One thing I have learned, both as a Dad and as a volunteer in Children’s Ministry, is that kids ask some of the deepest and most profound theological questions. In the answers, they are not looking for a demonstration of your profound knowledge but a clear, concise and satisfying response to their inquiry. The purpose of this series of blog posts titled “Questions Kids Ask” is to answer some of the questions I have received both from my own kids and from the kids I work with at church. Although I always try to answer every question in as scripturally grounded a manner as possible, I do not always have the appropriate verse ready at my fingertips. One of the things I hope to accomplish with these posts is to ensure that the answer I did give is scripturally sound by inserting verse references where appropriate.
I decided to start this series with a question kids, and most adults, usually ask at some point either in investigating Christianity or in their walk with God. I know it was one of the questions I had when I was investigating Christianity. That question is:
Who Made God?
This question was posed to me recently by a fifteen year old boy struggling with his faith. He lives in a Christian home and has been exposed to Christian thinking for years. This is the one thing that he is really still struggling with. The way he posed the question was, “if everything is created, who created God?”
The answer to this question is both simple and complex. The simple answer is, no one created God. He has always existed! That is easy to say, but not so easy to comprehend. The concept of anything being eternal is beyond our ability to truly understand as finite human beings. God is so much bigger than we are as human beings that we can never fully comprehend him. As human beings, we live in both time and space. Time passes and we get older. Things happened in the past, are happening now, or will happen in the future. Furthermore, we operate in space. As the old adage goes, we can only be in one place at a time. As an eternal being, God existed before space and time. Indeed, God created the space and time in which we live (Genesis 1:1). God always had existed and always will exist. Revelation 1:8 says:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” [Revelation 1:8]
Alpha and Omega are the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet. Greek is the original language that Revelation was written in. The point is clear. God always has been and always will be – from the beginning to end and beyond. Other verses also tell us that God existed before time. 1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” [1 Corinthians 2:7]
Other verses also testify to God’s existence before time including 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2 and Jude 1:25.
God has always existed and always will. He has also always been the same and always will be. This concept is referred to as the immutability of God. God does not change like man does. He is the same today as he was 4,000 years ago as he will be 4,000 years from now. [Hebrews 13:8]
The Bible is clear that God existed before time and space were created. Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning, God created…” The implication is clear! God existed before both space and time! He spoke both into existence.
The problem with the question as posed is that it assumes that everything that exists must have a creator. Indeed, anything that comes into existence does need a creator. However, since God has always existed, he does not need a creator.
The Bible is clear that God is not a created being. However, there are also other lines of reasoning to show that no one made God.
There is a definitional issue which must be addressed. That is, the way in which God is defined impacts the question. God is defined as the ultimate creator of everything, and indeed the God of the Bible is that creator God. If there were some sort of force or being that created the God we know of (let’s call him a “super-God”), that “super-God” would be the superior being and the one deserving of our worship. In other words, if something created or made God, that thing would then be the real God on and on until you get to the creator who has always existed.
Secondly, there is a logical issue which must be addressed. Logically, if there was ever a time that nothing existed, than nothing would still exist. Common sense tells us that it is impossible to get something out of nothing. In order for something to exist now, something must have always existed. That something is God!
One common object to the infinite nature of God is the question, if it is possible that no one created God and he has always existed, why isn’t it equally possible that time and space have always existed and therefore need no creator? First of all, let’s establish that it is impossible for both the time/space/the universe and God to be infinite. By definition, there is only room for one infinite thing. If something else is infinite it automatically limits the second thing making it finite. Accordingly, given these two options either God must be infinite or the universe (and therefore time) must be infinite. It cannot be the case that both are infinite.
So, why then can’t the universe be infinite? Many scientists will argue that it is. However, most scientists agree that both time and the universe had to have some beginning. That beginning is frequently referred to as the “Big Bang.” Scientists have discovered that the universe is unwinding and moving from a state of order to a state of disorder. All of this points back to a beginning both for the universe and for time and demonstrates that they are not infinite – something the Bible reveals in its very first verse!
To recap, no one made God. He has always existed and always will exist both before and after the time and space in which we live. God did enter our time and space once about 2,000 years ago. He took on human form as the man Jesus Christ and died on the cross for our sins. When we accept God’s offer of forgiveness, he gives us the privilege to live with him in eternity.
