In our discussion of the first-cause argument for the existence of God, you may remember it has three premises:

• Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
• The universe began to exist.
• Therefore the universe has a cause.

It is important to clarify that we did not assert that everything that exists needs a cause. Rather, everything that begins to exist must have a cause.

So the short answer to “Who or what caused God?” is “Nothing.” God is eternal, which means he has life without beginning or end. There was never a moment that God didn’t exist, nor will he ever end. And because God has always existed, he doesn’t need a cause. This is not special pleading by Christians, for the very definition of God implies a being that is self-existent. If God could be caused to exist, then he would not be God! You see, we can only consistently ask what caused things that can in principle be caused, such as chairs, books, and computers. But God, since he is by definition uncaused, is not the type of entity that can be caused. Therefore, the question “What caused God?” is actually meaningless.

When you stop to think about it, our finite minds cannot comprehend or even express how something or someone has always existed. We tend to think everything had to have a beginning. But think of this: “If the world had never been created, would it be true that 1+1 = 2?” Yes, of course. We can understand that such things as mathematical truths and the laws of logic have always existed and are therefore uncaused.

While our minds cannot fathom how God has always existed, this does not mean it is illogical to believe that it is so. We naturally sense that something outside of our universe had to cause it to come into existence. And the eternal Creator God is the most reasonable explanation. “Have you never heard?” Isaiah asked. “Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God” (Isaiah 40:28).

This chapter originally appeared in 77 FAQs About God and the Bible by Sean McDowell and Josh McDowell (2012). Used by permission from Harvest House Publishers.

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Every human culture known to man has had a moral law. We find it in the records of past cultures as well as in all present societies. And the morality of all these societies is surprisingly similar, no matter how widely separated by time, geography, cultural development, or religious belief. The morality defined in the Jewish Ten Commandments, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Chinese Tao, and the Christian New Testament differs in detail and emphasis but not in essence.

For example, some societies allow individuals to kill to avenge a wrong, while others insist that all execution is the prerogative of the state. Some societies allow freedom in premarital sexual relationships or permit men to take more than one wife, while others forbid such behavior. But all have rules that say people cannot kill others at will or engage in sex with just anyone they want. These laws protect human life. They are rules that govern marriage and family relationships, condemn stealing, and encourage doing good to others.

Throughout history some societies have enforced morality strictly, while others have been lax on one or more points. And within any society there have been people who resisted the imposition of morality on their behavior. When a significant number of these people gain enough power or support for their position, a significant aberration to the universal moral sense can then occur, as it did in Hitler’s Germany or in the acceptance of killing female babies in some Asian countries. Usually these aberrations have been short-lived because elements within or outside the society became outraged enough to rise up and stop the aberrant behavior. But despite such variations and distortions, the same basic sense of morality appears wherever humans live together. It’s as if many different orchestras are playing from the same score but adapting the harmonies to fit their own instruments.

What’s the Explanation?

How can we explain a moral code that is so consistently present in all societies? How do we explain a sense of morality that gives virtually every sane person on the planet an innate sense of right and wrong? Why should a moral sense exist at all?  6 Without appeal to a higher source, namely God, what could account for the moral sense that is common to the entire human race through all of history? Where else could morals have come from? If we say our moral intuitions have an origin in a process of blind chance, such as evolution, then morality is a random trick of nature to get us to obey. It follows, then, that morality has no objective basis, and our deep intuitions about certain behavior being objectively wrong are mistaken. Is that a price you are willing to pay? We think there is a better explanation.

An objective, universal, and constant standard of truth and morality points to an existence of a personal and moral God. In The Brothers Karamazov, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky aptly observed, “If there is no immortality of the soul, there can be no virtue and therefore everything is permissible.” In other words, if God does not exist as the foundation of morality, then anything goes. This doesn’t mean atheists or other nonbelievers will necessarily act more immorally than believers, but it does mean we lose an objective basis by which to make moral judgments. If God does not exist then we lose the right to judge the Nazis and anyone else with whom we disagree morally. They believed they were right. We think they were wrong. Without a higher law above humanity, who gets to decide moral truth? If there is no greater source above human beings, then the existence of morality is an inexplicable illusion.  1

Yet if God exists, then we have a ground for objective morality. We ought to be truthful because God is true and faithful. We ought to do loving acts because God is love. Morality stems from the character and nature of God and is binding on his creation. The reality of objective moral laws points to the existence of a Moral Lawgiver. Only God’s existence and character can properly account for objective morality.

Can There Be an Independent Morality?

However, some argue that morality can exist independently of God. They contend we don’t need a God in order to be good—or evil. Yet this assertion presents a problem: How do you define good or evil without some transcendent moral standard? Evil, for example, has traditionally been understood as the perversion of good. Just as crookedness implies a standard of straight, evil implies a standard of good. C.S. Lewis famously said that to complain that a stick is bent makes sense only in light of the concept of straight. Similarly, there can be evil only if there is first good.

But if there is no God, then what is good ? Without God, we are all left to figure out the meaning of good for ourselves, and the concept of objective good disappears. Good becomes a relative term, for it is simply whatever each of us wants it to be at a given moment, or whatever evolution has blindly wired us to believe.

The universally recognized existence of objective moral values is a strong reason for believing in God. Consider this simple argument:

If objective moral values exist, God must exist.

Objective moral values exist.

Therefore, God must exist.

We know that objective moral values do exist. We don’t need to be persuaded that, for example, torturing babies for fun is wrong. All reasonable people know this. Therefore, since moral values do exist, then God must exist as well. This moral law argument provides a strong defense of the assertion that a God of moral character does in fact exist.

