What if there is no God? Most polls today seem to reflect that the majority of world citizens believe in some type of God or universal spirit. Why so widespread? Perhaps belief in God, a supernatural being, became useful for early humanity to explain natural phenomena, cope mentally with their lot in life, and enforce social regulations. And perhaps there is some truth to these explanations, as witnessed to by the multitude of gods generated by humanity throughout history. Despite these many examples of societies developing formal belief in God, it seems that many people actually live practically as if there is no God when it is convenient for them. After all, science and modern culture seem to fill in gaps in our knowledge the were previously explained supernaturally. Perhaps we have reached a point in some societies where we can abandon belief in and reliance upon God if we don’t really practically believe He exists after all.
But I would like for you to consider some of the implications of there being no God:
If there is no God, then….
1) How did the world come into being?
If one thinks logically about this for even 3 minutes, how could what now exists ever have begun apart from someone like God? The only alternative is to say that physical matter is eternal, and yet everything in the observed universe is contingent upon something else for its existence. If you give up the idea of God, then you have no idea how anything ultimately exists. Perhaps you are content with not knowing for now. But stop and ponder this for just 3 minutes and see where it leads you.
2) How do you explain human consciousness and the life of the mind?
Have you ever been excited? Depressed? Were you aware that you were these things? How is that possible if there is nothing supernatural about you? How can you have a memory, hopes, and dreams? How can you conceive of and communicate abstract concepts?
3) There is no absolute right or wrong.
Nothing is intrinsically “evil” or “good”. There is only what is acceptable or achievable in a given social context. Human beings do not have absolute rights; they have only what is allowed to them by the most powerful in society. Power trumps morality.
4) There is no justifying reason or purpose for your existence.
There is only what you arbitrarily determine or adopt from others as meaningful to you. What you choose to do or not do ultimately does not matter when considered in a large enough time frame.
5) There is no life after death.
No one will be held accountable for how they lived. There is no such thing as justice. There is no hope or compensation for those in the world who are poor in station, the mentally and physically handicapped, and those who suffer through life. You will somehow cease to be aware of yourself…forever.
6) Maximum joy would be achieved through moderated pleasure, postponement of death, and trying to make yourself superior in ability or position to others in order to use them to get what you want. For the weak, contentment with your lot in life through a drug-like apathy, entertaining your mind through media, and distracting yourself with meaningless short term goals is the only alternative to power.
7) There is nothing special about family save its ability to help you navigate existence through mutual cooperation.
Many people find it hard to believe that there is a God. They point to the existence of “random” evil and suffering, difficulties with the Bible’s portrayal of God, and discrepancies and disagreements between the Bible’s assertions and modern reality. I find it much harder to believe that there is not a God, and I refuse to accept the resulting conclusions.
The truth is that there is a God, one God, who created the world and humanity as his crown jewel. His purpose was to share his beautiful community of glory and joy with us. We rejected his authority and chose to seek pleasure and life outside of him. But this is self-defeating. He is life, and there is no life outside of what he gives. You can exist for awhile by taking advantage of his patience and perverting what he’s given you, but you’ll be held accountable for it according to the magnitude of what you have rejected. In order to restore us to life, he became a perfect human being who in his compassion took our just penalty in our place. He conquered death, and has opened the way for anyone who would enter life again to come through believing in, trusting, and following him. Don’t be deceived by the 2000 years that separate you from these events – he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is just as much king over your classrooms, computers, and companies now as he was the consummate itinerant teacher and prophet then. Stop rationalizing him away and pretending that he doesn’t exist, and believe.