How come only one thing can be infinite?
In reply to the first comment, infinite means endless and without bounds. If thing A is infinite there can be no limitation or boundary on it. It must go forever. If something else, say thing B, is infinite that automatically puts a boundary on thing A by definition and therefore makes thing A finite. Take space for example, if it is infinite, there can not be another infinite space because there is no room for it as the first space fills everything.
In the words of Charles Spurgeon,
“But there cannot be two infinities. If one thing is infinite, there is no room for anything else, for infinite means all. It means not bounded, not finite, having no end. Well, there cannot be two infinities.”
I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if it does not.
So what made him up and decide to create the planets and life?
Wayne the flaw in your arguement is you suppose that the infinite needs to have a form or shape. Time is infinite, but takes up no space. Also if Charles Spurgeon were correct in that quote then the “infinite thing” would BE everything and there would be nothing else but it.
What if there was one thing infinitely big and another infinitely small? 🙂
Anonymous,
Thank you for your question. It is a very insightful question and logically follows from the discussion. The short answer is that we were made for God’s glory. That said, I like your question so much, that I intend to answer it in the next installment of Questions Kids Ask as I think many people who do not read these comments but read the articles would benefit from the answer. I hope to get that posted some time next week, and I will let you know here in these comments once it is posted. Thanks again for your question! God bless you!
Jeff,
Thank you very much for your comment. It caused me to really think through my argument which I always appreciate. Let me take a shot at an answer. By way of disclaimer, I do not believe that we are capable of fully understanding the infinite of God. The limited understanding that we do have of infinite is given to us by the grace of God. That said, let me take a shot at answering your question.
I think that the real problem is one of definitions. There are two different types of infinities. There are mathematical infinities. This would be an abstract concept which postulates infinite sets of numbers (such as all odd numbers, all even numbers, all prime numbers, etc.) This mathematical type of infinite is not actually possible because it is always possible to add one more number at the end of any list. Another type of infinite would be an infinite of time or space – a physical infinite. It is actually impossible for any physical thing to be infinite because a physical thing is the sum of its parts, and you can always add one more part.
When we speak of God’s infinity, we are speaking not of a mathematical or spatial infinity, but of God’s infinite perfection. God’s infinite is a metaphysical infinity in that God’s essence is infinite. It means that all of God’s attributes are infinite. His love can’t be improved upon, his knowledge cannot be increased, etc. The infinite or God is not a quantitative infinite as much as it is a qualitative infinite.
The Bible refers specifically to three attributes of God as being infinite. Those are his knowledge (omniscience), his power (omnipotence) and his presence (omnipresence). Rather than supposing that “infinite needs to have a form or shape,” I am actually asserting that God is not limited by time and space. He is transcendent. He is greater than his creation and independent of it. He lives outside of time and space and is therefore not subject to it. God is spirit and can therefore be infinite without precluding our existence in time and space. In terms of your argument, it is possible for us to exist within God’s infinite essence without limiting that essence because our physical existence does not conflict with his essence. God’s essence is the ultimate infinite from which everything else proceeds. Given this definition, it is impossible for some other being or thing to have a similar infinite.
I hope that this clarifies the comment!
Thanks,
Wayne
aka: Dad in the Middle
http://blog.stocksohio.com
Jim,
Any abstract infinities (such as an infinite big and an infinite small) would exist within God’s creation and therefore be a subset of his infinite. He is the ultimate infinite of which there can only be one. See my reply to Jeff above.
Thanks so much for your comment.
Regards,
Wayne
aka: Dad in the Middle
http://blog.stocksohio.com
Anonymous,
As promised, the next entry in this series is entitled “Why Did God Make Us?” You can find it here:
http://blog.stocksohio.com/2009/06/17/why-did-god-make-us-questions-kids-ask/
I hope it helps to answer your question!
Best Wishes,
Wayne
aka: Dad in the Middle
http://blog.stocksohio.com
Wayne, I’m so thankful I found your blog. I’ll try to be brief. My 11 year old who has always been a faithful believer, is having doubts about her faith. She is inquisitive and bright, and has never been a worrier. This doubting has caused her great anxiety. Last night she asked me 2 questions that I don’t feel I can properly answer…how do we know God exists since we can’t see him? And, what if we find out he really doesn’t exist? She feels very guilty for having these questions and doubts and I am doing all I can to assure her that questions/doubts are a normal part of her developing mind.
