A few years ago London’s red buses suddenly sprouted a rash of large print adverts. These words shouted at you: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The banners had been paid for by the British Humanist Association, backed by famous atheists such as Richard Dawkins. Clearly the message was that if you believe in God your life will be miserable, and you will not be able to enjoy yourself. Of course there were many responses to the campaign, and it provoked discussion for weeks afterward. But this is a subject that concerns us all. We have to have a point of view, Do we personally believe in a God, and if we do not, what difference is it going to make?
First, though, we need to define what we mean by ‘God’. From antiquity, men have worshipped the sun, or constructed idols of men, women and animals and bowed down to them. This kind of god we would probably dismiss as primitive superstition. You could argue, too, that people today have made gods out of sport stars, or fast cars, or shopping, to all of which they devote much time and money. But the kind of god the humanists behind the London bus campaign meant was the Christian God, the God of the followers of Jesus. For the purpose of this discussion we are going to assume that this is the God of the Bible, a book which claims to be His revelation to mankind. Of course, you may dismiss this claim as fanciful. But if you think about it, if there is a God out there who really did make heaven and earth, plants, animals and humans, He would surely have communicated with the people He had made. The Bible records …