I Can Prove the Existence of God

People talk about God a lot. They often talk about proving things. They seldom define their terms. That's one reason why they talk so much. If they knew what their terms meant, they'd have a lot less to say.

"Proof" means various things, depending upon the situation. In mathematics the standards are very high. In a medical exam for a life insurance policy, the standards are pretty low. We used to say in the sales department, "If he can fog a mirror, we'll get him covered one way or another." Proof of insurability was pretty easy to claim.

Suppose I walk into my home with a friend and announce "Someone has been in here" and he asks "How do you know?" If I say "That light is on; I always turn it off," he might reply "That doesn't prove anything; anyone can forget to turn off a light." The burning light proves something to me because I know my habits of life. It proves nothing to my friend.

Proving the existence of God is easy. The philosopher John Locke pointed out the obvious fact that "matter cannot put sense into itself." Since everything in nature is permeated with intelligence, someone with infinite intelligence must be the cause. Otherwise, you are left defining hydrogen (the simplest element, one proton and one electron) as "an odorless, colorless gas which, over time, becomes scientists."

This, however, proves nothing to someone who wishes to deny it. He can watch a spider build a web and believe that the spider and her ability to spin six kinds of silk and to engineer that web came into being through fortuitous random mutations (lucky birth defects) and natural selection over millions of years.

Likewise he can watch a hummingbird beating its wings at the rate of fifty times per second in a figure-eight pattern, hovering perfectly, and believe that it came into being through random mutations and natural selection.

If the intelligence we see all around us doesn't prove the existence of God, what would?

I heard one college student respond, "If God were to appear before me, right here and now, that would prove it." He's wrong, though. As a comparison: if I saw a pink elephant appear in my living room, I wouldn't start believing in pink elephants. Instead, I'd believe that I was hallucinating. A disbeliever in God isn't basing it on observation. If he were, a hummingbird would suffice to convert him.

I can prove the existence of God to someone who accepts my premises (e.g., matter cannot put sense into itself). But if he rejects my premises, saying "Oh no, matter can become intelligent if it has enough time," then he is beyond proof.

I have known of three atheist philosophers who became Christians; two I knew personally. In none of the three cases did any of them convert because of logical, philosophical proofs. In each case it was because he became tired of his sin and guilt. When he quit fighting and surrendered to God, the truth came rushing in upon him.