I think she is now learning the truth about all of these things she once thought were true…santa, easter bunny, greek mythology, etc. So, these doubts in her mind have really been very scary for her.
Thank you so much for any help, answers, etc. you can provide.
Mom of 11 year old,
Let me start by saying God Bless you! Mothers do not get enough credit for everything they do and everything that they deal with.
My first reaction to your post was that this is actually a good thing. While it is unfortunate that your daughter is dealing with anxiety, the Bible tells us to work out salvation with fear and trembling, and it sounds like that is exactly what she is doing! I think that God wants us to be comfortable in our faith, but at the same time he wants our faith to continue to grow and mature (see versus re: meat vs. milk in Scripture). In order for something to grow and deepen, it must change, and sometimes that is not a comfortable process. I posted an article several weeks ago on teaching children how to think instead of just what to think:
http://blog.stocksohio.com/2009/06/19/22-ways-to-teach-kids-how-to-think-and-not-just-what-to-think/
The whole basis of that article is that we need to teach our children how to take the faith the grow up learning about and make it their own. Part of this process is working through doubts.
Secondly, let me reassure both you and her that these doubts are perfectly normal and nothing to be anxious about. All Christians have them, but many are so uncomfortable with them that they won’t admit it. I know that, as comfortable as I am in my faith, I still find the what if questions racing through my head from time to time. I’ve learned not to avoid them, but to embrace them. Instead of focusing energy on “putting the thought out of my head,” I focus my energy on figuring out the answer and the basis for my faith. I find that this exercise of intentionally questioning my faith, along with teaching, are the two things I do that lead to a deeper and stronger faith. As I’ve written elsewhere, we serve a big God and he can take the questions. He actually encourages them! The verse 1 Thessalonians 5:21 which says, “Test everything. Hold on to the good” was instrumental in my coming to Christ in the 1st place (http://blog.stocksohio.com/my-testimony/) so I am a little bit passionate about this. 🙂
As for what you can do, I have a couple of comments. Number 1, I think you’ve done a wonderful thing in trying to research the questions that you can’t answer about faith. Many parents, and teachers, try to fake there way through it afraid that admitting they don’t know the answer will somehow damage the child’s faith. Quite the contrary, I believe that working through such questions and finding the answer together teaches a child how to question, and consequently strengthen, their own faith. Secondly, many kids at the age need someone other than their parents to reaffirm things for them. If there is an adult that your daughter trusts, and that you trust will be saying the same things you would say, I would encourage you to have your daughter talk to that person as well. Sometimes they just need to hear the same thing from someone other than Mom or Dad. That person can be a Children’s Ministry worker from your church, a friend of the family, or anyone else that shares your values and beliefs.
In terms of encouraging your daughter, continue to take her back to the cross of Christ. Remind her that doubts are a ploy of Satan, and the Bible tells us to resist him. In other words, she should not flee from her doubts, but face them head on.
Now, on to her specific questions. I’ll start with the second because it is easier to answer. If God does not exist and Christ did not die on the cross and rise again, we are to be pitied more than other men (1 Corinthians 5:19). If there is no God, everything happens by chance, and we should live for today and live for ourselves. There are no moral absolutes and there is nothing greater than ourselves. There is no such thing as real love. We are all some sort of cosmic accident. I think this paints a picture of a sad world to live in. Thank God that is not the world we live in!
The first question she asks “how do we know God exists since we can’t see him?” is a very common question. To borrow from ReThink (a curriculum provider we use in my church), “faith is believing in what we can’t see because of the evidence of what we can see.” There are plenty of things we can’t see that we believe in and rely on every day. We can’t see the air, but we breathe it in and out to live. We can’t see gravity, but it keeps us from floating into space. Likewise, we can’t see God, but he sustains us in every moment. God gives us plenty of evidence of his existence. If you look at the world around us (stand by the oceans, pet a dog, hold a baby, fly in a plane, examine the clouds, look at the stars in the night sky) it is impossible not to see the fingerprint of God in all of it. Without going into the scientific details, the world we live in is so fine tuned for human life (i.e., if one little thing changed like the speed of the earth’s rotation, or the distance from the sun), it is mathematically impossible that it could have happened by chance. Furthermore, God has given us a book that tells us all about him. Not even Santa Claus has done that! 🙂 The Bible has withstood critical analysis for thousands of year and comes up accurate every time. Archaeology has tested the Bible over and over again, and nothing has ever been found which contradicts an account contained in the Bible. Furthermore, God used prophecy in the old testament to prove the divine origin of his book. All of this taken together allows us to rely on the book that tells us the truth about our God.
