Is there enough evidence to prove God’s existence? Atheists say, “No!”
“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse”—Romans 1:20 NIV
BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY REQUIRES LESS FAITH TO BELIEVE IN THAN ATHEISM
While Christians are often derided for their seemingly “blind faith” in the Creator/God’s existence, the facts give powerful evidence the Biblical Creator/God is real. read more
Critics of the Bible claim that there is no evidence of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Could Jesus’ empty tomb possibly be evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.
“But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ ‘Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.'” (Acts 2:23-29 NLT)read more
POOL OF SILOAM DISCOVERED IN 2004 CONFIRMS JOHN 9:7
The actual location of the Biblical Pool of Siloam has been discovered, confirming the Bible’s authenticity.
“The living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall off, but the word of the Lord endures forever'”—1 Peter 1:24,25 NIV
The more that time passes, the more proof emerges that the Bible is indeed, “the word of God”—1 Thessalonians 2:13
“‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing'”—John 9:7 NIVread more
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”—Genesis 1:1
In our article about the expansion of the universe, we showed how some basic scientific facts about the universe point to the existence of God. This article examines even more scientific concepts about the universe and we will see how they relate to the Creator.
Existence of Elements Essential for Life
When two helium nuclei collide, they fuse together and produce the fleeting, unstable beryllium. An additional collision with a single helium nucleus, and carbon is created. Without these very unlikely “lucky accidents” constantly occurring carbon would not exist, and neither would we.
“For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. ‘I am the LORD,’ he says, ‘and there is no other.'” (Isaiah 45:18 NLT)
The Fine-tuned Universe
A proton is 1,836 times heavier than an electron. If this difference was any greater or lesser, it would not be possible for life to exist in the universe.
“The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. … The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” – Stephen Hawking
In 1961, physicist Robert H. Dicke said that certain forces in physics, such as gravity and electromagnetism, must be perfectly fine-tuned for life to exist anywhere in the Universe. Fred Hoyle also argued for a fine-tuned Universe in his 1984 book “Intelligent Universe.” He compares “the chance of obtaining even a single functioning protein by chance combination of amino acids to a star system full of blind men solving Rubik’s Cube simultaneously.”
“In you is the source of life, by your light we see the light.” (Psalm 36:9 NJB) The Bible refers to Almighty God as “the source of life.”
Fine-tuning of the Force Strengths to Permit Life
The constants governing the four fundamental forces of physics are finely-tuned to support life.
Strong nuclear force is important for the existence of stable atoms beyond hydrogen. If the strong force were 50% weaker, no elements used by life would exist because protons couldn’t be held together in the nucleus.
Electromagnetic force is responsible for chemistry and plays a critical role in stellar fusion which powers life. The electromagnetic force needs to be much weaker than the strong nuclear force for atoms to be stable – so that the radius of the electron orbit is much larger than the radius of the nucleus.
Weak nuclear force controls proton-proton fusion, a reaction 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times slower than the nuclear reaction based on the strong nuclear force. Without this, essentially all the matter in the universe would have been burned to helium before the first galaxies were formed. Because the weak nuclear force is so much weaker than the strong nuclear force, a star can burn its hydrogen gently for billions of years instead of blowing up like a bomb.
Gravitational force: the strength of gravity is about 40 orders of magnitude weaker than the strong nuclear force. Based on this expectation that gravity can vary up to strong nuclear force strength, the level of fine-tuning required for life is pretty remarkable:
If gravity is weaker by 1 in 10 raised to the 36th power, stars are unstable to degeneracy pressure (for small stars) or unstable to radiative pressure just expelling huge chunks of the star (for larger stars).
If gravity is stronger by 1 in 10 raised to the 40th power, the universe is dominated by black holes not stars.
If gravity is weaker by 1 in 10 raised to the 30th power, the largest planet that would avoid crushing effects of gravity on any large-brained creatures would have a radius of about 50 meters – which is not a good candidate for an ecosystem and the development/sustenance of intelligent life.
The Bible tells us of a global flood, due to a tremendous amount of extra water being dumped onto the earth, to the point of covering all of earth’s highest mountains (Genesis chapters 6-8). This additional water caused sea levels to sharply rise globally, and means that sea levels were lower prior to this global flood.
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In [those] days before the flood, the were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So it will be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man”—Matthew 24:37-39 NAB
Archaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old burial site in the Gulf of Mexico after a tip from a recreational diver who found human remains at the site in 2016. More details can be read in this article.
The ancient burial site discovered off the southwest Florida coast lends credence to what we know from the Bible about the flood in Genesis 6-8. The article states that “sea levels were much lower during that time”, and then goes on to say that “sea levels rose”. How does this harmonize with the Biblical account of the global flood?
