Loyalty

Is there a God?

When we turn to history, whenever we find civilization, there so often goes with it a seeking by the people of that society for answers about the world they live in. This extends primarily to the origins and meaning of life, together with the question of why things happen the way that they do. As people look at the complexity and order of the world about them, civilization after civilization has concluded that there is a greater force behind the world, typically in the form of a god or gods. In current times, we are still left with the same questions.

There are two primary questions about God that people worry about in modern times. One is whether there really is a God that controls the earth, and the second is whether it is a good thing to be concerned about such a God.

The basic idea of whether there is a God or not is very abstract. It is impossible to prove that no God exists, and it is for that reason that it is not considered a scientific concept. The onus is more to show that a specific God is real, based on the information that we have about the teachings and actions of that God.

Three of the world's major religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all have their origins in a set of writings that date back to a period starting about 3500 years ago. They teach that there is a God who has supreme power over the world, and that people have a responsibility to him. These writings form the greater part of what is now known as the Holy Bible. Because it has such wide acceptance, even among such widely different belief systems, the Bible is a very good place to start looking.

Now that we have established that God exists, it is also important to think if it is worth believing in God. Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

• God is important because he exists. The very fact that God created the universe and everything in it, including us, makes him important. The evidence of God is all around us. We can particularly see this in nature. It is almost impossible to stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and deny the existence of God. It is such an overpowering, awe-inspiring experience. Things like this point to the existence of God.

• God is an authority figure