Finally, I would encourage your daughter to pray. Have her take her questions to God. He can handle it, and our faith is a gift of grace from him in the first place.
I’ve rambled on, but I hope something in this reply helps you. I think that your daughter’s question is a great idea for a future “Questions Kids Ask” installment. Perhaps I will crystallize my thoughts a little more and post that in a couple of week after my Dark Week (http://blog.stocksohio.com/2009/07/13/im-going-dark-join-the-challenge/). I’ll keep you and your daughter in my prayers.
God Bless You,
Dad in the Middle
God created everything sin and more and then just magically came back as jesus and dismissed the sin he created thats pretty sick.
Zeus,
God created man in his own image. Sin entered the world through man’s disobedience to God and man has continued to sin against God ever since. Sin is defined as anything that we do against the will of God. Despite the fact that God knew this would happen before he ever created the world, he still (out of his love) opted to create man. In his holiness God cannot just accept or dismiss sin. As a just God, he hates sin and must demand justice from those who sin (that’s all of us). The point is not that God “magically dismissed sin” but that he had a plan before he ever created to the world to pay the price for our sin by coming to earth as a man and taking that sin upon himself by dying on the cross. All ew have to do to take advantage of this gift is to admit our sin to God, give him his rightful position as the Lord of our lives, and ask that he apply the payment he made on the cross to our lives. In his death, burial and resurrection, God satisfied the requirement for justice and provided the ultimate demonstration of his love. Far from “sick,” the cross is the moment in history that demonstrates both the fullness of God’s love and his mercy.
my 7 yrs old son is asking who made god ,how can i explain him according to his age
Well it’s a big mistery that no one on earth know
Thank you for this website. I have an 8 year old who recently asked me “How do you know if you believe in God?”
Love your posts!
I appreciate how you are able to take such complex ideas and state them simply.
God bless you and keep doing your thing.
John
Thanks John! I appreciate the encouragement.
You believe in a supernatural god of which you cannot see, hear or communicate with. (Please don’t say prayer, it’s scientifically proven not to work and I suspect you have no critically analysed supporting evidence on the contrary but I digress). What makes you believe in the Abrahamic god rather than say Zeus, Hercules,the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Russel’s teapot or any other fictional deity in the face of overwhelming and insurmountable contradictory evidence? What more scientific, historical, archaeological and logical information would you need to accept that god is a human invention to explain things which at the time could not be fully understood by science. I mean according to /your bible/ god said he made light before he made the sun! what!? light comes from the sun!? If we were made on the 6th day, how come rocks are carbon dated to be billions of years old.
Ben,
Thanks for your comment. I apologize for my delay in getting back to you. I do believe in a God whom I can not see, though I can see a perfect reflection of Him in the life of Jesus Christ presented in the gospels. I can hear Him through His Word (the Bible), and I can communicate with Him through prayer. I hope that we can have an informed and graceful conversation about these things. Though we may disagree (I am certain that we do actually), I value your time and your thoughts. I will not discount them, but I will try to answer your questions.
Before I tackle some of your issues, let me give you a little background on me so you know where I am coming from. 12-15 years ago, I might have made an argument very similar to yours. I did not grow up in church. I only started going to church and learning about God when I was 30 because I felt like I owed at least that to my children. 15 years ago, I didn’t know what to believe. My journey has not been one pressured by external forces, but led by a sincere desire for truth.