“All the springs of the great deep burst through, and the sluices of heaven opened. And heavy rain fell on earth for forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:11 NJB). A gigantic amount of water was somehow released upon the earth within a relatively short time. Psalm 104:6,7 possibly explains where the water came from: “You covered it (the earth) with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke they fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight” (NIV). They were released at the start of the flood.
This global deluge resulted in
“the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, rising twenty-two feet above the highest peaks” (Genesis 7:19,20 NLT)read more
Clay Seals of Isaiah the Prophet and King Hezekiah Found
Critics of the Bible claim that it is largely a work of fiction. However, recent archaeological discoveries are proving the Bible true and its critics wrong. Two examples od this are the discoveries of the clay seals of the prophet Isaiah, and of King Hezekiah.
For the first time, archaeological evidence (a seal impression) of Isaiah has been discovered, it seems. See the article by Michelle Starr published on February 23, 2018. The book of Isaiah is quoted more often than any other prophetic Old Testament book, and is second only to Psalms in overall New Testament quotes. Below is the article about the discovery of the clay seal of the prophet Isaiah:
The Biblical figure Isaiah who prophesied the coming of the Messiah may have been an actual real person.
Researchers have found an ancient clay seal from around the time he was reportedly alive, marked with his name.
Called a bulla, the seal was retrieved from a 2,700-year-old midden in the Ophel, dating it to around 8th century BCE, and it’s inscribed with the Jewish prophet’s name.
It was found just 3 metres from where the bulla of King Hezekiah of Judah, to which Isaiah was an adviser, was found in 2015.
“We appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation,” said lead author Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
“If it is the case that this bulla is indeed that of the prophet Isaiah, then it should not come as a surprise to discover this bulla next to one bearing King Hezekiah’s name given the symbiotic relationship of the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah described in the Bible.”
The bulla, sadly broken, is about a centimetre (0.4 inches) in diameter, stamped with the name Yesha’yah[u] (Isaiah) in Hebrew letters. Following it were the letters NVY, which are the first three letters of the Hebrew word for prophet, which is spelled nun-beit-yod-aleph.
Whether or not the aleph was present is impossible to determine, since the bulla is broken after the yod. But if it had been, the seal would have read, in its entirety, “Isaiah the Prophet.”
“The absence of this final letter … requires that we leave open the possibility that it could just be the name Navi,” Mazar said. “The name of Isaiah, however, is clear.”
The seal could have belonged to some other Isaiah hanging around at the time, since the name was a common one, and bullae commonly reference the signatory’s father. Isaiah’s father was not Navi, but Amoz.
However, if the bulla does refer to Isaiah the Prophet, it would constitute the first evidence for his existence outside of religious texts, including the Bible, where his exploits are described in the Book of Isaiah.
The authorship of the Book is unclear, but he seemed to be very close to King Hezekiah, who ruled between around 727 and 698 BCE. It was Isaiah, according to the Bible, who advised Hezekiah to resist the warring Assyrians, preventing the invasion of Jerusalem by way of divine intervention.
Although the bulla can’t constitute definitive proof that Isaiah existed, it’s still an extraordinary find, Mazar said. Its proximity to the bulla of Hezekiah and the fact that only persons of status used bullae at least opens the very plausible possibility that the seal belonged to the Biblical Isaiah.
Also, fascinatingly, on the reverse side is the imprint of weave, indicating that the seal had been used to close a cloth package – and it’s marked by the fingerprint, likely from the person who sealed the package. Perhaps this was Isaiah himself.
“The discovery of the royal structures and finds from the time of King Hezekiah at the Ophel is a rare opportunity to reveal vividly this specific time in the history of Jerusalem,” Mazar wrote in her paper.
“The finds lead us to an almost personal ‘encounter’ with some of the key players who took part in the life of the Ophel’s Royal Quarter, including King Hezekiah and, perhaps, also the prophet Isaiah.”
The paper has been published in the journal Biblical Archaeology Review.read more
Evidence of Early New Testament Canon by Circa 100 CE
Although it is popular to do so, we should not measure the existence of the New Testament (NT) canon (authoritative, or inspired, books) just by the existence of lists, which came into being somewhat later than the NT canon’s coming into existence. When we examine the way the NT books were viewed and used in the very early days of Christianity, we can determine the de facto existence of a functioning canon by about 100 CE.
Did it take until the fifth century to finalize the NT canon?
The views expressed here are admittedly a little different than the traditional, or orthodox, view of how the New Testament canon, in particular, and the Bible as a whole, came into acceptance. The views presented here actually stand in stark contrast to modern-day populist scholars, like the agnostic Bart Ehrman.
“Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17). The NT canon was not revealed by humans, but by God.
The books of the Bible did not become the Word of God because people decided it to be so. A book became canonical if it was inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21). Inspiration by God, and not humanly contrived lists, determines canonization.
