In this course you will study and master the following exciting subjects. You would then find it very easy to face those who question your beliefs. 1.
Does God Exist Some times back a smart-looking young boy came to me and said, "Sir I am an Engineering College student. I have been reading the Bible for some time and have come to argue that God does not exist". I was happy to meet him, and welcomed him for a cup of coffee. I asked if he would keep his conversation strictly at the scientific level. He said he would, and added that this would be the appropriate approach seeing that he was an Engineering student. Without delay I invited him to present at least one experimental evidence that disproves God. He was dumbfounded. He had read plenty of publications written against God, but when confronted to support his contention he was unable to advance a single evidence. Nobody has proved that God does not exist, yet plenty of people claim that science has disproved God. It is time to face the issue. Since most believers lack the training necessary to discuss this question, they prefer to avoid any discussion whatsoever. While this kind of avoidance might conserve their faith, it might spell the doom to sincere inquirers. If a person wants to debate the subject just to show off his intellectual superiority or "modernism" it is better not to waste one's energy. But if a sincere inquirer wants to discuss the scientific and logical aspects of the question, his needs must be met by a competent Christian. Our young people live in an increasingly atheistic world. The magazines they read, the music they hear, the peers and professors they have, are all against their belief in God. Many Christian boys and girls will confess how they feel isolated when the whole class laughs at their faith. Added to all this is the increasingly evolution-based education. A few generations ago they taught the subject only in at the college level, but no longer. Now every year they are sending the message to lower classes. So much so that now my daughter studies the evolution of mankind right from her first standard. Every deviant philosophy is bound to leave its impact and evolution is no exception. Once the young ones are indoctrinated with this theory, they automatically doubt the existence of God. After all, they unconsciously reason, if everything has come here by evolution then all these statements about God must be fiction. Add to this the subtle peer pressure, and they promptly renounce God. There is no shortage of Christian parents and leaders who wonder about whatever has happened to their once active young people. The answer is simple : indoctrination at a very early age has converted them over to tacit atheism. Only God's mercy can now open their eyes. Every Christian must be ready to discuss the question of God's existence -- specially if he is in a leadership position. This can make all the difference to the young people who are still open to see both sides of the question. Once they are converted to atheism, it is too late to expect objectivity from them. Atheism is not a recent phenomena, and you should not be surprised at that. (Widespread belief in God should be more surprising, seeing that man is living in rebellion against God !) What is new is the explosive growth of this philosophy in the last two centuries. This is not an accident, but rather the culmination of two centuries of hard work done by them. About four hundred years ago the Western countries went through many liberating experiences -- liberation from church, liberation from inhibitions, and liberation to present radical ideas. Using this atmosphere, several philosophers propounded ideas that negated the existence of God. These philosophies loosely united a lot of like-minded people, but they became a powerful lobby after Charles Darwin proposed his theory. Before Darwin all what they had was philosophical speculations against God. Darwin gave them, for the first time, scientific respectability. The theory of evolution found many takers, who knew that their speculations are lame if they do not get a scientific cover. The awe-inspiring evolution theory became the foundation of every branch of knowledge. Soon it reached educational institutions all over the world, and riding over it went the idea of atheism. If evolution is taught as a fact, atheism must follow as a conclusion. If atheism is accepted as true, evolution must be invoked to explain it all. They are but two manifestations of the same idea. Since education-system is the root of a thinking society, the influence of these philosophies at this level has led to widespread gains for them in the modern world. The hypothesis of evolution has become one of the foundations of education. This education system in turn promotes evolution further. Today almost all systems of education are controlled by the philosophy of education and the corresponding atheism. Since mass-media is a powerful tool for controlling and manipulating human behavior, visionaries educated in evolution use the media to further propagate their philosophies. The success has been unparalleled. Many surveys have established that people who control media and its direction tend, in general, to be radicals in their moral, ethical, and spiritual outlook. These values definitely influence the media-users in subtle ways. Modern man cannot avoid two things : education and media. He needs the former for becoming informed and needs the latter for staying that way ! Consequently, he is indoctrinated with atheism from the first day in school and then he facilitates this as long as he keeps his mind enslaved to the media. Persons brought up in this kind of a society are bound to be strongly influenced by evolution and atheism. These philosophies become the norm. What is more, many organizations are aggressively propagating atheism. In spite of all this, many break away from this indoctrination and wonder about God. They want to know the truth, and they should be helped to see both the sides. This is why this book has been written. Turn the pages, keep your mind open, and honestly weigh both the sides. The Purpose Of This Course: This course has been prayerfully prepared by people who want seekers to know objective truth. Scholars and researchers all over the world have spent hundreds of thousands of hours in experimental, theoretical, and library research into the relationship between Bible/Science/Evolution. Enough course material is available today to offer University level Bachelors to Doctorate level courses. But since most people are interested only in knowing what is just sufficient for their needs, we are offering this brief eight-lesson course for them. If this does not meet your needs, we can always guide you to more advanced courses, books, and library-research.  