Let me tackle your issues one-by-one in the order that you raised them. You allude to the face that prayer has been “scientifically proven not to work.” I would be interested in reading those studies as I have seen the positive effects of prayer in my own life and in the lives of those I know and love. That is, of course, not to discount these studies. I haven’t seen them. But, assuming they exist, I wonder what their definition of “work” is. I would gladly review them and give you my thoughts if you can point me to specific studies. My faith is not a tenuous faith but one that is strengthened and reinforced by questioning. It is a process that I go through constantly, and I would welcome the opportunity to have a look at these studies.
You asked (and I’m paraphrasing so please let me know if I got it wrong) “What makes me believe in the God of the Bible rather than all the other deities invented by men through the centuries?” My answer is simple, and it was my deciding factor in deciding to accept Christ when I was 30 because I had this same question. My study started first with the Bible – could I even believe it? It is our starting point for understanding who God really is, so if I couldn’t rely on it, I was out of luck. For a number of reasons, many of which I’ve written about here on the site, I came to understand that the Bible is reliable and represents the Word of God. If the Bible is true then, by definition the God of the Bible must be true and must be as He is described in that book. The “tipping point” for me came in my study of prophecy of the Bible. The Old Testament particularly is chocked full of prophecy of future events. These are not the types of prophecy you see from Nostrodameus (sp?) or other modern day psychics. These are very specific prophecies about future events including numerous prophecies about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ written hundreds (and thousands) of years before Christ was born. Of all the prophecy in the Bible, NONE of it has ever been wrong. In fact, God himself sets this as a standard in the Bible when He explains that the test of a true prophet of God is whether or not they are ever wrong. The Bible says if they are wrong, they are not from God. Only God can predict the future with 100% accuracy. If you study other deities made up by the human mind, you will see that there holy books either do not include such prophecies or have been proven wrong by false prophecy. God, the God of the Bible, stands alone in that respect. That is what convinced me that He is real and the Bible is true. I would encourage you to take an honest look at these things and evaluate them for yourself. The Bible says to “test everything, hold on the the good.” The Bible invites you to test it, but you must do it honestly and with an open mind.
Finally, you mentioned the issue of light and creation. I don’t have a clear answer to your question. I have seen multiple explanations, and I believe one of them is likely true, but the Bible doesn’t say for sure so I don’t presume to offer a hard and fast answer to the question. I do know that God is light. The Bible says that those who choose to follow God will someday live in His glorious light. The Bible does not say what the light was when God said “Let there be light,” though it does seem that the verses are more focused on God’s creation of time (morning and evening) than the light itself. It does seems clear that the sun, moon and stars were created later perhaps as a means of replacing the light mentioned earlier. This later creation seems to have more to do with creating seasons which we understand to relate to the Earths position relative to the sun.
I hope that this answers some of your questions. I would love to continue the conversation. Feel free to post further comments here for discussion and thanks for visiting the site.
Yours truly,
Wayne
Well, Thankyou for this profound article. Whatever was Before, is God and whatever will remain is God. Inbetween all that is Us. God probably had infinite choices of creation, but I guess, we fit in pretty well. That’s where Power and Will comes in, as I read it somewhere. He has Power over everything BUT His Will plays a part too.
I believe that we were made for this place, not the other way around. Human beings aren’t the greatest creation after all. BUT if we behave in a well defined manner, we can become better/best. Most of the problems lie within us. We start behaving as if WE are the only things around. Which is absolutely wrong. We have to live outside the box and care about everything. Like God, I guess. Despite being Self-Sufficient, He created things and gave them whatever He wanted to… He isn’t concerned for Himself but for others too. Animals, Plants, Planets, are important too. They live too, like us.
As to God coming down, I’m so sorry, 🙁 I do not believe in that. It does not suit His Majesty.. Plus, if you say He is infinite & immutable, how could He do such a thing..? I do not want answers for that though, because I already have them. I believe in a God who teaches. He has given us willpower and knowledge. He wants us to learn responsibility and accept what we do out of lack of knowledge if you will. Though He can forgive everything, He wants us to learn who we are, what we are capable of, and what our reality is. To blame someone other than yourself is absolutely nuts. It is to say that if I murder someone, I can’t say I have freewill. Because God did give us sense, and knowledge and ability to avoid it. Likewise, we can’t say oh God, why? Because if He didn’t do that, we would not have identities as we do today. No knowledge, nothing! This world is essential for our moral, spiritual and character growth. We will mess up, BUT He forgives by just letting go. He understands that we are forgetful creatures.