“That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:3-5). Canon (inspired books of the Bible), prophecy, and revelation were revealed by the holy Spirt, not man-made councils.
The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) claims responsibility for the decision as to which books should be included in the Bible canon. However, the NT canon was settled long before then – not by any council’s decision, but by the same holy Spirit that inspired the Bible in the first place (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21).
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) The NT canon was accepted as the word of God by the early church, shortly after each book was written, which was long before the RCC came into existence in the 4th century.
There is no evidence that any book in our canon today gradually gained acceptance over time. There were no stages of acceptance for each individual canonical book.
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people ” (Jude 3). This body of truth, or faith, contained in the New Testament, was delivered “once for all” time, being completed prior to 100 CE, according to the evidence.
“Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which is ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15,16). This gives scriptural status to all 14 of Paul’s letters, by placing them as having equal status with the Hebrew Scriptures. Why can we say this?
Since Peter wrote to the “exiles scattered throughout [5] provinces” or regions (1 Peter 1:1), it is reasonable that Peter was referring to the entire collection of Paul’s letters available at the time. Peter probably knew all but possibly one or two of Paul’s letters that were available at the time. Not only would this mean that Peter was well aware of Paul’s writings, but as a leading apostle, he affirmed them. It’s obvious that Paul’s letters had a widespread reputation. From this we can infer that they were circulating possibly as a corpus, or body, in the 60’s. Ignatius of Antioch in the early 100’s, and Polycarp in the mid 100’s show familiarity with Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Hebrews – eleven of Paul’s letters! The Chester Beatty papyrus 46, dated to around 200 CE, is a collection of most of Paul’s letters, including Hebrews. The facts solidly prove that the Pauline corpus was circulating early, long before the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) councils of the latter part of the 4th century.
From this platform of Paul’s 14 letters circulating as scripture from the 60’s on, we can verify the rest of 13 NT books.
“For the Scripture says… ‘The worker deserves his wages.'” (1 Timothy 5:18) Paul apparently quotes from Luke 10:7, which says “…for the worker deserves his wages”, and also quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, calling both “Scripture”. This quote of 1 Timothy 5:18gives scriptural status, or acknowledges the scriptural status, of Luke’s writings, namely volume 1 – Luke, and volume 2 – Acts.
Since Luke and Acts comprise Volumes 1 and 2 of Luke’s history (“my former book” – Acts 1:1), we can conclude that they both were circulating as scripture in the 60’s. Polycarp cites some verses in Luke, in the mid-100’s.
“Remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.” (Jude 17) The word of the apostles was authoritative. The New Testament was written by four apostles directly chosen by Jesus, namely, Matthew, John, Peter and Paul. Four other close associates of the apostles, namely, Mark, Luke, James, and Jude, wrote the rest of the New Testament.
In the 60’s, when Jude wrote his letter, the apostles and their very close associates’ writings were considered authoritative. Papias and Justin Martyr referred to Matthew and Mark’s books, with Mark named as Peter’s secretary.
“The church in Babylon, also chosen, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:13). Mark was a very close associate of Peter, apparently his secretary, writing the book of Mark. So Mark’s book had apostolic authority.
Polycarp and Justin Martyr in the mid-100’s referred to 1 John and John, respectively. Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred c. 110 CE, makes clear references to John’s writings.
The Muratorian fragment of c. 170 CE named 23 of the 27 NT books as authentic. Only Hebrews, James and Peter’s 2 letters were omitted. This proves widespread circulation and approval of, and for, the 23 books some time prior to this. Since the Muratorian document is fragmentary – omission from it does not imply non-acceptance.
John and Peter’s status as prominent apostles gave them outstanding authority, and their writings would have been received as such.
1 Corinthians 15:7 – “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Jesus appeared to James, his half-brother.
It is an extraordinary claim that Jesus rose from the dead
“He is not here, but He has been resurrected”—Luke 24:6 HCSB
The claim that Jesus rose from the dead is extraordinary. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. What is the strongest proof that Jesus was resurrected? Let’s start at the point of beginning, and work, or build from there.
This beginning point is that the universe, the earth, etc. very strongly witness to God’s existence as Creator. Psalm 19:1 says: “the heavens declare the glory of God.” (NIV)
Building on this is the text of the New Testament. It has been subjected to the most extreme scrutiny imaginable. This has resulted in the number one “Extraordinary Proof” of all time. This is the fact that the text of the New Testament in Koine Greek that we have today is verified as being 99.5% pure. That is 99.5% of the words are the same as originally written by writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul etc. What about the other 0.5% in which there is some doubt? These somewhat doubtful words do not affect any of the principles, truths or doctrines in the Bible. They are of inconsequential interest to some scholars, technicians, those who love trivia, etc., but that’s it. No other work from ancient times comes anywhere close to the New Testament textual integrity.