Everyone knows that this is the age of science. The explosive growth of science and technology fills everyone with awe. Science has become a synonym for truth, and none can deny that science constantly strives to find truth. Since today science is man's greatest endeavor to discover truth, people tend to equate science with truth and other kinds of knowledge with imagination. Atheists have used this mindset to their advantage by claiming that science has disproved God. If this statement is true, then Bible believers should surely suspect all what they believe. But has science really disproved God ? Present-day science is a tool developed in the last four hundred years with the purpose of studying nature. Historians of science say that the Protestant Reformation was the movement that promoted this development. Three things go into the development of science : logic, mathematics, and repetitive experiments. Logic provides the rules to discern between the true and the false. Mathematics provides the tools to express things quantitatively. This makes possible exact measurements and comparisons. Inferences are drawn from experiments using these two : mathematics and logic. For the inferences to be correct, the object under investigation should be available in a laboratory for repeated experimentation and verification. It should be possible to measure its mass, size, temperature, and other similar physical properties. If a particular object is not available for repetitive experimentation and observation, then it is not possible to study it scientifically. If it lacks the physical properties of matter and energy, then it does not come in the realm of experimental sciences. Sciences cannot investigate it. Further, things that have taken place only once come under historical and legal investigation, and not under scientific (experimental) investigation. Also, if a particular thing does not lend itself to measurement by laboratory tools, then it cannot be studied by sciences. Scientific truth is often expressed in terms of hypotheses, theories, assumptions, observations, data, facts, and laws. These categories are necessary to express the varying degrees of certainty with which we understand the behaviour of matter. These can roughly be classified into two categories. Facts Of Science, and Theories of Science. "Facts of science" refers to all that information that is known to be sure, free from error, and having no exceptions. "Theories of science" represents all that information that is still incomplete, uncertain, and prone to be altered. Of these two, only facts of science have a lasting value. Theories do not last much as they keep appearing and disappearing. Whenever anyone conducts an important scientific investigation, he publishes the results in standard scientific journals. Researchers all over the world have access to journals in their fields, and they constantly appraise the new developments. This is the way how results of scientific investigation are communicated to the scientific community. The aim of science is to investigate matter and energy. To discover their properties and behaviour pattern. If a particular thing is neither matter nor energy, then it cannot be investigated in a laboratory. For example, love is a fact of life, but since it is neither matter nor energy it cannot be investigated by science. There is no gadget to measure the mass, length, breadth, or temperature of love. The aim of science is not to investigate all reality, but rather to investigate those realities that are seen in the form of matter and energy. The investigation takes place with the help of repeated experiments. All negations and affirmations depend upon experimental observations, and nothing can be established without relevant experiments. Physics investigates the physical properties of matter and energy. Chemistry, biology, astronomy, and the various scientific disciplines known to us investigate the physical behaviour of things pertaining to their respective fields. Science is a tool, a methodology, developed to study matter and energy. It, therefore, is able to investigate truths only in this region. If there is any truth in the world besides matter, science is not able to investigate it. One should not be surprised at this. Science was developed to study and investigate only nature, and therefore it cannot be used for other things. For example, science cannot pronounce any opinion about the existence of king Ashoka. A historical person or incident cannot be brought into the laboratory for experimental investigation. The maximum that science can do is to provide tools to study the material objects discovered by archaeologists. But conclusions of history depend upon techniques of historical investigations, not on techniques of natural sciences. In the same way, truths about people and their relationships cannot be investigated by science. No equipment can measure love, hatred, or fear. These are realities, but since they are neither matter nor energy they are beyond the scope of science. Love is not a property of matter, nor is anything else connected with human relationship. Science can investigate matter and energy, but nothing more. Historical realities are studied with methods of historical investigations, while truths related to individuals can be investigated only by methods of relational verification. One has to enter into a personal relationship with a person to verify truths that are relational in nature. It should be clear by now that the purpose of science is to study matter and energy, and nothing beyond that. Even if someone tries to broaden its boundaries, that is not possible. All affirmations and negations have to be established only on the basis of repetitive experimental observations. God is neither matter nor energy. Therefore the methods of experimental sciences cannot be applied to disprove His existence. Nobody in the world has devised an experiment that can disprove God. If anyone claims that sciences have disproved the existence of God, he must be asked to defend his position. He has to explain the experiment, the place where this was performed and the place where the results were published. Anyone can make any claims saying that science has demonstrated this or that fact, but then he should be able to support his claims by pointing to relevant experiments. No one claiming that science has disproved God has ever come up with experimental evidence to support this claim. This is because they are using the name of science to intimidate the ignorant. There is no truth in their claims, but they will continue repeating this false claim as long as they can successfully disturb people. If anyone claims that science has disproved God, he has to describe the experiment that finally disproved God. Discussing anything else is irrelevant to the argument. On talking of science and experiments, some might think that the theory of evolution has disproved God. This is false. First of all, The Theory Of Evolution is only a theory. It is a mere hypothesis or supposition. It is not a law of science, nor is it a fact of science. If it were a law, they would have called it the LAW of evolution. But the scientific community itself accepts that it is the THEORY of evolution. The theory of evolution needs first to establish itself, and then only it can question the existence of God -- if it has any bearing on the subject. Till then you need to remember only this much: a hypothesis or supposition is not a fact of science. If anyone claims that sciences have disproved God, he has to demonstrate that experiment which has achieved this feat. Appeal to evolution, which is a mere theory, will not do the job. God is not made up of matter or energy, and therefore no scientific experiment can be used to test His existence. But then many sincere inquirers might ask, "Does this mean that belief in God is a blind jump into an unknown darkness. Isn't there any way in which I might investigate the possibility of His existence ?" And the answer is, YES ! There are many lines of reasoning that converge together to suggest that belief in God is not a blind and thoughtless affair. Logic, Theory Of Probability, Relational Verification, and the Testimony Of Bible can be used to investigate the subject. When the weight of all these