God Does Exist

   "If upon entering some home you saw that everything there was well-tended, neat and decorative, you would believe that some master was in charge of it, and that he was himself much superior to those good things. So too in the home of this world, when you see providence, order, and law in the heavens and on earth, believe that there is a Lord and Author of the universe, more beautiful than the stars themselves and the various parts of the whole world" (Minucius Felix, "Octavius" A.D. 218/235). * * *
   For those of you who have a relationship with our Lord, the title of this essay probably seems a little daft or trite. Or, possibly, you are anticipating some grand expression of profundity. Nope! Instead, an oversight in Christian evangelization is the focus. A potential failure, more specifically.
   In what is often referred to as the Great Commission, Jesus commands the apostles to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20; also Mark 16:15 RSVCE). In conjunction with this apostolic mandate, we, as laypeople, are charged with similar responsibilities: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Likewise, "that we may be fellow workers in the truth" as we support the clergy (3 John 8). Approximately fifty years ago, the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church provided additional insight and guidance: "Each individual layman must stand before the world as a witness to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and...each one according to his ability must nourish the world with spiritual fruits...announcing...Christ by a living testimony as well as by the spoken word" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, sects 35, 38).
   Such expressions of responsibility are fine and dandy, but what about the poor soul we accost who has no relationship with Christ? All too common is the propensity to run around spreading the gospel by knocking people over the head with biblical passages which condemn them for being sinners. Oh, and there is the tendency to assail them with the necessity of salvation. Or, to the other extreme, an invitation of happy go lucky utopia is proffered - that is, if they can conjure the ubiquitous faith needed. It has been my observation that unless a person is in dire straits or sick and tired of the life they are mired in, chances are they could give a hoot less about the medicine being peddled out of the Jesus wagon.
   Tragically, contemporary culture is at a crossroads where everybody is being encouraged to embrace individualism at the cost of modesty and humanity. Relativism. Further, we have devolved to a point where many do not grasp the pangs of sin or the supernatural grace of sanctification. Thus, it can be noticed that God and the Church and the Bible present little consequence to those who do not already have a relationship with the Creator. This is not a thumbing of noses to God; rather, disinterest or unappreciated value.
   It should be noted that these opinions are being developed from a unique vantage point: For the past five years I have been living (incarcerated) in a Christian faith dorm. A moderate percentage possess a rapport with Jesus. Conversely, a high percentage do not (they are here to discern whether Christianity is in the cards for them).
   Taking an impromptu survey, I asked random faithful to describe how they know God exists. The result was frighteningly appalling. Most could not articulate valid reasoning beyond pat answers: "Because the Bible says so" or "That's the way I was raised!" Ouch. To a nonbeliever looking for sustenance or answers to the big questions of life, uh, such empty and anorexic professions of faith would be discouraging (not that I am relegating Holy Scripture to a barren state...you know what I meant). Unanticipated was a comment by a fellow believer: "Karl, stop worrying so much about this stuff, relax!" I was totally flabbergasted and, for the first time in quite awhile, speechless.
   As alluded to earlier, we cannot effectively launch into evangelization from the standpoint that a damaged person needs to be saved. In their minds, saved from what: "Why does consummating the relationship with my girlfriend have to be a so-called sin; after all, I enjoy the euphoric sensations?" "For pete sakes, what is the practicality of loving my enemy; he's an idiot?" and "Why must I give up this, that, and the other to appease some deity in a book - I enjoy the life which you refer to as damned?" "Anyway, you're not perfect, either, you silly Bible thumping buffoon!"
   Yet, even for those who are curious about the possibility of becoming Christian, starting with the incarnation and faith and morals and salvation and the crucifixion and resurrection and second coming is problematic. Suffocating. Setting the tone with the big questions of life may be more advantageous: "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" and "Where am I going?"
   For me, before becoming receptive to Christ, I did not want to hear all of the Jesus hocus pocus. Such made no sense. One of the catalysts for conversion was when I began thinking about the "big questions" of life and existence, what is real and good, trying discern plausible reasons of why everything seems work together in a complimentary manner. It was then that God began to make some semblance of sense to me. Mind you, the doctrines which eventually followed surrounding sin and working out one's salvation and a whole litany of other foreign teachings are different stories altogether!
So, beginning with a philosophical exploration of the big questions of life, setting our Lord and his scripture aside temporarily, we are able to non-violently and non-offensively draw reasoned answers to these queries.
   Now what? No God. No Bible. Thus, no theology. How will we evangelize? Philosophy does not have to be stodgy. Such is the perfect vehicle for contemporary evangelization. That is, provided the application is Christian based. Sound reason is the key. Get a person to reflect on why he or she exists, why we have the innate ability to know right from wrong aside from laws, why humans possess the capacity to reason and exercise free will when no other living entity (plant/animal) does, and the list goes on.
   Once a person begins to recognize some appearance of intelligent design (or at least cannot deny such), then evangelization can introduce God as the force behind all that is. Mind you, not sin and salvation and faith (save those for another time), but starting with the foundation of our beginnings, the creation story, Book of Genesis.
It is quite possible that I am misdirected: My understanding of philosophy is hugely limited and wanting; yet, there seems to be a practicality to employing such to lay a solid foundation of reasoning to answer: Does God exist....

   "It is one thing to be persuaded of the existence of something, and another thing entirely to know what it is. That God does exist and and that He is the efficient and sustaining Cause of all things is taught us by our eyes and by the order in nature: our eyes, because they light upon visible objects and behold in them their beautiful stability and progress, immovably moving and revolving if I may so express it; and the order in nature, because upon beholding these visible and orderly things we reason back to their Author" (Saint Gregory, "Second Theological Oration" A.D. 380).
   Marana tha
_______________________