Every November we take a few weeks to tackle an apologetic series, because I am convinced of 1 Peter 3:15, “… but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect …” Christians are to have an apologia, a defense of why they believe that Jesus came to be a sacrifice on behalf of humanity, through the cross, as the only way to enter into salvation. I know some Christians believe that all we need is to tell people Jesus loves them and that’s it, but too often as a pastor I have had people come to me and say things like, “how do I answer this (insert question here)?”
Jesus called us to be as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16). He called us to make disciple and teach them to observe all of Christ’s teachings (Matthew 28:19-20). That is my job as a pastor, to equip Christians to be prepared as they go and share the Gospel (Ephesians 4:12). These apologetic series are not to apologize for being a Christian, but to provide defense for why we believe that Jesus is true.
Last year we worked through how people get a lot of their theology through short video clips online byway of places like TikTok. This year, we’re going to get a little philosophical and give you four arguments that you can use in your tool box that build upon each other for the existence of God, and eventually lead to the existence of the Christian God and salvation in Jesus.
We’re going to start at the beginning. It used to be that everyone had a basic supernatural god-view. In 1955, 98% of people believed in God, today that has slipped to about 81% (https://news.gallup.com/poll/393737/belief-god-dips-new-low.aspx). Not too bad, but the problem is that research suggests that people are becoming less likely to believe that a god exists (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4012827-does-god-exist-only-half-of-americans-say-a-definite-yes/). Meaning that though 81% of Americans believe their is a God, around half of all Americans are more agnostic in their views, and question if God is truly real. Do you see the difference in belief?
Understanding this, let’s look at the first philosophical argument which is called the Kalam Argument, so named because it comes out of the Islamic Medieval period and, in recent years, has been championed by a Christian apologist by the name of William Lane Craig.
This argument has three premises and they are stated like this.
Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
Premise 2: The universe began to exist.
Premise 3: The universe had a cause.
Conclusion: From the argument we can conclude, the cause of the universe is in line with the biblical concept of God.
Let’s unpack these four premises.
First Premise: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
For the premise, the word “begins” is of extreme importance. In other words, everything that has come into existence, you, me, the trees, water, the rocks, stars and planets, all began to exist and have a cause as to why they exist. If we found a watch in the desert, we wouldn’t say it just appeared there. We would instinctively understand that it came there by falling off a person. We would also understand that the watch had been made by a human, and, if pressed, that the watchmaker was made by two other humans. Like the watch, When we look a tree, we understand that the tree comes from a seed. Through observation, we know that water is needed to grow the seed, and usually that water comes from the clouds, which in turn comes from evaporation, and we enter into the circle of life. Since we can observe that all things that begin to exist do in fact have a cause, premise one is true.
The Second premise is: The universe began to exist.
Can we all agree with that? Whether you believe in the Big Bang, or Intelligent Design, or the Creation story of Genesis 1, there is at least a consensus that the universe had a beginning. That space, time, and matter all had a point in the past where it wasn’t and then it was. However, this wasn’t always the case. Most religions, both ancient and modern, have believed that the universe is eternal. For most religious, the gods might have put things the way they are now, but they were only working from a universe that was already there. Even science before Edwin Humble discovered the background radiation that proved a universe that wasn’t eternal, believed the universe was eternal. Even the great Albert Einstein held to an eternal universe until it became so obvious that he had to abandon his position (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/einsteins-lost-theory-uncovered/). Since we can observe that the universe began to exist, premise two is true as well.
The Third premise is: The universe had a cause.
We know that everything that began to exist has an explanation as to why it is here, premise one, and we know that the universe began exists, premise two, so it must have a cause or an explanation as to how it came to be. But here’s the thing, whatever is the explanation for what caused the universe, must be distinct from it. The watch is not the human who made it. The seed is not the water that grew it. So there must be something beyond the universe that created it.
Since space, time, and matter are all things that are a part of the universe they too have to be separate from the thing that caused the universe to come into being. So we need something that is spaceless, existing outside of space, we need something that is timeless, existing outside of time, and we need something immaterial, which exists outside of the material world.
But wait, we need one more thing, intelligence. There has to be a mind behind the work to create something that has natural laws that work in a coherent and observable ways. So the cause of the universe has to be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, and intelligent.
So what fits all four?
Well the God of the Bible claims all three about himself: For spacelessness we’re told in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” David understood that space did not confine God when he wrote in Psalm 139: 7-10, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
For timelessness, were told of Jesus in Colossians 1:16-17, “16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” The Lord says of himself in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega … who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
For immaterialessness, Jesus states in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Paul sums up all three of these attributes when he writes in 1st Timothy 1:17, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
For intelligence God reveals this to Job, “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4 ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone …(38:2-6)” For four chapters God challenges Job’s intellect by seeing if Job understands the deeper things of the, at the time, unobservable world. Job’s response is, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ 5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (42:2-6)” This intelligence aspect is something we’ll get more into more next week.
Our conclusion then follows: The cause of the universe is the timeless, spaceless, immaterial, and intelligent biblical God. If premise three is true, then the conclusion is also true. That the universe exists because God made it to exist.
Just in this one argument we have already excluded the humanistic beliefs of naturalism/atheism, and religious beliefs such as Hinduism, and Buddhism.
So how would this look in a conversation? When about half of the Americans you meet do not know if God exists? Well, it might sound something like this.
“What are you spiritual beliefs?”
“Well I believe there’s a god, but I don’t know if he/she/or it exists."
“Well there’s this argument for God’s existence called the Kalam Argument. It comes from an Islamic scholar back in the medieval period. It has three premises: Everything that begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, the universe had a cause.”
“Ok.”
“Would you agree that everything that begins to exist had something to cause it? Like you, you had two parents that caused you to be born. The grass had water and sunshine, the car had an engineer.”
“Yeah, I would agree with that.”
“Ok, the universe had a cause, do you believe that?”
“Yeah, I mean, science says there was the Big Bang.”
“Right, so if everything that beings to exist has a cause, and the the universe began to exist, it must have a cause too, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So we need to find out what that cause was, but if the make up of the universe is time, space, and matter, then the thing that caused it all, has to be the opposite of that.
“What do you mean?”
“The cause of the universe has to be timeless, spaceless, and immaterial.”
“Ok, I’m following.”
“What’s that sound like to you?”
“Kind of sounds like a god.”
“Right, so our conclusion is, that it is a god who caused the universe. And what’s interesting is that the God of the Bible claims all three. Can I show you some verses where it talks about each of these?”
“Sure.”
And that’s where we begin the conversation as we lead our conversation partner to the cross of Jesus.
At first, these arguments can seem overwhelming, but when we take our time to think through them and to put them in our own words, we can see they’re very simple: Everything that begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, the universe had a cause. After we think through these premises, the conclusion must end with a concept of God, and when we get deeper into it, the biblical God is the only one who claims all that is needed for the creation of the universe.
So my challenge for you this week is to take these premises and to work through the notes until you’re able to share them without the use of them. If you think that it’s too much or that you don’t have the ability, my question for you is how much are the eternal destinies of the people you care about worth to you? Can you challenge yourself for their sake? That if they were to ask, that you could give them an answer that points them to Jesus, would you be willing to make the effort to be ready for that opportunity?
Let us be a people who are going to be ready to give a defense for the reason why we believe, that we might honor Jesus, and to do so intelligently. Amen.