investigations is added, there is overwhelming reason for believing in God. Since God is neither matter nor energy, methods of experimental sciences will not work here. But methods of logical analysis will work. These methods of logic have been investigated in detail, and they form the basis of all historical, legal, and sociological analysis. Logic helps one to sort out arguments, classify them, and then analyze them for their validity. This method is used very frequently in decision-making, specially when several arguments and counter arguments are present. This kind of analysis provides the basis for all kinds of investigations, including decision-making in computers that use Artificial Intelligence or even Fuzzy Logic. Numerous logical reasons for belief in the existence of God have been investigated, but here we will present only two of them. 1-Reasoning From Cause And Effect We know that every event in the Universe has a cause for it. The whole world is a maze of cause and effect networks. Apples fall down because of gravity while rockets go up because of thrust from burning fuel. Stars twinkle because of earth's atmosphere while tides result due to moon's pull. Everything has a cause, and nothing is there without sufficient cause. It is possible to start from an effect and go backward to discover the cause. Every effect has a cause. That cause in turn has another cause behind it. This cause in turn must have another cause behind it. If one keeps on going back like this, an end has to come somewhere seeing that cause and effect processes are not circular. To be an end that has no cause for itself, it has to be an absolute end -- the First Cause that was not caused by anything else. That is God. Everything in this Universe has a cause except the First Cause. This first and absolute cause gave rise to everything else. This reasoning is the logical end to the search for the First Cause. It was God. 2-Reasoning From Design I had a professor who used to be a staunch atheist. He maintained that evolution explains it all. I had the privilege to work with him on many research projects. One day I left a completed project on his table. It was a complex electronic circuit, soldered carefully and painstakingly on to a circuit-board. It was the result of over thirty hours of gruelling labour. He was not aware that I was working on a project of such a complexity. On our next meeting he praised that circuit very much and asked me how long I took to make it. I teased him by saying that this circuit just put itself together in our electronics workshop, and that there was no maker behind it. He was puzzled for some time, but then in a flash he saw my point! If there is order and complexity, it points to a plan and a planner behind it. None can deny it. The Universe is a highly complex system. Design is evident everywhere. In fact one goal of science is to discover designs in the natural world. Everyone knows that designs do not happen by themselves. Computer programmes do not get written automatically, nor is music composed when stones slide upon each other. Every meaningful structure demands three things : a design, a designer, and a mechanism to implement the design. Man's intelligence is incredible. Yet he has not been able to understand a fraction of the Universe. Even a microscopic entity like the atom eludes his wisdom. It is clear therefore that the intelligence behind the design of the Universe had to be an all-knowing person who is also all-powerful to implement this design. When one sees a beautiful painting, his thoughts immediately go to the artist who worked painstakingly. When one looks at the infinitely complex Universe, one has to think of the infinitely intelligent and powerful Artist who put it all together ! 3--Other Logical Reasons Many other reasons have been proposed, but we will mention them only in passing. This is because the two logical reasons mentioned above are so powerful and convincing that most inquirers don't feel a need to go beyond them. The other reasons include the argument from man's moral nature, man's universal commitment to a power above him, and man's inherent commitment to a law above him. The Theory Of Probability, Relational Verification, and the Testimony of Bible also come in this category, and we will discuss each of them in chapters devoted exclusively to them. Many atheists have rejected logical reasons with the contention that all these reasonings have limitations. They point out, for example, that these reasonings are not sufficient to tell more about God's nature. It is true that none of the logical reasonings reveal God's full nature, but then these reasonings are not meant for that. Their purpose is just to examine the existence of God, and here they do a remarkable job. Demanding anything more, for which they have not been designed, is a manifestation of ignorance. Every tool of investigation has its own limitation. This does not invalidate the tool or the conclusions. It only tells how far the tool will go. Logical reasonings deal only with the existence of God and not with His character. They were not designed for that. They are successful in achieving the purpose for which they have been designed. The fact that they cannot be used for other purposes, for which they were not designed, does not in any way invalidate them. We see a lot of phenomena taking place randomly : leaves falling from trees, dust settling on ground, and footprints made in sand. These actions take place in an unplanned manner -- nobody orders clouds in a pattern -- and therefore they are called random phenomena. Many people believe that all order seen in universe can be explained as the result of randomness, and that a plan, planner, or blueprint is not necessary. In fact randomness is the driving force which people invoke to explain how it all evolved into such magnificent beauty and order. They claim that just as patterns can be observed in randomly floating clouds, patterns will be formed in a randomly moving universe. This explanation looks very convincing as long as one is not serious. A serious study of the subject, however, will immediately show that randomness is a great destroyer of order -- and not a creator as they would want you to believe. Matter and energy interacting randomly with each other turn medicines into junk (thus the expiry date), food into a rotten mass, and sparkling new things into unusable antiques. The same phenomena, on the other hand, never turn a blunt blade into a sharp one, dilapidated buildings into castles, and the random typing on a typewriter into a dictionary. Randomness and blind chance, where actions take place without plan, is so widespread that a whole branch of mathematics is devoted to it. It is called the Mathematics Of Probability. It is so advanced that it can confidently predict the outcome of random phenomena. This is the reason why the insurance companies, the lottery ticket organizers, and the gambling establishments never go in loss. The mathematics of probability accurately predicts how much they can gain. Let me try to explain the mathematics of probability in very simple words. Suppose a person is tossing a coin. Only a single side can come up in one toss, even though there are two probable sides. Thus, each side has a probability of 1/2. On the other hand, when dice are thrown, each die has six sides. Each side has equal likelihood of coming up, but only one of them can come up during a single toss. Therefore it has a probability of 1/6. If two dice are tossed together, thirty six different