Particles come into existence out of nothing in the universe, so that explains why we dont need God to have created the universe.

Today on the bus I overheard a guy talking about the beginning of the universe.  I asked if I could join in because it is easily one of my favoirte topics to chat about.  He is an atheist and he was talking about the quantum vaccum.  In the quantum vaccum particles can come into esistence and then dissapear, so from that many atheists believe that is how the universe came into existence at the big bang. 

But, many people have not really looked into what the quantum vaccum really is.  Is it "nothing?" is it really non being?  No, it is a rich sea of energy, and when these particles come into being it is just the universe changing its form of energy.  This is not what the big bang explains.  Before the big bang there was nothing...No energy, no matter nothing.  In the quantum vaccum, you still have the universe.  Before the big bang there was no universe.

Logic and science show us that from nothing, nothing comes. To believe that the universe sprang into existence from non being is to go against science and logic.  There must be a cause to the universe, a cause that is beyond time, beyond matter, beyond energy, beyond space and that leads to what we know as God as the cause of the universe.

"God didnt create the universe, it has always been here"

I am amazed to say I actually hear this objection all the time.  Most people know what the big bang is, and the big bang shows that the universe did have an absolute beginning.  A beginning where all time and space and energy came into existence.  Also everyone seems to know that something does not come from nothing.  Nothing existed before the big bang.  Nothing.  No matter, no energy, no time.  I was chatting with someone today about this and I said to him if we heard a huge "BANG!" behind us and he asked me "what was that?" and I replied with "nothing" he would not believe me, no one would.  Something does not come from nothing, also life does not come from non life.  Science and logic supports this.  So anyone holding onto the idea of an eternal universe would have to deny either science or logic. 

Christians can get a bad reputation in this town, in my timme out at UBC especially I was called many names, specifically "creationist" with the idea behind it that Christians are people who deny science and follow blind faith.  I have never been this way and I dont know of many Christians that are this way.  It is usually people attacking straw men, because I see Christians being called names like this all the time rather than people trying to get to know them.  I understand that each individual atheist or agnostic is different and I cant judge their beliefs before I know them.  In our multicultural city most people understand this, so I would love to see it pass on to conversations between people on faith.

  I was amazed at the simplicity of William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Arguement. Which is :

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

It is simple and memorizable and everyone has an opinion on it.  Making it a great talking point with people.  When I talk about it with atheists they usually will say things along the line of "most of that is true but not for the universe" when I ask why they usually dont know.  I dont think everyone needs to have an answer on the spot.  I myself will often say to people "I dont know the answer to that can I look into it and we can have a coffee in a week?"  but I do offer for people to take time and look into this arguement but rarely hear anything back.

Also I think a great talking point is if you sit down and find a cup of coffee on the table and it is still warm, you know one thing...that that coffee hasn't been there forever.  According to the 2nd law of thermodynamics we understand that the universe is winding down. Entropy increases.  So from the fact that we have a very young sun, and all the energy in the universe is not already used up, we can know that it has not always been here. 

I just want to add, that on this issue especially both Christians and Atheists can get very upset.  I think all of us humans can get upset or defensive when we get put on the spot and dont know the answer.  But lets always work together and reason together, these conversations should be engaging and even fun.

are all Christians supposed to be apologists?

I can say that my life was revitalized because of apologetics.  I became a Christian when I was 16 and studied the evidence for the resurrection and was very convinced by the weight of the evidence.  But I did hit a time in my life where I stopped going to church and wasn't very involved in the Christian community.  Then one day an atheist friend of mine invited me to watch a debate on the existence of God between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox.  As John Lennox built a case for the existence or God and handled Richard Dawkins objections I was encouraged and excited.  I had to hear more of this.  I must have watch that debate like 10 times.  Next I discovered William Lane Craig when I was searching youtube for God debates.  I was amazed seeing these debates at the top universities with top scholars.  I became so hungry for more information.  I downloaded hundreds of podcasts, and discovered iTunes U.  I went out to Regent College on a pretty regular basis to buy audio recordings of the classes because I cant afford to take the classes there.  I got deeply involved in a local church and the Christian community.  I read the Bible like never before.  I truly was revitalized.

The more I learned the more I found myself in conversations with Atheists, Agnostics and other Christians.  I still have not had a bad experience talking with Atheists and Agnostics because I always think of 1Peter 3:15 " But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect"  we should never quarrel or fight with others over this issue, so even when I have been attacked verbally I remember "gentleness and respect"

But I have had a few interesting experiences with Christians.  I have met a few Christians who cant communicate what they believe and why they believe.  So I have tried to encourage them to start to study apologetics so they can give an answer for the reason they believe.  I hear quite regularly that they are not interested in apologetics or that they are not interested in apologetics.  I understand we are not all the same, and I am glad everyone is not just like me, one of me is quite enough haha.  But Christians need to take Peter's words seriously.  We all must be able to give a reason for the hope we have.  We don't need to all go out and become the next William Lane Craig, but we do all need to be able to answer a few questions.  What do you believe and why do you believe it?

I would say it really doesn't take too long to learn a couple answers to the most frequently asked questions.  Such as, "is the Bible reliable?" or "did Jesus really leave an empty tomb behind?" so I would like to encourage you to learn just a couple of these issues.  So I would suggest starting with the reliability of the Bible or the resurrection or maybe even the fine tuning of the universe.  I guarantee an exciting journey, and it will further equip you to share the gospel with a world in need of Jesus.