By Joel Settecase / Updated March 30, 2023 (Originally published April 7, 2021)

So, You Asked For Evidence.

When you ask for evidence that God is real, you need to understand that, in order for “evidence” and “fact” to be meaningful concepts, God must already be real. Because everything only has meaning in reference to something else, everything needs an ultimate reference point in order to have final meaning (which is to say, any solid meaning at all). Therefore to ask for evidence is to ask for something that only has meaning if God is real.

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Non-Christians will often ask me for evidence that God exists. They want the facts, they say. However, what I want them to understand is that facts, by themselves, only make sense in relation to other true facts—and all facts ultimately only make sense in relationship to God.

Here's why that is:

Everything Is Only Meaningful In Terms of Its Relationship to Other Things

Everything in the universe (whether material or immaterial) needs a reference point in order to give it meaning.

For example, to truly understand "2" you have to understand how it stands in relation to 1, 3, and all the other numbers.

Each individual fact only makes sense when viewed in reference to other facts, and all parts only make sense in relation to the whole. So then, since the universe—all that exists that is not God—is just a “bunch of stuff and things,” then the universe itself (or “world” if you prefer, but know I’m not merely talking about Earth but about everything everywhere—the complete state of affairs that is (the whole enchilada, to use a technical term)—must rely for its meaningfulness on an ultimate reference point that stands apart from, and outside of, itself. Even the whole of the universe needs a reference point.

Any fact ultimately finds its meaning in the other facts. So fact A only “makes sense” in relation to fact B, which has meaning because of fact C, etc. etc. ad infinitum. Without a stopping point, a final and ultimate reference point, we’re staring down the barrel of an infinite regress. And if this process were to truly go on forever, then no thing—no fact, no law, and no person—would really have meaning at all. What’s true about the parts is true about the whole. So then, for the whole of creation have any meaning at all, it must needs have a reference point that is not identical to itself. The ultimate reference point of the world cannot itself be part of the world, or identical to the world.

The problem here is that what is needed is an ultimate reference point that transcends the world, and which has in itself the ability to account for all the little individual and diverse and plural things in the world, as well as the generalities, the universal laws, and the categories, in short the oneness of the world.

I say this is a problem, because no non-Christian worldview even pretends to have that kind of ultimate reference point.

What’s the Christian Answer to the Problem of the Ultimate Reference Point?

Christians understand that the ultimate reference point for the whole of the cosmos, and even immaterial "things" like numbers, propositions, laws of logic, etc., is the Triune God. One God who is eternally and necessarily both One (so monotheism is true) and Three (as the Bible says God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Because He is both ONE (unity) and THREE (diversity), He is the union of identity and differentiation. He is the One who gives meaning to every fact and every law, every category of things and every individual thing. Everything.

So then, to understand the meaning of anything at all, the most important question we can ask is, "How does this stand in relationship to God?"

How to Know What Your Existence Means

This is true of ourselves, too. Don’t we all search for meaning? Don’t you want to know what your existence means? Is this not why people search for relationships by which to define themselves? We long for a significant other, a job, a possession, a status, a family, a reputation, etc., that will grant some solid meaning to life.

What the Bible teaches, and what is discovered to be true time after time, is that no mere earthly relationship can explain or give final meaning to human life. Just like the world itself must derive meaning from outside and above itself, so too the human soul must understand its meaning from a source—with reference to a reference point—outside and above the whole world.

Only the true God fits the bill.

If you want to know who you are and what the meaning of your existence is, you need to know how you stand in reference to God.

So if you want to even begin to understand yourself and the world you live in, truly, get to know God. And He says the way to do that is to get to know His Son.

Some Relevant Scriptures

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)?
“Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11b).
"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3).
"Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his...." (Psalm 100:3).
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7).
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
"All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in [Christ]" (Colossians 2:3).

Learn More About Meaning and Reference Points

For this article I’m deeply indebted to Cornelius Van Til’s (CVT) book Christian Theistic Evidences, specifically p. 76 of the second edition from P&R Publishing, edited by K. Scott Oliphint, and especially in Oliphint’s footnote no. 43, in which he explains the view of the Ultimate Idealists and how CVT took their ideas and ran with them.

Get Christian Theistic Evidences from Reformation Heritage Books here.

I also recommend reading as much as you can by Francis Schaeffer. I think it’s in his book The God Who Is There that he talks about man needing an ultimate reference point, and that reference point being God.

If You Are A Skeptic And Feel Like This Wasn’t A Very Good Argument

Know that it really wasn’t much of an “argument” at all. Rather I’m articulating the Christian position. it’s possible that I referred you here after you demanded evidence from me of God’s existence. In that case I wanted you to understand why that demand is actually a lot more complex than you may have realized.

My hope is that now you can at least see why Christians believe that all facts (including facts being used as evidence to prove anything, such as that God is there) stand in relationship to one another, and that facts (and laws) can only make ultimate sense or have any final meaning (or really any real meaning at all) when understood in their relationship to God.

So your request for evidence is a request for facts that prove God, which facts already rely on God for their meaning anyway.

If you disagree, that’s your right of course, but you’ll need to explain how, given the principles to which you actually claim to adhere, any fact can have any final meaning at all. In short, you’ll need to account for why, given your non-Christian position, evidence can be a “thing” anyway.

If You’ve Now Seen The Light….

If you started reading this as a skeptic or non-believer, and you’ve now come to realize that facts, laws, and persons can only have meaning insofar as they are explained with reference to God, there is good news for you.

But first, the bad news.

The same Bible that teaches that God is the ultimate reference point, without Whom facts and evidence have no meaning, is the same Bible that teaches that your efforts to live without God (or even against God) up to this point have been sin.

Sin is disobeying God, and you have been disobeying God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). God is offering you, right now, an opportunity to have your sins forgiven and to be declared righteous in His sight.

In the Bible, God teaches that,

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:9b-13).

Now, if you’re ready to repent (have a change of thinking) and receive and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, would you please email me and let me know?

And if you’re already subscribed to the biblical worldview and believe that evidence presupposes God, then I have good news. There is a ton of evidence that the Christian message is true.

I suggest looking into the following ministries, who articulate the evidences very well.

So, You Asked For Evidence (How to Answer Like Francis Schaeffer)