How can you know that the God of Christianity is true and real

John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Introduction:

Author A.W Tozer has written books on the subject of knowing and experiencing God on a personal level. In his classic work “The pursuit of God”, he comments: “A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon this reality.”

Oftentimes in discussions with non-Christians throughout the years, the one question that would occasionally surface would be: "how do you know that what you believe is true?" I'm sure that if every Christian was honest, there have been those times in their life where such questions as "how do I know this is real" rise in the mind during times of great struggle. It is important for people to realize that the reality of the God of Christian theism counts as genuine knowledge. To put it another way: the God of the Bible, revealed in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth is both knowable and makes Himself known to those so touched and open to His grace. Today's post will aim to explain two ways you can know that the God of Christianity is true and real. 

We can know that the God of Christianity is real by way of the authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit

Apologist Dr. William Lane Craig distinguishes between "knowing" Christianity to be true and "showing" Christianity to be true. Today's post has to do with the first of these: namely "knowing". It has been suggested by great Christian thinkers like Alvin Platinga that knowing God counts as a form of what he calls "properly-basic" knowledge. Such knowledge is genuine knowledge of certain facts that has justification and good reasons behind it apart from argument and evidence. For example, one cannot "prove" that the external world exists outside of one's mind apart from appealing to the external world. 

Such knowledge is "properly basic" and thus, for the one who has healthy-functioning mental faculties, they are warranted in their belief that the external world is real. Other examples such as "knowledge of other minds" or knowledge that the food in my stomach and all reality around me had not popped into being five minutes ago with the appearance of age cannot be "proven" by science. Nevertheless, to say one would not be warranted in holding to such beliefs would be at best unreasonable. 

This blogger would suggest that personal knowledge of God counts among what would be a form of "properly basic knowledge". In other words, many Christians know God personally without and apart from the many theistic arguments and evidences for His existence.  Indeed, such a fact doesn't lessen the value of such arguments. Instead, we must realize that that the capability of knowing God personally functions as a first-line of warrant or "true knowledge" of God. All of ways of arriving at knowledge about God, such as arguments and evidences, function as secondary forms of warrant or grounds for knowing that we know that the God of Christianity is real. 

Scriptures that testify to the Holy Spirit's delivery of first-hand knowledge of God

Certain Biblical passages reveal how a Christian possesses true knowledge of God by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit, bearing witness to the Gospel’s great truths (John 14:16-17; 16:8-12; Col 2:2; 1 Thess 1:5; 1 Cor 2:10-13; 1 John 2:20,27) and the Christian's own personal identity in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:5; 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6) delivers first-hand knowledge of God. The proper basicality of God’s existence is witnessed in both general revelation and special revelation.

Explaining what the self-authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit looks like in a person's life

So, what does this self-authenticating work of the Spirit look-like and act-like? How can it be described or compared to what often-times could be fraudulent experiences that claim to experience God in other religions (i.e the Mormon's "warming in the bosom")? Dr. William Lane Craig has described this self-authenticating work of the Holy Spirit in delivering true knowledge of God in the following manner:

1. The experience of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable or verifiable to the one who has it. Sin can quench such an experience, and continual exercise in spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible reading serve to heighten this awareness.

2. This authenticating witness of the Spirit occurs apart from arguments & evidence

3. This authenticating work does not function as a premise in a religious argument, since it is an immediate experience of God in the Christian's life.

4. In certain contexts (like church services), responses to certain truths indicate that the person is genuinely experiencing God by the Holy Spirit.

5. Such an experience of the Spirit's authenticating work provides personal assurance and genuine knowledge that the God of Christianity exists

6. Arguments and objections that attempt to overthrow the Christian's faith are overwhelmed by this authenticating witness of the Spirit for the Christian who gives themselves regularly to fellowship, prayer and the scriptures. 

Closing thoughts

We have considered today how you can know that the God of Christianity is true and real. Theistic arguments and evidences for God's existence, though valuable and useful in making the case for the Christian worldview, function in a secondary role for providing warrant or reasonable foundations for why we believe Christianity to be true. Such arguments serve to "show Christianity to be true". Today's post aimed to answer the question as to how one can know that the God of Christianity is real. We considered the self-authenticating ministry of the Holy Spirit to provide the first-line of warrant or justification for demonstrating how we "know-that-we-know" that God is real. Relevant scriptures and a six-point description of what such an experience looks like were provided. It is hoped that this post has sharpened our thinking and deepened our hearts in understanding how you and I can know God on a personal level.