The Creed - I Believe In God

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only
The Creed
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose
again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
I BELIEVE in GOD to
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he
shall come
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose
again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

The Creed – I Believe in God

“An affirmative existential
proposition can be proved, but a
negative existential proposition
– one that denies the existence
of some thing – cannot be
proved.”
- Dr. Mortimer Adler
“Truth in Religion”

“Two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing
were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer says,
“Some gardener must tend this plot.” The other disagrees,
“There is no gardener.” So they pitch their tents and set a
watch. No gardener is ever seen… Yet still the believer is not
convinced. “But there is a gardener, invisible, intangible,
insensible to electric shocks, who comes secretly to look after the
garden he loves.” At last the Skeptic despairs. “But what
remains of the original assertion? Just how does what you call an
invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an
imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?”
- Anthony Flew, Theology and Falsification


Key Question…
“Why do we have something
rather than nothing at all?”
-Martin Heidegger
“The Fundamental Question of Metaphysics”

Our argument is … if anything exists, God exists.


“In one sense man does not
ask the question about
God, his very existence
raises the question about
God”.
-Wolfaart Panneberg
“Basic Questions in Theology”

Four Possible Explanations for Reality

1. Reality is an illusion
2. Reality is/was self-created
3. Reality is self-existent (eternal)
4. Reality was created by something that
is self-existent


Reality is an Illusion
“I think, therefore I am.”
-Rene Descartes

Descartes, a mathematician, argued
that if he is thinking then he must „be‟.
In other words, I think, therefore I am
not an illusion.

Illusions require something experiencing the
illusion. You cannot doubt the existence of
yourself without proving your existence.

Reality as an Illusion is ruled out...

Reality is/was Self-Created
“Nothing is what rocks dream about.”
-Aristotle

Spontaneous generation is an
analytically false concept – false by
definition. Something cannot be
ontologically prior to itself.

“I never asserted so absurd a proposition as
that anything might arise without a cause.”
- David Hume, Skeptic/Atheist

Reality being Self-Created is ruled out...

Only Logical Stance on Reality

• Something exists
• Nothing cannot create something
• Therefore, a necessary and
eternal being exists

-Jonathan Edwards

Two possible options: an eternal universe or an eternal Creator

Only Logical Stance on Reality
“There are not many options – essentially just
two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its
origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It
is strange that some people claim that it is their
intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to
the second.”
- John Lennox

Matter before Mind or Mind before Matter


An Eternal Universe
All scientific discovery points to one
fact: The universe had a beginning.

• Everything that begins to exist must
have a cause
• The universe began to exist
• Therefore, the universe had a cause

And simply stated, what has a
beginning cannot be eternal.

Reality being an Eternal Universe is ruled out...

An Eternal Creator
• Something exists
• You don‟t get something from nothing
• Therefore a necessary and eternal
being exists
• The only two options are an eternal
universe and an eternal Creator
• Science has disproven the concept of
an eternal universe
• Therefore, an eternal Creator exists

Reality being created by a Eternal Creator is our answer


Scientists Explanation for Life
According to Francis Crick, Richard Dawkins, and other
leading scientists, the answer is …

Directed Panspermia


Problem: Infinite Regress

The “Unmoved” Mover
-Aristotle
An infinite regress of causes is
impossible. There is a difference
between theoretical and actual
infinity; you can‟t practically put an
infinite number of things between two
points.


What Kind of Eternal Creator?
• Some limited, changing being(s) exist
• The present existence of these beings is caused by another
• There cannot be an infinite regress of causes of being
• Therefore, there is a first Cause of the present existence of
these beings
• The first Cause must be infinite, necessary, eternal, simple,
and unchangeable
• This first uncaused Cause is identical with the God of the
Bible
- Norman Geisler, The Philosophy of Religion

True or False?

The Eternal Being as Revealed in Nature

• He must be supernatural in nature.
• He must be powerful (incredibly).
• He must be eternal (self-existent; no infinite regress of causes).
• He must be omnipresent (He created space and is not limited by
it).
• He must be timeless and changeless (He created time).
• He must be immaterial (because He transcends space/physical).
• He must be personal (impersonality can‟t create personality).
• He must be necessary (as everything else depends on it).


The Eternal Being as Revealed in Nature

• He must be infinite and singular as you cannot have two
infinites
• He must be diverse yet have unity
• He must be intelligent (supremely).
• He must be purposeful as He deliberately created everything.
• He must be moral (no moral law can be had without a giver).
• He must be caring (or no moral laws would have been given).

“No finite point has any meaning unless it has an infinite reference point”
- Jean Paul Sarte


The Eternal Being Revealed in Scripture

• Supernatural – “In the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth.”(Gen. 1:1)
• Powerful - "„Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the
heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your
outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,"(Jer. 32:17)
• Eternal - "Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth
to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting,
You are God."(Psalm 90:2)
• Omnipresent - "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where
can I flee from Your presence?"(Psalm 139:7)
• Timeless and Changeless – “I, the Lord, do not change.”(Mal
3:6).


• Immaterial – “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth.”(John 4:24)
• Personal - "Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to
him, “Where are you?”"(Gen. 3:9)
• Necessary - "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold
together."(Col. 1:17)
• Infinite and Singular - “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?
declares the Lord."(Jer. 23:24) . “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is
our God, the Lord is one!"(Deuteronomy 6:4)
• Diverse yet have Unity – "“Go therefore and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit,"(Matthew 28:19)


• Intelligent - "He counts the number of the stars; He gives
names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in
strength; His understanding is infinite."(Psalm 147:4-5)
• Purposeful - "„For I know the plans that I have for you,‟ declares
the Lord, „plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a
future and a hope."(Jer. 29:11)
• Moral – “for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all
His deeds which He has done"(Daniel 9:14)
• Caring - “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand
of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all
your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”(1 Peter 5:6-7)


Which Best Explains the Evidence?

