Learning to Defend God’s Existence (why it matters, and a new series that will help)

Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes

Over the centuries, Christians have come up with a number of reasons that we can be confident in the existence of God. While this may bother some, because it feels more spiritual to accept God’s existence on faith alone, history has shown that God has brought many people to the cross by appealing to their minds. It may not be the only way God reaches people, but a God who gave us the ability to think is clearly interested in using that ability to receive glory.

As Christians, we also want to be confident that we don’t actually believe a fairy tale, despite what we’re often accused of. If our faith in God makes as much sense as the ancient Greek’s belief in Zeus, then we should have some concerns. Yet if God is real, then we should expect that existence to make at least some sense to our limited minds. If God is who He reveals Himself to be in the Bible, then we should be able to interpret our world through that belief.

In other words, a biblical worldview should stand up to scrutiny. It should make sense and help us understand the world if we’re genuinely searching for truth, rather than looking for evidence to support what we want to believe. Although all beliefs require faith, I’ve already discussed why God never asks us to have blind faith (article, podcast)

God calls us to defend our faith (yes, even you)

There’s a common idea that defending the faith is just for some Christians. We see in Titus 1:9 that pastors are certainly expected to. But for your “average” Christian, it’s easy to just sit passively and not think too much about it.

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:14-16)

We believe God exists for a reason. We all have an entire lifetime of experiences that left us with no option but to realize the reality of who God is, who we are before Him, and our desperate need for Jesus Christ to save us from everything that separated us from our creator. If belief in all of that is important for everyone, it’s also important for those of us on this side of God’s grace to explain that truth to others. We need to be able to explain everything about our faith to those who are either curious or opposed to it.

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

However, it can be difficult to go from “I believe God exists” to actually explaining, or even defending, that belief to someone else. There are many wonderful resources for Christians out there, but some are so thorough and detailed that it can be difficult to break it down to a practical, every-day application. After all, Googling “arguments for God’s existence” brings up several academic websites, and introductions like this can be difficult to apply in normal conversations:

Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that God exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the world—e.g., from reason alone. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from what are typically alleged to be none but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the conclusion that God exists. (From the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

I’ll admit that I purposely chose something difficult, but I did so with a purpose. Not only is this what people assume they must deal with if they want to learn about defending their faith, but this kind of academic language is often among the more popular books or internet search results. There’s nothing wrong with it, and the article I linked will absolutely give you a thorough understanding of the ontological argument, but we must admit that it’s very off-putting for a newer Christian who worked 8+ hours, just put their kids to bed, and now wants an approachable way to respond to a coworker who just challenged their faith.

The overall goal of Onward in the Faith is to be a resource that helps Christians everywhere understand every area of their faith so that they can keep growing in spiritual maturity. I want to break things down into straightforward terms and make theology accessible to those who haven’t already spent years studying it. Defending our faith is a core part of our walk with Christ, and while I’ve already given a very quick breakdown of arguments for (and against) God’s existence, I’d like to spend the next several weeks diving into each major argument individually. 

I hope you’ll look forward to those upcoming articles. Not only will they help you defend your faith, but they’ll give you a much bigger picture of our incredible God.