Leaders’ Guide
Answering Hard Questions How can I know that God exists? Did Jesus really come back from the dead? What about all the suffering in the world?
with Biblical Truth Answering Hard Questions: Leader’s Guide page 1
ANSWERING HARD QUESTIONS Christ Church Umhlanga, 2014 57 Hambridge Avenue Umhlanga, 4021 South Africa 031 572 6542 admin@ccu.org.za www.ccu.org.za www.freeforall.co.za/answering-hard-questions/ No copyright - Free for All
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Leader’s Guide Explain that the purpose of these studies is to equip ourselves for answering some of the hard questions that come our way, the by-product of which will be the strengthening of our own faith.
Study 1
How can I know that God exists?. 1. What arguments or proofs would you use, to prove God’s existence? Put another way, how would you convince an atheist that the existence of God was a possibility? ●
Use this as a good conversation starter. Ask people about conversations they have had and tell them about any you have had. Ask them to tell you about any atheists they know.
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A conversation with an atheist could go something like: You: “Do you know everything there is to know?” Atheist: “No.” You: “Then there must at least be the possibility of God.” At this point the atheist may be forced to turn to agnosticism, which sadly is a much harder debate to have!
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A second World War chaplain apparently once said: “There are no atheists in fox-holes”, implying that suffering tends to cause people to cry out to a god - whether they know him or not. People (generally) have an innate sense of the existence of God. [We will deal with suffering in the third session, as it is often used as an objection to the existence of God.]
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Over the centuries many thinkers have tried to ‘prove’ the existence of God from factors within the world. Appealing to the laws of logic, the reality of the world and certain philosophical ideas, they try to justify belief in the existence of God. The cosmological argument says that the existence of the world requires a Supreme Being to account for it. The teleological argument argues that the design and purpose evidenced in the universe is proof of God’s existence. The moral approach says mankind’s feelings of right and wrong must be based on Someone declaring certain things to be right and wrong. The ontological argument says that God (being defined as most great or perfect) must exist, since a God who exists is greater than a God who does not. However helpful or true these arguments may be, none is as convincing as saying that ‘we can be sure of the existence of God, because he has revealed himself to us, through Jesus Christ his Son.’ God made himself perfectly known to us 2000 years ago! He introduced himself to us. If anyone wants to disprove the existence of God, they will need to explain how Jesus could do what he did, without being God.
2. What things did Jesus do to prove that he was God? Miracles (authority over people, sickness, nature, evil and death) ● Primarily his own resurrection which he predicted and which then came about [we will deal with the resurrection in the second study, but for now it’s enough to say that Romans 1:4 says that the resurrection proves Jesus’ divinity]. ●
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3. Read John 1:10-18. ●
What are we told has Jesus done? See v.10. ●
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he made the world
What does v.14 tells us about who Jesus is? “The Word” of v.14 is the Creator God of v.1 ● As God alone is glorious, so Jesus shares that glory. ● Though God, Jesus came to earth as a man. ●
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What was Jesus’ work according to v.18? Jesus came to reveal God to mankind. ● If you get to know Jesus, you are getting to know God. ● That which Jesus revealed about God during his ministry, is that God cannot tolerate sin and rebellion (setting oneself up as God), yet deals graciously with sinners, even to the point of taking the judgment they deserve, on himself at the cross. ● So it’s not just that God exists, but that he has taken an interest in humanity. He is neither distant nor disinterested. ●
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4. Having written his gospel, what does John say was his purpose in writing it? See John 20:30-31. The miraculous signs that Jesus performed, were recorded so that people would believe that he is Christ the Son of God, and that by believing they would receive eternal life. ● Signs → Faith → Life ●
5. In what practical ways should the existence of God affect our lives? See John 1:10-13. ● ● ●
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Will we accept that there is Someone greater than ourselves? Will we accept that we are called to submit ourselves to this God, who has revealed himself in Jesus? Will we accept the logical impossibility of there being multiple gods, and therefore seek to evangelise all people, even those who claim to believe in other gods? Will we always talk about Jesus above all other proofs? In the words of John 1:10-13 will we recognise and receive Jesus or not? Psalm 14:1 says that those who don’t believe in God are fools. Will we entrust ourselves to the God who has made us, revealed himself to us, and who loves us enough to go to the cross to die for us? Considering that he has revealed himself as “The Word” will we listen to his Word, and then speak to him in our own words as we pray? We can feel confident about the future, because he has promised us eternal life.
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Further Resources: ●
Prof. John Lennox is a Christian from Oxford who has debated Richard Dawkins and who recently toured SA, speaking in many churches. You can watch a 10 minute interview with him here: http://johnlennox.org/about/
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Prof. Lennox was interviewed on Cape Talk Radio. Listen to him debate an atheist talk show host here (22 minutes) whilst keeping Christ central: https://soundcloud.com/primediabroadcasting/the-science-an d-god-debate
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Study 2
Did Jesus really come back from the dead?. Of all the works that Jesus did, that lead Christians to believe that he is divine, his resurrection is the most emphatic. Disprove this and the existence of God is brought into question! But not just that, Christian faith and practice is meaningless if there is no resurrection. 1. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. What will the results be, of disproving Jesus’ resurrection? ● ● ● ● ●
Apostolic preaching would be useless. Faith in Jesus would be useless. The Apostles would be liars. We would still be in our sin. The dead would be lost. People could only have hope for this life.
