Nagging Questions

Every view of reality is based on presuppositions that are incapable of proof. These assumptions leave us with questions that cannot be answered. Materialists and agnostics usually assume that they "hold the default position and put the burden of proof on theists who maintain the existence of a God who cannot be seen".¹ However, atheism and agnosticism also confront unanswerable questions:

• How did the universe come into existence? (Why is there something rather than nothing?)
• Why are the physical forces of the universe so precisely tuned?
• Why can the forces of the universe be described mathematically?
• Why do humans have the ability to discover, analyze, and understand the natural world and the mathematical nature of the universe as those capabilities are not strictly required for biological survival?
• How can we account for the complexity of the natural world, which gives the impression of having been designed?
• Why do people act as if transcendent moral truths exist?

On the other hand, Christian theists are challenged to make sense of the reality of pain and suffering that defies explanation. However, Christians believe that God has "skin in the game" by having entered into human life in the person of Jesus, who suffered crucifixion for us. While acknowledging and experiencing the reality of evil and suffering, Christians trust that God has a purpose for suffering that is beyond our present understanding. (See Why Does God Permit Evil and Suffering? for some thoughts about this question.)

___________________________

Footnotes

¹I attribute this wording to J. Warner Wallace from his talks presented on his website coldcasechristianity.com.

Back to Home Page