Does God Exist?

There are only two possible answers to the question Does God Exist. Possibility 1: God does not exist The first possible answer is that He was created by man, and the resurrection of Jesus was a fabrication. The philosopher Epicurus argues that the existence of evil proves that there cannot be an all-powerful, all-loving God: "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"

Does God Exist? If He does, why can't God go on TV to show He exists?

Possibility 2: God chooses to be silent

The second possibility is that God does exist, but He chooses not to reveal Himself.

In fact, Jesus said as much when He was challenged for 'proof' that He was the Son of God: His death and resurrection within three days would be the only proof on offer; after that, there would be no more proof. And the reason He gave was because of the evil in our hearts (Matthew 38-40).

On the face of it, God maintaining His silence in order to deal with the evil in our hearts doesn't make sense. But there are plenty of things in this world that don't make sense.

For example, the universe has an in-built speed limit which is impossible to exceed: if you are going 1mph slower than that speed limit and you accelerate hard, you don't go any faster but you get heavier instead. It just doesn't seem to make sense, but it is true! In a similar way, God maintaining His silence in order to deal with the evil in our hearts doesn't make sense. But could it be true?

In the book of Job, there is evil in the hearts of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar and God exposes that evil by being silent during Job's suffering. Silence is a strategy that God sometimes uses.

If God does exist it does not necessarily mean, as Epicurus declares, that God is malevolent. Rather, one of the lessons from Job is that God uses silence to reveal the evil in our hearts, so that it can then be dealt with. This suggests that God doesn't provide us with 'proof' because it would stop us from searching, yet searching for God is a fundamental step in our spiritual development.

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© S P Myers.