>>Argument of PASCAL’S WAGER—Blaise Pascal was a mathematician and philosopher in the 1600’s during a time of extreme skepticism toward Christianity. The popular arguments for God’s existence weren’t taken seriously. Pascal came up with a bottom level belief. Suppose someone terribly precious to you lay dying, and the doctor offered to try a new "miracle drug" that he could not guarantee but that seemed to have a 50-50 chance of saving your beloved friend's life. Would it be reasonable to try it, even if it cost a little money? And suppose it were free—wouldn't it be utterly reasonable to try it and unreasonable not to? Suppose you hear reports that your house is on fire and your children are inside. You do not know whether the reports are true or false. What is the reasonable thing to do—to ignore them or to take the time to run home or at least phone home just in case the reports are true? No reasonable person would decline this. But deciding whether to believe in God is a case like these, argues Pascal. If you believe in God only as a bet, that is certainly not a deep, mature, or adequate faith. But it is something, it is a start, it is enough to dam the tide of atheism. The Wager appeals not to a high ideal, like faith, hope, love, or proof, but to a low one: the instinct for self-preservation, the desire to be happy and not unhappy. [FOR MORE see www.peterkreeft.com/topics/pascals-wager.htm]
>>Argument of DESIRE—C. S. Lewis, who uses this argument in a number of places, summarizes it briefly: Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. (Mere Christianity, Bk. III, chap. 10, "Hope"). [FOR MORE see: www.peterkreeft.com/topics/desire.htm]
>>Argument of HISTORY—this is all about facts, things that have happened in human lives in history. The historical data amounts to strong clues, implications, but not to ultimate proof. (1) history is like a story—every story points to a storyteller. (2) whenever God’s laws are followed, the people prosper. (3) "coincidences" bring suspicion that an unseen divine hand is at work. (4) thousands of miracle claims point to the presence of God. (5) if Christ was not God He was either a liar or lunatic. (6) “if there is no God, how can life's most fundamental illusion cause life's greatest joy? If God didn't do it, who put smiles on the lips of martyrs? By their fruits you shall know them. Illusions do not have the staying power that the Faith has.” (7) “Worldy men pin their hopes on otherworldly goals, century after century.” [FOR MORE see: www.peterkreeft.com/topics/history.htm]
>>Argument of MORAL LAW—Humans know right from wrong. All known cultures share this fact. Morality that comes from “outside of us” must be from somewhere…Someone else.
>>Argument of FIRST CAUSE—Something cannot come from nothing. We see the Universe & common sense tells us that it must have had some creative cause, and this leads to the Creator. If there is no first cause, then the universe is like a great chain with many links; each link is held up by the link above it, but the whole chain is held up by nothing. If there is no independent being, then the whole chain of dependent beings is dependent on nothing and could not exist. [FOR MORE see: www.peterkreeft.com/topics/first-cause.htm]
>>Argument of CONSCIENCE or Intuition—One of only two arguments for the existence of God alluded to in scripture. Our conscience tells us that there is a God. As C. S. Lewis put it, "I felt in my bones that this universe does not explain itself." See Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Romans 1:19-20. [FOR MORE see: www.peterkreeft.com/topics/conscience.htm]
>>Argument of DESIGN— The Universe is ordered and designed for life. All designs have a designer. There are tons of examples, from a single cell, DNA, reproduction to the Earth itself. If the Earth were just a little farther from or closer to the sun it would be too hot or too cold. Our moon, probably responsible for the continents and ocean basins, is unique in our solar system and seems to have originated in a way quite different from the other relatively much smaller moons. The tilt of the earth's axis insures the seasons, and so on. Design points to a designer. See Romans 1:19-20. [FOR MORE see: www.peterkreeft.com/topics/design.htm]
