A Real God

To me, making a case for God comes down to one word - proof. I know, some will disagree with the idea of faith being dependent on actual proof. After all, it is faith we're talking about! Faith should be something you just trust in and don't have to prove, right?

There is beauty in a faith so pure that you don't need a real world experience to validate it. However, what made me a Christian Scientist many years ago was the fact that I could put my faith into practice and actually see the results of my faith in God. In other words, the demand for proof forced my faith beyond a philosophical and theoretical feel-good, approach to living. It was a practical faith that impacted the world I live in every day.

I can still remember the first time I applied my faith. I was in the military, where I was unmarried and sad, directionless, lacking vision about where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do with my life. I prayed - not to get something, just to know if there really was a God. Did He care about me? Was He loving me? Would He give me guidance?

As I prayed this way, things began to change. I was given choices in my career and a location in the military that turned out to be pivotal for a new direction in life. Within months I was married, and still am many years later! I experienced physical healings from prayer alone - further evidence of God's ever-present care. With so much proof, even a skeptic might admit that coincidence can't explain the constant stream of good that comes from turning to divine guidance.

This isn't unique to me. Many others are proving every day the realness of God. And as a Christian, it all began with one man and his ministry of proof to the world-Jesus Christ. Most Christians would agree that no one has done it better.

So how did Jesus do it?

It was a combination of approaches, of course. Jesus lived the love of God. He proved the love of God through healing. And through parables and sermons, he taught the love of God to his followers. Living, healing, and teaching-those were the big three. But I would argue that it was the living and the healing that made Jesus' teaching come alive, that made it ring true.

I believe that the words Jesus spoke had power behind them not just because he was the promised Savior, but because he offered proof of that which he spoke. He proved that prayer wasn't just about offering up words to a fickle God, but that the love of God is a powerful force for good, for healing, in each of our lives. And he showed that the prayer that affirms the presence and power of that God brings results-brings an understanding of God that heals.

In other words, Jesus' life example wasn't just about him. It was about all of us-what he said we can do ourselves-making our own case for God. As a Christian Scientist, it is a daily discovery that reveals more about God as unconditional Love, all-intelligent Mind, ever-present good. The practical impact of that spiritual understanding leads to a life that takes on a more compassionate lifestyle, a wiser approach to living, and a more consistent ability to express good in our actions.

Doesn't it makes sense that making the case for God, then, is ultimately about making the case for each of us and our relationship to God? To have a faith that results in proof is to actually feel God's love and grace reflected in your own life - practically, empirically, wholly.

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I don't mean to disparage your personal experiences, but your story smacks of confirmation bias, which is defined as an irrational tendency to search for, interpret, or remember information that confirms one's preconceptions while ignoring information that contradicts them. If you were praying to find out if there was a God, then you almost certainly were predisposed to some extent to think that there was. If you were directionless and unhappy, you'd almost certainly want your prayers to be answered.

Now you claim to have not just good reasons to believe, but rather "proof" that there is a God, a very big claim that the vast majority of serious, intelligent people would never make. What is this proof? The fact that your life improved in "a constant stream of good" that couldn't be coincidental, and that ancient writings about Jesus, taken at face value, prove that he was God.

You'll forgive me if I find your "proof" to be, on the contrary, blatantly debatable. For starters, your improving life could be not coincidental at all and still have nothing to do with God. It could have more to do with increased self-confidence, involvement with a like-minded and supportive faith community, and conforming to the well-documented evangelical pressures within the military. The literal truth of the Bible is a discussion for another day, but suffice it to say that proof either way is as yet forthcoming, 2000 years of debate later.

Posted by: osiuerer | October 17, 2009 4:55 AM
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Phil Davis

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A Real God

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