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Why should I believe in a God I can’t see?

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What does the future hold?

Unfortunate fact

• Virtually everything in our world is deteriorating

• Sooner or later that includes us as well

No long-term futureNo long-term future

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What does the future hold?• Help has to be

trustworthy

• Helper must have ability & be willing to solve our problem

• If good evidence of God – willing AND able to

help

Please at least consider whether there Please at least consider whether there could be a solution to our problemcould be a solution to our problem

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What does the future hold?

• Good reasons to believe the God of the Bible

Answers other questions as well!Answers other questions as well!

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Belief can sometimes be difficult

Please take time to consider Please take time to consider the possibility that there may be a Godthe possibility that there may be a God

• No one can see God

• Suffering

• Peer pressure

• Busy lives

Why should I believe?

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Why Should I Believe?

There probably IS a God.There probably IS a God.So stop worrying and fulfil your life.So stop worrying and fulfil your life.

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Assessing the evidence

Judge or jury:

Weight of many pieces Weight of many pieces ofof evidence evidence compelling!compelling!

• Looks at the evidence• One or two pieces of

evidence coincidence?• More evidence – more

convincing

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Assessing the evidence

• Weigh up the evidence• Maybe wasting our

time?• Maybe evidence of a

God offering a long term future?

Foolish not to consider evidence of a God Foolish not to consider evidence of a God offering a long term future!offering a long term future!

Should we believeShould we believein a God?in a God?

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• Design• Our “just so” world• The laws of physics• Moral law• The Bible

Please weigh up the evidence for yourself . . .Please weigh up the evidence for yourself . . .

What is the evidence?

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Design

• WDLMNLTDTJBKWIRZREZLMQCOP

– Random sequence no design

• ABCDABCDABCD

– Ordered sequence but design?

• THIS IS A SENTENCE

– example of specified complexity

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Chance and Design

Carved heads on Mount Rushmore clearly Carved heads on Mount Rushmore clearly different from eroded rocksdifferent from eroded rocks

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The Argument of Design

• Looks complicated

• Features have purpose

• Features been thought about

• Been designed

Something Complex Needs a CreatorSomething Complex Needs a Creator

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Information in life

• Information stored

• Information controls systems

• Vast amount of information

•

Information produced by intellegence Information produced by intellegence

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Where did life come from?

What does the evidence of nature tell you?What does the evidence of nature tell you?

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A “Just so” world

• Features “just right”

– distance from the sun

– stability of the sun

– size of the sun and earth

– angle of axis tilt

– speed of rotation

– proportion of land and sea

– composition of the atmosphere

Universe & our earth have been “arranged” to Universe & our earth have been “arranged” to support lifesupport life

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The laws of physics

• Very precise laws• Pendulum • For a given length, time of

swing exactly same

Laws imply a law giverLaws imply a law giver

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Moral Evidence• Every culture has laws

• Murder, lying, stealing universally rejected

• Everyone has a sense of right

and wrong

Where did this sense of right and wrong come Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a God?from if not from a God?

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Evidence in the Bible

• Claims to be message from God

• Accurate predictions• Law ahead of its time• Variety of Bible writers• Ring of Truth• Bible “echoes”

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Bible evidence - Accurate predictions

• Our predictions based on past experience

• Varying degrees of success

• Bible makes many predictions – some highly unlikely

• All 100% accurate

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Bible evidence - Accurate predictions

• Clear and direct

• Written before event

• Writers have no influence to make them happen

• Fulfilled by people not aware

Predictions:

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Bible evidence - Accurate predictions

• To be generally disliked

• Have history unlike any other nation

Predictions about Jews:

Couldn’t be guesses based on other nations

All 100% accurate!

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Bible evidence - Accurate predictions

• Clear and different for each city and nation

• Right prediction chosen for each city and nation

Predictions about other nations:

Evidence of Power greater than ourselves

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Bible evidence– Law ahead of its time

• Advanced community health practice

• Morally advanced civil law• Ideas adopted by countries

in 19th century

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Bible evidence- Writers and their messages

Different: backgrounds centuries and places

Writers

They do in the Bible!They do in the Bible!

Give the same message?

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The Bible writers

Doctor

Shepherd

High ranking Jew

King

Fisherman

Musician

Prisoner

SlaveSlave

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The Bible writers

440 BC

630 BC

580 BC

1000 BC

62 AD

750 BC

96 AD

1450 BC1450 BC

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The Bible writers

Thebes

Memphis

ie

N

ISRAEL

EGYPT

JORD AN

SYRIA

LEBANON

SAUDI ARABIA

M e d ite rra n e a nSe a

Te l Aviv

J e rusa le m

RedSea

Ba g hd a d

SAU DI ARABIA

IRAQIRAN

SYR IA

TUR KEY

Babylon

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The Bible writers

The challenge … Different backgrounds Different times Different cultures

No other book in No other book in the world can the world can

make this claimmake this claim

… ONE consistent message

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The “ring of truth”

The painful truth

Abraham – betrayed his wife

King David – murdered to cover earlier misdeeds

Early apostles – all wanted to be leader

Paul - murderer

No other record of No other record of history is so honest !history is so honest !

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Bible echoes

Similar themes

Show how Scripture fits together

‘Treasury’ contains 500,000 links

31More evidence in later sessionsMore evidence in later sessions

What is the evidence?

• Design• Our “just so” world• The laws of physics• Moral law• The Bible - accurate predictions

- law ahead of its time

- variety of writers

- ring of truth

- echoes

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Summary

Evidence for God• Evidence of design• A “just so” world• Laws of physics• Moral law• The Bible as evidence

There probably There probably ISIS a God so stop worrying and a God so stop worrying and fulfil your life! fulfil your life!