Is the Christian Worldview Believable?
The Christian view of the world is strong and based on reality. Have you ever considered that? Christianity is not merely about emotions and feelings (although they are important) but is rooted in using your mind to see life how it really is and to use the truth of the gospel to back it up (1 Peter 3:15, Acts 17:2, 11, Mark 12:30). You might be thinking, “Wait… but Christianity isn’t science-it can’t demonstrate how things are.” Science is awesome and great at proving what the natural world is about. But science cannot prove what the supernatural world is about-they are two different things. You wouldn’t use a litmus test that determines an acid or a base to determine if 2 + 2 = 4. These are two different types of things determined by different processes-just like the material world and supernatural world are different. Using a test for one doesn’t work for the other. Everyone on earth has their own worldview. However, there is one Creator and we are all forced to live in His reality whether we accept it or not. When your worldview doesn’t fit the way things are you will find yourself “bumping into reality.”
An example of someone “bumping into reality” is if they say they will only believe in things they can see. Fair enough. But my question back to them is can they see my thoughts? I just got back from a backpacking trip to the Sierras. The huge Jeffrey Pines, towering granite peaks, vibrantly colored rainbow trout, and the majestic Kern River are visions that still are embedded in my head. Would somebody doubt that in my consciousness I am having these visions even though they cannot see them? I don’t think they would-we are all self aware with thoughts and perceptions that are ours alone. People do believe in things they cannot see. The real question is if they have put thought into what they believe. The ability to reflect on your own thoughts is an evidence for a soul and a theistic worldview. This is just one example of “bumping into reality.” A person may say they only believe in what they can see but the reality is there are things that people cannot see that they believe in.
Another example in support of the Christian Worldview is the beginning of the universe. We know that the universe had a beginning. Without getting too technical, Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity says that objects in space are moving away from the center of the universe from a fixed beginning point (due to observable red shift of light). Another one of his laws, the Second Law of Thermodynamics essentially states that the universe is running out of usable energy. The First Law of Thermodynamics says that there is a finite amount of energy in the universe. So you have a finite amount of energy-this finite energy has been moving away from a fixed beginning point, and the energy is dissipating over time. This shows that the universe had a beginning and is not eternal. Here’s an example that may be easier to understand: Take your car for instance. You put a finite amount of gas in your car (The First Law) and whenever it is running it is consuming gas (Second Law), would your car still be running if it had started an infinitely long time ago? No, it would have run out of gas. Similarly, the universe would have run out of gas by now if it was infinitely old. But here we are today alive and well. This is a way scientists demonstrate the universe had a beginning. How the universe began is also evidence of the Big Bang. At this point Christianity and science are in perfect harmony. Again, Christianity does not deny science, but rather uses scientific information as it relates to the natural world.
Okay, we have one more law to talk about-the Law of Causality. This just says that all things that had a beginning had a cause. This is the point of science-to determine how things are caused. So here is the natural follow up question to the universe having a beginning: How did the universe start? We know it came from nothing and by definition nothing means nothing, zip, nada. Something must have caused the universe to come into being. Let me sidetrack for an explanation-Imagine for a moment that you are at your house and you hear a knock at the door. You immediately think, “Who is that?” You don’t think or believe that the knock knocked itself-somebody or something made the noise. Similarly, if you are walking in the forest and you find a watch on the ground you don’t think, “What an amazing thing that the process of erosion and geologic forces has produced.” You know instinctively that a watch was designed and caused by something. As Christians we believe that Jesus is the uncreated creator of the universe-“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3). Genesis 1:1 also states that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
The point here is that the universe had a beginning, the Bible says this and science confirms what the Bible says. Jesus was not created-He did not have a beginning and therefore doesn’t need a cause. This might be hard to grasp with a human mind but it is what scripture teaches. While there is not absolute proof that God created the universe, a God like the one Christians believe in certainly could have done it and there is ample evidence to support that view. Science demonstrates it. Something out of the natural realm would have had to have done it. Why then is it that some scientists/scholars won’t even accept that it is a possibility God created the universe? This is another example of “bumping into reality.” There is no known factual scientific cause of the universe-the Christian worldview that God created the universe fits perfectly with the evidence and the reality of the scientific world.
I encourage you all to believe and have confidence that the world as Christianity purports it to be is true. But don’t take my word for it-look it up in the scriptures and external historical documents that show the reliability of the Bible. Don’t be afraid to question and examine your faith. The more you look the more amazed you will be by our God.
Ideas from two books were used in this devotional:
The Soul, by JP Moreland
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek