A Rational Defense Of The Christian Faith

A RATIONAL DEFENSE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

INTRODUCTION

Christianity isn’t just a matter of blind belief or emotional comfort—it presents a worldview grounded in logic, evidence, and reason. In an age where skepticism often masquerades as intelligence, Christian apologetics offers a robust, thoughtful response. This presentation builds a rational case for the existence of God and the credibility of Christianity by drawing on cosmology, biology, philosophy, and science—while addressing the serious weaknesses in naturalistic explanations for life and the universe.

Ironically, as scientific discovery has progressed, the evidence for God’s existence has actually grown stronger rather than weaker. Dr. Stephen Meyer says, “The major developments in science in the past five decades have been running in a strongly theistic direction. Science, done right, points toward God” (quoted by Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, 2004, p. 77). Douglas Ell, an MIT graduate in math and physics who also holds a law degree, was a longtime skeptic about God. Yet no longer. He explains in his 2014 book Counting to God: A Personal Journey Through Science to Belief, “Each year brings new scientific evidence of wonder, facts for which there are essentially no explanations without God, [keeps occurring]....science and religion are converging” (pp. 13-14).

I. THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING -- AND A CAUSE

The Kalam Cosmological Argument offers a straightforward, logical foundation for the existence of God:

• Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

• Premise 2: The universe began to exist.

• Conclusion: Therefore, the universe has a cause.

This isn’t abstract speculation—it’s backed by science. The Big Bang theory, now mainstream in cosmology, indicates that the universe had a definite beginning [because it's expanding. If you run it backwards in time it reaches a starting point.]. Add to this the second law of thermodynamics: the universe is running out of usable energy, meaning it can't be eternal. Something outside space, time, and matter had to cause the universe. That "something" must be powerful, timeless, immaterial, and personal—matching the Christian concept of God.

The Contingency Argument adds depth. The universe is contingent—it didn’t have to exist. But things that are contingent require a reason for their existence. The only adequate explanation is a necessary being, one that exists by its own nature—again, pointing to God.

II. FINE-TUNING: THE UNIVERSE WAS DESIGNED FOR LIFE

A. Universal Laws

Zoom in on the structure of the universe, and a pattern emerges: incredibly precise fine-tuning. Scientists have found some 30 constants or laws of physics that govern the universe; like gravity, the cosmological constant, and the strong nuclear force are set at exact values that make life possible. Change any of them even slightly, and life couldn’t exist. The evidence points to “Someone” spending a lot of time tuning all of these laws so they would work in unison. This level of precision defies the explanation of random chance. The Anthropic Principle notes that the universe appears tailored for human life. But tailoring implies a tailor. The best explanation isn’t luck or a hypothetical multiverse—it’s intelligent design.

B. Our Home Planet: an Anomaly

In 1966, Carl Sagan hosted the famous TV documentary series Cosmos. He thought in order to have life you just needed two conditions—a right kind of star and a planet at the right distance. This conclusion proved to be totally off base.

Now, more than half a century later, scientists have come to the realization that more than 200 conditions have to be “just right” for life to exist and thrive. As author Eric Metaxas explains: “Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing” (“Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God,” The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 25, 2014).

III. PHILOSOPHY CONFIRMS WHAT SCIENCE SUGGESTS

A. The Moral Argument. Morality is real. Some things are always wrong—torturing children, genocide, rape. If morality is objective, it must be grounded in something beyond human opinion. But naturalism—belief that everything is just matter in motion—can’t account for moral law. At best, it explains moral feelings as evolutionary byproducts, but not binding moral truths. If objective morality exists, then a moral lawgiver exists. That’s God.

B. The Argument from Reason. If our thoughts are nothing more than chemical reactions shaped by survival, why should we trust them to tell us the truth? Evolution favors survival, not truth. Yet we rely on reason, logic, and abstract thought. These point beyond the physical brain to a rational soul—and ultimately to a rational Creator.

IV. EVOLUTION AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE: SCIENTIFIC DOUBTS