“Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer,” says an anonymous atheist. Why would you believe and pray to an invisible God, when we could use our brains and just do things? What brings a man to embrace the fact that there is no God? Who should a Christian point the finger at? Atheism argues for the nonexistence of a deity, yet a strong counter-argument gives reason to question that notion and believe there is some greater power.
Different atheists have different reasons to believe that there is no God. Take the problem of evil. If God is good, all powerful, and all knowing, how could He allow evil to exist? This problem of evil proves the first three are false. There are many religions in the world today. There are many gods, many paths to salvation and different heavens. What is the true one? Who can decide? Therefore, an atheist would conclude that due to the many religions and the almost endless routes to a heaven, why would he need to pick one? Yet, if the Christian is searching for the number one culprit on sowing deeds of doubt, he or she needs only to look in the mirror. The hypocrisy of Christians pushes more and more men and women away each day. Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” What a sad and honest truth. Professing believers walk into church, singing worship music with empty hearts, bowing heads when asked to, and stroll out and lead a contradictory lifestyle to one that they claim. It is this reason and many others believe that there is no God.
However, arguments have been raised to prove that there is a God. The Kalam cosmological argument proves the existence of God through the cause of the universe. The universe exists. If it didn’t, how anybody could read these words, or live for that matter. From there, the universe either had no beginning or a beginning. All current science evidence points to a beginning, whether it is a big bang or design. The universe could not be infinitely old due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that whatever ordered energy existing in the universe is spreading and equaling out. If the universe was infinitely old, the energy would have equaled out by now and nothing could move. The universe has been found to be expanding. If one went back far enough, there would be a definite point of where the universe started. Now the beginning of the universe either had no cause or cause. Whatever that has begun to exist had a cause. The reader of this paper is on the earth because his or her mother gave birth to him or her. The computer this paper was written on exists because somebody constructed it. Likewise, the universe had begun to exist, therefore it has a cause. Some would argue that the universe just came into existence. Nothing caused it. The problem is that, how could a large and expansive universe just pop out of no where? It demands an explanation. This cause is either impersonal or personal. An impersonal cause would include chaotic behavior such as an earthquake or an explosion. Chaos does not create an ordered universe. An explosion does not force random materials into a working substance. One would not think a flood, tornado, and earthquake erupting their way through a junkyard would create a factory with working V.W. Beatles. Thus the cause must be personal because it must be smart because of the complexity of life, it must be powerful because of the energy that pulses through the universe, and it must be immaterial and eternal. This personal cause to the beginning of the universe is God.
The Kalam cosmological argument is only a tool. Yes, it does prove the existence of a God through logical and scientific reasoning. Yet, this argument is useless and will fail to convince atheists if Christians do not rid themselves of hypocrisy. Why and how could an atheist follow a God that even Christians do not follow and love? “Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Will this statement define the state of Christianity for the future? Time will tell.
