My dad was an atheist free-thinker.
He influenced me towards atheism and towards science, during my teen years. He introduced me to the writings and thoughts of atheists and freethinkers; Bertrand Russell, Voltaire, Bernard Shaw, Sartre, and of course, Charles Darwin. He also introduced me to the beauty of astronomy and the beauty of science in general.
My dad taught me that religions are man-made attempts to seek the nature of reality, but ultimately they are for stupid people of weak character, i.e., for people who are not that intelligent and who don’t have the strength to stand on their own.
He mentioned to me that as intelligent people we don’t need religion, but that we should recognize that not-so-intelligent people do need religion, and so we shouldn’t work to destroy the faith of the not-so-intelligent. However those of us who are more intelligent do not need to believe in the myths of the various religions of mankind.
In addition to the writings of Atheists, my dad had the holy books of the major religions in his library. And he exposed me to the teachings of the major religions, while reinterpreting any miracles or supernatural events based on materialistic naturalism.
By my own choice, as a teen-ager, I lived as a practical-atheist (modeling or basing my behavior on the non-existence of God for all practical purposes).
I recall being an arrogant, selfish, self-centered jerk.
And I recall debating **for** Naturalistic Evolution and **against** Christians who believed in God having created life.
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From a quasi-scientific viewpoint (largely out of curiosity), I was interested in world-views and cultures, and so learned of different world-views, cultures, and religions. I did so by my reading, and also by meeting people from different cultures, religions and world-views and discussing these topics with them. These happened during my high school, undergrad, and grad school years.
Over time, I came to the viewpoint that given the truth of Atheism, the only rational philosophy or worldview is Existentialism.
There is no ultimate meaning or purpose to our existence. The Universe is indifferent to whether we live or die., and Ultimate Reality is indifferent to whether we live or die. Facing this can be difficult. However we have no choice but to face this fact and put on a brave face, and create temporary meaning for our lives by choosing **something** (it doesn’t matter what) to live our lives for… something to self-actualize ourselves and our lives with.
And I began to interpret all of existence and everything I saw around me based on this paradigm.
Why do people have children?
They are trying to create an artificial sense of meaning in their lives, a kind of drug (time spent with their children) that would take their minds away from the meaninglessness and pointlessness of their little lives.
Why do people get into sex and drugs? Same reason.
Why do people get into fame and fortune? Same reason.
Why do some people drown themselves in their careers? Same reason.
Why do people get into religion? Same reason (I thought).
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And so, I moved deeper into Existentialism (philosophically). I also got deeper into Science (which in a sense became the be-all and the end-all of my existence, almost to the extent that you could call it my religion).
Over time, though, a few inconsistencies or anomalies (with my worldview) kept nagging me. (I need to reword this sentence; not sure exactly how to capture the essence of what I felt and experienced).
There were aspects of this universe that didn’t match what I would expect from an Atheistic Universe.
Why the Big Bang?
I would have expected scientific proof of a steady-state universe. That would be more consistent with an Atheistic Universe than a Big-bang universe.
Why so much Beauty?
Why is the universe so beautiful – that is what drew me into science – the beauty of astronomy, the beauty of the stars, the beauty of the nebulae.
As a teen/ young man, I could understand (and write off) the beauty of women. The curve of a bosom, or of hips and thigh, the beauty of a youthful cheek, the delicate arch of an eyebrow or an eyelash. I could write these off as Darwinian mechanisms to induce reproduction.
But why do I find so much beauty out in the depths of space (in our universe), or down in the deeps of the ocean (even in regions where I am never likely to ever visit in person)… The Darwinian explanation sounded hollow… and the more I thought about it, weak and feeble.
Why is the universe so rational (to paraphrase Einstein)?
Why do the laws of the universe appear to so faithfully follow the rules of rationality? An atheistic essentially random universe… wouldn’t it appear mostly random… rather than rational and ordered (as viewed from the perspective of the laws of physics)?
And why is so much of science so beautiful?
Why have so many scientists noticed, and remarked upon, the elegance, the beauty of the laws of physics in particular (and science in general).
And why are we as humans able to comprehend so much of the universe… so much more than if we were just random products of chance (given that ultimately random chance is the creative agency within Darwinism; the other factor, natural selection, basically being the grim reaper, rather than a creative agency).
