Evidence for God to Answer Challenges Archives

January 27, 2025January 26, 2025

Mark Twain Quotes Display Wisdom

These two quotes of Mark Twain have special relevance to several issues today.
“No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot.”
“The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie.”

One of those issues is the political situation in America, where people will follow their chosen political party no matter how many lies the leaders tell. A relative responded with, “I hold my nose and support him,” when I pointed out that what the person had said was a complete fabrication. Both parties have been guilty of falsehoods.

More to our point is the reaction of atheists, agnostics, creationists, and philosophers to what we try to present. If there is no evidence to support one person’s opinion, it has no validity. Many of the claims of evolutionary theory have no evidence to support them and a great deal of evidence against them. The same is true of many claims of denominational creationists. These competing claims are the source of most of the supposed conflict between science and faith.

Denominational creationists may claim that the flood of Noah produced the Grand Canyon, but that can’t be true. The rocks in the canyon are not flood deposits, and the fossil placement does not indicate violent water movement. Still, creationist groups claim that the fossils are evidence of a global flood. The point is not that the Biblical flood didn’t happen but that it did not produce the geological record of the Grand Canyon.

Evolutionists assume that no process operated in the past that is not going on today. This belief, called uniformitarianism, is a foundational assumption of evolution, but evidence from astronomy and the fossil record shows that uniformitarianism is not true. Many more facts give evidence against Darwinian evolution.

We are all guilty of holding to beliefs despite evidence to the contrary. Many proponents for and against climate change refuse to accept the evidence. This results in doomsday predictions on one hand and refusal to do anything on the other. Both those who deny global warming and those who say destruction is unavoidable are ignoring evidence.

Science is knowledge, and knowledge can never conflict with truth. The truth is that evidence supports the existence of God and the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. As the Mark Twain quotes said, we are fools if we ignore evidence, and all people will pay the price for that in the future.

December 30, 2024December 29, 2024

The Religion of Scientism

We get a lot of mail from skeptics and atheists who state that “religion is the opiate of the masses” and that they have no religion. Karl Marx made this statement, but it is not accurate. Britannica defines religion as “a human being’s relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of special reverence.” That applies to the religion of scientism, which says that science is the only source of knowledge.

Many people hold to a human system of belief. Scientist Stephen Hawking made science fit the definition of scientism. Hawking wrote that “scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery.” As a science teacher and a person trained in the physical sciences, I understand that science has taught us many wonderful things, but it does not have all the answers.

You can learn many wonderful things outside of what science can measure or discover. Why did the universe come into being? What is the meaning of human existence? What happens after we die? What is the basis for morality? Why is there something instead of nothing? How did gravity come into existence? These are all questions science can’t answer. John C. Lennox, in his book God and Stephen Hawking, points out that what is going on in our academic world today is not science versus religion, but rather it is theism versus atheism. Many have adopted the religion of scientism.

The dictionary defines science as knowledge. Wikipedia defines scientism as “the belief that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality.” We can be amazed by what science can do, but science cannot answer many essential questions.

Science has given us many ways to kill one another. War has affected us all, and science offers no answer as to how to stop it. In contrast, the teachings of Jesus Christ tell us how to stop war. Read Matthew 5-7 and ask yourself what the world would be like if everyone accepted and applied those teachings. Now, consider what the world will be like if we continue to allow greed, selfishness, and political ambition to control all of humanity.

Those who reject God and Christ’s teachings will embrace some other human belief system. Will we allow atheism and the religion of scientism to govern our future, or will we accept the message of Jesus Christ?

December 13, 2024December 11, 2024

Denominational Creationism Doctrines

One of the most destructive forces in the Lord’s Church today is denominational creationism. The list of big-dollar efforts by denominational churches continues to grow, and their message continues to destroy the faith of well-educated young people.

The “Does God Exist?” ministry reaches out to people who have lost their faith, left the Church, or are associated with megachurches that are not focused on the Bible. We receive many requests from parents whose children have left the Church, and a major part of our work is to reach out to these young people. Many have lost their faith because of things like the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. Many church leaders fail to understand the issues involved and organize bus trips to these creationist presentations.

Among the issues are claiming the universe or planet Earth is 6,000 years old, suggesting that Noah had baby dinosaurs on the ark, saying that nothing died until Adam and Eve sinned, and saying that the flood of Noah caused all geologic features on Earth. Though they claim to be presenting the biblical account, their message ignores what the Bible actually says. Furthermore, the denominational creationism message is cleverly worked into their dispensational teaching that Jesus will return as a political figure, restoring David’s physical throne by force in Jerusalem and ruling on Earth.

