There is a conscience in man; therefore there is a God in heaven.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 27.
Every effect has a cause; there cannot be an infinite regress of finite causes; therefore, there must be an uncaused cause or necessary being; this being is God (The Cosmological Argument, proponents- Aquinas).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 36.
There is observable order or design in the world that cannot be attributed to the object itself; this observable order argues for an intelligent being who established this order; this being is God (The Teleological Argument, proponents- Aquinas).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 36.
All men possess a moral impulse or categorical (moral) imperative. Since this morality is not always rewarded in this life, there must be some basis or reason for moral behavior that is beyond this life. This implies the existence of immorality, ultimate judgment, and a God who establishes and supports morality by rewarding good and punishing evil (The Anthropological (Moral) Argument, proponents- Kant).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 37.
Man has an idea of an infinite and perfect being. Existence is a necessary part of perfection. [Therefore] an infinite and perfect being exists, since the very concept of perfection requires existence (The Ontological Argument, proponents- Anselm).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 37.
Every normal person is born with the idea of God implanted in his mind, though it is suppressed in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). As the child grows into adulthood, this idea becomes clearer. Critical experiences in the course of life may make this idea come alive (The Argument that God is an Innate Idea, proponents- Augustine, C. Hodge, Calvin).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 34.
All people believe that something is true. If God is the God of truth and the true God, then God is truth. This Truth (capital T) is the context for all other truth. Therefore the existence of truth implies the existence of Truth, which implies the existence of God (The Argument from Truth, proponents- Augustine, A. Strong).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 35.
Man is restless. He has a vague longing for blessedness. This longing was given by God, for man is restless until he rests in God. The presence of this longing is an indirect proof of God existence (The Argument from Blessedness, proponents- Augustine, Aquinas).
Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan, 1992, p. 35.
God exists. He exists as He is revealed by the Bible. The reason one must believe that He exists is because He said that He exists. His existence must not be accepted on the basis of human reason, because that is limited to time and space and has been corrupted by indwelling sin. God has sufficiently revealed Himself in the Bible, but He has not revealed Himself exhaustively. Man can know only what God has revealed in Scripture about His nature and works. But that is sufficient for people to know Him in a personal, saving relationship.
God the Father by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue taken from Biblical Doctrine by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, copyright 2017, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. Page 151.
Unbelievers do not need more evidence, whether logical or empirical [that God exists]; rather, they need new eyes to properly evaluate the sufficient evidence they already have. They need to experience the miracle of regeneration, in which God quickens the unbelieving heart by shining into it the light of the knowledge of His glory.
God the Father by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue taken from Biblical Doctrine by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, copyright 2017, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. Page 151.
“In the beginning, God (Gen. 1:1). The Bible does not begin with a rationalistic argument for the existence of God but rather assumes that He exists, that He existed before the beginning of all things outside Himself, and that there is only one God… Proof for God existence must come, first and foremost, from God’s testimony about Himself.
God the Father by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue taken from Biblical Doctrine by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, copyright 2017, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. Page 144.
