Quick Responses to Skeptics:
by Charlie Campbell, Director of ABR
Twitter: @CharlieABReady

What evidence do you have that there is a God?”

The universe itself is evidence that there is a God. Let’s think about this for a moment. There are only three options to explain the existence of the universe. One, that it has always been. Two, that it created itself. Three, that it was created. The first option, that the universe is eternal, has been utterly rejected by the scientific community. The motion of the galaxies, the background radiation echo, and other evidences all overwhelmingly point to the fact that the universe sprang into existence at a particular point in time. Option two, that the universe created itself, is philosophically impossible. Of course, before the universe existed it would not have been around to do the creating. Obviously, a non-existent universe could not have done anything! It did not exist. We all know that nothing can not do something. Nothing is nothing. Nothing cannot see, smell, act, think, or create. So option one and two can be thrown out on scientific and philosophical grounds. Option three, that something or someone outside of the universe created the universe, is the option that both reason and the evidence point to.

SKEPTIC: I hear what you're saying Charlie, but I still have a hard time believing in a God that I cannot see.

CHARLIE: I understand that struggle. I struggled with that before I became a believer as well. Let me help you think through this though. Let’s imagine I am holding up a painting. When you see a painting, what proof do you need to establish the fact that a painter exists? Nothing else besides the painting itself. The painting is absolute proof that there was a painter. You do not need to see the painter to believe that he or she exists. The painting is all the evidence you need. It would not be there if the painter did not exist, and so it is with the universe. The existence of the universe itself is compelling evidence for a creator.

SKEPTIC:  But if the universe demands a creator, then why can’t we just say God must have a creator as well? In other words, who made God?

CHARLIE: Nobody made God. Unlike the finite universe (a universe that began to exist) that demands a creator, God does not need a creator.

SKEPTIC: Why?

CHARLIE: Because He is eternal. Someone who has always existed does not need a creator or someone to have brought Him into existence, because He’s always been. Psalm 90:2 says, “Even from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” God is eternal. But the universe falls into an entirely different category. As the scientific discoveries have shown, it has not always existed. And anything that begins to exist, requires a cause or maker. Things don’t just pop into existence all on their own. Nothing does not produce something.

SKEPTIC: Okay Charlie that makes sense, but you believe that God has just always existed?

CHARLIE: Yes.

SKEPTIC: Impossible!

CHARLIE: Well, before you scoff at the notion of God having always existed, keep this in mind: something must have always existed. Do you realize that?

SKEPTIC: Why do you think that?

CHARLIE: Well, think through this with me: if nothing cannot produce something, and yet something exists, then it follows necessarily that something has always existed (in order to bring the something into existence). Think of it this way:

1. If there ever was a time that absolutely nothing existed, nothing would exist now.
2. Something exists now.
3. Therefore, there was never a time that absolutely nothing existed.

So, to answer the question, Who made God? No one. God is eternal and does not need a maker. The universe is not eternal and does require a maker.


If you like to have have short concise answers ready for conversations with nonbelievers, you'll love Charlie Campbell's book: One Minute Answers to Skeptics' Top Forty Questions ($9.95). We also have a Question and Answer section here. You can follow Charlie on Twitter at: @CharlieABReady