7a. A creationist once gave a presentation where he asked, “What evidence would you use to justify your belief that God created the world?” How would you answer this question? What evidence would you cite? Do you need to justify your belief?
- The first piece of evidence I would use in this debate would be that there have been multiple events in the bible that have later been proven true. There have been archeological findings that prove places like the city of Jericho and its famous walls or the Hittites, a people once thought by skeptics to be a myth (https://www.bringyourbible.org/5-evidences-the-bible-is-true/). Also, the New Testament and the Old Testament have a consistency to them; with multiple authors it would have been hard to put together a documentation like this unless it was real. There have been countless fulfilled prophecies that include descriptions of futuristic events, life and death of Christ, etc. I do not need to justify my belief because I know that God created all. If someone else doesn’t believe me then so be it, I believe in the Bible and I believe in God.
7b. Where would you locate yourself on the Naturalism/MN/Open Science/Theistic Science spectrum? Why?
- For a long period of time, I put myself on the scientific side of things. I believed in God, but I never went to church or devoted time to the Lord. In science class at my public school we talked about the big bang and the science behind it; I figured if science was right then nothing else could be. Now I lean a little more on the religious side of things. Before coming to Concordia, I did not spend time with my faith and God. After a few years of being submerged into the faith life here, I have learned more and believe that God created all. People can try and tell me different, but I will not change my perspective.
7d. Is God still in the miracle business? God seems to hide his involvement in nature, for the most part. He could certainly reveal his actions to scientific scrutiny if he wanted to, but that would be unusual. Do you think it’s appropriate to be skeptical about claims of miraculous manifestations of God’s power (healing miracles, divine intervention, the actions of angels), or is that an inappropriate stance for a Christian to take?
- I believe that skepticism about miraculous events is suitable when talking about God’s power. People who witness such events as healing miracles or angels have been saved by God and will remember those events quite vividly for a long time. God’s miracles can only make sense to Him, anyone who tries to comprehend and figure them out will be stuck for decades. Only He can create them, it is our job to interpret them as miracles or not.
Web Links
- https://time.com/77676/why-science-does-not-disprove-god/
- This link talks about how after tons of research on the subject, science can’t disprove God’s existence
- https://answersingenesis.org/big-bang/does-the-big-bang-fit-with-the-bible/
- This one talks about the contrast in beliefs and compares the two in many ways
- https://www.icr.org/article/what-difference-between-macroevolution-microevolut/
- Talks about the difference between macro and micro evolution
- https://www.bringyourbible.org/5-evidences-the-bible-is-true/
- The link I used for the first question, gives 5 reasons the bible is true