When people endeavour to disprove the resurrection of Jesus, they do so on the grounds that the resurrection of a person from the dead is impossible. However, before anyone writes off the possibility of resurrection, they should endeavour to answer the following questions: ● ● ●
why was the tomb of Jesus empty? what do you make of the resurrected Jesus’ appearances? how do you explain the rise of the church, amidst great persecution?
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2. How would you refute the answers sometimes given to these questions? ●
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Some say that Jesus’ body was simply stolen. But who would have stolen the body? The Romans would not have done so, nor the Jews, because it would not have aided their respective causes. If the disciples had stolen the body, they would have confessed to doing so when persecution broke out against them. Some say that Jesus only fainted and later escaped from the tomb. But to imagine that Roman soldiers could have failed in their task is preposterous. They were an elite death squad and they knew how to guard a tomb! Some say that the women went to the wrong tomb. If this was the case, people could have gone to the correct tomb later and seen Jesus’ body. Some say that the resurrection appearances were only hallucinations. But to imagine that 500 people all hallucinated at once, is crazy. Some say that the church made up a lie for their own purposes. But then they suffered massive persecution only for a lie.
3. Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. What does Paul link to Jesus’ resurrection, in these verses? Jesus’ death and burial - it was real (the fact) ● for our sins - it was for us (the explanation of the fact) ● according to the Scriptures - it was foretold (the fact was planned) ● seen by witnesses - it was evidenced (the resurrection event was proven) ●
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4.
Why are these important? It gives us evidence for its reality. It gives us a means of forgiveness. ● It gives us the assurance that God is in control. ● ●
5. Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-24. What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for the Christian? ●
They too will be raised.
6. How does mankind’s approach to death actually add weight to the resurrection of Jesus? Read v.29-32. Whatever being “baptised for the dead” means, it shows the concern that the Corinthians had for the afterlife. They believed in life after death. V.16 is key: humanity’s belief in life after death, actually gives weight to the possibility that Jesus rose from the dead. ● Paul was also willing to risk his life as a preacher, because he believed Jesus rose from the dead. Why else would he have done so? ●
7. How should a Christian approach death? Read v.54-58. with confidence - Christians need not fear death, because death has been defeated by Jesus conquering sin ● with thanks for his victory ● with perseverance as we do the work of the Lord ●
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8. Conversely, how should a non-Christian view death? ●
with great fear of judgment
Further Resources: ●
Prof. John Lennox provides another short video concerning the divinity of Jesus being proven by his resurrection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDN_oB0_IgE
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Study 3
What about all the suffering in the world?. When especially bad things happen in the world at large or in our lives personally, this question is inescapable. The argument behind the question goes like this: (1) If God were all powerful he could prevent suffering and evil. (2) If he were all loving, he would want to prevent them. (3) Evil and suffering do exist. (4) God is therefore impotent, loveless or non-existent. The Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga calls this ‘the only argument against God that deserves to be taken seriously’. Before we seek to answer this question, it is worth noting that this should really only be a question asked by those who believe in God. Those who don’t believe in God – (especially evolutionists) – who claim that we are nothing more than ‘just a bit of slime on the planet’ (Oxford Professor, Peter Atkins), or ‘a curious accident in a backwater’ (British Philosopher, Bertrand Russell), the result of countless chemical and biological factors, should not in any way be concerned whether lives are ended slowly or suddenly, peacefully or painfully. If there is no God, there is no universal moral law by which we should live; and nothing can then be either good or evil. The universally accepted ‘existence of evil’ therefore actually points towards the existence of God, rather than away from it.
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1. In an article in The Times the question was asked, ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ to which the author G.K. Chesterton simply responded, “I am.” Can that response be substantiated from the Bible? Think through Genesis 1 – 5 (especially ch 3-5). ch 3: as a consequence of mankind’s sin, life became characterised by broken relationships with God, with each other and with the world ● ch 4: Cain is like his father Adam and Lamech is like his ancestors ● ch 5: all people are born, not just in the image of God, but also in the image of Adam, Genesis 5:1-3 ●
2. What is the problem with asking God to weed out the worst offenders and sinners in the world? God would have to deal with us also!
3. Read Acts 17:31. What will God one day do with sinful people? The world will one day be judged.
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4. Read Acts 17:30. What should we do in the light of that day? Also read Luke 13:1-5. Repent of your sin. ● In Luke 13 we hear of people who had suffered, some suffered because of evil, some suffered because of an accident. Jesus’ point is that these things happen. Those who died were no worse than those who did not. And so because this could happen to anyone, all should be ready to die. Readiness comes through repenting. ●
5. What can be said about God and suffering from 1 Peter 2:21-25? God knows about suffering. He has suffered, because of others. ● His suffering was in our place. ● His suffering gives us a model of how to suffer. ● When we suffer, we should not sin, but rather entrust ourselves to God. ● ●
6. Read Romans 8:18-25. What important truths are taught to us in this passage, about suffering and the Christian life? ● ● ● ● ●
Creation and people are suffering. God is in control of suffering. One day there will be liberation from suffering, for Christians. Christians wait with hope and patience for that liberation. Suffering isn’t worth mentioning (in the big scheme of things).
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Further Resources: â—?
Prof. John Lennox provides another short video (7.5 minutes) concerning suffering and the Christian faith, focussing on the cross of Christ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo49UhEV5rI
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