Religion: How Do We Know God Exist?

How do we know that God really exist? Has anyone found any physical evidence, or are there any audio recordings of his voice or any video footage of God that proves he exists? If God really does exist why wouldn't he reveal himself to the world, so that those that don't believe in him can have full assurance that there really is a God out there? Well without any physical evidence we can honestly say that we can't prove, umm...."physically" that God does exist. Ahh...but wait just a minute before you jump to conclusions about me. I feel by no physical evidence and no physical proof God proves, he does exist!

With the theory of Evolution, and the Bible I would like to explain to you how God proves he does exist. From the bible I will reference the book of Genesis, and parts of The Ten Commandments, and John 3:16. After providing significant information about evolution and the bible I will summarize and give some thought provoking information that think will ultimately prove God does exist. Why use these two sources (Bible/Evolution)? There are only two sources available today that can either prove God's exist or doesn't which is, Evolution and The Bible. The bible teaches that there is a God and evolution doesn't mention God so the information in evolution kind of disproves what the bible says. So one says there is a God and the other says there is not. With these two sources I feel I can make a good case of God's existence! We'll start with evolution. There are different stages of evolution but I will only speak of evolution that deals with forms of life (biological) and the Earth (Cosmic and Planetary Evolution).

An Evolving World

According to evolution the earth and all living creatures in it, evolved. This took place in stages. One day billions of years ago time once stood still until.....BANG! An explosion occurred and our universe began to take shape. This is known as Cosmic Evolution or the Big Bang theory. Some reports say that it was not an explosion but rather our universe expanded from a tiny small size to massive big size instantly. There is no explanation as to how or why this explosion or expansion happened but most scientists' say that it was caused by high intense heat. This cosmic reaction caused heat, and gases to form heated rocks, which continuously collided forming our solar system within which included the earth. After things started to cool down the earth continued to evolve and take shape. The seas were formed by constant rain, and as the earth continued to cool. During this continued cool down rocks, mountains and land was formed.

Biological Evolution

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Is the process in which all matter, (organism, and species) gradually through the process of time changed into more adaptable forms of matter. According to evolution every form of life and every creature that you see today is all related and comes from the same creature. For instance if we (humans) started out as a water drop, all other forms of life (plants, animals, dinosaurs) come from this same water drop. For this discussion we'll call this the 1^stcreature. This process was gradual and slow and took billions of years for this change but these one celled species or forms of matter through time changed and became smarter, which allowed them to be able to adapt to change in the climate. This allowed them to outlast other creatures that were the same as them. As I stated this was a slow process but through time this 1^st life form became clever and wiser and began to change, which allowed it to adapt to certain changes upon the earth. This adaptability is called natural selection. Natural selection gave some creatures the will to survive, reproduce and adapt, while all at the same time changing the 1^st creature into a more complex creature. Those that did not survive died off leaving only the newly changed creature. From the start of the 1^st came the 2^nd and thus allowing for variation and different forms of life to come forth. These different forms of life eventually mutated into the first humans. The first humans were believed to derive from Africa (note that). As evolution continued the intelligent man was formed. Mankind is now the most intelligent being or creature to come forth since the start of evolution. There is plenty more information regarding evolution and I may have missed and left out some details but I just wanted to provide some significant information for this discussion. When we summarize all of this information will be important.

God's Creation

In contrast to evolution the bible describes a very different scenario of how the world was created. Before I begin I must say that, yes I am a believer in God and I do believe the Bible's version of how the world was created. Unlike evolution the bible does not give a year or time frame of when the world was created. In the book of Genesis Chapter 1, verse 1 it states that God created the heavens and the earth. In verse 2 it states how that the earth was without form and void and that darkness was upon the face of the deep (the earth) and right before God begins to create the earth the bible says that the "spirit" of God moved upon the waters. In the 1^st and 2^nd Chapter's of Genesis the bible mentions a lot of how God just gave commandments for things that he created. For instance the bible said God said: let there be light; he created the sun, moon and stars; God commanded the grass, and plants to come forth, and all the herbs yielding seed after his kind (fruits with seeds within). God went on to create the cattle and beast of the field from the ground. God also created the fish in the sea and all other creatures upon the earth and even those creatures that crawl. God gave the beast/creatures commandment to be fruitful and multiply upon the earth. In the 26th verse of the 1st Chapter it states how that God said "let us make man in our own image and after our likeness, and God made the first man from the dust of the ground and gave man dominion over all beast and creatures. This meant that man had the power, authority and intelligence over all other creatures. This also means that man was different than all other creatures.

In Chapter 2 of Genesis the bible states that God planted a garden and put Adam (the first man) in it to take care of the Garden (Gen 2:15). The garden was located eastward of Eden. Out of Eden flowed a river to water the garden. This river was parted into four heads or sections. One of these rivers compassed the whole land of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is in Africa and according to evolution the first man derived from Africa so it kind of seems like the Bible is dead on. God gave Adam commandments as to what tree to eat from and what tree he was not supposed to eat from (Gen 2:16-17). After this the bible goes on to say how God brought all animals to Adam and allowed Adam to name all the animals and creatures that he created. ). This tells us that Adam had the ability to understand, comprehend, and talk. God eventually created a wife for Adam who began to be fruitful and multiply the generations upon the earth. God created the earth and all that was in it in 6 days, which was a earth fully furnished and sufficient.

God's Commandment

In the book of Exodus 20th chapter the 10 commandments are given to Moses to share with the people of God. For this discussion we will focus on the 2^nd, 6^th and 7^th commandments. These can be found in Exodus 20: 4, 13, 14.

