WHY I KNOW
GOD
EXISTS
JoLynn Gower
493-6151
[email protected]
1 VERSE FOR THE JOURNEY
•  Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all
things have been created through Him and for Him. He is
before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
•  Hebrews 1:1-3 God, after He spoke long ago to the
fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many
ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also
He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all
things by the word of His power.
I want to know how God created this world. I am not
interested in this or that phenomenon
in the spectrum of this or that element. I
want to know His thoughts. The rest
2 are details. Albert Einstein
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
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Tishri 1 (Rosh hashanah) or Yom Teruah
Began the civil new year
First of the fall feasts (spring feasts fulfilled at Jesus’ first
coming; fall feasts remain to be fulfilled at second coming)
Witnesses looking for the new moon which began the
feast
Witnesses reported to the High Priest; when 2 or 3
witnesses had reported seeing the new moon, the feast
was proclaimed with the sounding of the shofar
Because of the length of the moon cycle (29.5 days) no
one could be sure which day the feast would start
The rabbis said “no one knows the day or the hour” that
this festival would begin
3 THE JEWISH WEDDING
•  Matthew 24:31-36 "And He will send forth His angels
with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER
TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of
the sky to the other. "Now learn the parable from the fig
tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts
forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you
too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is
near, right at the door.….But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,
but the Father alone.
•  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we
shall always be with the Lord.
THE FIRST UNCAUSED CAUSE
•  Last week, we learned that the First Law of
Thermodynamics argues that the universe had to have a
cause
•  We also learned that the Second Law of Thermodynamics
says that the universe began in a very ordered way
•  This means that the universe was started by an entity
outside the universe and above natural law
•  Some call this entity the “first uncaused cause”
•  We call Him God
•  Many have postulated a priori arguments, including Plato,
Aristotle, Anselm and others
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Today we will focus on Thomas Aquinas’
presentation in Summa Theologica
5 THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
•  SECOND LAW: The contents of the universe are
becoming less ordered and more random. Left to
themselves, things become disorganized. (things tend
toward entropy)
•  The First Law says that energy can’t be destroyed; but the
Second Law says that it can degrade – that is, it can move
to a state where it is less available for mechanical work.
•  Carried to a logical conclusion, this means that the
universe is wearing out
•  Psalm 102:25-26 "Of old You founded the earth, and
the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will
perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a
garment; Like clothing You will change them and
6 they will be changed.
FIVE PART ARGUMENT
•  CALLED THE “FIVE WAYS”
•  WAY ONE: FROM MOTION
•  Some things are moving and something started that
motion
•  Things that aren’t moving have the potential to move
•  Nothing moves itself; therefore, something started its
motion
•  Eventually we get back to a first mover who started the
first motion; we understand this to be God
•  Acts 17:28 …for in Him we live and move and exist, as
even some of your own poets have said, 'For we
also are His children.'
Move: kineo: to go, move, stir
7 WAY TWO: EFFICIENT CAUSE
•  Nothing exists prior to itself
•  Nothing in the world that we can perceive is the efficient
cause of itself
•  If a previous efficient cause does not exist, then neither
will the result
•  If the first thing doesn’t exist, nothing after it exists
•  Without a first cause, nothing would exist; therefore it is
necessary to admit a first efficient cause
•  People call the first efficient cause “God”
•  Acts 17:24-25 "The God who made the world and
all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He
served by human hands, as though He needed
anything, since He Himself gives to all people
8 life and breath and all things;
WAY THREE: NECESSITY
•  Things come into being and go out of being: contingent
•  If everything is contingent, there is a time when it didn’t
exist; nor can it always exist
•  There could have been a time when nothing existed
•  Then nothing could exist now because there would have
been nothing to bring it into existence
•  Therefore, not every being is contingent
•  Some being, therefore, must exist from necessity that
doesn’t receive its existence from anything else
•  This is God who is self-sufficient (has aseity)
•  Acts 17:24-25 "The God who made the world and all
things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not
dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by
human hands, as though He needed
anything, since He Himself gives to all people
9 life and breath and all things;
WAY FOUR: GRADATION
•  Some things are better or worse than others
•  Predicting gradation requires something with which
comparisons can be made
•  The maximum causes all gradations to be seen
•  The maximum (ultimate) that all beings have as the
defining cause of goodness, badness, perfection, etc. is
God
•  Acts 17:28-29 ….for in Him we live and move and exist,
as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also
are His children. "Being then the children of God, we
ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like
gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the
art and thought of man.
10 WAY FIVE: DESIGN
•  Natural things appear to work in specific ways rather than
chance
•  Most natural things lack knowledge
•  Things that lack intelligence are directed toward goals by
something that has intelligence
•  There must be some intelligent being by whom all naural
things are directed to their goal (end)
•  This intelligent being is God
•  Acts 17:26-27 …and He made from one man every
nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined their appointed times and the
boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God,
if perhaps they might grope for Him and find
Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
11 SUMMARY
•  Everything about the life we experience points to a first
uncaused cause
•  Since the laws of thermodynamics indicate that the
universe is not eternal and that it began in an orderly
fashion, some theory must account for the fact that it
exists
•  An uncaused cause must have the power of being within
itself and must be eternal
•  “Why is there something rather than nothing?”
•  The current best theory from scientists is called The Big
Bang theory
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This is where we will begin next week
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