The more we learn about life and the universe, the more we see how complex it is and the harder it is for people to believe that it all “just came together by chance”! The universe is now known to be so complex that some scientists describe it as a “Designer Universe” and use the phrase “Intelligent Design” when describing how things work.
The best documentary I have ever seen on the scientific proof for the existence of God is a DVD entitled “Unlocking the mystery of life”- “the scientific case for intelligent design”. It is produced by an organisation called “Illustra Media” (www.illustramedia.com) I have shown it to numerous people who were unsure of their faith. The results have been so amazing I strongly urge anyone unsure of what they believe to watch it. It is full of the most stunning visual effects. (Also see article entitled “Science and belief in God”).
Once a person acknowledges the existence of God, the next issue for them, is to work out which is the right religion ie which religion truthfully reveals God as He really is! At first sight this again may appear a daunting task since there are many religions in the world, but on closer inspection it’s not really so hard. Why do I say this? Because logic states that God will have embedded “signs and evidence” to show which “Holy Writings” really do come from Him! What we need to do for our part therefore, is to look for these “signs”.
The “signs and evidence” that God is responsible for Bible can be divided into several categories.
1. The evidence from fulfilled prophecy.
A staggering one third of Scripture is composed of prophecies and predictions regarding future events. Many of these events have already come to pass even though some were predicted centuries or even millennia earlier. This knowledge of such distant future events could only have been inspired to the writers of the Bible by a Divine Source. (See the articles entitled “Signs of Inspiration” and “Israel and the Middle East in prophecy”). See also the book entitled “Prophecy; Evidence for the truth” by Dr E.K Victor Pearce. (Eagle Publishing).2. The evidence from scientific facts in the Bible.
It comes as quite a shock to the casual reader of the Bible to find scientific information in Scripture; information which at the time of writing could only has been given by a Divine Source. For example, it was stated in Scripture many millennia ago that the world wasn’t flat but round and that the planet is suspended in space! There are many examples of this kind of information some of which are listed in the article entitled “Signs of Inspiration”. Numerous books have been written on this vast subject such as “Science and the Bible” by Henry M Morris (Moody Press).
3. The evidence from mathematical patterns present in the text of Scripture. (Not to be confused with the “Bible Code”!)
It has long been known that the Bible is unique amongst ancient records in having a mathematical design underlying both the Greek text of the New Testament and the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The mathematician Dr Ivan Panin devoted 50 years of his life researching this subject. (Died 1942). Such patterns are once again a sign of the Divine origin of the Bible. (Many books have been written on this subject such as “Hidden Treasures in the Biblical Text” by Chuck Missler (Published by Koinonia House www.khouse.org)
4. The evidence from archaeological discoveries supporting Biblical stories.
More discoveries are being made as the years pass and there are many websites and books dedicated to this topic. One of the best I have come across is a book entitled “The Exodus Case; New discoveries confirm the historical exodus” by Dr Lennart Moller. (Scandinavia Publishing House). Among other things, this fascinating work looks at the true site where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea while escaping from the Egyptians and contains photographs of the remains of Pharoah’s army lying on the sea bed. See also “Archaeology; evidence for the truth” by Dr E.K. Victor Pearce (Eagle Publishing).One of the best websites I have found so far is www.anchorstone.com (See also www.creation.com on a slightly different though related topic regarding archaeological evidence for the Bible).
There is abundant evidence revealing the Divine origin of the Bible for those who really want to know!
But proof is not only reason why Christianity is now the largest religion in the world with 33% of the world’s population claiming to be adherents. (Those adhering to Islam; 22% and Hinduism; 15%).
There are two other vital factors at work.
First of all, there is the attractiveness and beauty of the actual message of Christianity.
The Christian message is completely unique in teaching that God is infinitely Holy and Loving and wants to have a personal relationship with us on an individual basis. The teaching that God so loved the world that He gave His Son to bear our sins, that God the Son wanted to fulfil this role, and that God the Holy Spirit wants to dwell in our hearts is of the most indescribable beauty. (See John Ch 3v16, Matthew Ch 26v 53 and John Ch 14 vs 16-18). All this was achieved at Great Cost, the Cost of the Cross, and it was only done because God’s nature is one of love; not because we deserved this blessing in anyway. The Bible reveals the Lord as being Altogether Lovely so whenever Christian’s are confronted by other religions the attitude is “if you haven’t got someone as lovely as Jesus then your message is useless”.(See article entitled “Where is true joy to be found”).
Secondly and very powerfully, when an individual genuinely turns to the God of the Bible they do indeed begin to actually experience Him! In other words, when people “taste and see” they find Christianity really does work. (Psalm 34 v8). The Bible teaches us how we can enter into a relationship with the Living God so in many ways Christianity is not so much a “religion” as “a relationship”. As a result, when a person fulfils the requirements laid down such as repentance etc, then God for His part enters into Fellowship with them and they begin to experience Him in their hearts and lives. This is promised on numerous occasions in Scripture. (For example, see John Ch 14 v21 and v23, Revelation Ch 3v20 and James Ch 4v8). The powerful truth is that an individual really can “know for sure” God exists, because, if they put Him first in their hearts the promise is that they will personally experience Him for themselves. They will move from the position of “oh I believe in God” to the position of “I know there is a God because I have actually experienced Him for myself”. (See also the article entitled “Answered prayer”).
The Designer and Creator of the universe is indeed the God of the Bible; they are the one and the same, with abundant evidence and signs to prove it. Generally speaking therefore, what holds people back from adopting the Christian faith in the UK is either a lack of knowledge of these facts or sadly an unwillingness to place the God of love at the centre of their lives by repenting and turning away from disobedience and selfishness.
When Col. Charlie Duke returned from the moon with Apollo 16, he was challenged by his pastor with this profound thought; either Jesus is exactly Who He said He is- the Very Son of God, in which case everything He said needs to be taken seriously in our lives, or else He was the greatest conman of all time! It’s either one or the other. Put in this way, it didn’t take Charlie long to fully dedicate his life to Christ and begin to experience Him for himself. What happened to Charlie can happen to anyone who takes Jesus and the Christian faith seriously. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!
