Let’s begin in the book of Jonah. That might be an unusual place to talk about the existence of God but we see a principle at work. Jonah has been told to go to Nineveh and preach repentance. Jonah fled to Tarshish, believed to be on the western edge of civilization.
God created this storm on the Mediterranean Sea that threatened to capsize the boat. The sailors cried to their gods (verse 5) but they did not listen. Jonah had been asleep so they awoke him and urged him to pray to his own god (verse 6). Jonah knew already what the issue was. He tells the sailors in verse 9: “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” He went on to tell them that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord.
They asked him what to do. He suggested they throw him overboard but these men could not bring themselves to do that – at least not at first. So, they continued fighting the storm until they decided they had to do what Jonah told them to do.
They picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea and I want you to observe verses 14-16: “Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.” So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” “Lord” here translates the Israelites’ name for God, Jehovah.
I do not think these men became believers only in the God of Israel. They likely decided to simply include Jehovah in the pantheon of gods in whom they already believed. But, it is clear that they came to believe in God because they saw an effect that had to have been brought about by an adequate cause.
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In May of 1988, President Ronald Reagan visited Moscow, Russia. This was in the days of the Communist Soviet Empire. During that visit, President Reagan spoke to a group of political dissidents at a place called the Spaso House (the residence of the U. S. Ambassador). In that speech, Reagan called on Gorbachev to “lift curbs on freedom of religion, stop jailing people for things they say and write, and allow citizens full freedom of emigration and travel.”
In that same speech, Reagan told these dissidents that whenever he meets an atheist, he is “tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve. And when we’ve finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there’s a cook.”
We know there is a God because this universe demands a Creator outside of this material universe.
–Paul Holland
For a fuller discussion of this subject see this “top reasons for atheism” link.