combinations can come up. This means that in any given toss, a particular combination has a probability of 1/36. In fact, if the three systems mentioned above -- a coin, a die, and a dice pair -- are tossed thousands of times, the faces that come up will be exactly according to the above predictions. In a coin, heads will come up half of the times while tails will come up half the times. In a single dice, each side will come up one sixth time. In a pair of dice, each combination will come up 1/36 time the total toss. There is a condition : the tosses should be fully random, and the number of tosses should be very high. Starting from simple examples like the above, this branch of mathematics has been developed to great precision for highly complex phenomena. Since the world is full of random phenomena, that repeat themselves billions upon billions of times, their outcome can be predicted accurately with the help of this mathematics of probability. If the calculated value of probability approaches one, the probability for that event increases. On the other hand if this value approaches zero, the probability decreases. In fact if the probability becomes one, the event becomes certain. But if the probability for an event becomes zero, that event will never take place. This information can be used to study the outcome of random phenomena. Let us see whether blind chance can make a watch. To be generous, we will assume that all components that go into a watch are already available. Now if all these components are put into a container and shaken, do you think that they will fit with each other to give you a watch ? Well, as anyone can see, even if the container is shaken for billions of years, you are not going to get a watch ! On the contrary, all this randomness is only going to destroy the well designed components. Now if we assume that instead of the watch, we place the few hundred thousand parts that go into a Jumbo Jet into this container and shake it ! Will you get the Jumbo ? NEVER ! So far we have discussed the problem only in qualitative manner. To be accurate, we can make it quantitative -- that means, mathematical. When this is done, the mathematics of probability shows that even if the box is shaken for the entire assumed age of the Universe (ten to twenty billion years), you will not get a watch. If twenty billion years of random processes are not sufficient for producing a watch, then a billion times a billion years will not produce a Jumbo. In the above examples, we had simplified the situation by assuming that all parts that go into the watch and the Jumbo already exist. But if we assume, as evolution does, that everything has to start from scratch, the situation becomes even more hopeless. In fact it can be shown that the mathematical probability for this is so negligible that it is nothing but zero. If the probability for the self-assembling of a Jumbo is zero, the probability for the random evolution of a living cell is also zero. Even a single living cell is millions of times more complex and intricate than a Jumbo Jet. If anyone claims that this living cell is the result of blind chance, surely he is avoiding reality. A single living cell is incredibly more complex than the most complex factory in the world. If anything as complex as that factory could not come up by blind chance, it is ridiculous to claim than the infinitely complex living cells arose by chance. To complicate the matters, there are millions of different types of cells on earth. Animals, plants and other forms of life all have cells that remarkably differ from each other. If one type cannot evolve, a million type will only make the matters worse ! Whenever we see order and complexity, our thoughts immediately go to the designer behind it. Whether it is a well-painted house or a scenery or an automobile, a designer is needed. The mathematics of probability demands it. The same mathematics leads one to see God as the planner behind the immeasurable Universe.
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The Second Law of Thermodynamics is one of the most verifiable and observable theories of Physics and is a scientific fact. It states that order in a system decreases over time. It is a law which determines the directions of many processes in the universe. Directions of the natural phenomena such as the flow of water, heat etc are governed by this law. Water flows only from a higher level to a lower level, heat flows from hot body to cold body. No one has ever seen or will ever see a river flow uphill in this world. We see this Law in action in other areas also. A building left to itself unattended to the natural forces will deteriorate and finally collapse. But we will never see a building coming up by itself with the help of natural forces. Building up, with a design and purpose, cannot happen at random in nature. The direction is clear in these processes. All processes under random (natural) forces take the universe in the direction of more disorder and scientifically speaking, the amount of available energy decreases in the universe. Alternatively, the universe is in a running down process. . According to the evolutionary theory of origin life came into existence by the collocation of molecules by chance (The mathematical probability of such an event is discussed elsewhere in this course) and formed (the design of) the basic constituent of life-DNA. To form such a highly complex design as that of a DNA with tremendous amount of information in it and for life to come into existence, the system should have violated its course of more disorder. The hurdles are not over by just the formation of the first protoplasm. The first life unit should survive the hostile surroundings (protecting itself from getting oxidized in the early moments of its existence is highly improbable) and reproduce itself in the direction of more order without any external intelligent influence is also a clear violation of the fact of science - the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The postulate that a highly complex design, for example human being, with eyes, brain , mind (still most of it is a mystery to science) etc. came into existence by itself (or rather himself) through a series of random chances , all in the right direction ,against wrong directions with millions of wrong combinations and without any intelligent decisions involved can be best only by the stretch of imagination and assumptions. Increasing order through random processes against the downward course of the system just cannot happen and that explains the need for an external intelligent mind with creative force. The Second Law clearly shows the need of an intelligent, all powerful creator to work against the direction of disorder and randomness to achieve higher degrees of order - for example, life - to exist as seen now. The obtaining of information is an inseparable part of human life. Whether it is conversation with others, tasting of food, reading of newspapers, or looking at ourselves in the mirror, it is all meant to collect information. To be of any value, he information collected has to be reliable. Since none of us seems to doubt the reliability of the information that comes this way -- say by viewing ourselves in a mirror -- we silently admit that all this information is fairly reliable. But interestingly, most of this information is not gained by the method of sciences but rather by the method of relations ! In a previous chapter we saw that natural sciences deal only with matter and energy and nothing beyond