And why does so much of the universe obey so much of the laws (rules) of mathematics? Many scientists have noticed this and commented on this fact, in articles with titles such as “The unreasonable effectiveness of Mathematics in Describing the Universe”.
Given that the universe could have taken any one of an infinite number of forms, why did it choose to take a form that we humans can rationally comprehend?
And given that the universe could have taken any one of an infinite number of forms, why did it choose to take a form that we humans can build theories to explain (given that our theorizing are limited extrapolations from our limited intelligence)?
Later on, I became aware of the evidence of the fine-tuning of the physical laws and parameters of our universe (which was a surprise from an Atheistic viewpoint).
There were other examples, but for the sake of brevity I'll move on.
I knew that as an Existentialist I was to create my own meaning and purpose in life. And this was ok as long as I created such meaning and purpose by setting high goals and striving to achieve them (in my case the goals were in terms of academic achievement, and later on they were in terms of promotions at work, or recognition and awards in my field, or financial targets).
For a period of years, everything I touched turned to gold.
However, once I achieved (or received) the gold, it turned into ashes in my hands… the stuff was still gold, and I was euphoric at the triumph of having achieved what I had set out to achieve, but a few weeks later, the euphoria was gone and I was back to the pointlessness and meaninglessness of my existence… until I set the next goal and strived for it.
At some stage, the pointlessness of what I was doing dawned on me.
What is the point of success if it turns into ashes shortly after I achieve it?
Interestingly, the first book in the Bible that I could relate to was Ecclesiastes (in the Old Testament).
In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon documents how he had wealth (and once he achieved wealth, it turned to ashes; it was all vanity; he didn’t receive lasting satisfaction from wealth); and he achieved fame (but that ended up being pointless; ashes; vanity); and he achieved the heights of wisdom (and that ended up being pointless; ashes; vanity); and he received the respect and adulation of the masses (but that ended up being pointless; ashes; vanity); and he ended up with a harem of a 1000 beautiful women (and even that was ultimately pointless; ashes; vanity).
There was something within me that could totally relate with what Solomon had experienced.
An aside: In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon ends up concluding that there is nothing for it (for lasting satisfaction) but to come into relationship with the God of the universe and to stay in relationship with Him. In other words, lasting meaning and purpose arise out of relationship with the God of the universe.
Over a period of time, I realized the hopelessness and despair of Existentialism (also called the Angst of Existentialism).
I began to realize that I was too intelligent to be an Existentialist (I do not mean to offend anyone by that statement).
Here is the problem. As an existentialist, I was to fool myself into thinking that there is meaning and purpose to my life (by picking something and actualizing myself by acting on that something with gusto)… But I was too intelligent to be able to deceive myself for very long. I could see through the self-deception of existentialism. And that is all that Existentialism had to offer me… A path to self-deception.
Once I recognized the full force of this (experientially), the Angst was on; the despair, the hopelessness, the pointlessness, the meaninglessness of existence.
Writers like Camus have captured some of this Angst in their writings.
This experiential Angst caused me to question everything I knew or thought I knew. In a sense, like Descartes, I went back to the basics and asked -- what do I know, and on what basis do I know what I know?
How do I know that anything exists? How do I know that I exist? How do I know that I am not a brain floating somewhere in a vat, imagining the whole universe?
I had journaled sporadically during that period… See here if you wish, for some thoughts on that topic from about that time frame.
And I continued to think and to search for truth.
One was C.S. Lewis. The other was G.K. Chesterton. I speak elsewhere in this paper of C.S. Lewis. In this section, I will briefly mention Chesterton.
G.K Chesterton was an intellectual, an atheist.
With time however, he noticed that his fellow atheists were so anxious to attack and destroy Christianity that they would contradict one another in their attacks. One atheist would attack Christianity for being too weak; another would attack Christianity for being too strong. One atheist would attack Christianity for being too other-oriented; another would attack Christianity for being too self-oriented. One atheist would attack Christianity for being too future oriented; another would attack Christianity for being present oriented. One atheist would attack Christianity for being too oriented towards the poor; another would attack Christianity for being too oriented towards the rich. And so forth…
In one of his books (I forget which one, may have been "Orthodoxy"), Chesterton states that this got him interested in Christianity. What is it about Christianity that elicits so much passion from his fellow atheists, and so much "irrationality" (in a sense) that they didn’t worry about contradicting each other in their eagerness to attack Christianity… And so he looked into Christianity and into the teachings of Jesus Christ. He gradually grew convinced of the truth of Christ, and ended up committing his life to Christ.
