Often atheists insist that believers prove that God exists. There are problems with this kind of insistence. To prove something requires deductive reasoning. This reduces us to the realm of mathematics using propositional logic. Unfortunately, reality is complicated, and this is not how human beings operate. We atheists and theists alike, believe things not by evidence or by proof. Most of us have a picture of reality informed by our upbringing and experience. As long as we are satisfied, there is little impulse for change. It takes a crisis of some kind to shake the foundation.
So, how does evidence fit in? It happens after the fact. With a close friend, I’m likely to overlook or ignore things said that might potentially be offensive. On the other hand, if I’ve been previously hurt by that person, I become very sensitive to everything that person says or does. This is how we are designed. We look for evidence that confirms what we already think or feel. The impulse is to dismiss evidence that conflicts. That is, put it out of sight. It gets attention only when it fills up the room and can no longer be ignored. Evidence, no matter how strong, will rarely convince someone who is dug-in and does not want to be convinced.
Let’s consider a theological issue. Among evangelicals, the bible is said to be inerrant and infallible. For an atheist, this kind of statement is ‘red meat.’ All they need to do is find a single contradiction in the biblical library of 66 books totaling to more than a thousand pages. Websites can easily be found with hundreds-upon-hundreds of such discrepancies. For the atheist, each flaw is readily accepted. They confirm that which is already known. How does a theist respond? They immediately look for a rational explanation to harmonize the inconsistency.
I recently had a conversation with an atheist about problems with the birth narrative of Jesus in the New Testament. He claimed that it was illogical that Joseph would take his wife on a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census registration when she was nine months pregnant. As such, the Luke account is questionable. In the moment, I didn’t have a response. I never heard of this challenge. It took some time for me to think through the issue. It turns out that Bethlehem is only a few miles from Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary were planning go to Jerusalem to dedicate the child on the eighth day. If Joseph took the trip alone, two trips one immediately after the other would be required. It made sense to take the trip once.
Another issue came up in the same conversation. The Luke account says Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth. The Matthew account says they fled to Egypt. Which was it? This one was not difficult to unravel. They returned to Nazareth when the child was born. A couple years later they fled to Egypt when the wise men showed up. When the child was born, they were in a stable; on the second trip they were found in a house.
What is the point? I have little interest in looking for bible contradictions. When confronted by one of them, I start thinking. For an atheist, it is the opposite. They seek to find contradictions and then quickly accept them without much thought as to how they might be harmonized. We use our reason and logic only after something confronts us that goes against our presupposition. I enjoy real conversations and challenges like this. That is, except for the ones filled with disrespect, mockery, and flashes of emojis. I have no patience for that.
So, let’s return to the original question. Is there evidence for God’s existence. A theist responds: “Lots.” “What evidence?” the atheist asks. A possible response: “(1) The existence of mathematical laws of nature that govern the Universe, (2) the list of fine-tuned parameters like the gravitational, magnetic, strong and weak nuclear constants, (3) the probability that the shroud of Turin is authentic, (4) clinically dead persons seeing and hearing things at a distance that are verified, (5) existence of verified miracles, (6) information contained in DNA, (7) the complexity of even the most simple cells, (8) the prophecies of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.” One could add dozens of other lines of evidence like these. Of course, an atheist would counter: “These things are not evidence.” Okay, I get that. Evidence for me is not evidence for thee.
Thanks for listening,secondlooknow.com
Yes, Evidence is not something everyone defines the same way. I have often thought about how big God is. Robert Barron made the good point that whatever God the atheist denies is likely a god we would also deny. He is ultimately beyond our ability to contain him.