that. In spite of this many people seem to harbor the erroneous notion that all our information comes to us only through sciences. This is a false belief. Most of the information in our day to day life is obtained by interacting with people and things. Since this mutual interaction is a necessary part of information-collection, this method is called the Relational Method or Relational Verification. In our everyday life we all experience love, peace, anger, pain, and the whole spectrum of human emotions. All these feelings are "real", but there is no scientific method to detect them, verify them, or to measure them. When a boy falls in love with a girl, the girl does not verify this with an electronic gadget. When a father claims to love his child, the boy does not verify it with a laboratory apparatus or a "love-gauge". Matter and energy make up a definite part of a man's constitution, but love is neither matter nor energy. Therefore no scientific apparatus can measure it. Yet love is accepted as a reality. This is because people experience love by entering into a relationship with the person who loves. And this is the only way to learn and appreciate any human emotion that is true, but that is not made up of matter or energy. When a mother tells a child that it is his aunt's voice on the phone, he trusts her. It is his relation with his mother that makes him to accept that information. He does not perform a scientific experiment before accepting her statement. A good part of human life is spent in gaining information. These days children spend fifteen to twenty years in educational institutions. Here they just accept what their teachers say. During this time and also during the rest of their lives they read books, magazines, and newspapers. They listen to radio and watch TV. A tremendous amount of information is assimilated this way. But they do not verify it in a laboratory. They check it relationally. Because of their relationship with the parents, the school teachers, and the media they know how reliable each one of these is. Hence it is the relation that helps them to gain knowledge and not scientific experiments. When someone tells us about Gautam Buddha and his religious reforms, we do not ask for an experimental or laboratory verification that Buddha was a real person. Rather, because of our interaction with teachers, textbooks, and even scholarly publications, we know that their statements about historical persons are to be taken seriously. So seriously that one never doubts them. But ultimately this confidence come to us because we have interacted with them -- our relationship helps us to evaluate them unconsciously. This is not to discount the sciences. Not at all. Modern science a great enterprise, and every objective person should be pro science. What is important to realize here is that sciences can deal only with matter and energy. They cannot encroach into other fields of verification. A subject of history can be investigated only by the methods of historical verification, a subject of legal investigation by the method of legal verification, and a subject of personal existence can be verified only by method of relational verification. God is neither matter nor energy. If that were so, you would not have purchased this book. You would have invested your money in scientific gadgets to investigate Him. God is a person, and He can be known, experienced, and verified only by the method of relations. If you, my reader, are willing to enter into a day-to-day relationship with Him, you can verify Him to yourself. A couple of years ago an atheist challenged an old Christian gentleman who was preaching in a street. He said, "Let us debate the existence of God in front of this crowd". To his great surprise the old preacher immediately agreed to the request. He said, "My friend, let us fix a time to present our arguments. I will surely come there. But I have a small request. With me I will bring one hundred persons whom the town knows well. They were drunkards, thieves, muggers, and all kinds of offenders -- the worst you can imagine. But today they are respected citizens and transformed individuals because they established a relationship with God and His son Jesus Christ. Likewise, you also bring with you one hundred persons, known to the township, who were equally rotten creatures. Let them testify -- if they will -- that their new-found atheism has cured them of all their evils". It is reported that the atheist disappeared from the scene. This incident illustrates a very important truth. God can be known in a personal way, and when people know God it reflects in their lives. There are so many changed lives around that no one can refute this as mere propaganda. Countless number of people have devoted their lives to serve the poor, the downtrodden, and the unfortunate. Christians run orphanages all over the world. They run homes for runaways and the destitute. They provide shelters where girls can give birth to illegitimate children and leave them for adoption. How many atheists do that ? To be honest, atheists do a lot for orphans and the unwed. Many of them encourage the godless philosophies that give rise to all this. If you doubt it, talk to any "liberated" youth group. Listen to them how they advocate drugs, drinking and sex. Ask them about their belief in God. They will laugh you out of the room. They will tell you that rejecting God has given them all this freedom. They will tell you about man's evolution from beasts, and also how this evolved man lays down his own social and moral norms and standards. Pause a little to think of the outcome. The violence ! The illegitimate conceptions !! The abortions that follow, or the live babies that are abandoned !!! Have you ever wondered about the role of atheism and evolution in all this ? They preach "liberty" but overlook the consequences. Further, when these deluded young people reap the consequences, atheists are nowhere to be seen. They do not run hospitals, orphanages, old-age homes, and shelters for the destitute. Christians do that because of their relationship with God. This relationship motivates them to express their love practically. When a person grasps a certain truth, it translates into actions. When a person enters into a personal relationship with God, that translates into actions. The tens of thousands of reformed thieves, thugs, criminals, and the basest elements of society who now live with a new heart are a testimony to that fact. Atheism cannot bring about this life changing miracle. They entered into a relationship, they discovered, and they demonstrate it without asking. You, my reader, can discover the same God by entering into a personal relationship with God. The way is open to anyone who wants to explore. If you are still hesitant, the problems is not God but rather your unwillingness to explore. Read the Appendix A to know more about it. Most people who attack belief in God consider Bible as a major enemy even though most of them do not acknowledge it. An examination of their writings, however, will betray this. You may examine any substantial rationalistic or atheistic periodical and discover that a good number of articles attack some aspect or other of Bible and the Christian faith. Interestingly, this same book provides the best historical refutation of atheism. A central theme of Bible is that God moves in history. He controls it, and He directs it according to a certain plan. Glimpses of His plan and time-table are given in prophecies -- predictions that can be analyzed using the well-known mathematics of probability. Prophecy is a prediction about future. Since we live in a world dominated by predictions (climate forecast, economic forecasts, population predictions, etc.), you may not be impressed very much when I mention predictions in Bible. Further, you might argue, "don't the astrologers, the quacks, and even soothsayers make predictions. After all, who does not know at least the name of Nostradamus !" True, they all make some sort of predictions but predictions recorded in the Bible belong to an entirely different category as demonstrated below : Predictions can be of five types and one must understand the difference : 1--Random
