Reasons to Believe

by Eric Lyons & Kyle Butt

About 33 million adults in the United States classify themselves as atheists or agnostics. On the other hand, about 294 million adults believe in a God of some sort. Regardless of which view you currently hold, we can all agree that the time has come for an open discussion of God’s existence, the Bible, and Jesus Christ­—the pillars of Christianity.

Whether you believe in God or not, the approach of Reasons to Believe should be refreshing to you. This book lists reasons to believe in God, the Bible, and Jesus. What is so profound about that approach? In truth, it is often the case that people do not give real reasons for their beliefs. A reason is when an aspect of reality is coupled with proper thinking that leads to a certain conclusion. A motivation does not necessarily have anything to do with proper thinking or reality. If a man says, “I believe in God because my mother told me there is one, and she is the nicest lady I know,” he has not given a real reason to believe in God. In truth, how nice a person’s mother is has nothing ultimately to do with whether what she says is right or wrong.

Sadly, many Christians and atheists hold to their beliefs because of unreasonable motivations. To be candid, it is likely that all of us hold some beliefs without proper reasons. However, we should be willing to critically examine any unreasonable motivations that we may have, and reason together about the beliefs we currently hold regarding God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ.

Chapter Titles:

  • 7 Reasons to Believe in God
  • 3 Reasons to Believe the Bible is from God
  • 5 Reasons to Believe in Jesus
  • 4 Reasons to Do More Than Just Believe in Jesus

Reasons to Believe

 

Why Should You Believe in God?

How could we ever know if God exists? We can’t see, hear, touch, smell, or taste Him.
We can’t weigh Him like we can a five-pound bag of potatoes. We can’t put God under an
electron microscope to study Him on an atomic level. So, how can we know that God
exists?

Admittedly, belief in God is not the result of literally seeing His Spirit or touching His
actual essence. What we have at our fingertips, however, is a mountain of irrefutable,
indirect, credible evidence that testifies on God’s behalf, including the fundamental fact that
matter logically demands a Maker.

A study of the material Universe reveals that every physical effect must have an
adequate cause that came before it (or was simultaneous to it) and is greater than it—a
truth known as the Law of Cause and Effect. The U.S. flag that stood tall on the surface of
the moon in 1969 was neither eternal nor without a cause. Its existence on the moon
demands a sufficient cause.

Some leading atheists contend that “nothing” gave rise to the Universe. But the fact is,
as renowned atheist Richard Dawkins once admitted, “common sense doesn’t allow you to
get something from nothing.”

At one time in the past, the material Universe did not exist. Then, at some point, it came
into existence. But since matter is not eternal and cannot create itself from nothing, then
something outside of the material realm must have brought it into existence. Indeed, the
very existence of matter demands a Maker.

Atheism irrationally contends that an accidental explosion (from nothing) caused
exquisite order—that a well-designed Universe came about without a Designer. In truth,
atheism is unreasonable, while belief in God is entirely rational.

–Eric Lyons

Why Should You Believe the Bible is From God?

It is impossible to be correct about everything a person says or writes. Even though we
may set high standards for ourselves and learn all that we can, and even though we may
put as many safeguards in place as is humanly possible, we will make mistakes, and
ignorance will be revealed. As the old adage goes: “To err is human.”

“With God,” however, “all things are possible.”

Why should an honest truth-seeker conclude that the Bible is from the Creator of the
Universe? What proves that the Bible is of supernatural origin? In short, because while “to
err is human,” the Bible writers were correct in everything they wrote —about the past, the
present, and even the future.

If an all-knowing, all-powerful God exists, then He could guide even uneducated men to
write about events that occurred hundreds or thousands of years before their time with
complete accuracy. He could “move” (2 Peter 1:20-21) ordinary people to write flawlessly
about any number of contemporary people, places, and things. He could even
supernaturally guide penmen to write about future events with perfect accuracy. The most
fundamental reason that a person can come to the rational conclusion that the Bible is
“given by inspiration of God” is because the writers of the Bible were amazingly
accurate…about everything.

One of the first things that any honest truth-seeker would want to know if someone
came to him claiming to be in possession of revelation from God is if the “revelation” was
completely accurate. The fallibility of the message would be the first indication that it
was man-made and not Heaven-sent. On the other hand, complete factual accuracy would
be the first thing to expect from any document claiming to be God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16).

–Eric Lyons

The Bible: One of Three Choices

What are we to make of the many claims of Bible writers that they wrote the words of God?
In short, the Bible writers were lunatics, liars, or truth-tellers (and God was the ultimate source of their writings).

The honest person must admit that the Bible is not a product of the mentally disturbed. Did
insane individuals write the Bible—the world’s best-selling book in all of history? Did men
without any sense pen a book that some of the world’s greatest minds have studied daily for decades? The “lunatic” option for the Bible writers is a very illogical choice.

If the Bible was not written by mentally ill megalomaniacs, then it was written either by the
honest or the dishonest. Logically, no other choices exist. For example, was Moses lying or
telling the truth when he wrote the Ten Commandments, saying, “And God spoke all these
words…” (Exodus 20:1)? This same question can be asked of all the writers of the Bible.

The Bible is either a product of God or a product of liars. [If the writers were liars, then they repeatedly pronounced their own destruction throughout the Bible, for they claimed that lying is sinful and that all impenitent liars will suffer eternal destruction (Proverbs 19:5; Revelation 21:8).] The Bible is either the greatest book the world has ever known (and deserves our full attention and respect as being from God) or it is one of the worst (with thousands of lies about being from God).

You have to make a choice. But be sure to make an honest, informed decision. Don’t hastily base your decision on something as shallow as a meme or a tweet (by skeptics or Christians). Dig in and truly follow the evidence wherever it leads.

–Eric Lyons

Fine-Tuned Design Demands A Fine-Tuner

Where Did God Come From?

Wonders of Creation: Defined Design

 

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