To review so far, creation tells us there must be a Creator, just as a house tells us that somebody built it. (Hebrews 3:4) Second, the Biblical New Testament text has been verified as pure – that is, today it is virtually identical to the original writings done from circa 40 to 98 CE. (Romans 1:19-22; 1 Peter 1:24-25)
Third, the Old Testament text has been verified as being unchanged as to essentials after many hundreds of years of copying, by the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Isaiah 40:8) The Old Testament text was fixed, and the Canon closed before 400 BCE. Jesus quoted from and confirmed the entire Old Testament as God’s infallible word. (Luke 24:44)
Fourth, just as extraordinary point #2 above builds on point #1, so it is with this one. Old Testament prophecy not only predicted accurately Jesus conception, birth, life and death – it gave predictions of his resurrection. (Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53:1-12; Psalm 16:10) Critics may try to claim these prophecies were written after the fact. However, the clear evidence proves them flatly wrong. How? The Dead Sea Scrolls prove these prophecies were written hundreds of years prior to Jesus’ human existence.
Reviewing now, we have added the accurately preserved Old Testament text, and the uniquely accurate Old Testament prophecies about Jesus’ death and resurrection to the list of extraordinary proofs.
Jesus’ resurrection is presented as factual and true throughout the New Testament, as these few selected scripture show.
Fifth, Jesus’ existence including his death and claims the resurrection are well documented by secular sources, even some non-Christian.
Sixth, archaeological discoveries and history have confirmed the existence of places and practices and customs in connection with Jesus’ death.
Seventh, people in connection with Jesus’ death have been confirmed by historical and archaeological sources. Examples are Annas, Caiphus and Pontius Pilate.
Eighth, Jesus went to extraordinary lengths to confirm his resurrection to doubting Thomas. (John 20:24-29) Thomas puts his hand into the hole in Jesus side, and observed the holes in Jesus’ hands in Jesus’ materialized, resurrected body.
All of this, taken together, provides extraordinary evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. Like some in the first century, some today “demand signs,” whereas Bible-believing Christians “preach Christ crucified”, which is nothing more than “foolishness” to unbelievers. (1 Corinthians 1:22-23 NIV) However, since “all Scripture is God-breathed,” it is very “useful for teaching” true facts, and “training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” including providing extraordinary proof of Jesus’ resurrection. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV) There is nothing more that we need.
“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm.” (2 Timothy 2:19 CSB; NIV) It doesn’t matter who believes, or doesn’t believe, in Jesus’ resurrection – truth doesn’t change. Belief is optional. Everyone has a choice!
“Let anyone who wishes drink freely from the water of life” (Revelation 22:17 NLT).
Is there any evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus?
What scriptural evidence do we have about the resurrection of Jesus? What did people living in the first century think about reports of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Are there clues in the Bible as to whether the story is true or not? Let’s examine some Bible verses to find out.
Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:54-60;John 19:38-42– Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, prominent members of the Jewish ruling council, would have been well known in Jerusalem, as well as to Pilate. This could not be fiction, since this could easily be refuted, if false.
John 19:39,40 – Spices – 75 lbs – a very large amount, such as used in royal burials.
Matthew 27:57-60 – Buried just before the Sabbath, or evening. Big stone in front of the tomb. Jews rested on the Sabbath.
“The chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate . . . ‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered, ‘Go, make the tombs as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard” (NIV). read more
10,000-Year-Old Extinct Lion Cubs Discovered in Near-Perfect Condition in Siberian Permafrost
MSN News published an article on October 27, 2015 about extinct lion cubs being discovered in Siberian permafrost. The article reports:
“Two extinct cave lion cubs were discovered in permafrost in northeastern Siberia, a ‘sensational’ and unprecedented find according to The Siberian Times. The cubs are believed to be at least 10,000 years old, though they might be even older, and were found almost perfectly preserved thanks to the permafrost.
The region where the cubs were discovered, the Sakha Republic, has yielded discoveries before, including woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, bison, and horses. The remains of the lions are the most complete specimens of their kind ever discovered, according to researchers involved.
Cave lions lived during the Middle to Late Pleistocene eras in Eurasia, the British Isles, to the far east of Russia, and into Alaska and northwestern Canada. Their extinction remains something of a mystery because they had few predators and, due to their smaller size, they wouldn’t get trapped in bogs like woolly mammoths and rhinos. One theory is that their extinction might have been due to a decline in prey. By studying the cubs, scientists hope to reach firmer conclusions.”
Apparently, this is another classic case of ancient animals being apparently quick-frozen by the global flood of Noah’s day, although the article doesn’t mention the global flood. It’s only a “mystery” to those who are either ignorant of, or deny, the global deluge. Of course, the best proof of the global flood is because the Bible tells us it really happened.
“Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains mountains under the heavens were submerged. The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind. Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died” (Genesis 7:19-22 NAB). read more
