For me, this has to be one of, if not the most important question someone can ever ask. We’re talking not just about how we came to be, but also why we were made and whether there’s life after death. For many, this will never be a priority to ponder; not unless some big life event occurs or death comes knocking on their door.
My personal reasoning for why I believe has changed progressively over the years and has evolved in many ways. I started as a cradle Catholic and was taught to believe at a very young age. However, like a majority of cradle Catholics, my faith was very watered down. I remember going to a YFC (Youth for Christ) camp and on Day 1, telling everyone that I was just there for the girls. What an embarrassment. However, from that camp I also saw that being Christian could be “cool”. I saw Christians break dancing, rapping, hip‑hopping, and singing praise and worship songs. Sure, it may have been a bit superficial, but it was a good start in realising that being Christian didn’t have to mean being boring.
As life progressed, I exposed myself to more Catholic circles. Slowly my faith grew through friendships, music, testimonials, keynote speakers, Catholic radio, and podcasts. I started to connect the dots in my faith and find satisfying reasoning to the many objections outsiders would often challenge the Church with. I began to understand truths about my faith and how it would influence my everyday life. My life started to feel so free and is constantly filled with joy. My faith has taught me how to love my friends, family, and spouse in ways I would never have discovered otherwise.
So why should you believe in the Christian God?
I believe many of my friends would be open to the likelihood of God and even be convinced by many arguments. After all, the idea of a loving God who wants to grant you an abundance of gifts, virtues, love, and then eternity in paradise together with loved ones sounds very attractive.
As a Catholic, I believe that God created us to build a relationship with Him. At the root of all our desires, God alone can satisfy our hearts (cf. CCC 27–30). Sadly, many will not pursue this idea due to social constructs, for example, the fear that Christian rules will limit their ability to have fun to the fullest, not wanting to be locked in, or even being outcasted from society. Consequently, these people will choose to turn a blind eye, hoping for an ignorant‑is‑bliss way of life. Whereas in reality, I found this to be the complete reverse: the truth made me feel more free and just so thankful for everything in life (cf. John 8:32).
There are many who are angry with religious factions, especially the Catholic Church, and rightfully so in some cases. Though if I learned about a corrupt doctor who doesn’t live up to their status, this doesn’t mean I should never go to the hospital or to doctors to seek help. I would say the same for the Church with regards to those who have let the Catholic Church down. I shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the Church because of people who failed to uphold our teachings. It’s a reminder that no matter what our position in life, we are all going to make big and small mistakes. We should always advocate for justice to be served, with hope that all parties will heal and be better for it (cf. CCC 827).
Angry people will shout the loudest, so yes, I see why we would question why we’d want to be on any harsh receiving end. Often the more passionate and angry someone is, it correlates to the degree of how much they are hurting. I’d need to rethink whether I can build a healthy bridge with these angry people, a bridge where all parties can think logically about the claims and reasoning being put forward. This includes myself. I should be aware of any emotional or biased thoughts that may be persuading one belief over another (cf. CCC 1778).
It’s important to question oneself: why is it important to believe in God? After all, if we don’t want to be convinced or if our minds and hearts are not prepared to receive Him, then it’s most likely that all the reasoning this world could possibly ever offer will not be sufficient.
Many are looking for a single proof, one answer that explains it all. I’ve listened to many debates and Catholic apologetics, and it’s often said that God’s existence cannot be determined by traditional scientific methods. Traditional, meaning where we analyze and observe material things under a microscope. This is because God is immaterial (cf. CCC 370, 199). Thus, we must use other methods to determine His existence. For example, I look at the truths of what I already know and use them as evidence to support our claims.
There are many reasons and arguments for God’s existence. Some can be deep and philosophical, such as Thomas Aquinas’ five ways [1]. Others might be that the teachings and fruits produced by Catholicism are all aligned to something greater than ourselves [2, 4]. I’m no theologian, so I can only share my own simple reasoning for God’s existence that resonated with me. Here are 5 reasons for the existence of God:
No other major religious figure has claimed to be God Himself in the way Jesus did. Many other religious figures say they’re messengers or prophets. Jesus claims the divine Name (“before Abraham was, I AM”, John 8:58), forgives sins (Mark 2:5–7), receives worship (John 20:28), and identifies Himself as one with the Father (John 10:30).
Historically, Jesus is not a myth. Even non‑Christian historians mention Him. The Roman historian Tacitus records that “Christus” was executed under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius (Annals 15.44) [5]. The Jewish historian Josephus also refers to “Jesus who was called Christ” and His crucifixion (Antiquities 18.3.3; 20.9.1) [5, 6]. Virtually all reputable historians, Christian or not, accept that Jesus existed and was crucified [7].
The New Testament itself is also extremely well‑attested. We have thousands of Greek manuscripts, with fragments of the Gospels within decades of their writing, far exceeding any other ancient work [7, 8]. As one scholar (Sir Frederic Kenyon) put it, the interval between the originals and our earliest copies is so small that there is no real room for doubt that the text has come down to us substantially as written [7].
So at minimum you have a historically real Jesus, crucified, whose first followers claimed He rose and is God. That’s a serious starting point.
They are sometimes difficult to believe. The fact that they were real people, ready to die and be tortured, showed a genuine act of faith, that is, they really believed in what they preached.