I began to notice the same thing (that G.K. Chesterton had noticed) about Atheism.
And with time, I too began to grow intellectually skeptical of Atheism and Metaphysical Naturalism.
In one of his books (I don't recall which one), Lewis mentions that he was in a study/ reading room with an atheist friend of his, a very intelligent man that Lewis respected. And as they both sat in their respective stuffed chairs and read their respective books, the atheist friend suddenly looked up and said something to the effect of "Rum thing… this Christianity myth… there is almost the ring of truth to it… what if it were indeed true… " (I recognize that I have butchered the quote; I have to find the quote and insert it here).
Now, this statement by his atheist friend really struck Lewis. He mentions that this friend was the last person one would think would give any credibility to Christianity… and yet here he was… with his statement. And Lewis goes on to state that his friend never brought up Christianity again and he (the friend) stayed an atheist for the rest of his life.
However, Lewis was struck, at first by the comment, and later on as he looked into Christianity, by the "ring of truth" that he perceived in the gospel narratives, in the life of Christ, and in the message of Christ.
And over a period of time, Lewis came to be convinced of the reality of the Christian God, and ultimately committed his life to Christ.
I have experienced this same "ring of truth" when I have read the gospel narratives, the life of Christ. A sudden recognition of myself in one of the characters around Christ. Gosh, I would have behaved exactly the same (as the specific character, in the specific incident in the gospel narrative; I would have run away as the disciples did; I would have denied Christ, as Peter did; I would have doubted Christ as Thomas did; I would have been struck with wonder at the people looking like tree-trunks, as in the case of the blind man who was healed and so forth).
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Now, CS Lewis speaks of (before committing his life to Christ) hearing (metaphorically) elfin/ magic/ incredibly-beautiful music coming faintly from just over the next hill, from over the wall around the neighborhood forest... and he is drawn towards this music, and sets off in search of it; but on the way, he sees a girl (metaphorically) and abandons the music to have an affair with her (and the music fades away)...
… and years later, he hears the unearthly beautiful music again (faintly) and he seeks after it ... and he sees something else on earth that distracts him...
… and this happens a few times, until as he gets closer to the music... finally, he finds the author of the music (God) and the author is so incredibly more beautiful than the music...
I too have experienced this in my life (and I don't know how to describe it)...
With time, I came to recognize that
1.(a) Atheism is based on faith, (b) Metaphysical Naturalism is based on faith, (c) Science is based on faith.
2. Western Science developed out of the Rational Faith of Christians who believed in a Rational Universe as a reflection of the creative activity of a Rational Monotheistic God.
3. Science does not have to necessarily assume that God does not exist, or that God does not participate in the universe in any way. All that Science needs is that the God who exists is rational and is not capricious (both of which characteristics match the Christian God).
4. The faith that undergirds Science is more rational if it is based on Rational Monotheism (as with the Rational Christian God) rather than on Polytheism, or Pantheism, or Maya (as in Hinduism), or Fatalism (as in Islam), or random-chance and necessity (as in Atheistic Metaphysical Materialism).
5. I came to recognize that Committed Atheism is unfalsifiable. And that any and all evidence for the existence of God can and would be "explained away" by a committed hard Atheist.
An example of this that struck me was the foundational assumption by Jacques Monod (an Atheist) in his book titled "Chance and Necessity". Monod assumes that all phenomena should be explained by either Chance or Necessity (i.e., natural law) or a combination of the two. Notice that such a thesis (if given unlimited reign, which is what atheists are arguing for) is effectively unfalsifiable. Given any phenomenon whatsoever an atheist can explain it (or explain it away) by a known natural law; if that doesn’t work, the atheist can invoke random chance. And if no rational limits are placed on random-chance then absolutely anything can be explained away as a random chance event. (Monod argues for instance that life is the result of a random-chance accident; and human beings at large are a result of a random-chance accident; in part this is because random-chance is the only meaningful creative force within Darwinism; Natural selection is a grim reaper, not a creative force).
I began to realize that in practice, committed hard atheists place no limits on random chance. This is why some hard atheists will argue that the first living cell (no matter how complex) or the first self-replicator (no matter how complex) arose by random-chance. And such atheists do so, without any seeming concern for the fact that the calculated random-chance probabilities of such an event happening are so low as to be ludicrous (to any rational person).
