Answers to Your Questions--by Charlie Campbell

Charlie Campbell is going to speak at the winter retreat. You can read more at AlwaysBeReady.com

What evidence do you have that there is a God?”

The very existence of the universe itself is evidence that there is a God. Let’s think about this for a moment. There are only three options for the existence of the universe. One, that it has always been. Two, that it came into being by itself. Three, that it was created. The first option, that the universe is eternal, has been utterly rejected by the scientific community. The motion of the galaxies, the background radiation echo, and other evidences all overwhelmingly point to the fact that the universe sprang into existence at a particular point in time, something scientists call the Big Bang. Option two, that the universe created itself, is philosophically impossible. Of course, before the universe existed it would not have been around to do the creating. Obviously, a non-existent universe could not have done anything! It did not exist. We all know that nothing can not do anything. Nothing is nothing. It (if we could even call nothing an it!) cannot see, smell, act, think, or create. So option one and two can be thrown out on scientific and philosophical grounds. Option three, that something or someone outside of the universe created the universe, is the only reasonable option. Let’s imagine I am holding up a painting. When you see a painting, what proof do you need to establish the fact that a painter exists? Nothing else besides the painting itself. The painting is absolute proof that there was a painter. You do not need to see the painter to believe that he or she exists. The painting is all the evidence you need. It would not be there if the painter did not exist, and so it is with the universe. The existence of the universe itself proves absolutely that there is a creator.

“What evidence do you have that the Bible is actually true?”

If I had to narrow it down to a few evidences, I would probably say: fulfilled prophecies, archaeological discoveries, and the Bible’s amazing unity. The Bible, unlike any other religious book, has demonstrated itself to be the Word of God through its ability to rightly predict the future. There are literally hundreds of very specific prophecies in the Bible that were spoken hundreds of years before their fulfillment that have already come to pass. No other religious book can verify itself in this way. The Bible has also been proven to be historically reliable by numerous archaeological discoveries. To date, there have been more than 25,000 archaeological discoveries that have verified the names of persons, places, events, and customs mentioned in the Bible. Finally, there is the Bible’s amazing unity. Here is a book that is actually a collection of sixty-six different books, written down by more than forty different authors, over a period of 1,500 plus years, on three different continents, in three different languages, and it addresses life’s most controversial topics from beginning to end. You would think there would be chaos, confusion, and contradictions, yet the Bible miraculously remains absolutely consistent and internally harmonious from beginning to end. These three evidences (fulfilled prophecy, archaeological discoveries, and the Bible’s amazing unity) build a compelling case for the divine origin and historical reliability of the Bible.

“Why aren’t dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?”

First, we should not expect to see the word dinosaur in the Bible. The term was not coined until a famous paleontologist, Sir Richard Owen, gave them that name in 1841–nearly eighteen centuries after the New Testament was finished. Second, just because a creature is not mentioned in the Bible does not mean that it did not exist. There are thousands of creatures that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible: giraffes, alligators, penguins, just to name a few. Thirdly, the Bible does actually mention at least two different creatures that very well may have been dinosaurs: Behemoth, and Leviathan. Behemoth is described as having a tail like a cedar tree (Job 40:15-19). Of Leviathan, the Lord said to Job, “…indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false; Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up….Who can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with a double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face, with his terrible teeth all around? His rows of scales are his pride” (Job 41:9-10, 13-15a). Scales? Terrible teeth? So fierce that no one would dare wake him up? It is easy to see why numerous Biblical scholars have concluded that Leviathan may have been a dinosaur.

Go to AlwaysBeReady.com to read the answers to these other questions too! May the Lord bless you with an answer to give to those who ask you.

"What about those who have never heard of Jesus? Will they be condemned to hell?”

“Hasn’t the Bible undergone corruption as it was translated hundreds of times down through the centuries?”

“If God is so loving, why does He allow evil and suffering?”

“What about homosexuals? Do you believe that they go to hell?”

“Why would God have created us, if He knew in advance that so many people would be eternally lost?”