The 2^nd commandment states: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

To explain this God gave a commandment to his people that they should not make any images, symbols, statues etc of anything symbolizing things in heaven or on earth or in the sea to worship. God did not want his people to make, or create images of anything in heaven or below to worship.

The 6^th commandment states: "Thou shalt not kill" (this is self explanatory)

The 7th commandment states: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (another self explanatory scripture).

Why am I using these scriptures we'll explain this as we get ready to summarize and bring this discussion to a close.

Summary

When we consider evolution think about this, why do we have brains, a heart, eyes, hands, and feet. According to evolution different creatures evolved. These creatures continued changing and developed the ability to adapt, survive, and multiply. Evolution explained this as being natural selection. When I think about this of course I'm wondering how did these creatures develop this "natural selection?" If these creatures have the ability adapt, and survive, doesn't this mean they are able to think? And if they are able to think doesn't this mean they have some type of brain? How can a creature go from nothing to now...thinking, and trying to survive without having developed a brain? Also if these creatures are able to survive doesn't this mean they have to eat? So if these species are eating to survive doesn't this mean they have some type of digestive system, and if they are eating where did the food come from that they are eating? If there is food it sounds like it is already available and ready for them. How and why did we as humans develop the different organs in our bodies? Is it just a coincidence that the human body is the greatest being on earth? Human's have: a brain, heart, teeth, eyes, ears, hands feet, legs and let's not forget the immune system. Let's also consider the evolution of earth, if these creatures were able to adapt to the changes in the earth such as climate where did the clouds come from that allowed it to rain. While the earth continued to evolve why did the earth receive all the different life forms? There are no other planets out there that have living forms of life on them so is it a coincidence that the earth was the only planet that life exists? Are clouds, rain, and the sun needed for the other planets? Where there is life, rain is needed, the sun is needed and trees are needed. Life is only found on earth.

Now let's consider the bible with this. If we just evolved and we were creatures, when did man obtain the knowledge of the existence of God? When did the 1st man obtain the knowledge that murder (Thou shalt not kill) is wrong or when did man realize that adultery (thou shalt not commit adultery) was wrong. Now pretend that you are the first man or part of the first phase of man. I am not sure what language you speak but how and when did you develop the knowledge of doing wrong or the knowledge that there is a God out there? When you look at a cave man he doesn't seem to smart so how and when did the cave man learn to count and read. If you look at the 1st Chapter of Genesis look at how the writer describes how God created the earth such as "and God said let there be light". When you look at how the writer describes this ask yourself this, "where did the writer of Genesis get this information and then consider if we started out as a cave man, where did the cave man get this knowledge of God from, and how did the bible become so dominant to our beliefs, because I believe the majority of people believe there is some type of place of eternity. We get the knowledge of eternity from one source (The Bible)? So how do you make up a story such as Genesis if you have never heard of, or knew of any type of God? So again I ask where did the writer of Genesis get his information. Moses has been credited with writing Genesis and I can go along with that because the bible does state that Moses went up on the mountain to speak with God which tells me also that whoever wrote the book of Genesis had to have some type of knowledge that a God exist. Genesis also states how that Adam communicated with God. He could comprehend he could understand what God was telling him and he could speak and with God giving him instructions he knew exactly what God wanted him to do and not to do. This tells us that Adam had some type of brain; he was able to understand and comprehend. God gave the 1^st man plenty of knowledge, and according to the bible God gave man dominion over all other animals which means that he was different, smarter and wiser than just about all other creatures. Evolution says that all creatures started out as the same but this does not add up because man is much smarter than all other creatures. So I believe with that thought the bible is correct and proves that man is the smartest being on the planet.

The bible also tells how that God created the earth and all that is in it. God supplied it with fruits and vegetation for mankind and for all living creatures in the earth. Also note that the bible says that God called the dry land "earth." The bible has no other mentions of life on any other planets. When you read Genesis it displays how God took his time (6 days) and furnished the earth with every necessity for man and if you look at the internal organs of a man; the intelligence of man; the earth and all that is in it, is it a coincidence that the human body is a well built being or that the earth provides everything for man's needs? Think about this... if you created the earth and man would you forget to make something? Would you leave something out? Would man have a brain, a heart, and all other limbs? I believe it would take someone with super intelligence to create the earth and supply it with every necessity for human life to survive. Our minds are not be able to create and forecast the needs of the earth or man for survival. Who else but God has this type of knowledge? No one can make water? So by these thoughts I feel that God knew what the earth needed therefore he created it.

Let's also consider the 2nd commandment: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

If God allowed himself to be seen how many people do you think would try to make an image of him and worship the image rather than God? This would break the 2nd commandment. I don't think God wants this and so we will never see God. So if you are looking for a physical sign from God keep looking, you will never find one. I do believe God can show you a sign but he will not allow himself to be seen of man. Evolution provides plenty of information and it can be considered but it presents repetitive coincidences that for some reason just happened. Evolution also does not mention God and it is a theory, which the proof of it continues to be considered. The bible provides no physical evidence of God but it is for believer's which bring me to a final scripture John 3:16. "....that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"

By Adam being the first man, and the first to communicate with God could it be possible that Adam also passed along this information to all the generation after him so that they could also believe? I feel very strongly that we know what we know today about God because: we were created by God, and God provided knowledge to us regarding him. This makes sense because we have the bible as proof.

To see God you have to believe God. You will never prove God physically, but he does exist!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat01.html

www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html - God's existence