Predictions Random predictions can be made by anyone, and their fulfillment will follow the laws governing randomness. They can be analyzed easily. Very few of these predictions come true and nobody takes them seriously. Cleverly vague predictions are usually made by road-side astrologers and quacks. They know enough of human nature to understand common problems and miseries. They then put their predictions/statements in such vaguely phrased but cleverly designed statements that the listener is captivated by them. The astrological columns in newspapers and magazines are full of these -- forecasts that say that you will have a "good" day in spite of difficulties, that you will "profit" in business in spite of struggles, and that your friends will appreciate you even though a few will criticize. These statements are designed so cunningly that they apply to all situations -- whether you had a good day or a bad one ! No intelligent person takes them seriously. Predictions based upon common sense and intuition are widespread. Parents ask the children not to play in sun or in rain. When a toddler wobbles, parents instinctively grab him lest he fall. Teachers repeatedly exhort the weaker students to work harder. Businessmen buy and stock things when they expect costs to rise. All these predictions and predictive behavior depends upon common sense observations and intuition. There is nothing super-human about them. Predictions based upon the laws of nature help scientists to forecast many events. If only few laws are involved, the prediction is easy and accurate. If many laws are involved, their mutual interaction gives rise to many possibilities and prediction becomes difficult. Weather forecast is a scientific prediction, but since thousands upon thousands of factors affect the climate, science and mathematics cannot handle them easily at this time. In future when such tools are available, weather forecast will become more accurate. But none will consider that a supernatural feat because those predictions depend upon laws of science. Predictions based upon accurate, supernatural, knowledge of future is a different category altogether. This kind of prediction does not depend upon common sense, intuition, or laws of science. It does not depend upon cleverly contrived vague statements. Rather, this category contains accurate predictions about future events that come only from a definite knowledge of future. Biblical prophecies come in this category, and any inquirer can verify it to himself. Many people have claimed to predict future accurately, but a careful analysis of their predictions will show that there is nothing special with them. They combine their careful observations and insights with a shrewd use of language -- their predictions are so general that it will fit into any situation. Further, they are so vague that you can stretch them to mean anything. Look into any prediction (whether it is done by Nostradamus or the next door astrologer), and you will find statements like : "In a land of rivers in east, Shall rise a mighty lady. All shall know her feats, Only to be deposed by enemies". The prediction is so vague that it can be applied to any country in east that has rivers, or any country that has rivers in east. A lady rising to any position in business, politics, education, or government can be called a mighty lady. If she is mighty, others will surely know her by her achievements -- whatsoever they might be. All powerful and well-known people will have some enemies, and if anyone succeeds even a little to oppose her, then the last line is also fulfilled. The prophecy is so general that it will fit any well-known lady in any country with rivers. Further, the statements are so vague that they can be stretched to mean anything. Further, since women constitute fifty per cent of the population, and since many of them rise to positions of prominence, it is easy to find a woman to fit almost all these predictions. There is nothing special in it. Biblical prophecies are not like this. They are made up of specific statements, so that they will fit only definite situations. Further, they are so clear cut that one cannot stretch them to mean many things. This kind of definite predictions can be made only by having a definite knowledge of future. If any of these persons tries to make definite predictions, you will find them making a lot of serious mistakes. For example, pick up any astrological magazines published in our country. Most of them predicted a great future for Mrs. Indira Gandhi the same month in which she was assassinated. The same magazines predicted bright future for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in the month in which he was assassinated. A prophecy is a prophecy only if everything comes true as predicted. If the prediction turns out to be false even in a single claim, then it comes from fallible minds and not from God. This is the test prescribed by Bible itself. And we notice that Bible turns out to be fully reliable when tested against this standard. A few examples will be presented out of the thousands of specific prophecies found in the Bible. Fuller details can be obtained from any book on prophecy or from Evidence That Demands A Verdict written by Josh McDowell (Here's Life Publishers, California, 1979, Revised Edition. This is a resource book, and we pick up these examples from it). A)-Palestine Many prophecies are recorded about Palestine, of which two are found in Leviticus 26:31-33 and Ezekiel 36:33-35. The first of these was made around 1500 BC, and the second one was made around 600 BC. Together, they contain at least seven predictions : 1-Palestine
will
resemble waste All of these prophecies were fulfilled in the first century and after that, and the interested reader can investigate it using information available in secular history. Based on probability mathematics even the most conservative estimate gives only one chance in twenty-thousand, which is negligible. Yet it came to pass exactly as it was predicted. B)-Babylon Of the numerous prophecies recorded about Babylon, we will refer only to three found in Isaiah 13:19-22, 14:23, and Jeremiah 51:26,43. The Isaiah prophecy came before 700 BC, and the Jeremiah prophecy came around 600 Bc. Together they predict the following eight events : 1-Babylon
will become
like Sodom