He can communicate with being where He is. We can connect to Him despite the gap, because He encompasses everything with His knowledge and mercy. He is literally a prayer/meditation/call away. What does distance matter to Him? We have souls & hearts that connect to Him. And it His Attribute that He can feel for us at the nth level. Because afterall, we got Love from HIM! : )
Thankyou for reading this, 🙂
K,
Thank you for your comment. I apologize for not responding sooner, but I was trying to decide how to respond. I believe I understand your views on this issue, but I am curious how you reconcile those with what God has revealed about Himself in the Bible?
Funny how kids ask the best questions, but its not funny when kids receive such foolish answers. By telling them that an eternal force that has and will be forever present, that the human mind is unable to comprehend, is devastating to a child’s will and drive for knowledge seeking process. It stops their questioning in their tracks. Why not say “I have no idea”. otherwise by quoting the first book of the bible, you must also explain to them why woman are not allowed to speak in church.
“women should remain silent in churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission…”1 Corinthians 14:34
Laughing,
Your response is typical in that it does not provide any proof for an alternative but rather suffices in “making fun” of the belief as if to believe in anything else is foolish. And, quite contrary to your assertion, the will and desire to understand an all-powerful eternal God and all that He has done in human history is sufficient to occupy the finite human mind for a lifetime and still barely scratch the surface. Real faith is based on a consistent questioning rather than a blind leap of faith. What is amazing is that God stands up to that questioning and will actually strengthen your faith truth it. One of my favorite verses is 1 Thessalonian 5:21 which says “test everything; hold fast what is good.” Again contrary to the assertion to those who merely dismiss God and the Bible without doing their own research, the Bible tells us to test our faith. If you do that, with a degree of intellectual honesty, you will find that God has provided ample evidence for His existence. As for your red herring regarding the verse from 1 Corinthians, the Bible is fairly straight forward, but we must strive to understand the culture in which it was originally written. Though it contains eternal truth, it was also written to a specific audience. The Bible does indicate that a woman should submit to her husband, but the husband is also called to love his wife and serve her. In that regard, a marriage is a mutually submissive relationship. The specific verse that you referenced were addressed to a particular people, in a particular church, with a particular problem. Thanks for reading!
my 6 year old girl just asked me ‘who made God first’, i just replied that it was like the Chicken and the egg, who came first question, i just had no answer, for such a profound question from my little angel
Hi Wayne,
Makes for an interesting read!
Can I just ask you this, what evidence is there that the old testament was indeed written hundreds and thousands of years before the events of Jesus?
I quote “The Old Testament particularly is chocked full of prophecy of future events. These are not the types of prophecy you see from Nostrodameus (sp?) or other modern day psychics. These are very specific prophecies about future events including numerous prophecies about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ written hundreds (and thousands) of years before Christ was born.”
How do we know this?
Thanks
Andrew
Thanks for the question Andy. I apologize for the delay in answering. I am not an expert on the dating of historical texts, but my understanding is that there are numerous copies of the Old Testament (original manuscripts) which date to a time well before the birth of Jesus. Perhaps the most convincing of these are scrolls found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. I would encourage you to check out our Monday Morning Prophecy series for a continuing list of some of the many prophecies of the Old Testament. Thanks again for reading!
I love this blog, thankyou for your time and love of the Lord. I too work for a church and
constantly trying to come up with the “right” answer for all the bright thoughts that kids have today. One that I have been searching for Just the right answer is; How to explain
to the kids that God did not break His own commandment by causing the Food or ordering the Plagues on Pharaoh’s people. How do we explain that Our Loving God, and merciful God did these things???
Charlotte,
This is a danger we run into when we emphasize one of the attributes of God over all other. God is loving and merciful. He is also just. There is a reason that the Bible says that fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom. We must explain to kids that God is Holy and Just. He must exact justice on those who sin against him. However, in His love and grace, He sent His son to pay the penalty we deserve. The question itself is a great segway into the Gospel! Thanks for reading!
Human only say that god is real I say he is not. God is real only because of the bible. One question have you seen him? No I have not because he is not real and that is the truth. The question I’m looking for is not here just because he is the creator that does not mean no one created him will we did. Think about it, I came to life from my mom so did you, did you fall from the sky or did the earth split and you came out, I know I didn’t so that mean my mom and dad have sex and created me not god.
