birth was predicted MANY years before it actually happened.
Original argument #9: If believers so ardently subscribe to the idea of Heaven, then why are people afraid to die?
In response to #9: And once again, this has nothing to do with whether or not God exists. However, I will reply to it. Not everyone is afraid to die; there are many reports of Christians being very joyful at death. I personally have a friend who is on her deathbed, and every time she wakes up, she says, “Aww, man! I’m still here?” She can’t wait to die and be in Heaven!! However, there are some Christians that are afraid to die. This could be because they aren’t certain of their salvation; not because Christ failed to save them, but because they may believe that they “didn’t do it right”, or perhaps they believe that they messed up too badly, that even though they accepted Christ, He decided to be rid of them. (Which is not true!) They may even be worried about leaving people here whom they love.
Original argument #10: Prayer’s ineffectiveness. Prayer has a spotty success rate, to put it gently.
In response to #10: Prayer is a request, and sometimes, the answer is ‘no’. People like to think of God as a genie and their prayers as their commands for Him to do whatever they want; but this is not the case. We cannot command God to do what we want Him to. That would make us God. Prayer is also how we communicate with God, not how we dictate Him.
This is the link I mentioned in refutation #6: http://www.equip.org/articles/biblical-archaeology-factual-evidence-to-support-the-historicity-of-the-bible/
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