"It is incomprehensible that God should exist, and it is incomprehensible that He should not exist." — Blaise Pascal
The Question That Haunts Humanity
The state of the world is deeply concerning, often triggering. I was recently watching a video from the School of Hard Knocks where James Dumoulin interviewed a Holocaust survivor. The question came, as it always does in moments of profound suffering:
"Do you believe in God?"
The survivor paused. Then, with the weight of unspeakable horror in his voice, he answered: "Not really. I have seen too much to believe that there's a God. And if there is, how could He allow all of that?"
It's a question that echoes across centuries, across cultures, across every human heart that has ever known pain.
Hunger. Death. Injustice. Children suffering. Diseases that ravage the innocent. Wars that claim lives before they've even begun. So many things have happened—to us, to the world—that force us to ask: Is God alive?
But before we can answer that question, we must first ask another:
Who is God? And what does the concept of "God" even mean?
Who Is God?
Google describes God as the Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe.
If this is true—if God is the Creator—then everything we see, think, touch, and feel is evidence of His existence. The very fact that something exists points to a Creator of that thing. You cannot have a painting without a painter, a building without an architect, a universe without a source.
For centuries, people believed exactly that—that everything was created by one Supreme Being. But beginning in the 6th and 7th centuries, a scientific revolution began. It sought to understand the how the mechanics of existence. From the discovery of gravity to germs to the periodic table, humanity has evolved in its quest for knowledge.
But here is the question: “Do these discoveries mean that God doesn't exist? “ Or do they mean we are simply discovering “how He did it?”
Science explains the mechanism. It does not explain the source. The microscope reveals the cell, but it does not explain why the cell exists at all.
Why Did We Invent God?
Before we go further, let's explore why humans—across every culture, every era, every civilization—have believed in God. What need does this belief fulfill?
1. Defeating Death
The concept of God provides a framework for an afterlife. It satisfies the deep, universal human desire that consciousness does not permanently end at death. We long to believe that our loved ones are not simply gone—that we ourselves are not simply extinguished.
2. Ultimate Purpose
Without a cosmic Creator, human existence can feel like a brief, accidental cosmic coincidence—a random blip in an indifferent universe. Belief in God provides a built-in purpose: to fulfill a divine plan, to live according to a higher law, to matter beyond our brief years.
3. The Brain on Religion
Neuroscientists have discovered that practices like deep prayer, meditation, and ritual chanting stimulate specific parts of the brain (like the frontal lobes) while calming areas responsible for self-identity (the parietal lobe). This creates a powerful neurological feeling of *oneness*, peace, and connection to something larger than oneself. The brain is literally wired for transcendence.
4. The "Watching Eye" Effect
Evolutionary sociologists argue that the concept of an all-knowing God acts as a powerful psychological "police officer." When people believe a divine being is watching their actions and judging their hearts, they are much more likely to cooperate, share, and avoid cheating their neighbors. God, in this view, is humanity's way of controlling the uncontrollable—death, morality, behavior, catastrophe.
So, we have proven that we “want” God to exist. But wanting something doesn't make it real.
Does God exist? Or did we invent Him?
The Other Side of the Argument
Before we answer, we must honestly face the counterargument.
Many people—like the Holocaust survivor—reject God not because of intellectual arguments, but because of suffering. The Problem of Evil is perhaps the strongest argument against the existence of God:
If God is all-powerful, He can stop evil.
If God is all-good, He wants to stop evil.
But evil exists.
Therefore, either God is not all-powerful, or He is not all-good, or He does not exist.
It is a logical, emotionally devastating argument. How can a loving God allow children to starve? How can a just God permit genocide? How can a merciful God watch as the innocent suffer?
This is the question that breaks faith. This is the question that has turned millions away.
But Here Is What We Often Miss
The human perception of God—our assumptions about who He is and how He should act—does not determine whether He exists or not.
"I AM WHO I AM." — Exodus 3:14
God exists regardless of our beliefs. He is not limited by our understanding, our expectations, or our morality. The most consistent truth across human evolution is this: belief in God predates organized religion. Ancient humans, across every continent, believed in a Supreme Being—not because they were primitive, but because the evidence was everywhere.
We cannot minimize God as a personal assistant who magically does what we want. We cannot assume that if God exists, everything must be perfect in our lives or in the world. That would be to reduce the Creator to a cosmic vending machine—and that is not God.
As humans, we are limited by time, knowledge, and nature. We cannot fully comprehend what "perfect" looks like. The existence of what we call "evil" is far more complex than our human minds can fathom. There is so much of what actually exists and happens in real time that we will never fully understand.
The Evidence for God
Despite the pain, despite the mystery, there is overwhelming evidence that God exists:
The Design of the Universe – From the fine-tuning of physical constants to the intricate complexity of DNA, the universe screams of intentionality.
The Inception of Life – Life does not arise from non-life. Something cannot come from nothing. The very existence of consciousness points to a source of consciousness.
The Divine Structure of Humanity – Our capacity for love, creativity, morality, and transcendence cannot be reduced to mere chemical reactions.
The Evolution of Knowledge – Science itself is the discovery of “how” God did it—not evidence that He didn't.
History has shown that humanity evolves and succeeds despite past calamities. Plagues, wars, famines—we have survived them all. As if there is a supernatural entity continuously preserving and restoring humanity in ways we can never fully comprehend.
What Does This Mean for You?
It means that God exists, and He is alive.
If you look closely at life—really look—you will see His hand working. Preserving. Protecting. Restoring.
We do not need to fully understand Him. We only need to believe that He does.
"Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe." — Voltaire
And in conclusion, I will use Pascal’s wager
Pascal approached the existence of God like a game of chance. He argued that humans must "wager" (bet) on whether God exists or not, and laid out the following logical outcomes:
1. You bet that God exists: If He does exist, you gain everything (eternal life in heaven). And if He does not exist, you lose nothing (you lived a good life, but simply cease to exist).
2. You bet that God does not exist: If He does exist, you lose everything (eternal damnation). And if He does not exist, you gain nothing of lasting consequence.
The Conclusion Pascal concluded that because the potential gain of believing is infinite, and the potential loss is minimal, the only rational and logical choice is to live your life as if God exists
The Final Word
Is God alive?
Yes.
Not because we need Him to be. Not because the world is fair. Not because suffering doesn't exist.
But because the evidence—the design, the purpose, the survival, the hope points to something beyond ourselves.
We may never fully understand why He allows what He allows. But we can trust that His ways are higher than our ways. That His purposes are greater than our pain.
And in the end, faith is not about having all the answers. It's about trusting the One who does.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." — Hebrews 11:1
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Have you ever questioned God's existence because of suffering? How did you process that?
2. Do you believe that science disproves God, or reveals His handiwork?
3. If you were to make Pascal's wager today, which side would you choose—and why?
Final Thought
The child in the poem pressed against the window, watching life pass by. But the one who steps through the glass—the one who dares to believe, to trust, to hope—discovers that the world outside is not empty.
It is filled with purpose.
It is filled with meaning.
It is filled with God.