John Doe,
I hope that this reply finds its way to you. In response to your comment (which I appreciate by the way), I would simply ask you a few questions:
1) Can you see the wind? Do you believe it exists?; and
2) If “god” was created by someone else, then I do not believe he would be the God that I believe in. But, if he were, who created God? At some point as you go back further and further in history, there has to be someone or something that was not created that created the first things. There has to be something (someone) who exists outside of creation to make it come into existence. In other words, there has to be a beginning. What was that beginning?
3) You are a product of your mom and dad. We are all products of our parents. But, again, as you go back in history, where did life begin? What (Who) breathed life into that very first being at the dawn of time? Who decided that women would get pregnant and bear human beings? Who established the process? Although I believe the answer is the same, the question is not where did one particular life begin. The question is where did life itself begin, and how?
Looking forward to discussing this with you!
My four year old daughter has just asked me if Christians are so spiritual, then whey do they eat other animals?
It seems ever your pre medieval religion with it’s blindness to modern science still has not grasped the essential truth of humanity. Violence.
Oh and just for the record. If you want to know the answer to it all.
The answer is Love.
Do something good today. You don’t need to follow anyone. Give some Love.
Love is the answer.
Mr.,
Thank you for your comment. The Bible is clear that the Earth (and everything in it) was given by God for man. Man was created by God in His image and is therefore superior to the other animals. While this is unlikely to be a satisfactory answer for your four year old, it is the truth as laid out in scripture.
To respond to some of your other point, Christianity is about a relationship with Christ. My relationship with Him and support for biblical truth does not contradict science despite your broad over-generalization of Christianity.
The answer is indeed love, and 1 John 4:8 reminds us that God is love and the very next verse reminds us that we are only able to love because God first loved us.
Thanks again for your comment.
God does not exist………If he did he wouldn’t have made a world that is so full of suffering………..whole nations can prey but that doesn’t do much good to those peoples of the world who are starving.
Here’s a real time example to show that prayer is only effective as a placebo:
2 boxers both prayed to Jesus to help them win their fight……but only one was victorious……..the winning boxer credited Jesus for his victory………so does that mean Jesus wasn’t listening to the guy who lost?
I’ll be blunt, Jesus & God are only constructs of the human mind……and that’s where he exists.
KL,
Thanks for your comment. There is no doubt that the world we live in is fallen. It is not the world that God created us to live in, but a broken world marred by sin and the choices of human beings. I suggest you read the first 3 chapters of Genesis to find out more.
As for your example, is presupposes that prayer is simply a means to get what we want. That is not the case, nor would I want to serve a God who merely answered my wishes. Instead, I serve a God who knows what is best for me even when I can’t see it…a God who loved me enough to die on the cross to pay the penalty I deserved for sins committed against Him so that I could have a relationship with Him. Just because we do not get the response we want does not mean that God is not listening or even that God is silent.
I would challenge you to prove your assertions rather than make blanket statements. Really investigate the claims of Christianity. Read the Bible and come to your own conclusion based on the evidence. That’s the route I went down many years ago and it has changed my life forever.
OhMyGod I still too am struggling with my christian faith… who still created God? :((
Michael,
I am sorry to hear about your struggles, though it is through wrestling with our faith that it grows stronger. Do not fear bringing your questions before God. He is big enough and loving enough to provide answers. I would encourage you to reread this post with regards to your question. No one, and nothing, created God. He has always existed. Everything that exists had to come originally from something, and that thing is God.
The burden of proof lies at the claimant…………it is for you to “prove” that God exist…….and it is for you to “prove” that the Bible is the word of God.
Simply saying I found God……..or read the Bible is a meaningless statement to the unconverted.
I challenge you to “show” me a shred of proof that God exists.
KL,
Thank you again for your continued conversation. I really do appreciate it. I suppose the burden of proof lying with the claimant depends upon your perspective. You, of course, would argue that I have to prove the existence of God because your perspective is that he does not exist. I might propose that his existence is clear from all that surrounds us and from the Bible and therefore you should prove his non-existence. Allow me to proffer an example. You could tell me that your brain produces thoughts. I can’t see them or test that they are there. So, is the burden on me to prove that they do not exist or you to prove that they do. It depends on your perspective. All that to say, it is not intention to convince you of the existence of God. I believe that He has done plenty of convincing and to ignore that evidence actually requires more of a leap of faith (oftentimes blind faith) than to believe it.