Coming back to Monod, consider a book he wrote titled "Chance and Necessity" (le hasard et la necessite). His foundational assumption is that all phenomena and entities should be explained only by Chance and Natural Law or a combination of the two.
So, let us consider Monod's book. The book exists in the physical world, and so it is a physical entity. Did Monod's book and the information in it arise by random chance? (I.e., did molecules assemble by random chance and create the book and the letters on the pages?) Or did the book arise by natural law? (like gravity; did the book arise by letters falling from the sky and creating the text patterns in the book under the influence of gravity?) Or did the book arise by natural law and random chance? (e.g., Did letters fall from the sky under the influence of gravity, but then create the patterns of text on the pages by random chance?)
Such reasoning indicated to me that Monod (and atheists in general) are being irrational.
It is rational instead to infer that intelligence is an independent creative "force", separate from random chance or necessity (natural law) or a combination of the two.
The activity of intelligence (as an explanatory hypothesis) is a better explanation for certain entities/phenomena/patterns in our real world than an irrational insistence on random-chance or necessity (natural law) or a combination of the two.
6. Ultimately (but that is later on, and I am skipping ahead), I came to recognize that the unfalsifiability of hard atheism is exactly analogous with the parable of the blind man. The blind man would not accept the testimony of other individuals who could see. They must all be lying, he reasoned, or delusional, or incredibly stupid, or this is all a grand conspiracy to try to cheat me of my money. So, the blind man would not accept the testimony of other individuals who could see. Instead, he gathered to himself other blind men, and together they created little cliques who mocked "those poor fools" who could see, and they called themselves by impressive names such as "skeptics" and "infidels" and "brights" and they impressed the heck out of each other with their arguments which showed (they thought) how stupid those "poor fools" (who could see) were.
Coming back to the approximate sequence of events…
My recognition of these double standards lowered the credibility of Atheism and Metaphysical Naturalism in my mind.
None of the arguments FOR atheism held up to rigorous examination.
And none of the arguments AGAINST theism held up to rigorous examination.
The absence of logical rigor lowered the credibility of Atheism and Metaphysical Naturalism in my mind.
I also came to recognize that many (possibly most; possibly all?) atheist arguments are circular in nature, and are ultimately statements of Atheist Faith.
… to the idea that life is not ultimately meaningless or purposeless.
… to the idea that the universe and all of its beauty and all of its complexity is not ultimately meaningless or purposeless.
Something within me gave me hope that there is indeed hope and beauty in life (which Existentialism said there is not, in any ultimate sense).
At a later stage, I came to recognize that there indeed was "Eternity placed in my heart" by the Creator (using a colloquialism; and paraphrasing the Bible when it says "He [God] has placed eternity in their hearts").
And I spoke with committed followers of a variety of world-views, philosophies and religions.
And pondered the stuff I read and heard.
I do not recall who the speaker was or the specifics of what he spoke about, but I recall being struck by the fact that there were intelligent people who believed in God.
After the seminar, I hung out and chatted with some of the students who had organized the talks. The students were Christians, and again, they did not fit my past stereotype of Christians (stereotype of stupid people who believed in irrational things by blind faith).
I kept in touch with some of these students, had dinner with them a few times, and discussed world-views, religions and evidence.
Through these students, I was introduced to scientists and engineers who were committed Christians. And I asked them questions as well, which they answered, or referred me to specific books which discussed these topics.
I was struck their absence of dogmatism, the depth of their knowledge and intelligence, and the growing recognition that you do not have to be stupid to believe in God or to be a Christian, and that Theism is indeed rational (and the same with Christian Theism).
I was invited and encouraged to check things out for myself (not just take their word for things), to ask, to question, to seek, and to look into Christianity and the claims of Jesus Christ.
And I looked into various areas of evidence for the reality of Jesus Christ (for some examples of such evidence, see here).
Over a period of time, I became convinced of the existence of the Christian God, and the veracity of Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, I committed my life to Jesus Christ (as Lord and Savior).
Since that time, my life has had meaning, purpose, Joy and Peace (despite the storms of life that afflict all humans)... Jesus is my Lord, my Savior, and I walk in daily relationship with the Christian God...
I invite you to seek the Christian God. He promises that if you seek him with sincerity, humility and perseverance, he will reveal himself to you.
