The Meaning of Life

Is there meaning to life? Many atheists have claimed that if God does not exist, then human life is ultimately without meaning, value, or purpose. By contrast, if Christianity is true, then each one of us is here for a reason, and life does not end at the grave. God, who is the absolute standard of goodness, knows you, loves you, and intentionally created you. So your life ultimately does have objective meaning, value, and purpose!

The Kalam Cosmological Argument

Does God exist? Or is the material universe all that is, or ever was, or ever will be? Atheists have typically said the universe is eternal. But a series of remarkable scientific discoveries indicates the universe had an absolute beginning. The question becomes: What caused the universe to come into being? The Cosmological Argument addresses this question and shows that it is quite reasonable to believe God exists.

Leibniz’s Contingency Argument

Have you ever wondered why the universe exists? Indeed, why does anything at all exist? The great German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz argued that there must be a necessarily existent being which explains the existence of everything else. Since the universe doesn’t have to exist, its existence must be grounded in a transcendent, necessary being, which is plausibly identified as God.

The Moral Argument

Can you be good without God? Here’s the problem: If there is no God, what basis remains for objective good or bad, right or wrong? If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist. But in moral experience we do seem to grasp a realm of objective values and duties. The existence of objective morality thus points us to the existence of God.

The Fine Tuning Argument

Scientists have come to the shocking realization that the fundamental constants and quantities of the universe have been carefully dialed to astonishingly precise, life-permitting values. If any one of these numbers were altered by even a hair's breadth, no physical, interactive life of any kind could exist anywhere. So what is the best explanation for the fine-tuning of the universe? Did we just get really lucky? Does the universe have to be fine-tuned? Or is it fine-tuned because it was designed that way? The Fine Tuning Argument provides answers to these questions!

The Ontological Argument

In 1078, a monk named Anselm astonished the world by arguing that if it is possible that God exists, then it follows logically that God does exist. Anselm defined God as the greatest conceivable being. If it is possible that God exists, then God exists in at least one possible world. But since God is the greatest conceivable being, if he exists in one possible world, then he exists in every possible world, including the actual world. The Ontological Argument thus shows that if God possibly exists, then God actually exists.

Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem

One of the most powerful objections to the existence of God is the problem of suffering and evil: How can an all-loving and all-powerful God exist if evil and suffering exist? But is it logically inconsistent for God and evil to co-exist? It turns out that the atheist’s argument relies on two hidden assumptions which are not necessarily true. More than that, it can be shown that the co-existence of God and evil is logically consistent. Therefore, it is today widely recognized that the logical version of the problem of evil and suffering fails.

Suffering and Evil: The Probability Version

Does the existence of evil and suffering make the existence of God highly improbable? There are three reasons to think that the answer is, No. First, we are not in a position to make these kinds of probability judgments with any confidence. Second, relative to the full evidence God’s existence is not at all improbable. Third, evil and suffering do not make the existence of the Christian God improbable.

Who Did Jesus Think He Was?

Ever since the Christian movement began, followers of Jesus Christ have said he was God...in human form. But what about Jesus himself? Who did he think he was? With the rise of textural criticism and the modern study of history, historians have developed tools to unlock this question. Today Jesus of Nazareth is no longer just a figure in a stained glass window, but a real person of history, whose life can be investigated historically. So let's examine the New Testament, not as inspired Scripture, but as an ordinary collection of ancient documents. Let's apply to them the standard tests we would use with regard to any other ancient sources. When historians investigate the Jesus of history, what do they find?