Considering the vast quantity of saints and their stories throughout all ages of time was quite overwhelming for me and has become convincing. The early martyrs especially are powerful: they went from being terrified and hiding (read the Gospels) to publicly suffering and dying for the claim that they had seen the risen Christ (cf. CCC 2473).
As Tertullian famously wrote in the early Church, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Their courage doesn’t prove the faith is true, but it shows that the first generations weren’t inventing comfortable myths. They staked everything on what they believed were real events [9, 18].
Even today, when the Church investigates miracles for sainthood, the process includes independent doctors and skeptics. Only healings that are instantaneous, lasting, and medically inexplicable are accepted as miracles [10, 15]. You don’t have to base your faith purely on miracles, but they’re part of the cumulative case that something more than natural is going on.
Even if the miracles they performed don’t convince you, their actions, way of life, and their impact on humankind cannot be seriously denied by believers or non‑believers.
Atoms, materials, space, time, they all had an origin. If we keep asking “where did that come from?”, we eventually hit the question of why there is anything at all rather than nothing. This naturally leads to the idea of a super‑being, God.
But what made God? For me, I’m comfortable with the idea that God transcends time and space. So our feeble minds will not be able to fully comprehend the nature of God (cf. CCC 43).
Philosophers call one approach here the cosmological argument or the “Kalam” argument:
That cause has to be outside the universe, timeless, immaterial, enormously powerful. That fits what Christians call God. Science can trace the universe back to its beginning, but it can’t explain why there is a universe instead of nothing at all. That’s where philosophy and theology step in.
And not just mine, but those of many others as well. There are some prayers I’ve requested, and God has sometimes chosen not to answer immediately. Sometimes He answers at a later time, and He answers in abundance. Sure, He doesn’t always give me exactly what I wanted, but it’s always what I needed. Reflecting on my prayer requests, He has always given me more than I could ever ask for (cf. CCC 2738–2741).
When terrible things happen, I believe all things are permitted to happen so that they can bring about a greater good. We may just not understand it and may never will. Saint Paul says, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
On top of personal experiences, there are also well‑documented cases like the medically inexplicable healings at Lourdes, where independent medical boards (including non‑believers) examine each case very rigorously before the Church even thinks of calling it a miracle [15]. Again, this isn’t about “proving” God like a lab experiment, but about noticing that when you put all the data together, changed lives, answered prayers, healings, belief in God makes good sense.
I would say the biggest hurdle to believe in is the resurrection of Jesus. Saint Paul says that without the resurrection, our faith is useless and we Christians are the most pitiful of people (1 Corinthians 15:12–19) [4, 16]. I love listening to debates on this topic. A recent one is by the truly respected Trent Horn and Matt Dillahunty [3, 17].
I’ve started to compile some points that made the resurrection convincing for me, but of course it’s up to you to decide whether you’d like to seek this out further:
The Apostles endured horrendous deaths. Many other groups often renounce their faith when faced with death or horrible torture. This indicates that the Apostles and many early Christians really believed that Jesus truly resurrected. People might die for something they think is true, but not for what they know is a lie. The apostles were in a position to know whether they were lying [18].
Saint Paul’s dramatic conversion. He was formerly a persecutor of Christians and had a complete 180‑degree conversion. This miraculous conversion, described in Acts 9:1–19 and echoed in his letters (Galatians 1:13–16), led Saint Paul to become one of Catholicism’s greatest saints [5]. I cannot think of any other reason why Saint Paul would risk his reputation, status, freedom, and eventually his life, other than that he was convinced he had really encountered the risen Christ.
The empty tomb and early preaching in Jerusalem. The earliest Christian preaching about the resurrection began in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus was crucified and buried. If the body were still in the tomb, it would have been very easy to refute them. Instead, even the hostile explanation recorded in Matthew 28:11–15 admits the tomb was empty (“the disciples stole the body”) [21].
Women as the first witnesses. In first‑century Jewish culture, women’s testimony was not highly valued legally. If you were inventing a story, you would not make women your first and primary witnesses. The fact that all four Gospels do exactly that is a good sign they’re honestly reporting what actually happened, even if it was awkward from a PR perspective [22].
I find that when you put all this together, the resurrection is not just a “nice story”. It actually has serious historical support. If Jesus really rose, then His claim to be God is vindicated, and Christianity becomes not just one religious option among many, but God’s answer to our deepest questions.
[1] Question 2. The existence of God, Thomas Aquinas’ “Five Ways”: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1002.htm
[2] 7 ways Christianity shaped (& saves) Western civilisation: https://timelessquill.wordpress.com/2022/07/22/christianity-west/
[3] Is belief in the Resurrection reasonable? Trent Horn vs Matt Dillahunty (debate): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6UNSvHVDM
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:12–19
[5] The Conversion of St. Paul: https://catholicexchange.com/the-conversion-of-st-paul/
[6] Tacitus, Annals 15.44; Josephus, Antiquities 18.3.3; 20.9.1
[7] Sir Frederic Kenyon, The Bible and Archaeology
[8] Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict
[9] Tertullian, Apologeticus 50.13
[10] Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, procedures for miracle investigations
[15] Lourdes Medical Bureau, documented miraculous cures
[18] Sean McDowell, The Fate of the Apostles