Adapted from Josh McDowell and Thomas Williams, In Search of Certainty (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003), 46-47.

This chapter originally appeared in 77 FAQs About God and the Bible by Sean McDowell and Josh McDowell (2012). Used by permission from Harvest House Publishers.

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Her books address topics of homeschooling, mothering, parenting, adoption, teaching special needs children, and life skills for kids. Her articles have appeared in Focus on the Family Magazine The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and many more. She works with the Center for Homeschool Liberty and is the executive director of the National Center for Life and Liberty. Christine’s heart for parents serves many families from all walks of life. You can learn more about her writing at www.realmomlife.com.Attorney Christine Field will be speaking at the SouthEast Homeschool Convention.

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At the MidWest Only!

NCLL and Great Homeschool Conventions are proud to welcome StudyLadder.com (The ULTIMATE Learning Tool) as our very special sponsor for “An Evening with Ron Paul.” EACH family attending this very special Grand Finale will receive a FREE one-year membership to StudyLadder.com. (An $88 Value!)

REGISTER TODAY and get your tickets to hear Dr. Ron Paul – LIVE!

CincinnatiHomeschoolConvention.com

PLEASE NOTE: This special event with Dr. Paul – including “Question and Answer” session – will NOT be recorded. DON’T MISS this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Dr. Ron Paul’s Biography: Dr. Ron Paul, retired Texas Representative, made his third bid for the presidency in 2012, his second run as a Republican. A native of western Pennsylvania, Dr. Ron Paul is a trained physician who practiced medicine as an obstetrician/gynecologist before being elected to Congress in a 1976 special election. He has done three stints in the House, from 1976-77, 1979-85, and 1997-2012. He recently retired from the House at the end of his term. Dr. Ron Paul ran as the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 1988, and sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

Dr. Paul is a strong proponent of homeschooling. During his farewell speech to Congress, Dr. Ron Paul suggested that the homeschooling movement would play a “revolutionary” role in restoring limited government. (Article in The Washington Examiner by staff writer, Charlie Spiering, 2012) According to Dr. Ron Paul, we should, “Expect the rapidly expanding homeschool movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary forms needed to rebuild a free society with constitutional protections. We cannot expect a federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties.”(Nation.FoxNews.com. 2012. Fox News. 15 Nov. 2012 LAST SPEECH: Ron Paul’s Farewell to Freedom)

Great Homeschool Conventions is pleased to present “An Evening with Dr. Ron Paul” as the very special Grand Finale of this year’s MidWest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, OH on April 6, 2013, at the Duke Energy Center.

A convention registration and ticket purchase is required.

Seating is Limited

CincinnatiHomeschoolConvention.com.

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CCI is directed by Stephen and Nita Leckenby. With over 15 years of ministry experience, Stephen and Nita have worked with children, teenagers, and college students to equip, encourage, and engage them to seek and serve Jesus Christ in every aspect of their lives. Stephen’s passion for music and the Word of God enables him to create original children’s music, drama, and interesting characters. As a gifted piano player, Stephen’s worship leading is not limited only to CCI. Stephen also plays and leads worship in churches in both his current town of residence and also at churches and other venues around the country. Stephen’s desire is for all people to experience worship in heart, soul and mind.

Nita’s heart is to teach and equip young women and men to seek and serve the Lord passionately in their ministry and giftings to which God has called each of them individually. As a passionate seeker of Christ and a gifted counselor, Nita provides powerful insight into the development of each young person to whom she ministers. Her passion for expressing the glory of God also extends to her painting and creation of art and writing designed specifically to demonstrate the beauty of the Lord.

Stephen and Nita have been married for 10 years and reside in Levelland, TX where they serve on staff at South Plains Church. Originally from Washington State, Stephen experienced what many married non-Texans have experienced over the years moving back to the home of his wife’s birth. Stephen holds a Leadership and Management Certificate from the Advanced Training Institute. Nita holds a B.S. in Social Work from Midwestern State University.

REGISTER FOR THE CHILDREN’S CONFERENCE at the SouthEast Homeschool Convention or the MidWest Homeschool Convention – There is a separate registration and payment required in order for your child (or children) to participate in the Children’s Conference. Please also note that the Children’s Conference sells out in-advance. So, you’ll want to click here to register as early as possible!

VOLUNTEER FOR THE CHILDREN’S CONFERENCE at the SouthEast Homeschool Convention or the MidWest Homeschool Convention – Do you have young people in your family that have a desire to ministry to children? Make their conference experience a memorable one by giving them the opportunity to volunteer for the Children’s Conference. It will be an amazing experience! Click here to learn more.

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An advocate of “open inquiry” in science, Keller has often spoken about and provided testimony on the positive effects of allowing students to “critically evaluate” all scientific data that support or oppose scientific conclusions. Her textbooks present students with up-to-date scientific facts and the steps of the scientific method, together with the critical thinking tools needed to help students evaluate scientific conclusions. Dr. Keller’s books are “worldview neutral” and do not presuppose any particular philosophical or theological framework. Instead, the Real Science-4-Kids program encourages students to explore opposing viewpoints.

Today Real Science-4-Kids is used in 50 states as well as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Japan and Korea.

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After earning a B.S. degree in Elementary Education at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, she spent four years teaching grammar, literature, and writing. Since 2009, she’s been developing grammar programs and leading social media communities as part of her mission to revive diagramming.

Elizabeth and her husband enjoy traveling and spending time with their nieces and nephews.

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