This confusing message is a factor in the loss of young people from the Church. On the doesgodexist.org website, you can read a free booklet titled “God’s Revelation in His Rocks and His Word.” It goes into the biblical problems with this creationist teaching.

The cost of these creationist entertainment venues and the amount of money spent by those who visit them should raise questions in the minds of church leaders. We need to take the Bible literally and use the resources God has given us to meet the needs of people spiritually and materially worldwide. Supporting denominational creationism and teaching their doctrines in Bible classes does not do that.

December 11, 2024December 10, 2024

The Divisive Media and America

Much of the conflict and violence we see today has been caused by the media’s tendency to promote its own agenda. When you turn to the divisive media for news, you don’t get a positive image of America; instead, you get a presentation of the particular view of the channel and its representatives. This is more than just promoting a political party. It is also a view that rejects faith in God, biblical teaching, and Christian values.

We received an anonymous written piece that expresses the divisive media issue. It is titled “I once was a normal person” and describes the situation in this way:

“I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person. I was born white into a two-parent household, which now, whether I like it or not, makes me privileged, a racist, and responsible for slavery. I went to school for 19 years and have always held a job. But now I find out that I am not here because I earned it but because I was ‘advantaged.’ I think, and I reason, and I doubt most of what the ‘mainstream’ media tells me, which makes me a right-wing conspiracy nut. I am heterosexual and believe it is the best foundation for raising children and having defined roles in family life, and that makes me homophobic. I follow the biblical teaching about money and morality, and I plan, budget, and support myself, and that makes me a fascist.”

Will America survive as a nation where we can worship God according to the teachings of the Bible, or will we collapse into another civilization with no moral standards and no personal rights, with democracy only a thing of the past? Ancient civilizations collapsed when the people accepted state-run control of right and wrong, and no fixed standard guided the state. Will we learn from history or repeat it?

The message of the divisive media today will only accelerate the demise of this once-great nation. Only if we “normal persons” refuse to listen to the bias of the media will the course of our country be different from nations of the past.

December 6, 2024December 5, 2024

The Reality of Satan

What is your view of Satan? Is he real or just a cartoon character? The Bible speaks of the reality of Satan 43 times with different names applied like Beezebub, adversary, tempter, prince of this world, etc. The atheist view is to deny that evil exists, and therefore, an agent of evil also does not exist. Richard Dawkins, in his book River Out of Eden (page 133), states the atheist view that there is no such thing as evil. My question is whether your experience backs up that statement of faith.

The reality is that evil is not an object but a choice of sentient beings capable of making a choice. There are two types of beings in existence – time-dependent sentient beings like us and beings that are not time-dependent, which we call angels. Ephesians 3:8-10 tells us God’s purpose in creating us, and Ephesians 6:11-12 tells of the spiritual war we are part of. The first two chapters of Job give us a small view of the reality of Satan, the nature of that war, and our role in it. Jude 6 speaks of the history of beings outside of time. Repentance, a change of thinking, is impossible for angelic beings because they are outside of time, and time is a prerequisite for change. When we die and become timeless, we also will not have the possibility for change. That is why change is essential in our present existence.

The New Testament gives us a clear picture of the reality of Satan’s nature. Sometimes, he works with brute force, as with Judas and Herod during the attack on Jesus as a baby. In today’s world, we have seen Satan’s brute force in the KKK, the Crusades, Islam, and Mormonism. Satan can operate politically, as in Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, and Putin. More commonly, we see him sowing seeds that grow into weeds of destruction. (See Matthew 13.) Sometimes, he tries to imitate God’s good things, as seen in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.

If you choose, you can write all this off as fantasy, but life’s experiences tell you it is real. Matthew 13:30 tells us that God gives you a choice and time to make that choice. Revelation 20:7-15 describes what is possible for us. Recognizing evil and Satan’s role gives our lives meaning and purpose. Denying evil and the reality of Satan makes us robots driven by blind, meaningless chance with no purpose in our existence.

November 21, 2024November 18, 2024

The Koran Is Not From God

Several Muslims want to know why we don’t promote the Koran in the same way we promote the Bible. The answer to that question is that our ministry deals with evidence, and the evidence is that the Koran is not from God. We have studied the Koran, which is available in Penguin Classics ©1974 and translated by N.J. Dawood (who is a Muslim).

Some of our Muslim friends respond that you have to know Arabic to understand the Koran, but that is not true of the Bible. There are translations of the Bible in many languages, and all are understandable. Not all Muslims believe all that the Koran actually says. Many Muslims are ignorant of the Koran, just as many “Christians” are ignorant of the Bible. We are comparing the books, not what people believe.

