Acts 17:17-19 "So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What wouldthis idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching iswhich you are proclaiming?"
Introduction:
In yesterday's post we considered how Christian apologetics utilizes logical arguments in demonstrating its truth claims. We further presented a classical argument for God's existence that aimed at establishing how God is the explanation of the universe. Today's post will take the time to tease out the argument and why the argument is practically relevant to you.
A sample argument for how God is the explanation of the universe
With the idea of logical arguments explained, we can now consider a particular argument for God's existence that deals with how he is the explanation for the universe. Keeping in mind what we learned about what comprises a good sound, valid argument, we can offer the following argument as originally conceived by the 18th century mathematician G.W.F Leibniz:
Premise #1: Everything that exists has an explanation for its existence
Premise #2: If the universe has an explanation for its existence, that explanation is God
Premise #3: The universe exists
Premise #4: The universe has an explanation for its existence
Premise #5: The explanation for the universe is God
Therefore: God exists
Now let's look at this argument. Premise #3 is virtually without controversy, since almost no one would deny that the universe exists. Something as simple as looking up at the night sky can confirm this fact. so, premise #3 is the easiest premise to prove. Premises #1 & #2 are typically the most attacked premises. Concerning premise #1, athiests and skeptics will either say that the universe is simply "there" and has no need for explanation or that if God would exist, He Himself would need to have an explanation for His existence. The typical response to this first objection is to point out that God is a being Who must exist by necessity in any possible description of reality. The universe, however, does not have to exist, since it began a finite time ago. To say that the universe simply "popped into being" out of nothing doesn't make sense, and thus the universe needed to have a Cause that was greater and different than it and more importantly, possessing a Free Will and Personality. Thus concerning Premise #1, the objection leads us to reinforce, not reject, the truth of the claim: "Everything that exists has an explanation for its existence, whether by necessity of its own nature (i.e God) or by an external cause (i.e something or Someone causing the universe).
Premise #2 is typically objected by Atheists too, since it sounds like the argument is simply asserting that if the universe has an explanation for its existence, then that explanation must be God. However, what the Atheist doesn't realize is that their own take on the universe is that on atheism, the universe has no explanation for its existence. The athiest will typically try to formulate their own response to premise #2: "If athiesm is true, then the universe has no explanation for its existence." Furthermore, in trying to assert this premise, the athiest is forming an argument that is logically equivalent to the original premise of the universe having an explanation for its existence, and that explanation being God. Either both premises will be true or false, but one cannot be true and the other false, nor vice-versa. To say that the universe doesn't have an explanation is in fact an explanation! There are other points that could be brought out to demonstrate why the athiest objection won't hold water, but for now we can rest sufficiently in the soundness of premises #1-2, which state again:
Premise #1: Everything that exists has an explanation for its existence
Premise #2: If the universe has an explanation for its existence, that explanation is God
Premise #3, as we've already noted, is virtually without question: "The universe exists
With premises #1-#3 established, the fourth premise then states: "The universe has an explanation for its existence", with premise #5 reading: "The explanation for the universe is God". Without going into further detailed explanation, if the reader considers how we worked through the first three premises, premise #4 logically progresses from those first three and premise #5 serves to clarify everything argued for and demonstrated in premises #1-#4.
Therefore, with premises#1-#5 demonstrated to be true and valid, the conclusion naturally follows: "Therefore, God exists".
So why does this matter to you?
When we consider the above argument for God's existence, why does it matter? With God being the explanation for the universe, that means He is also the explanation for life and humanity. Humanity's quest for significance (i.e meaning); morality (i.e values) and goal for living (i.e purpose) must have a grounding in one of two things: either the universe or God. People who believe that they determine meaning, values and purpose or that the universe has somehow programmed people to desire such have opted for grounding the explanation for everything in the universe. But as we've already observed, the universe exists not because it has to, but because it was caused by God who by nature must exist. God is therefore the proper ground for understanding meaning, value and purpose. As the Apostle Paul will aim to argue, unless one's apologetic leads the listener from the existence of God to the Person and work of Jesus, the apologetic task will not be achieved. Thus, this is why the idea of "God being the explanation of the universe" is so practical and true.
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