83  Old and new proofs of the existence of God

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The causal proof of God’s existence formulated by Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) assumes that the series of causal movers cannot be infinite, so that there must be a prime mover (prima causa). In the ontological proof of God’s existence, Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) draws his conclusion by moving from the logical, terminological level to the level of being. The teleological proof of God’s existence of Thomas of Aquinas (1225–1274) states that the ordered and obviously planned nature of the world must have an external cause. There are a number of variants on the cosmological proof of God’s existence. The earliest formulation argues that the universe requires a causal agent that must lie outside it. More recent proofs of God's existence can be derived from the natural information in the universe and the prophetic information in the Bible.



Proofs of God’s existence have always been a focus of both strong support and equally adamant criticism (1). Most of the critical commentators refer to Immanuel Kant, considered the main destroyer of all such proofs. Together with the poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Kant has become the very embodiment of the Enlightenment, his definition of which was "humanity breaking the bonds of immaturity it had forged for itself.” The two of them were known as the “Twin stars of the Enlightenment,” i.e., of the movement that claimed that the Bible was implausible.

Kant viewed our perception capacity as very limited, despite our brain which is constantly asking about the meaning of life, the soul, and God. The Bible says that we can indeed know God (2). Also, “It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we (Christians) are children of God” (3). The clearest revelation of all comes from Jesus Christ himself: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (4).

In the Bible, God leads us to the correct view. He explains that we can conclude that God exists based on the created works with the help of our mind: “For the invisible of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him” (5).

The formulation “they knew God” is a highly significant statement. It declares that God has revealed Himself outside of the Bible as well. While proofs of God’s existence alone may not lead to faith, they do have an important function: They refute atheism and are a suitable means of reducing, or even eliminating, some obstacles to faith.


The proof of God’s existence based on the natural laws of information (6):

On the basis of the natural laws of information (NLI), we know that the enormous amounts of information in the cells of all living things require an intelligent originator. Compared to the historical proofs of God’s existence with their mainly philosophical arguments, what we have here is proof based on natural laws of the existence of an intelligent sender and thus for the existence of a God. Kant knew nothing about the existence of the genetic information, so that modern proofs of God’s existence can not refer back to Kant, who lived over 200 years ago and was aware of only a small part of the knowledge that the natural sciences have uncovered since that time.


The prophetic-mathematical proof of God’s existence (7):

The notion is widespread today that the Bible is just a book like any other book. Is it true that it is just a collection of writings by people who have thought about God and the world down through the ages?

The Bible contains 3,268 prophecies that have already been fulfilled (8). This is true for no other book in world history (9). This provides us with a unique criterion for testing the truth of this work. Is it possible that people could have made that many precise predictions distributed over a period of 1,500 years? Were the prophecies fulfilled by chance, or was it only possible because God is the author of the Bible and is able to make prophecies because of His omniscience that can then be checked for accuracy as history unfolds?

The probability that 3,268 prophecies would be fulfilled by chance is practically zero. The results of the relevant mathematical calculations are so gigantic, even hyper astronomic, that our mental capacity and imagination cannot conceive of the figures involved. Assuming that all prophecies have a fifty percent probability, the degree of probability resulting from the calculations is an unimaginable 1.7 x 10^-984.

 
Four direct conclusions:

a) It is not conceivable that all of the biblical prophecies that have been fulfilled have come true by chance. This critical objection can be eliminated statistically.

b) Since the prophecies as a whole could not have been fulfilled by chance, an omnipotent and omniscient God must have foretold these things and then brought them to pass by virtue of His omnipotence.

c) Since the prophecies can only be fulfilled by an omnipotent and omniscient God, our observations have led to a prophetic-mathematical proof of God’s existence. This could also be expressed by saying that the idea of atheism has been refuted.

d) Since we were concerned here with the prophecies in the Bible, the God named under b) is no other than the living God of the Bible, who revealed himself through normal people and came to us personally in Jesus Christ.



Two indirect conclusions:

e) Of the total of 6,000 prophecies in the Bible, 3,268 have already been fulfilled. Many prophetic statements (in particular in the Book of Revelation) refer to the return of Jesus and the end of world history and have not been fulfilled as yet. We can, however, draw the indirect conclusion that these prophecies will also be fulfilled in due time, exactly as described.

f) If we have established that large parts of the Bible were inspired by the infinitely intelligent and omnipotent creator of the universe, it is actually inescapable that the entire Bible, including its statements about creation, must be true.



Two overall conclusions:

g) The prophetic-mathematical proof confirmed the existence of an omniscient and omnipotent God, who must be identical with the God of the Bible.

h) The Bible was authored by God, and it is true.


Conclusion:

None of the proofs of God’s existence cited from the past refers to a specific God. They are all of such a general nature that any religion could make use of them. The prophetic-mathematical proof of God’s existence, on the other hand, clearly refers to the God of the Bible and His son Jesus Christ.


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References:

(1) Alister McGrath, The Atheismus-Wahn, Gerth Medien, 2007.
(2) The Bible, Romans 1,19.
(3) The Bible, Romans 8,16.
(4) The Bible, John 14,9.
(5) The Bible, Romans 1,20–21.
(6) Werner Gitt, Am Anfang war die Information, Hänssler-Verlag, Holzgerlingen, 3. überarbeitete and erweiterte Auflage, 2002.
(7) Werner Gitt, So steht’s geschrieben, 7. stark erweiterte and überarbeitete Auflage, Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung, Bielefeld, 2008.
(8) Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Lawrence Ville, Georgia, USA, 1961.
(9) Werner Gitt, Und die anderen Religionen?, Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung, 1991.
 
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