why i believe in the existence of god? by: alfred toole, jr

Why I Believe in the Existence of God?

By: Alfred Toole, Jr.

Psalm 14.1a, 53.1a

• 1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God. "

Why I believe in God…

• There has to be a First cause.

Thomas Aquinas thoughts on Aristotle: modified by Jeff Walling

• Motion exists. Something has acted or caused the object to move. We call this the Prime mover.

• From causal relations, whenever there is activity there is some initial cause.

The Big Bang…

• The scientific theory of how the universe started from a extremely dense and hot state about 13.7 billion years ago. This “explosion” from a “primeval atom” leads scientist to believe our universe is expanding.

Kai Nielsen on The Little Bang

• “Suppose you suddenly hear a loud bang…and you ask me, ‘What made that bang?’ and I reply, ‘Nothing, it just happened.’ ‘You would not accept that.’ …Yet think about it: if there must be a cause for a little bang, then doesn’t it also make sense that there would be a cause for a big bang?”

Words from Lee Stroble’s 2nd Interview with William Lane Craig, PH.D.

• First, whatever begins to exist has a cause.

• Second, the universe began to exist.

• And, third, therefore, the universe has a cause.

Other Things to Consider

• First Law of Thermodynamics:– Energy is neither created or destroyed.

• The Humanist Manifesto:– “Matter is self-existing and not created.”

• Second Law of Thermodynamics:– In any closed system, things tend to become

disordered (Your body getting old is an example of this).

Genesis 1.1-2

• 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

• 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Word Study Provided by Tom Henderson

• The Hebrew word bara is often translated "create."

• The Hebrew word asah is often translated "make."

• The Hebrew word yasar is often translated "form.”

Genesis: Bara• Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created (bara) the

heaven and the earth.• Gen 1:21 So God created (bara) the great

creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

• Gen 1: 27 So God created (bara) man in his own image, in the image of God he created (bara) him; male and female he created (bara) them.

• Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating (bara) that he had done.

Isaiah: Bara, Asah, and Yasar

• Isa 40:26 niv Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created (bara) all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

• Isa 42:5 niv This is what God the LORD says-- he who created (bara) the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

• Isa 45:18 niv For this is what the LORD says -- he who created (bara) the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned (yasar) and made (asah) the earth, he founded it; he did not create (bara) it to be empty, but formed (yasar) it to be inhabited -- he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.



• Objective moral truths.

Romans 2.14-15

• 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

Questions to Consider…

• Are moral values merely the products of an evolving society?

• Is morality “just an aid to survival and reproduction?”• Are some actions like rape taboo because they are

socially disadvantageous?• Is torturing a child for fun really a morally neutral act?• Is raping a woman for pleasure a morally neutral act?• Is rescuing a drowning man an objective or even

rational act?• Is cowardice or double crossing someone kind to you

ever valued?

Objective Moral Truths

• Murder– The unlawful killing of one human by another,

especially with premeditated malice.

• Stealing– To take (the property of another) without right

or permission.

• Lying– To present false information with the intention

of deceiving




• I am an intelligent being and must have an intelligent designer.

Romans 1.19-20• 19since what may be known about God is

plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

• 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Psalm 19.1

• 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Conditions stated by Carolin Crawford that make Life on Earth possible

• The right chemical elements: Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon, Iron, Silicon, Calcium and Nitrogen used to form DNA.

• The right temperature allows water to flow and the atmosphere to remain.

• Nearly circular orbit allowing this temperature to remain stable.

• Regular geological activity like volcanoes and lava flows generate heat, emit other gasses into the atmosphere and deposit minerals on Earth.

More Conditions …• An atmosphere that provides a layer of gas for

organism to breathe but also shields a planet from meteor and comet impacts.

• The atmosphere erodes the surface with winds and traps heat to give the planet a moderate temperature.

• The ozone layer shields the surface from harmful light like UV light.

• The planet must have the right mass or the gravitational pull will be too weak or too strong.

• There must be a Sun of moderate size to radiate stable, steady heat.

• The Earth’s tilt at 23.45 gives us seasons and moderate surface temperatures.

Further Evidence of Design by Hugh Ross…

Axial Tilt Greater or Less

Surface temperature differences would be too great.

Rotation Period

Longer

Shorter

Diurnal temperature differences would be too great.

Atmospheric wind velocities would be too great

Thickness of Earth’s Crust

Thicker

Thinner

Too much oxygen would be transferred from the atmosphere to the crust.

Volcanic and tectonic activity would be too great

Mind Boggling Stats from P. C. W. Davies, British physicist

• [T]he odds against the initial conditions being suitable for the formation of stars—a necessity for planets and thus life– is a one followed by at least a thousand billion billion zeroes.

• [I]f the strength of gravity or of the weak force were changed by only one part in a ten followed by a hundred zeroes, life could never have developed.

