Another interesting video from William Lane Craig, in which he discusses the (philosophical) basis for belief in God. His narrative begins as follows:
“We all believe in things that are physically undetectable to the five senses, things like black holes, and time, and dark matter, and so forth. So what about God? Is it rational to believe in God? Well, I think the assumption would be that God is undetectable, and I don’t think he is.”
Not quite. There is a difference between God, and things like black holes, dark matter, and time etc. God is an intelligent (and all powerful) being who is capable of revealing himself, or making himself known (in various ways); which those other inanimate objects can’t. Moses had no difficulty believing in God, after his experience at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3)—as well as his subsequent interactions with God. He was a man who “knew God face to face,” like a “friend” (Exodus 33:11), and “the similitude of the Lord shall he behold” (Numbers 12:8). “Similitude” means the actual shape, form, or appearance. He saw what God looked like! And Moses was not the only one in sacred history who had those kinds of direct experiences with God. Abraham was called the “friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). There were many others such as Enoch (and his people), Noah and his family, the patriarchs, indeed the whole house of Israel as they were miraculously led out of Egypt, and their experiences with God at Mount Sinai and beyond—not to mention all the subsequent prophets, and their interactions with Israel etc. in their subsequent history—including the New Testament. He continues:
“I think that we have good reasons to believe in God. We infer these entities exist not because we perceive them with our five senses, but because we perceive their effects, and their existence is the best explanation of the effects that we perceive.”
Not quite correct either. “Black holes” and “dark matter” fall more in the realm of scientific theories, rather than proven facts. To those who have experienced God first hand, however, like Moses etc., God is a proven fact. And then we have the option to believe their words and experiences or not. That is how faith is developed, according to the Bible:
Romans 10:
17 So then faith cometh by hearing … the word of God.
Mark 16:
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved …
Nobody becomes a believer or a Christian because of the “cosmological argument”. Faith is developed by hearing the word of God. There is nothing wrong with engaging in philosophical arguments about the existence of God either, as a matter of intellectual curiosity; but it can become counterproductive if it is presented as an alternative to the faith (and insight) generated by the power of the Holy Ghost, in studying the word of God. He continues:
“And in exactly the same way, there are excellent arguments for God’s existence, like the Kalam cosmological argument, the argument from the applicability of mathematics, the fine-tuning argument, the moral argument, and so forth, which I think point to the existence of God, who cannot be detected by the five senses.”
There is nothing wrong with those as speculative reasonings about the existence of God; but nobody ever gained “faith” in God because of the “Kalam cosmological argument”. Faith comes by “hearing the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). He then concludes:
“So I would say that God is detectable, certainly not physically, but inferentially, insofar as he has left evidence of his existence in the physical universe that we inhabit.”
Those are partial evidences, but not the strongest evidence that leads to faith, salvation, and eternal life. God is detectable first and foremost when he chooses to reveal himself to us, or bear witness to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. Also people as a rule don’t just “believe in God” in isolation; their belief is usually associated with a religious tradition, coupled with a religious text.
“Christian faith” comes from reading the interactions of God with man as recorded in the Bible, both in the Old as well as the New Testaments. Either the story of Moses at Egypt and Sinai really happened, or they didn’t; either the miracles of Joshua and other prophets really happened, or they didn’t. Either the miracles of Jesus, including his resurrection and ascension into heaven really happened, or they didn’t. Either the miracles of his Apostles and disciples later happened, or they didn’t. There is no “evidence” ultimately that “prove” that any of these things actually happened; which provides the atheists, unbelievers, and skeptics all the excuse they need not to believe. But confirmation of them comes to us by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Salvation through faith does not come about through the “cosmological argument” etc. Jesus never tried to instill faith in people by some philosophical arguments. God is “detectable” when he chooses to reveal himself to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. He is also detected by the “five senses” when he chooses to reveal himself that way, as he did to biblical prophets and saints, Exodus 24:9-11 being one example. And the same thing applies to the restoration of the gospel in the latter days. Many examples could be given, one will be sufficient:
Doctrine and Covenants 20:
16 For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear witness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
17 By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them;
18 And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them;
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