"Why I Believe In God"

Why I Believe In God

By Jack Cottrell—Comments in brackets [ ] are by David Frye

The outline below is a basic outline of why a person should believe in God.  It was written by Dr. Jack Cottrell.  Dr. Cottrell was professor of theology at Cincinnati Christian Seminary for 49 years.

I.  I BELIEVE THERE IS A SUPERNATURAL BECAUSE OF EXPERIENCE. 

A.  What most of us experience most of the time is this NATURAL world.

B.  At times, though, some people have experiences that cannot be explained by things that exist
     in this natural world alone.

C.  Examples [Edgar Cayce could put himself into trances and give medical prescriptions that
      worked, he knew the condition of soldiers in the war, he possessed supernatural knowledge
      in these trances.  A stenographer would write down his words because he could not    
      remember afterward.  Ze Arigo was a Brazilian man who performed “psychic surgery.”  He
      was known as the “Surgeon with the Rusty Knife.”  Arigo removed cataracts, perfectly, with
      a pocketknife and no anesthesia!  Do you know of other examples of supernatural
      experiences?  Have you had an encounter with the demonic Ouija board?]

D.  You do not have to have such experiences yourself to know they have occurred.

E.  The fact that they have occurred shows there is more to reality that this natural world.  A
      supernatural realm also exists. But how do we know what it consists of?

II.  I BELIEVE THERE IS A CREATOR-GOD BECAUSE OF REASON.

A.  The ‘cosmological argument’ for the existence of a Creator.

     1.  This argument reasons from the basic principle of sufficient cause. 

     2.  The universe as a whole must have a cause. 

           a.  Why is there something rather than nothing?  There are three possible answers.  Which
                is the most reasonable?

                (1)  It just popped into existence out of nothing, by chance, with no cause or purpose.
                     (But: ‘From nothing, nothing comes.’)

                (2)  It has just always been here.  It is eternal.  (But: ‘Every effect must have a cause.’)

                (3)  It has a Creator, a ‘first cause.’  This is the most reasonable explanation.

           b.  A modern scientific reason for saying the universe has a cause is the concept of the
                ‘big bang’ as the origin of this present universe.

B.  The ‘teleological argument’ for the existence of a Creator.

     1.  Certain aspects of this natural world seem to have been designed to accomplish a specific
          purpose.  Certain items are just too specifically engineered and too complex to have
          happened just by chance

     2.  This design implies a Designer. 

     3.  Examples.  [The human body and its intricacies:  its ability to reproduce, heal itself, the
          eye to see, ear to hear, heart to pump, blood flow, etc.; the planets and their arrangement
          including the proximity of the sun (93 million miles) and moon (240,000 miles) away from
          earth to produce light and not too much heat as well as controlling the tides (moon).]

     4.  The theory of evolution was created by Darwin specifically to attack the argument from
          design.  For a persuasive refutation of Darwinism see Michael Denton, Evolution: A
          Theory in Crisis.

C.  The main problem with these two arguments is that they do not demonstrate that the Creator

      is the God of the Bible.  Thus we need one more step.

III.  I BELIEVE THE CREATOR IS THE GOD OF THE BIBLE BECAUSE OF JESUS. 

A.  Jesus’ teaching everywhere assumes the existence of the God of the Jews, the God of the  
      Bible.  If we accept the teaching of Jesus, we can have no doubt about the existence of the
      Biblical Creator-God.  E.g.:

     1.  John 14:1 

     2.  Matt. 22:37

     3.  Matt. 4:10

     4.  Mark 10:6

     5.  Matt 5:8

     6.  John 3:16

B.  But why should we accept what Jesus taught as true?

     1.  His miracles confirmed the truthfulness of His claim.  See Mark 2:1ff.

     2.  His exorcisms demonstrate the superiority of His power over the power of Satan and His
          demons.  See Matt. 12:22-29. 

     3.  Especially, His resurrection from the dead is the ultimate confirmation of everything He
          taught, including everything He said about God.  See John 20:24-28; Rom. 1:4.

           a.  ‘What proves the resurrection?’  [The following info. comes from Cottrell’s book
                “Solid” on this point…“the indisputable fact of the disciples’ testimony to the empty
                 tomb…The phenomena of the empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances of
                 Jesus have long been considered at the two main lines of evidence for the
                 resurrection” (Solid, p. 69-70). 

           b.  ‘What does the resurrection prove?’  [“The resurrection shows that Jesus was who He
                claimed to be, namely, the Son of God himself (Romans 1:1-4).  It therefore              
                establishes the truth of everything He ever said” (Solid, p. 71).]