A Mindless, Purposeless, Meaninglessness, Amoral,
Impersonal universe accidently creating personal
beings equipped with minds who are obsessed with
purpose, meaning and morals? In other words,
impersonal matter + time + chance equals a cause that
possesses none of the characteristics of its effect…

Or
A Creator that embodies them all…?

“Essentially, I realized that to stay an atheist, I would
have to believe that nothing produces everything; non-
life produces life; randomness produces fine-tuning;
chaos produces information; unconsciousness
produces consciousness; and non-reason produces
reason. Those leaps of faith were simply too big for me
to take, especially in light of the affirmative case for
God's existence and Jesus' resurrection (and, hence,
his divinity). In other words, in my assessment the
Christian worldview accounted for the totality of the
evidence much better than the atheistic worldview.”

- Lee Strobel on accepting atheism from a thinking standpoint


Another Example – The Moral Argument

Immanuel Kant didn‟t believe
you could know God, but
taught that if God doesn‟t exist,
then ethics were meaningless.
Without God all ethics are
emotive – a matter of opinion.

Kant asked the question,
“What would it take for ethics
to be meaningful?”

For there to be meaning in ethics there must be … Justice.

What is necessary for justice to be real? This world shows that justice
doesn‟t always prevail. There must be life after death.

Is that enough? No. There must be a judgment. And it must be
perfect.

And for there to be perfect justice and a perfect judgment, there must
be a perfect judge. One that must know all the facts of the case. He
must have all knowledge.

Is that enough? No. the judge must be righteous. A judge can know all
the facts and be corrupt.

Is that enough? No. The judge must have the power to implement and
enforce the justice. Nothing must be able to oppose him.

Now you have an omnipotent,
omniscient, righteous, and holy Judge,
who serves over a world that is beyond
this life.

Doesn‟t this sound like the God of the
Bible?
Remember – Kant came to this result without using the Bible


No Excuse

“But the basic reality of God is plain
enough. Open your eyes and there it is! ”
– Romans 1:19, The Message


Some Old Testament Names of God
• YHWH – Jehovah: Self-existent One (Ex. 3:14, “I AM
WHO I AM”).
• Elohim: Strong one. Plural word; plural of majesty.
• Adonai: Lord. Indicative of master-servant relationship.
• El Elyon: Most High, “strongest strong one”, “possessor of
heaven and earth” (Isa. 14:13-14)
• El Roi: Strong One who sees (Gen. 16:13)
• El Shaddai: Almighty God (Gen. 17:1-20)
• El Olam: Everlasting God (Isa. 40:28; c.f. Micah 5:2 for Jesus)
• Jehovah Jireh: the Lord will provide (Gen. 22:13-14)
• Jehovah Raah: The Lord is my Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)
• Jehovah Shammah: The Lord who is present (Ezek. 48:35)


God – A Trinity
Father

God
Spirit Son
Is not

“Every once in a while in my discussions someone asks how I can believe in the
Trinity. My answer is always the same. I would still be an agnostic if there was
no Trinity, because there would be no answers. Without the high order of
personal unity and diversity as given in the Trinity, there are no answers.”
- Francis Schaeffer, He is There and He is Not Silent


“And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the
substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another
of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit
uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible,
and the Holy Spirit
incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And
yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.”

- Excerpt from Athanasian Creed

Hierarchy in the Trinity
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws
him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
(John 6:44)

“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself
who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say
and what to speak.”
(John 12:49)

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,
that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will
testify about Me”
(John 15:26)

The Trinity in the New Testament

"After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold,
the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a
dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.””
- Matthew 3:16-17

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”
- Matthew 28:19

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”
- 2 Corinthians 13:14


The Trinity in the New Testament

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside
as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by
the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus
Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace
and peace be yours in the fullest measure.”
- 1 Peter 1:1-2


God the Father
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you."(Matthew 6:14)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ,"(Ephesians 1:3)


God the Father – What is He Like?
“But when he came to his senses, he said, „How many of my father‟s hired men
have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! „I will get up and
go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your
hired men.” ‟ “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long
way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced
him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, „Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.‟ “But the
father said to his slaves, „Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and
put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it,
and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life
again; he was lost and has been found.‟ And they began to celebrate.“
- Luke 15:17-24


God the Father
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His
will”
-Ephesians 1:5

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to
fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as
sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!””
- Romans 8:15


God the Father
“so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we
might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying,
“Abba! Father!””
-Galatians 4:5-6

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”
- John 1:12

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
would be called children of God; and sure we are.”
- 1 John 3:1


A Change of Heart

“I think the origins of the laws of
nature and of life and the Universe
point clearly to an intelligent
Source. The burden of proof is
on those who argue to the
contrary.”
– Anthony Flew, former outspoken
atheist


“More consequences for life and
action follow from the affirmation or
denial of God than from any other
basic question”
– Mortimer Adler, Philosopher, Legal Scholar


Why Belief in the True God is Critical

“The history of mankind will probably show that
no people has ever risen above its religion, and
man‟s spiritual history will positively demonstrate
that no religion has ever been greater than its
idea of God … What comes into our minds when
we think about God is the most important thing
about us. ”
– A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy


The Creed - I Believe In God

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