Genesis 1.26-27

• 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

• 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2.4-7

• 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Psalm 139.14

• 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Fascinating Facts about Your Body• The spinal cord is less then two feet in length and is the same

diameter as your index finger, yet the spinal cord contains over 10 billion nerve cells.

• The female skeleton has a wider hip section to allow for childbirth.

• The eye muscle is the fastest reacting muscle of the whole body. It contracts in less than 1/100th of a second.

• About every seven years, your body replaces the equivalent of an entirely new skeleton.

• The average adult has about 9,000 taste buds on each surface of the tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat.

• Your stomach produces a new lining every 3 days in order to avoid digesting itself in its own production of acid.

• The human eye can detect over 10,000,000 different colors! • The human nose can remember 50,000 different smells. • The nervous system transmits messages to the brain at speeds

of 180 miles per hour!

The Basics, According to Walter L Bradley, PH.D.

• Start with 80 Amino acids.• Only 20 are found in living organisms• Isolate the right Amino acids.• Link them together in the right sequence in

order to produce protein molecules or a biological function.

• Need 100 – 200 protein molecules with just the right functions to get a typical living cell.

Complications mentioned by Dr. Bradley• Complications arise when other molecules tend

to react more readily with amino acids than amino acids with one another.

• Must eliminate extra molecules before they gum up the process of making a protein molecule.

• There are an equal number of right and left handed amino acids; only left handed ones work in living organisms.

• You need peptide bonds in the right places in order for protein to be able to fold in a specific three dimensional way.

An Even Greater Problem according to Dr. Bradley

• Every cell of every plant and animal has to have a DNA molecule that gives the guidance needed to assemble everything.

• The joining of key building blocks for DNA and RNA has never been successfully done except under highly implausible conditions without any resemblance to those of the early earth.

Dr. Bradley explains How DNA Works

• In DNA, there is a 4 letter chemical alphabet, whose letters combine in various sequences to form words, sentences, and paragraphs.

• These make up all the instructions needed to guide the functioning of a cell.

• They spell out in coded form the instructions for how a cell makes proteins.

Sir Francis Crick, Nobel Prize-winner

• “The origins of life appears to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to be satisfied to get it going.”

Walter L Bradley, PH.D.

• “…Behe has said the probability of linking together just one hundred amino acids to create one protein molecule by chance would be the same as a blindfolded man finding one marked grain of sand somewhere in the vastness of the Sahara Desert—and doing it not just once, but three different times.”

Sir Frederick Hoyle

• Sir Frederick Hoyle put it colorfully when he said that this scenario [odds of creating one functional protein molecule] is about as likely as a tornado whirling through a junkyard and accidentally assembling a fully functional Boeing 747.





• I have a love letter from God.

2 Timothy 3.14-16• But as for you, continue in what you have

learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed ….

Ecclesiastes 3.11

• 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Psalm 36.9

• 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Job 23.3, 8-9

• 3 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!

• 8 "But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.

• 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

Jeremiah 29.13-14

• 13 “…You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD…





• I have a love letter from God.

Works Cited• "Big Bang." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Jul 2006,

15:27 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 6 Jul 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Bang&oldid=62383394>.

• Clayton, John. (2006). A Pratical Man's Proof of God. Does God Exist. 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.doesgodexist.org/Phamplets/Mansproof.html>.

• Crawford, Carolin. (2002). Are We Alone? Life on Earth. University of Cambridge: Millennium Mathematics Project. 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.motivate.maths.org/conferences/conf58/c58_talk2.shtml>.

• Fascinating Facts About the Human Body. 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.industryinet.com/~ruby/facinating_human_factshtml>.

Works Cited Continued…• Henderson, Tom. (April 2002 Draft). Did God Create

from Nothing?6 July, 2006 from <http://www.hal-pc.org/~tom/creationexnihilo.htm>.

• Origin of Life. Northern Illinois University, Department of Biological Sciences. Planetological

Conditions and Life. 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.resa.net/nasa/conditions.htm#favorable>.

• Ross, Hugh. Limits for the Universe. Evidence for Design in the Universe. 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.doesgodexist.org/Charts/EvidenceForDesignInTheUniverse.html>.

• Stroble, Lee. The Case for Faith. Grand Rapids Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. pp. 59-81, 93-110.

Works Cited continued…• The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. 6 July, 2006 from

<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/murder>.• The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition


<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lying>.• The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition


<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stealing>.• The Seasons and Axis Tilt. Earth’s Seasons Enchanted Learning (1999-

2006). 6 July, 2006 from <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml>.

• Walling, Jeff. Tough Questions People Ask Christians: Why Should I Believe There is a God? Walling Christians Ministries.

why i believe in the existence of god? by: alfred toole, jr

Documents

image of god

beginning god

spirit of god

existence of god

bara man

initial cause

hebrew word yasar

hebrew word asah