I was given this invitation. I responded, and as I investigated the evidence, I gradually came to intellectual (and experiential) certainty of God's existence. I ended up committing my life to Christ (based on his death on the cross, for me), and I walk now in relationship with the God of the Universe.
I invite you to do the same.
God loves you so much that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins. If you commit your life to Christ based on this, you can be in relationship with God today, and in the life to come... (John 3:16)
God invites you to join his family. Will you open the door (of your heart) and invite Jesus in? (Revelation 3:20)
If you haven't already committed your life to Christ, and would like to do so, but need some help with this, please do not hesitate to ask.
Or if you are sincerely seeking the Christian God, and have questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
1. Have you had any mystical experiences?
2. Have you had any other experiences that would indicate that there is a God?
3. Why do you believe there is a God?
2. After becoming a Christian -- on an overnight flight; early morning, sun beginning to rise; plane dark; everyone else asleep; I look out the window; see this scene of incredible beauty; of spires and beautiful shapes rising above the clouds; once again, a sense of the sublime, of incredible beauty (I didn't know what this was that I was seeing; I know that I was awake);
… and a sense of being drawn towards heaven; so beautiful my finger tips ached; wanting to leave this life and join this indescribable beauty; become one with this indescribable beauty; wanting to die and be in heaven, to actualize this beauty; I don't know how to describe this...
3. After becoming a Christian -- on a trip to the UK; I am not an Anglican, but I happened to decide to go to evensong at an Anglican cathedral (may have been York Minster, or the Anglican Liverpool cathedral)... during the evensong service, felt an incredible sense of beauty come over me; the voices of the choir, and beauty of the cathedral, with all of the architecture focusing my attention up towards God (the Gothic arches reminding me of hands folded in prayer); the arches pointing me upward to God; the height of the arches pointing to the great height (awesomeness) of God; the beauty of the singing of the voices in the choir; the beauty of the candle flames…
I was drawn once again to an indescribable beauty behind this universe that was drawing me (my soul?) upward and outward to leave my body and come to him (it?); or maybe the desire was from me; but all my senses focused on me like a moth being drawn to the candle flame (of a candle at the center - choir region, as the choir sang), like a moth being drawn to the flame; and I wanted to fly towards and into this beauty and be burnt up to be one with the beauty of the flame; and lose myself in oneness with this flame; (the flame being a metaphor for God); and I wanted to die and be with God; because this experience was so incredibly beautiful, I wanted it to never end; I wanted to die, and become one with the God of this universe, and be with him in indescribable beauty for eternity...
4. CS Lewis speaks of (before committing his life to Christ) hearing (metaphorically) elfin/ magic/ incredibly-beautiful music coming faintly from just over the next hill, from over the wall around the neighborhood forest... and he is drawn towards this music, and sets off in search of it; but on the way, he sees a girl (metaphorically) and abandons the music to have an affair with her (and the music fades away)...
… and years later, he hears the unearthly beautiful music again (faintly) and he seeks after it ... and he sees something else on earth that distracts him...
… and this happens a few times, until as he gets closer to the music... finally, he finds the author of the music (God) and the author is so incredibly more beautiful than the music...
I have felt this in my life (and I don't know how to describe it)...
1. As a young man; a Christian woman made a prophecy about me, that came true. I didn't think much about it at that time; later it came back to my mind (as a practical-atheist), and I tried to explain it away as "coincidence"... but much later, when I became more open to Christianity, this event came back to mind again.
2. A man I knew, an atheist, was diagnosed with brain cancer (a tumor) -- x-rays and all. His wife asked many many Christians to pray that God would heal his tumor. He was admitted to the hospital to take out the tumor, but just before the operation when they x-rayed his head, the tumor had shrunk to almost nothing, and the doctors, puzzled, decided that there wasn't need to operate, or do anything. The man lived fine for many years after that, in good health. He committed his life to Christ after this experience.
3. This happened before I became a Christian (but I came to be aware of it after I became one)... A Hindu woman, wanted a child for many many years (maybe 10-12 years). No child. A Christian neighbor offered to pray (to the Christian God) for this Hindu woman to have a child; the Hindu woman said yes.
So this Christian, prayed earnestly, and asked other Christians (in her prayer network) to pray. They prayed for about a year or so, and you can guess how the story ended... I ended up meeting the daughter who was a result of this prayer; this girl has now committed her life to Christ (the mother has not yet, but appears to be more open now to Christianity)... and I heard this story, through this girl, and through her new husband (a Christian)...
