A Conversation Overheard

As I walked behind two students on their way to class one afternoon, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“Ugh, please God, don’t let it rain today. That would suck,” one said to the other as she peered up into the sky with a wrinkled nose.

“Yeah, seriously,” the boy responded. “If God even exists, He wouldn’t do that to us today.” They continued to discuss the plans that would be ruined if it rained.

I wanted to grab the student on the shoulder (gently) and talk to him. (Notice that I just wanted to talk, not preach.) My cultural sense of politeness and boundaries, however, restrained me, but if I had the opportunity, I would have attempted to convince him of the existence of God. I believe that religion should be a very personal experience, which one needs to come to an understanding to on their own. However, if presented in a casual and understanding environment with no pressure, religious topics are easier to discuss. For the rain-despising student I happened to overhear, I would dedicate the following argument.

One idea proving the existence of God comes from philosopher Thomas Aquinas, who lived in the 1200s. He wrote Five Proofs for the Existence of God, and one of these points in particular I find extremely persuasive. That is, Aquinas says that the concept of change proves God’s existence. The point goes as follows: all people can agree that everything that changes in the world is caused by something else. For example, rain falls due to a buildup of precipitation in the clouds. Sports players receive a high five in celebration of a good play. But the cause of every change or event can be traced farther and farther back, in a long chain of causes. This long chain cannot go on forever into infinity, however. In this case, there must have been one very first cause of change. And what could this be, if not God?

I would have let these thoughts simmer in the student’s brain for a moment, and if he seemed interested, I might have continued to comment on the concepts of right and wrong, that the writer C.S. Lewis brings up in his book Mere Christianity. The standards of right and wrong are ingrained into the minds of every human being. (Whichever path they decide to take is every individual’s choice, however, everyone can tell the “right” way from the “wrong” one.) But the question is, how did these common standards become present in our heads? Some may say that it is just a part of our culture that we learned as we grew up, but then how did the concept of right and wrong get there in the very first place? These ideas must have been implanted somehow.

So the concept of right and wrong could not have been created by humans. Where did this idea come from? Taking Aquinas’ proof into account, it must have originally come from somewhere. I propose that it came from God, who has always existed. The ideas of Aquinas and Lewis, however, are only two small concepts to consider in this huge topic. But the propositions that the first change must have been enacted by some all-powerful being and that humans have the concepts of right and wrong already rooted in their heads are, I believe, two very strong points. They are especially applicable to those who appreciate logical answers. And perhaps if the student I listened in on was presented with these ideas, he would consider them, which is all I ask.