You might recall that I did not simply say that I found God or suggest that you read the Bible and believe it. My advice was, and is, “Really investigate the claims of Christianity. Read the Bible and come to your own conclusion based on the evidence. That’s the route I went down many years ago and it has changed my life forever.”
1 Thessalonians 5:29 was an important verse to me and prompted me to go down a path of research and analysis of the facts and evidence. It says, in part, “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” If the Bible is true (and I have come to the conclusion based on my analysis that it is), then it is inviting you personally to test it. It can and will withstand your tests if you are intellectually honest with yourself, but if you are not willing to take that step then you will never know for certain beyond your unsubstantiated opinions.
I do not mean any of this to sound harsh. I invite you to conduct your own investigation, and if I can help I would be glad to. The only thing I would rely on my own experience to tell you is that you won’t regret the investigation.
I’ll be praying for you.
Take care,
Wayne
Wayne, I thank you for your engagement with me, many other blogs and website simply won’t even publish comments which challenge the author’s belief.
My motive here is a genuine one, in that I am not here to try and make you switch your belief system, but merely to challenge what makes people believe in a personal God whether that be in Christian,Muslim,Jewish or other religion.
Putting the Bible aside for a minute, as I say it is the product of a collection of human minds and human imaginations………..and the Quran is just an extension or perhaps reworking later edition of the Bible where Mohammed replaces Jesus in the starring role.
You say : ” I might propose that his existence is clear from all that surrounds us”
I assume that you are talking about the wondrous nature that we have here on Earth……..and indeed the vast Universe who size is much too large for a human mind to concede.
I agree that the wonders of nature are awe inspiring………..but does that prove that it must be God’s doing?
I say no………just because we live in awe of the Universe doesn’t mean it was created by any one being or creator.
Supposing that I did entertain the idea of a creator, how does anyone tell that this creator is in fact the Devil………..in the guise of a loving God………perhaps this Devil allows “love” into our little world simply so that we could feel the strength of human misery all the more.
One of our famous naturalist in my country the UK, Sir David Attenborough, has traveled to all 4 corners of the globe & the polar regions multiple times, and has witnessed more natural wonders first hand than probably any person living alive today, was once asked in an interview whether he believed in God.
His answer…………no he didn’t.
Attenborough went on to explain that whilst he is awestruck at the beauty of nature, he only had to look at the little boy in Africa, who was blinded by worms eating out of his eyes to conclude that there was no God.
Now I am not saying that I merely followed Attenbough’s belief in no God, I had long before come to my own conclusion about there being no God, but Attenboough’s mindset was remarkably close to mine.
It only takes the suffering of that little innocent child to override all the awesomeness of nature.
Such a loving God ………….. that he won’t bother to stop the suffering because he refuses bend his own rule set………….
So for me it is crystal clear that either God doesn’t care, or more simply doesn’t exist.
Wayne I’m not meaning to sound harsh………but it is a harsh world we live in……..and I’ll leave it at that for now.
Regards KL
KL
I noticed that one of your questions has remain unanswered — why would a loving God allow suffering in this world? I could not put an answer adequately into words on my own. However, I found a site which does a good job of explaining: http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/07/why-does-god-allow-tragedy-and-suffering/
It is a long post, but it is worth the read.
Wayne
Thank you for your insightful posts on this site! I really appreciate you taking the time to share with us.
I thank you for your stand for God.. He is the all Holy God of the universe. Praise his name..
I am so thankful to have found your blog. My 7 yo daughter is very inquisitive. As a believer that came to God late in life, I understand the infinite being God is & how He manifested into flesh & then into Spirit. Now my 7 yo is understandably having a hard time grasping the time & space and your down to her level explanation has helped a lot. THANK YOU! She read the 1st couple chapters in Genesis & says “mommy I get this part, it’s just I don’t get who made God. We all came from something.” She wants to continue reading more tomorrow & of course speak with Pastor.