We are looking at scientific accuracy. Our websites deal with scientific statements in the Bible that science has shown to be correct. Can the same be said of the Koran? Here are some examples of scientific problems with the Koran:

Al-Nisa 4:23 – Nursing passes on genetic traits from mother to child.
Fact: No genetic traits are transmitted by nursing.

Al-Nisa and Al-Araf – Semen comes from the back or kidney area.
Fact: Semen comes from the testicles and prostate.

Prophets 21:31, The Bee 16:15, Lugman 31:10, The News 78:6-8 – God threw down mountains like tent pegs to keep the Earth from shaking.
Fact: Mountains do not keep the Earth from shaking and are not like tent pegs.

Al-Saffat 37:6, Al Jinn 72:8-9, Al Tariq 15:16-18 – A piercing flame is a shooting star – a weapon of God used to strike devils.
Fact: Meteorites are solid lumps of matter that survive passage through Earth’s atmosphere and reach the ground.

Al-Anam 6:38 – All animals and all things that fly form communities like man.
Fact: Many forms of life do not live in communities.

Al-Nahl 16:69 – Honey emerges from a bee’s abdomen and heals men.
Fact: Honey is produced in a hive, not in a bee’s abdomen.

Al-Naml 27:15-44 – Solomon talked with ants, birds, and giants.
Fact: This kind of communication does not happen.

This is a short list of errors that indicate the Koran is not from God. No such list can be taken from the Bible, even though it gives several scientific statements. Our “doesgodexist.org” website has a correspondence course that contains these and other examples in Appendix A and Appendix B.

November 8, 2024November 7, 2024

Is Prayer a Waste of Time?

We recently received an email from a man saying, “I have quit praying. It is a waste of time. Nothing I ask for ever happens or comes.” Is prayer a waste of time?

I understand the man’s comment. When my son was born, I prayed he would be healthy and blessed with a keen mind. After about six months, we learned that he had congenital cataracts. I prayed that his vision would be restored after cataract surgery, but then we learned that he had retinal problems and would be blind. I knew some blind friends who were very bright and had purposeful lives, so I prayed that my son would be bright and full of potential. However, by the time he reached school age, it was evident that he was mentally challenged.

At that point, I had to ask myself, “Is prayer a waste of time?” As a Christian, I knew the Bible said I should pray (John 16:24, Mark 11:24, Matthew 5:44, James 5:16). While studying this question, I gradually realized that prayer was never about physical needs. Jesus warned that problems would come (Matthew 24:4-13). Prayer did not remove issues for Jesus or Paul. Jesus was still crucified, and Paul still had an affliction (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The Bible teaches that prayer is primarily about spiritual issues, not physical ones. That doesn’t mean we should not talk with God about physical problems, but the promises of what prayer will do are spiritual. James 1:5 tells Christians to pray for wisdom, not intelligence. James 5:13-14 says, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.” (KJV) The Greek word “afflicted” is “kakopatheo,” meaning to suffer evil. This is not about physical affliction but letting evil take over your life. The use of oil mentioned in the passage was not about medicinal value but a symbol of gladness or spiritual nourishment. (See Deuteronomy 33:24, Psalms 23:5, and Job 29:6.)

Colossians 3:2 tells Christians to “Set your mind on things above, not on things on this Earth.” Philippians 4:6-7 tells Christians that prayer will guard our hearts and minds, not skin and joints. Is prayer a waste of time? I have had atheist friends tell me they don’t understand how I keep going with all the things that have happened in my life. They don’t realize that prayer brings what this passage calls “the peace of God.” Peace doesn’t come from politicians or things of this world. Realizing that you have a purpose for existence is a beautiful reward of being a Christian. My prayer for you is that you will find that peace.

October 31, 2024October 28, 2024

The Ouija Board Scam

Scams, lies, and fakes are nothing new—they have been around for centuries. An example is the Ouija board, which dates back to the early 1800s. Originally a parlor game, the “ouija” name was an amalgamation of “oui” and “ja” from the French and German words for “yes.” Today, you can buy a Ouija board from Walmart for $19.99. The Ouija board scam uses well-known psychological principles to do interesting things that depend on the human mind.

The Ouija board originated when life expectancy was very short compared to today. Almost a third of children did not live to see their fifth birthday. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, everyone was touched by the loss of a loved one. Many people wanted to communicate with their dead relatives, resulting in seances, disembodied voices, automatic writing, and other scams involving communicating with a loved one in the spirit world. In 1891, Elijah J. Bond received a patent for a “talking board,” which he sold to William Fudd, who made a fortune selling them.