4. Before I became a Christian, I heard of how some Muslims in closed Muslim countries were seeing visions of the Risen Christ, and were committing their lives to Christ. As a practical-atheist, I thought "do you think I am a fool -- you Christians with your stupid stories"...
Even after I became a Christian, I don't think I believed these stories. God choose to teach me otherwise...
On a business trip to NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD) the concierge at a hotel I was staying at, was a Muslim. He was friendly, and so was I, so we chatted for a bit.
As we chatted, he mentioned that he had had a rather strange experience, and what did I think of it… He described how he had had three visions of a bright light, a figure, a voice who said "I am the way, the Truth, and the Life; follow me".
After the first couple of visions, the Muslim asked people he knew what that meant, and somebody said that sounds like Jesus in the Injil (which is what the Muslims call the NT). So, he started reading the Injil, and visited a church a few times... but then he fell away, and drifted away from going to church… and shortly before meeting me, he saw the vision again.
He asked me what this all meant (he was still not a Christian); so I shared with him how I used to be an Atheist, and how I had come to Christ; and I encouraged him to continue to read the Injil, and to pray to Jesus for guidance, and to become involved in a Christian church. (and I commended him to our God's very capable hands; and I haven't seen him since)...
And I have had other relevant experiences. However, for the sake of brevity I will move on.
Note that the items below are reasons, not proofs.
See here for a few examples of evidence for the existence of God.
Science has shown that the entire physical universe came into being (or was created) at the Big bang. This comes as a surprise to Atheism; atheism would be more consistent with an eternal steady-state universe. But this is not unexpected at all for Christian Theism, given that the Bible teaches that (a) the universe is not eternal, (b) matter is not eternal, (c) the time-line of our universe is not eternal, (d) the physical universe was created a finite time-period ago, (e) it was created in a burst of light/ energy, (f) the universe is expanding.
Science has shown that all matter was created about 14 billion years ago. This comes as a surprise to Atheism; atheism would be more consistent with matter being eternal. However this is not unexpected at all for Christian Theism, given that the Bible teaches that matter is not eternal and was created by the Christian God.
Science has shown that the laws and parameters of the physical universe hold values that are very very tightly specified by the existence of intelligent & complex life. This comes as a surprise to Atheism; atheism would be more consistent with a more random choice of the parameters and laws of the universe. However this is not unexpected at all for Christian Theism, given that the Bible teaches that God specifically designed the physical universe for life in general, and intelligent life in particular, to exist.
Mathematics (probability calculations) has shown that life can not arise by itself (by random chance). This comes as a surprise to Atheism; atheism would be more consistent with life easily originating by random chance or by natural law. However this (difficulty for life to originate by itself) s not unexpected at all for Christian Theism, given that the Bible teaches that life did not originate by itself, but that it took an Intelligent Designer (the Christian God) to create life.
And there are other examples. However, for the sake of brevity I will move on.
The Bible tells us that the universe is temporally finite and is not eternal. Science discovered this only in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that the universe was created ex-nihilo (i.e., matter and energy were themselves created) rather than out of pre-existing matter. Science discovered this only in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that the universe was created in a flash of light / energy. Science discovered this only in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that visible matter is formed out of stuff that is invisible to the eye. Science has discovered this in the 20th century (e.g., energy, quarks etc). This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that the universe is expanding. Science discovered this only in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that the earth is a sphere. Science discovered this in the 19th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that the earth is suspended in space. Science discovered this only in the 19th-20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible tells us that there are mountains under the ocean. Science discovered this only in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
The Bible provided the Israelites many health-related laws that were way ahead of the surrounding cultures. Science has discovered the validity of these medical laws and rules in the 20th century. This is not the kind of thing I would expect the Bible to get right by random-chance.
And there are other examples. For the sake of brevity I will move on.
Some of the experiences I described in the previous sections.
Answers to prayer. I have seen prayer answered in the lives of many many Christians…
I have seen remarkable "coincidences" happen as a result of prayer.
Due to God's kindness, I have had many many prayers (at least 100 or more) answered, through the years…
There have been times when I have been attracted to particular sins, and God has gently steered me away from them.
I have seen lives changed and improved through the power of God.
I have seen societies changed and improved through the power of God…
I have felt the presence of the Christian God with me, when I have been sad or depressed or happy or just okay…