and Gomorrah Babylon was a large and prosperous place, very strong financially and in military security. Yet all these predictions were fulfilled, without a single exception, as history and archaeology inform us. Conservative estimate puts the probability of fulfillment as less than one in 5,000,000,000 ! Yet it was fulfilled exactly as prophesied, indicating that Bible is no ordinary book. C)-Other Countries Similar prophecies can be cited about Tyre, Samaria, Gaza and Ashkelon, Jericho, Jerusalem, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and many other cities and nations. We will not go into details because of space limitation. However, we have already pointed the path for investigation to the person interested further enquiry. Bible claims to be a witness to the way God has moved in history. As we have pointed out earlier, the tools of investigation available to mankind do not allow anyone to test God in a laboratory, but other methods of investigation are surely available and you are encouraged to pursue it. Truth is not afraid of investigation, and you are encouraged to verify these things to yourself. Here is a suggestion that you are invited to investigate : if Bible is what it claims to be, then the history recorded in it should be accurate and without mistakes. This historical content is quite substantial -- covering over 4000 years of history that took place in scores of countries. Plenty of archaeological and historical material is available to investigate it. See what the result is. Before you do that let me tell you what you are going to discover ! You will notice that unlike any other book of antiquity, the history recorded in the Bible has never been refuted by facts of historical research. Further, wherever historical investigations could unearth artifacts and documents related to biblical history, they have only confirmed biblical statements. This is unique, and it points to the hand of God behind this book -- a compelling testimony to the existence of God. Investigation is the best method to find truth, and truth is not afraid of searching questions. The historical witness of Bible is a compelling evidence to believe in God. You are invited to search it and come to your own conclusion. Many atheists argue that the presence of pain and evil proves that God does not exist. This is false. God's existence is not negated by posing perplexing questions. Rather, if anyone wants to disprove God's existence, he has to establish suitable tests and proofs, as we have already demonstrated. Most people expect a loving God to control the Universe in such a way that there is no pain, evil, or exploitation. Consequently, they are very much perplexed on seeing these things all around. But it must be remembered that the presence of pain only increases the perplexity -- it does not disprove the existence of God in any way. Let me illustrate it with a very crude, but helpful, example. All countries have police for preventing crime. In actual life, however, one finds a lot of crime everywhere. Does this imply that no police force exists in that place ? Any sane person would accept that the presence of crime and injustice does not prove that police force does not exist. Existence or non existence is not proved in this way ! Even the fool can ask more questions than the wisest man can answer. Consequently it may not always be possible to give an answer immediately to every question. Further, many questions can be answered only when the questioner has a certain minimum background in the subject. For example, one can satisfy an interrogator on Quantum Chromo-dynamics only if the questioner has at least some background in this subject. The question of why God allows pain can be understood only after a person grows to a certain minimum level in his relationship with God. On reaching this level of spiritual maturity, he will be able to perceive that God uses pain as a powerful tool to shape raw men into mighty tools for His kingdom. When a loving father imposes preventive discipline upon his children, it is an expression of his love and concern. This, however, can initially be perceived only by the father and not by the children. In fact most children have to grow to a high level of maturity before they can appreciate what their parents did to them through preventive discipline. The subject requires such insight that some of them are able to appreciate the reality only AFTER they themselves become parents ! In Bible we see that many of the men who developed into great leaders and statesmen grew to this stature due to the way sufferings shaped them. This includes Job, Moses, Esther, Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, and Paul. They were all people of flesh and blood like you and me. Further, there are numerous contemporary Christians who are willing to testify that God used their pain and sufferings in a special way. Among my friends and family members there are many who have suffered very much because of the untimely death of a father, mother, husband, or wife. There are others who at this moment are struggling with uncontrollable physical pain, handicaps, and physical deformities. Still others are suffering from incurable diseases, moving closer to death every day. You can interview any of them at any length, and all of them will tell only one thing -- pain and suffering is not charming, but it has a purpose. They will tell you that they have a certain assurance that can come only after entering into a day-by-day relationship with God. If pain and suffering looks like a mystery to you then you should consider this : we all wish that the world were free of these things, but God has a purpose behind all this. This statement is attested by the numerous Biblical characters who rose to great spiritual heights after God trained them through pain. Further, tens of thousands of our own suffering contemporaries are willing to share their testimony -- that God uses pain to draw people closer to Him, to make them better persons, and to use them to comfort others in pain. The presence of pain, therefore, does not automatically refute God's existence. At times God's silence perplexes many because they have not understood the cross of Christ. When you and I suffer, God might look like a detached spectator who has no sympathy with it all. In reality God is a fully involved participant in our pains and sufferings. The greatest agony suffered by anyone was at the cross when Christ died for mankind. God did not need to do this. He could simply have opted to wipe out this creation and bring forth another creation. But He chose the most difficult way -- the way of taking it all upon Himself. Dying for man was no easy task for Lord Jesus. He had to bear the pain of all humanity's sins upon Himself. This pain was so intense that one can begin to appreciate it only after living in personal relation with Him for quite some time. God is therefore not a detached spectator, watching joyfully the sufferings and miseries on earth. Lord Jesus, willingly, underwent the greatest suffering possible for anyone in this Universe. But this assertion can become meaningful only to those people who enter into a personal relationship with Him. You might say that you don't want to enter into this relationship. If so, that is strange, and you are without excuse. When God Himself is offering you the New Life as a gift -- after paying the cost Himself -- you cannot advance a single good excuse for rejecting this offer. Assume for a moment that all what is said in this book is wrong. Even then the theist is on a safer side. If God does not exist, then the theist has nothing to lose anyway ! On the other hand, if God really exists, the believer has everything to gain while the atheist has everything to loose. This is the minimum ! Let me repeat : Even if all the arguments above are wrong, the believer in God has NOTHING to lose. But even if a single reasoning is correct, the atheist looses EVERYTHING . This is the minimum strength of the ground on which the theist stands. But we believe, and any sensible inquirer will accept, that