God's Not Dead

So tonight I saw God's Not Dead. Now I'm a Christian, so I was obviously inclined to see the movie. But here's the thing, I've always been a Christian, I just haven't always been that dedicated to it. It's really pop culture that has gotten me to keep up with my faith, and I think this is a great thing. In today's world we are so connected to movies and music and the internet; it's so much easier to connect to someone through one of these than through a straightforward conversation.

Movies like To Save a Life and Facing the Giants have really made me stick with my faith, especially because I'm such a movie lover. I especially love them because they are geared towards my generation. We all know how stubborn the older generations are. It's so hard to get them to change their minds about anything. Just look at the motivators behind the Gay Rights movement, it's the younger generations that are pushing it.

Anyway, the movie is about a boy who takes intro philosophy in college and his professor agrees that everyone can skip the religion unit if they will all agree that God does not exist. The boy refuses, and his professor makes him debate in front of the class that God does exist, and will pass the class only if the students vote in his favor. I really loved this because it was similar to my intro philosophy course. They argue religion and science, but it's all about belief. There is no morality without God, there is no universe without God. The boy even uses majorly accepted scientific beliefs to prove the existence of God which in many areas of science truly are accepted.

One of my first posts was about Pascal's Wager, which is a religious argument based on mathematics that I learned in my philosophy 100 course. Go check it out.

So for those of you who are not movie lovers (those of you who are, watch those movies!), but are  intellectually inclined, here are some arguments.

A common argument is the Ontological argument. It states that if you believe a god is necessary for the creation of the universe, then you must believe that God exists. Atheists argue that there is no support for this argument because it says if God is necessary, then he is real. But necessity is subjective; there is no logic. However in the movie, the professor brings up an argument by Stephen Hawking where he stated that gravity proves that the universe didn't need to be created, so it wasn't. But this is the same argument! The idea of necessity has no scientific basis.

Another strong argument, perhaps also Stephen Hawking? Maybe Newton? I don't know, I don't do science. Anyway, the argument made in the movie, which is often the Cosmological argument, if God created the universe, then someone must have created God. The Cosmological argument, based on the mathematical logic equation, says that everything that began to exist has a cause, and since the universe began to exist, the universe must have a cause. Of course the critique is that there is no proof that the universe began, and didn't always just exist. In the movie, the professor quoted whatever scientist who said that if God created then universe, then someone must have created God, and Christians do not believe that God was created. However Josh, the main character, responded, well the if you say that the universe created you, then who created the universe?

Anyway, not trying to share arguments that have a side. I believe in God because I was raised that way, because of Pascal's Wager, because of what I feel in my heart, because of the Long Island Medium, and well, you get the picture.

But seriously, it's worth the time to look into. And hey, it's almost summer, which means lots of you probably have lax schedules, so take some of that free time and do some research. You never know what you might get out of it.

I'm not trying to force anyone into Christianity. But Luke 12:48 says "For unto him which so much is given, as much will be required of him." This quote is used in the movie to convince Josh that for all that God has given him, it is his duty to do God's work, and I agree. So here's my way of spreading the word. Amen y'all.

"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."  -Voltaire