At our last Bible study an atheist showed up to check things out. He seems to be a very nice guy, and we had some dialog back and forth with regards to worldviews. One of the disagreements we had was who bore the most burden of proof. Was it a Christian who believes there is a God or is it the Atheist who holds that there is no god? My new atheist friend was insistent that it was I who had to prove to him that there is a God.
Are there claims that the Christian should be able to prove consistency in our worldview?–yes. Are there questions that at times are difficult for Christians to answer?–yes, but I would argue that the atheist has much more to prove than the Christian does.
As we think about worldviews each view is trying to make sense of this life. How did we get here? Why are we here? How can we explain evil? And on and on. However, to begin to have a rational discussion we all must have a starting point. As a Christian we start with God who is revealed in Scripture. From there we make our arguments on why this is true. The starting point is the biggest challenge to an atheist. In fact having a lack of a true starting point, I would even argue, defeats atheism. Sure they can explain their beliefs on evolution or a big bang or whatever else you were taught in school, but one thing they will never be able to answer is “why something, rather than nothing”. The atheist lives in a purely cause and effect world. There was a big bang, which caused this. There is an evolutionary process that causes that.
While this sounds good and right to some, the natural question is what was the first cause? What caused the big bang? If they feel they can explain that, then what caused the thing that caused the big bang and so on. Atheists can never have a true starting point. They can never have a first cause with their godless worldview. It is because of that that they have more of a burden of proof than a Christian.
The Bible is clear that God is a God who is not bound to time. In fact, there was no time before God created it. The Bible is clear that this was God that caused the universe to be. It was God who spoke this reality into existence. As we look out into the heavens and to this creation, they declare to us that there is a God. Our existence alone is more than enough evidence to know that there is a God. Just as painting is evidence that there is a painter, and every building is evidence that there is a builder. Creation is evidence that there is a Creator.
What greater proof do we need that there is a God than that we exist?
The real question we need to answer is not if there is a God but which God. If you have not searched the Scriptures I would urge you to do that. The Bible is clear that it is through the cross of Jesus that we know God. As Easter fast approaches would you turn to God and make Jesus your greatest treasure!