the believer in God stands at a ground firmer than that. WHAT DID WE SEE The existence of God is a hotly debated subject in the twentieth century. But the contention that "Science has disproved God" is false. Only a person ignorant about the nature of science can indulge in that kind of foolish talk. Sciences were designed to study the material world. They can deal with matter and energy, but no more. If there is any reality beyond matter and energy, then science cannot handle it. Since God is neither matter nor energy, sciences cannot be pressed into investigating God. Logic can, however, be used to see if God's existence is needed to explain it all. Many writers have pointed out as many as thirty logical reasons for belief in God, and just two of them are sufficient for any serious inquirer -- the reasoning from cause/effect, and the reasoning from design. The theory of probability can be pressed into service to investigate whether the universe can be explained in terms of blind chance and random phenomena. The answer is : NO ! Probability demands an all-powerful designer behind it all. The historical testimony of Bible is another factor to believe in God. The history recorded in Bible has never been refuted by archaeology. Rather, every day more and more details are becoming confirmed. Further, the fulfilled prophecies offer another compelling evidence to believe in God of the Bible. Many have pointed out the problem of pain and evil. The presence of pain and evil perplexes us all, but it does not automatically disprove God. The best way to examine God is to enter into a personal relationship with Him. If a simple truth like the existence of love needs relational verification, then a subject like God surely needs relational verification. Instead of restricting ourselves to just one subject, we used a multi-pronged approach to investigate the existence of God. Each line of reasoning indicates that God is a reality. The collective weight of all these evidences put together is more than sufficient to compel any honest inquirer to confess that "YES ! GOD DOES EXIST !!" Bible is quite a big book with two major sections, sixty-six subsections, and over 31,000 still smaller divisions. If you are new to this book, this size can overwhelm you. A sensible approach of reading can, however, solve this problem. We suggest that you refer to the Table Of Contents and make yourself familiar with the two major sections called Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament is divided into 39 books while the New Testament is divided into 27 books. Each book is divided into chapters, and each chapter is divided into small verses for your convenience. These books were written by 40 writers over a period of 1500 years, and there is no way in which they could interact with each other. Yet the entire book has only a single theme and a single message for mankind. WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF BIBLE ? According to the Bible, all men are sinners. The wages of sin is death. Consequently, every person deserves only one thing -- spiritual death and hell. No one can save himself from this. But God, in His love, has opened a way. Lord Jesus came to this world to give His life as an offering in your place. He died to pay the penalty of your sins. Now that He has paid the penalty by His death, you can become free from this penalty by accepting Him as your Saviour. Recognizing that you are a sinner, pray to Him saying that you accept Him as your Saviour right now. God's gift of salvation will be yours. When man give you something, he expects you to pay back -- sooner or latter. But when God give, He gives it as a true gift ! Accept that gift today, and become a blessed child of God. FOR FURTHER STUDY If
you want to
investigate these
things from the Bible, check the following
Man Is A Sinner : Romans 3:23; Psalms 14:2,3; Psalms 143:2 The Wages Of Sin : Romans 6:23, Romans 5:12 Man Cannot Save Himself : Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; Acts 4:12 God Wants To Give You New Life : John 3:16; John 1:12 How
To Obtain The New
Life : John
1:12; John 3:16; Acts 13:28,29;
Choose True Or False Chapter 1
2.
Even if some people
question the
existence of God, Christians need not worry
3.
It is not possible to
give rational
arguments to questions asked by enemies
4.
God's existence can be
proved
with the help of scientific experiments
5.
The purpose of this
course is
to teach you how to probe God with scientific experiments
Chapter 2
2.
There is no false or
questionable
information in science 3.
Scientific information
is final,
and it never changes 4.
All truth in the world
is to be
proved experimentally 5.
Evolution has
disproved the existence
of God Chapter 3
2.
It is very difficult
to understand
the reasoning from cause to effect
3.
Blind chance is a good
designer,
so reasoning from design is to be rejected
4.
There are only very
few arguments
from Logic for God's existence
5.
Common man cannot
understand the
Logical arguments Chapter 4
2.
All probability in
this Universe
favours design by random chance
3.
The random motions
through which
automatic watches run shows randomness is a creator
4.
Blind Chance plus time
is enough
to explain the Universe 5.
Blind Chance has been
used by
scientists to create primitive life in laboratories
1.Q
.Is there any known violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics? Chapter 6 2.
Relational proof is
full of pitfalls
and errors 3.
Scientifically trained
people
never take relational proof seriously
4.
Scientifically trained
people
never need relational proofs
5.
Relational proof does
not work
with God who is unseen Lesson 7
2.
Archeology has turned
out to be
Bible's greatest enemy 3.
No professional
archeologist believes
in the Bible 4.
There is no difference
between
biblical prophecy and guesswork
5.
No biblical prophecies
have ever
been verified rigorously Chapter 8
2.
A good God would never
allow pain 3.
Pain cannot result in
anything
good 4.
A good God would never
have allowed
evil in this world 5.
If there's no seeming
answer for
a problem, then the problem is unsolvable
Chapter 9 No Test for this chapter !! You must include the following information: Your Name, Course Name, Your Email Address. We will send you the correct answers as soon as we hear from you. We expect to provide certificates: Certificate In Theology to those who complete 10 courses together, and Diploma In Theology to those who complete 20 courses together. For more information contact us via email. If Answers@ApologeticsCourses.Com does not work due to any reason, send all mail to calvin@satyam.net.in Dr. Johnson C. Philip is a Christian Apologist based in Kochi, India. He received the degree of Th.D. in Apologetics in 1984 and Ph.D. in Physics (Quantum Chromodynamics) in 1991. At present he is working on his DSc in Alternative Medicine, and DNYS in Naturopathy. So far he has authored more than 2000 popular articles and research papers and more than 50 books in the fields of physics, communication, apologetics, and theology. He is a voting member of numerous professional societies including: Creation Research Society, American Scientific Affiliation, The Society Of Christian Philosophers, Indian Physics Association, etc. He is a founder and life member of the Indian Association Of Physics Teachers. Calvin School, Trinity School, Indus School, and Philip Communications, founded by him, offer External training programmes in Theology, Apologetics, Counseling, Communications, etc. |
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