How Can God Exist When the Evidence is Against Him?

Answering atheism can seem like a daunting task. If you do any amount of Google searching about the evidence surrounding God’s existence, you’ll find page after page of atheists claiming to have proof that God isn’t real. They’ll cite studies about the ways our brains work, about social constructs that were generated as coping mechanisms, about new data from physics and chemistry that seem to indicate that the universe created itself or is just a part of a multiverse of universes. Do we need to be scientific experts in all of these fields in order to defend God’s existence and deal with the evidence atheists are throwing our way?

How can God exist when the evidence is against him? I want you to see from the Bible that God believes that the question is a red herring. The Bible assumes everywhere that God exists and makes no case to try and prove his existence.

No amount of evidence against God can ultimately prove that God does not exist.

God as Creator reigns as the supreme sovereign over his creation. He is the King over reason, evidence, science, and philosophy, and he will not allow those things to state otherwise when properly understood and interpreted in light of his Word.

At the same time, no amount of evidence for God can ultimately prove to an atheist that God does exist.

That might seem really troubling on the surface. Why is that? Why is evidence ultimately an ineffective means for proving the existence of God? Should we even try to use evidence as Christians to defend the existence of God and answer atheists? Let’s see how the Bible provides us with a framework for thinking in this regard.

Evidence and the Corruption of Sin

Romans 1:18-21 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

From this text, we see three key claims:

1. God has clearly revealed himself to people.
2. People know the truth.
3. People “by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Paul explains to us a fundamental truth about humanity in these passages — that everyone knows God exists, whether they claim they do or don’t.

• Verse 19a: “For what can be known about God is plain to them.”
• Verse 19b: God “has been clearly perceived…”
• Verse 21: “For although they knew God…”
• Verse 28: “they did not see fit to acknowledge God” implying they know he exists but wish that wasn’t the case.
• Verse 32: “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die…”

This is five times in one short section that Paul says over and over that everyone in their heart knows God exists. And furthermore, everyone in their hearts knows God’s law and that they are rebelling against God. They know the truth, but in their desire to be sinful, they “suppress” that truth in their hearts. They bottle it up and cork it. They throw the truth in a jail cell and throw away the key. And because they desire to wallow in their sin, they are totally corrupt. God “gave them up to dishonorable passions” (v. 26a).

In the Fall, absolutely everything in man was corrupted by sin (Romans 3:10-18; 5:12). For the non-Christian, their reasoning is darkened, their affections are turned against God, and their will is enslaved to sin (Romans 6:15-16).

What’s the result of this? Non-Christian reasoning is not neutral or innocent or naive. Atheists believe that what they are doing is gathering all of the data in front of them, sorting it all out in nice charts and graphs, putting together some tight, logical arguments, and then sitting back and neutrally observing what’s in front of them. They claim that they are impartial or unbiased, that they are “just following the evidence.” Atheists view reason as an autonomous tool they can use to adjudicate between competing claims. They say, “I’ll take this claim over here and I’ll think about it. And I’ll take that claim over there and I’ll think about it. And whichever one has the better evidence is the one that I’ll pick.”

Yet, mankind, even in his state of innocence, was never created to exist apart from or uninterpreted by God’s Word (Genesis 1:27-30). Reason must be subject to God’s authoritative revelation. But sin has corrupted mankind’s ability to reason in relation to God. As a result, no one has the ability to objectively reason apart from the Holy Spirit removing that sinful corruption from their mind. God’s Word says there is no such thing as being “open-minded” to the evidence for God apart from the Spirit’s work in your heart (2 Corinthians 3:16).

What we draw from this is that the Bible isn’t interested in giving further evidence for God. Nor is God required to give any further evidence of himself through the Bible. Instead, the Bible says that what we have directly in front of us is already enough. Unbelief in God is actually just rebellion against God.

There’s no such thing as atheism. There are only rebels.

The Pastoral Problem

Remember that an atheist’s reasoning is not unbiased. You can win the “evidence” argument all day long, you can counter every single thing an atheist says with facts and reason, but sinful people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” They will hear everything you say and still find fault with it. Then — apart from the Holy Spirit working through the preached gospel — they will move on with their life.

Consider what I call the “pastoral problem.” Ninety-nine out of one hundred atheists you meet have something in common: they have experienced hurt from the church/Christians/parents, etc. What they need is the gospel of Jesus Christ (not a checklist of evidence) to flood into their hearts and open their eyes to see the wonderful truths in God’s Word. Almost every single one of them, if you ask them — they’re an atheist because the church hurt them. And if you fail to address that, no amount of evidence is going to help you.

So, no matter if an atheist claims that he sat back and “reasoned” his way to his position by examining the evidence, we know the Bible says that person’s thinking is darkened. If his reasoning doesn’t lead him to God, it’s not that unbelief is the logical outcome, it’s that his reasoning is flawed somewhere because of his sin.

So, cultivate a heart where you see an atheist not as an opponent to debate but as a sinner who needs hope. So many full-blooded atheists have a story to tell about how they were hurt by the church/Christians/parents/etc. Target that. Hear their story and then invade their life with the hope of the gospel of Jesus.

The perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus speaks into every hopeless, painful, sinful, unbelieving situation a person can experience. If they need evidence to consider, let the evidence be the change that’s taken place in your life because of the gospel working in you. Show them how Jesus has changed you. Show them through your words and your deeds the kindness of God. And then let that kindness of God draw them to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Listen to Pastor Austin and Pastor Tim’s previous midweek class on Answering Atheism here, and check out our upcoming midweek classes beginning on August 7.