Very Basic Outline of Inquiry:

• Philosophy tell us that the universe can not be eternal, (because an infinite amount of "past" events would lead to us never reaching the present, (think about it)).
• Discoveries by Einstein, Hubble, and others in the early 20th century have confirmed that the universe did indeed have a beginning.
• 98% of the world's top scientist, as well as common sense, tell us the Universe had a beginning.
• The law of causality states that things that "come into being" have a cause.  (they don't simply pop into being uncaused out of nothing)
• 1)  Anything that began to exist has a cause.  2)  The universe began to exist  3) Therefore, the universe had a cause

-God makes sense out of the origins of the universe-

This now basically gets us to the level of an agnostic or a deist.  There had to be something that got everything going.  Let's move to part 2, (remember - this is a very simple break down; simple yet effective, that even the most rigid atheist can not argue logically against).

• Over the last 30+ years, science has made enormous discoveries in the fine tuning of the complexity of the universe. 
• In fact, numerous precise mathermatical relationships must exist in order for life to be possible. These include the strong nuclear force, the force of gravity, the rate of expansion of the universe, the masses of fundamental particles, and the speed of light. Indeed, the initial entropy of the universe must have been fine tuned to one part in 10^{10^123}!  (that is 1 chance to 10(with 1230 zeroes)) -
• *Remember 1:10⁵⁰ is considered scientific LAW, so this number is beyond science capabilities, so to believe in this is to put all mathmatical probabilities to the side and throw science as we know it out the window.
• These numbers only give you the probability of life "permitting" so what you have is still an empty planet called Earth, with no life.  *Now we have to go through another set of impossible probabilities for "life" to happen by chance.
• When we put all of these together the odds are beyond comprehension.  Some have estimated conservatively to 1:10³¹¹³¹   while some say it is closer to 1:10 to the billion power for life to somehow happen past the Law of Biogenesis which states "Life comes only from life."

Therefore we come to the following conclusions:

1. The fine-tuning of the universe is due to either law, chance, or design.
2. It is not due to law or chance.
3. Therefore, it is due to design

•  Is there really "right" and "wrong?"
• Is a Hitler really any worse than Mother Teresa?
• Is raping a child or killing someone wrong, or just a difference of opinion?
• Most will admit that these are objectively wrong - even if one says raping a child and then torturing them is not really "wrong" their actions will betray their true feelings as they feel themselves sicking as they say:  "there is nothing wrong with that!"
• So where do these objective moral values come from?  If we are here by accident, then there is no objective moral values, but there are true moral values of right and wrong, so they have to come from somewhere.

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist.
2. Objective moral values do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists

Another way to look at this is as follows:

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist.
2. Evil exists.
3. Therfore, objective moral values exist, (some things are truly evil).
4. Therfore, God exists.

God makes sense of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

(This will be explained more throughout this site and only touched on here)

1. There are four established facts concerning the fate of Jesus of Nazareth:  his honorable burial by Joseph of Arimathea, the discovery of his empty tomb, and his post-mortem appearances, and the origin of his disciples' belief in his resurrection.
2. The hypothesis "God raised Jesus from the dead" is the best explanation of these facts.
3. The hypothese "God raised Jesus from the dead" entails that God exists.
4. Therefore God exists.

God can be immediately known and experienced

• This really isn't an argument for God's existence; rather it'st he claim that we can know that God exists wholly apart from arguments simply by immediately experiencing Him.
• This was the basic way people described in the Bible knew God.
• For these people God was not inferred to be the best explanation of their religious experience and so they believed in Him; rather in their religious experience they came to know God directly.
• IF you're sincerely seeking God, God will make His existence evident to you.
• The Bible promises, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8)
• We mustn't so concentrate on the proofs for God that we fail to hear the inner voice of God to our own heart.  For those who listen, God becomes and immediate reality in their lives.

Conclusion

In summary, we've seen five good reasons to think that God exists:

1. God makes sense of the origin of the universe
2. God makes sense of the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life.
3. God makes sense of objective moral values in the world.
4. God makes sense of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
5. God can be immediately known and experienced

These are only a part of the evidence for God's existence of course.  Alvin Plantinga, one of America's leading philosophers, has laid out two dozen or so arguments for God's existence.  Together these constitute a powerful cumulative case for the existence of God.

Now if we are travelers and not merely balconeers, the conclusion that God exists is but the first step of our journey, albeit a crucial one.  The Bible says, "He who would come to God must believe that he exists and that is a rewarder of thsoe who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).  If we have come to belive that he exists, we must now seek him, in the confidence that if we do so with our whole hear, he will reward us with the personal knowledge of himself.

Is there really anything more important than this?