The Ouija board scam is an example of automatism, doing something without feeling we are doing it. People have used automatism in hypnosis, dowsing, automatic writing, and many fake psychic events. Those of us who have been around for a while have seen things like this repeated over and over. Who can forget “Clever Hans,” the horse who could do complex mathematical calculations? It turned out to be a function of the mind of his owner, a mathematician, who could transmit commands to the horse by subtle physical gestures.

Another scam is religious spiritualism, in which a preacher claims to have special powers coming from God. Religious scams have also gone on for a very long time. In 1 Samuel 28:3-14 Saul went to a woman known as the witch of Endor and asked her to contact Samuel, who had died. Witchcraft was outlawed in Israel then, so the woman was reluctant to conduct a séance. When she did the scam séance, the real Samuel appeared through a miracle from God. The witch was shocked and screamed, obviously surprised because she had a scam going, and the real thing appeared.

The Bible presents a rational, accurate description of the normal process of human affairs. Miracles are identified as such and cannot, by definition, be proven. Jesus offered evidence through miracles during His physical time on Earth. Religious leaders today claiming the ability to perform miracles are like the Witch of Endor or the Ouija board scam.

October 29, 2024October 28, 2024

What Nothing Is

It may seem strange that we would have an article about “nothing,” but this is a serious topic. The dictionary defines nothing as “not any material or immaterial thing” (Oxford English Dictionary). Cosmologists like Stephen Hawking won’t accept that definition. Do we really know what nothing is?

Hawking argues that “nothing” can result from cyclic processes – quantum fluctuations in the very early universe. Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss explained his understanding of what nothing is this way: “For surely “nothing” is every bit as physical as “something,” especially if it is to be defined as “the absence of something.” The cosmologists’ speculative attempts to redefine nothing is an attempt to eliminate God from the process of creation.

If I have a bill for $10.00 and $10.00 in my pocket, is my net worth “nothing”? If matter and antimatter combine, they destroy each other. Does that produce “nothing”? The answer is clear. They produce energy, which is not nothing. This is not a scientific discussion because you can’t observe “nothing,” and you can’t devise an experiment to test “nothing.” Hawking and Krauss are scientists, not philosophers, but they are attempting a philosophical argument to eliminate God from the creation process.

There is strong evidence of a beginning to time, space, and matter/energy. It was not eternal and was not created by “nothing.” We can talk about dimensions beyond the ones we live in and the ones scientists can do their experiments in, but ultimately, God comes to the creation process from a dimension beyond the three we know. String theory suggests eleven spatial dimensions, but that is not good science; it is only speculative guesses about the nature of reality.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven (space, time, and matter/energy) and the earth.” That statement in Genesis 1:1 gives purpose, direction, and realism to all of us. Let us not argue about what nothing is.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Quotes and data from John C. Lennox’s book God and Stephen Hawking – Whose Design Is It Anyway? pages 30-33.

October 23, 2024October 21, 2024

Making Assumptions About the Biblical Account

Bible Skeptics claim that Cain would have had to marry a sister since no other women were around. This is a classic demonstration of making assumptions about the biblical account that are incorrect both scientifically and biblically.

Even if Cain married a sister (which the Bible does not say), it would not be incest. The genome of humans at the early stage of human creation would have been perfect. Incest is when two people with DNA from the same imperfect parents produce a child. We all have mutations in our DNA from the thousands of generations of humans on Earth. Any brother having a child with his sister today would be dooming the child to genetic issues.

People making assumptions about the biblical account are only guessing and may contradict other biblical passages. How many children were born in the “Garden of Eden?” In Genesis 1:28, God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the Earth …” Some have suggested that this is the only command God ever gave that humans have completely obeyed. The point is that they either had children or they disobeyed God. The skeptic’s only alternative is to assume their time in the Garden was too short to bear children.

Genesis 4:16-17 says, “Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” The Bible does not say that Cain took his wife to Nod, so he must have married a woman living in Nod. This would be a distant relative from the population that left the Garden of Eden. Genesis 5 lists the genealogy from Adam to Noah, leaving out Cain’s descendants. Genesis 6:1-5 records the increase in human population using the word “Nephilim,” meaning fallen ones. It does not mean aliens or monsters, as some have suggested, but those who rejected God.

Making assumptions about the biblical account is dangerous because the Bible does not tell us many things about early humans. Neither does the geologic fossil record give us the details we want to know. But what is actually recorded in the Bible is not at odds with the geological evidence. As in all such questions, you can intelligently and reasonably believe both the scientific evidence and the biblical record. They are symbiotic.