Why I Believe in God
by Kel
Willis
Can you fathom it: more
Aussies believe in aliens than in God!
Apparently, 80% of us believe in the existence of aliens somewhere in space whilst 74% believe in God.1
It makes me wonder about
the basis for people’s beliefs. I guess with
today’s emphasis on the supernatural, visitors from
outer space in movies and the many sightings reported on the TV,
people want to believe in the supernatural. It’s sensational and
it feeds the spiritual dimension in us.
Furthermore, it doesn’t make demands on us
like believing in God does, for belief in God is quite
different: if he is there, surely we cannot easily ignore him.
When it comes down to it,
the bottom line is our response to this
question: Is there a personal, transcendent
and knowable being who designed and created
our world? And, a not so frequently asked question,
what difference does it make? Most people at some
point in their lives question the existence of God and that
fact in itself indicates that it is a
legitimate question for us to investigate. The
reality is that if God exists, what are the ramifications if we reject
him? Does life make sense without God? And does he care about us or are we just part of the furniture as it were?
I often engage
with people who declare themselves to be atheists or non-believers, but when I ask them why they hold this position, I
find they can rarely explain their reasons in
a thought through way. Instead, I hear
throwaway lines about disenchantment with the church for its belief in a God who leaves the world in such a
mess, or anger about people who call
themselves ‘Christians’. The very idea of
being accountable to God is enough to make
others refuse to accept even the possibility of his existence.
I grew up
with a father who spent most of his life denouncing God because of the
hypocrisy of the church and its people. When I began to question
his beliefs I discovered that there was very
little substance to it, and I realised that his ‘atheism’
was really just a convenient hideaway from God, giving him an
excuse for his lifestyle and attitudes. The reality was that my
father could not bear the idea of a personal god. He was rather
like Thomas Nagel, Professor of Philosophy at New York
University, who perhaps in an unguarded moment said, ‘I want
Atheism to be true, and I am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are
religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe that there is a God. I naturally hope there is no God, I just don’t want
there to be a God, I don’t want the universe to be like that.’ In the same way, my father’s rejection of God was more a desire for him
not to exist, rather than being based on any plausible arguments against his existence. This mindset is common and when
one hears the antagonism in the writings and speeches of some of the so-called ‘new Atheists’, one wonders if they too
don’t harbour a secret fear that God may exist after all.
1.
http://www.amazingaustralia.com.au/statistics.htm
Click here to read this article in full
in Interact Vol 21 No 2. |
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Established in 1977
as a servant ministry to the churches, Christian Growth
Ministries Inc (CGM) was brought into being through the
vision of a group of Christian leaders in Sydney.
As an
interdenominational and non-profit organisation, our mission is
to contribute to the life and growth of God's people and to the
church at large, wherever possible and with whatever means are at
our disposal.
What do we do?
Our focus is on
equipping, training and encouragement. We believe that God
is committed to His church. We therefore believe in the future
of the church and are committed to contribute to its health and
growth.
Our emphasis is on
the necessity for understanding Bible principles for life and
growth, both within the individual Christian and the local
church. We believe that all aspects of Christian living, church
life and evangelism are a consequence of understanding and
appropriating the clear principles of Scripture.
How do we operate?
We have an
executive Board of Directors drawn from a number of Sydney
churches, all of whom are active and highly respected within
their denomination.
 Our
Director, Rev Kel Willis, is an ordained Baptist
minister with over 35 yrs experience in Christian work that
has included youth and student work, evangelism, pastoral
ministry and itinerant Bible teaching. He is the author of a
number of books including
Clearing the Cobwebs,
Escaping Mediocrity,
The Experience Trap,
Preaching for Impact
and
Living with You, Living with Me.
Finance
CGM is a
faith work, depending upon God to provide through His people the
finance needed for staff and running expenses of the
organisation. Our books are audited annually and copies of our
audited statement are available upon request.
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