“Does God Exist?”

Whether by email, regular mail, phone call, or speaking engagement, there are several questions Answers in Genesis can predict will be asked at some point. Among them are: Is there really a God?; Why is there so much death and suffering in the world?; and How did Noah fit all the animals on the Ark?. In fact, these questions come up so often that a book, the Answers Book, was written specifically to address these perceived challenges to the Christian faith.

In light of this, it is interesting that these (and other) questions were recently listed as “questions that have disappeared” for one reason or another. 1

• Professor Lawrence M. Krauss of Case Western Reserve University suggested the question Does God Exist? should, at least in the Biblical sense of the word God, be obsolete:

  “In the 1960’s and 70’s it seemed just a matter of time before antiquated notions of god, heaven, and divine intervention would disappear from the intellectual spectrum, at least in the US. Instead, we find ourselves in an era when God appears to be on the lips of all politicians, creationism is rampant in our schools, and the separation of church and state seems more fragile than ever. What is the cause of this regression, and what can we do to combat it? Surely, one of the legacies of science is to learn to accept the Universe for what it is, rather than imposing our own belief systems on it. We should be prepared to offend any sensibilities, even religious ones, when they disagree with the evidence of experiment. Should scientists be more vocal in order to combat the born-again evangelists who are propagating ill-founded notions about the cosmos?” 2

• Professor Randolph M. Nesse of the University of Michigan believes the inability of theologians to competently answer Why is life so full of suffering? “has led many to give up on the big question and to ask instead only how brain mechanisms work, and why people differ in their experiences of suffering.” He then proposes evolutionary explanations for suffering. 3

• Dr Cliff Pickover offers Did Noah Really Collect all Species of Earthly Organism on his Ark? as his example of a question scientists no longer ask. After listing several reasons for why, in his view, the Biblical account of Noah cannot be true, he concludes:

  “All of these cogitations lead me to believe that most scientifically trained people no longer ask whether an actual man named Noah collected all species of Earthly organism on his ark. By extension, most scientifically trained people no longer ask if the Bible is literal truth.” 4

These are examples of questions that, according to some, should no longer be asked. And yet, these questions continue to surface-sometimes from skeptics and sometimes from sincere inquirers.

In one sense, we are happy these questions are still being asked, as it shows some people are continuing to grapple with the truth of Scripture-particularly the foundational book of Genesis.

In another sense, we would agree that these should no longer be popular questions-but for different reasons than the ones given above. You see, we have already answered these questions in numerous ways and at numerous times-through articles in Creation magazine (see How Would You Answer? and How Could Noah Fit the Animals on the Ark and Care for Them?) and in other of our materials. We encourage Christians to arm themselves with these vital resources, saturating their culture with responses to such questions, and teaching their children to view the world Biblically. Although we recognize there will always be those who are “willingly ignorant” of the truth, we would hope the number of times we hear these questions would gradually diminish as people learn the Bible is logically defendable.