Transcript Is There a Creator God?

Is There a Creator God?
Is There a Creator God?
Case for a Creator
“Anything that has a start, has a starter”
“Anything that has a start, has a starter”
“So long as the universe had a
beginning, we could suppose it
had a creator. But if the universe is
really completely self-contained,
having no boundary or edge, it
would have neither beginning nor
end: it would simply be. What
place, then, for a creator?”
Stephen Hawking (non-Christian)
- “A Brief History of Time” p. 140
Big Bang:
“Anything that has a start, has a starter”
Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953) was
trained as a lawyer, before boredom
made him turn to astronomy.
1. Expansion of the universe
2. Cosmic microwave background
3. Relative abundances of hydrogen, helium,
deuterium, and lithium
4. …
Big Bang:
“Anything that has a start, has a starter”
Big Bang:
“Anything that has a start, has a starter”
“Anything that has a design,
has a designer”
“Anything that has a design,
has a designer”
William Paley (b.1802) made the Divine
watchmaker argument: "Natural Theology“, 1835
“Anything that has a design,
has a designer”
“Anything that has a design,
has a designer”
“[DNA] have shown, by the almost
unbelievable complexity of the
arrangements which are needed to
produce life, that intelligence must
have been involved.”
Dr. Anthony Flew – 2005
(Former Atheist, turned Deist
but non-Christian still)
More “proofs”
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Cosmological argument (causation)
Teleological argument (design)
Ontological argument
Moral argument
Historical argument
Practical argument
Is There a Creator God?
Faith and Science
“The finite mind cannot
comprehend infinity”
Limitation of Science
“The finite mind cannot
comprehend infinity”
Limitation of Science
“The subject we are studying will determine
the method of how we will know it!”
Had evolution already disprove God?
“Why then is not every geological
formation and every stratum full of
such intermediate links (between
species)? Geology assuredly does
not reveal any such finely
graduated organic chain, and this,
perhaps, is the most obvious and
gravest objection which can be
urged against my theory”
Darwin, “On the origin of species”, p.280
“In the beginning
God created heavens and earth…”
The main point:
WHO? (not How?)
Similar “Who?”
Different Views of the “How?”
Genesis 1:1-5
A beginning when God
created
The earth initially formless &
empty; solar system formed
from amorphous gas cloud.
Darkness; as the cloud
collapses, it becomes denser,
darker.
Cloud begins to glow as it
ionizes.
Equatorial band pushed
outside glow.
Rotating planets have
day/night sequence.
Genesis 1:6-8
And God said, “Let there be an expanse between
the waters to separate water from water.” So
God made the expanse and separated the water
under the expanse from the water above it. And
it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And
there was evening, and there was morning – a
second day.
Genesis 1:6-8
An expanse is formed to
separate the waters —
the atmosphere.
This expanse forms our
blue sky;
The order fits the
scientific view re/
outgassing.
Genesis 1:9-10
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be
gathered to one place, and let dry ground
appear.” And it was so. God called the dry
ground “land” and the gathered water “seas.”
And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:9-10
We now know that earth’s
surface is great, thin plates
of crust, moving slowly on
the mantle beneath.
There are two types of
crust:
Light, thick continent
Heavy, thin ocean basin
It looks like the oceans
drained off into the basins
when the crust split into two
kinds.
Genesis 1:11-13
Then God said, “Let the land produce
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on
the land that bear fruit with seed in it,
according to their various kinds.” And it was
so. The land produced vegetation… And God
saw that it was good. And there was evening,
and there was morning – a third day.
Genesis 1:11-13
Naturally, there is no land
vegetation without land to
have it on.
The order is interesting here:
Plants are narrated before
animals, which depend on them.
Plants are narrated before sun,
moon & stars, seen as
contradicting science.
But something more subtle is
going on here.
Genesis 1:14-19
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the
sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve
as signs to mark seasons and days and years. And let
them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon
the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights –
the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to
dominate the night. He also made the stars. God set them
in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to
dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from
darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was
evening, and there was morning – a fourth day.
Genesis 1:14-19
Though often
overlooked, this fits
science very well.
Viewed from earth, this
describes the clearing of
the atmosphere so that
sun, moon & stars
become visible.
This clearing is the
direct result of
vegetation, which
removes carbon dioxide
and replaces it with
oxygen.
Genesis 1:20-27
Main Implications:
1. What do we know about God?
“In the beginning God created
heavens and earth”
2. What do we know about ourselves?
“So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he
created them.”
Is There a Creator God?
Why Don’t People Believe?
What sorts of evidence prompt
Christians to believe in God?
• The size, majesty, intricacy of the world.
• Historical / natural evidence.
• Narrative / philosophical coherence and
credibility.
• The experience and testimony of fellow
believers --- especially family and
friends.
•Personal experience of a
Personal God, encountered
through prayer, worship, scripture,
and living a life of faith.
3.Why Don’t People Believe?
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“But is the Creator personable?”
“If God exist, then ____?”
“It’s not really that important”
“I don’t want to give up control!”
What will Help People Believe?
“You show that you are a letter from
Christ, the result of our ministry, written
not with ink but with the Spirit of the
living God, not on tablets of stone but
on tablets of human hearts.”
2 Cor.3:3
Behaviors
Values
Beliefs
Relationships