Honest questions
Not sure God is real?
Good. Honest questions are welcome here. You don't have to pretend to believe to read this page. You only have to be willing to follow the evidence where it leads.
Why is there something rather than nothing?
The best evidence in modern cosmology points to the universe having a beginning. Things that begin to exist have a cause. If the universe began, its cause would have to be outside space, time and matter: powerful, timeless and not physical.
That alone doesn't prove the God of the Bible. But it fits the Bible's very first sentence, that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Paul said creation itself points to its Maker:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20 NIV
Where do right and wrong come from?
You probably believe some things are really wrong. Abusing a child. Racism. Betraying a friend. Not just unpopular. Wrong.
But if we are only the product of chance and survival, "wrong" just means "I don't like it." If evil is real, there has to be a real standard of good that sits above all of us. Christians believe that standard is the character of God.
Did Jesus actually rise from the dead?
Christianity makes a claim you can investigate. Within about twenty years of the crucifixion, Paul wrote this, passing on a summary many historians, including skeptical ones, trace back to the first few years after Jesus died:
“that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV
“After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living”
1 Corinthians 15:6 NIV
Paul was saying: the witnesses are alive, go and ask them. The tomb was empty. The disciples were willing to suffer for what they said they saw. Skeptics like Paul and Jesus' own brother James changed their minds.
If it happened, it changes everything. If it didn't, Christianity is false. Paul said so himself (1 Corinthians 15:17).
If God is good, why is there so much suffering?
This is the hardest question, and we won't pretend it isn't. A few honest things:
- A lot of suffering comes from human choices, and real love needs real freedom.
- The Bible never calls suffering good. It calls death an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26).
- In Christianity, God doesn't watch suffering from a distance. Jesus wept, was betrayed and died on a cross. He doesn't explain every pain. He enters it, and he promises to end it (Revelation 21:4).
Now turn it around.
Skepticism is good. Be skeptical of your skepticism too. If there is no God, you still have to explain where the universe came from, why love and justice feel real, and what happened to Jesus' body.
"I don't know" is an honest answer. "It doesn't matter" isn't.
Try an honest experiment.
Read the Gospel of Luke, one chapter a day. Before you start, pray one sentence, even if you're not sure anyone is listening: God, if you're real, show me.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
“though he is not far from any one of us.”
Acts 17:27 NIV