For My Friend Who No Longer Believes In God (Hypothetical)

I Have Lost My Faith In God!

A Letter To My Friend

Dear Lloyd,

                    How are you my friend? Hoping this letter finds you in peace today. I am so happy that you reached out to me with your concern. This is significant. Actually, this is major – a big deal! For your concern deals with life and death. Still, you’ve come a long way and I hope to encourage you on this Faith journey.

I see you have concerns about the existence of God – that you see no evidence to support your Faith. I am sorry to hear that. I pray by the end of this letter to have given you just a bit of information that may help you with the answers you seek. I know you are a reasonable person, so let’s see where the evidence leads. I know you have read the Bible before and in it you’ll find proof of God’s existence, but I’d like to address your concerns from a different angle.

Without a doubt, one of the best-known arguments for the existence of God is that of the “Moral Argument”. Over your many years of life, I am sure you realize that something inside of you differentiates between good and evil, right and wrong. This is called Objective Morals. These are “values we hold dear that guide our lives” (Craig, 172). If we start here, whether or not you agree, there are some things that are just wrong, and it is so “independent of what people think or perceive” (Craig, 173). Take robbing a store – If you decide to do this, already you know that such an act is wrong. While there are written laws on the books that punish such an act (confirming that robbing a store is wrong), your conscience will tell you “Lloyd, this is wrong”. Tied up in this Moral Argument are moral duties and moral values. Moral duties are concerned with that which is right or wrong, while moral values concern that which is good and bad (Craig, 172). During the time in which you had Faith, you surely can remember an internal compass guiding your behavior. You relied on that which was greater than you for discernment. That internal compass is God.

Here’s what philosophers call an ontological foundation in support of the existence of God through the existence of moral values:

Premise 1: If God does not exist, then objective moral values and duties do not exist.
Premise 2: Objective moral values and duties do exist.
Conclusion: Therefore, God exists.

                                                                                   (Craig, 172; allaboutphilosophy)

Surely Lloyd, you must agree that there is such a thing as an objective set of moral duties and values. They had to come from somewhere. A lawgiver perhaps? These same set of values and duties are universal and have not changed throughout history. If it was up to me and you, many of the objective values and laws would have been either changed, discarded or outlawed. Then I could keep on robbing the store every month with no one and nothing to keep me in check. By the way, the foundation of moral laws was given by God in the Book of Exodus 20. In the very first verse of that chapter it is written “And God spoke all these words, saying…”. If there is no God, then objective morals do not exist, and society will denigrate into a free for all. Even in the most primitive of societies, people know full well, right and wrong, good and bad.

I can’t seem to get away from the Bible in my encouragement to you. I may as well tie it in. In the book of Romans chapter 2, the biblical writer (Paul) is dealing with the awareness of God in pagan Rome. They did not worship God. In it he says:

 ¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So you see my friend, even the unbeliever is governed by a set of laws that is internal (“written on their hearts” [vs. 15]). Who else can do that but God? Objective morals exist whether we agree or disagree with them, and they prove the existence of God. My Christian duties require me to live righteously. I make every effort to follow God’s laws. When I slip, there is such a pain and guilt associated with committing wrong. Tell me there’s no God? Why would it even matter then if I feel so bad about doing the wrong thing when there is no one else around? Who is watching? Why do I feel that way? It is my “conscience bearing witness to a God who is the judge” (vs. 15-16). Look again at the last verse above – Paul says, “God judges”. Another proof for you.  

I must tell you Lloyd, this Moral Argument suggests to me a few things:

1.       “The source of moral law cannot be merely part of the universe” (you cannot believe the naturalists)

2.       There just has to be “an absolutely perfect power outside of us”

3.       This perfect being “gives us moral commands and is very much interested in our behavior”

4.       “This source of all right must be absolutely good, because the standard cannot be less than completely good”

                                                                                    (Professor Richard Koffarnus, Lectures)

William Craig made a great statement regarding this issue – “Since objective morals exist, there must exist an ultimate standard of moral values who is a personal, necessarily existent being who is the source of all moral goodness – God”. This statement brings together Professor Koffarnus’ points above.

Hopefully, you can agree with me that if we consider what guides us from the inside, then we must consider an external invisible influence, who can only be God!

Lastly Lloyd, look no further than nature and you will see evidence for God. The psalmist in the Book of Psalms chapter 1, verse 1 states “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork”. The skies, the sun, the moon, the heavens, the mountains, flowers, the seas. Look around you. Look at you and me, men are still trying to figure us out, what makes us who we are. It was God that said “Let us make man” (Genesis 1: 26-28). The world and philosophers deny that there is a God and that He is the Creator of all that we enjoy and experience, but the teleological argument suggests that this world must have been created by an intelligent designer. While science has become the god of men and continually tries to disprove the existence of God, “Even if we never meet a designer, there are things that fulfill function to support the idea of a design” (Professor Koffarnus). This designer is God, Lloyd. William Craig, who is an authority on the Design argument summed it up this way – “We may infer that a personal Creator of the universe exists, who is uncaused, beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless and unimaginably powerful” (Craig, 154). God exists my friend.

Hoping this helps as a start in your search for evidence. It is ok to search, and I know you will come to the right conclusions. Feel free to ask me questions. I am here for you.

Your Friend,

Kevin.

References:

1.       Allaboutphilosophy. The Moral Argument. Retrieved from: https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/moral-argument.htm

2.       Craig, W. Reasonable Faith. Wheaton, Il: Crossway (2008)

3.       Koffarnus, R. The Teleological & Design Arguments. Retrieved from: https://cccb.instructure.com/courses/285/files/67924?module_item_id=20752

4.       The Macarthur Study Bible. United States of America: Thomas Nelson (1997)

5.       Googleimage

Written by Kevin A. Hall    12.16.2017