God & Science
You don't believe in Zeus or Thor. I just go one god further.
Short answer
It's a clever line, but it compares different kinds of things. Zeus and Thor were beings inside the world, with parents and life stories. The God of the Bible is the uncreated source of everything that exists. And rejecting many false claims doesn't disprove a true one, any more than counterfeit bills prove there's no real money.
In simple words: Zeus and Thor were made-up characters who lived inside the world. The God of the Bible made the whole world. They're not the same kind of thing at all.
Response
This popular line, often associated with Richard Dawkins, says Christians are already atheists about every other god, so atheists just reject one more.
It sounds tidy, but Zeus and Thor aren't the same kind of thing as the God of the Bible. In Greek myth, Zeus was the son of Cronus and came along after the world already existed. In Norse myth, Thor was the son of Odin. They were powerful beings within nature. The Bible describes something completely different: the one God who is not part of the universe but its Maker. "Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3). He "made the world and everything in it" and isn't served "as if He needed anything" (Acts 17:24-25).
The reasons people give for believing in God, like the universe having a beginning or the order of nature, point toward that kind of Creator. They don't point to a god on a mountaintop. So the step from Zeus to the God of the Bible isn't one more of the same. It's the difference between denying that a certain character lives in the house and denying that anyone built the house.
And the number of options doesn't settle what's true. Science has tested thousands of theories that turned out wrong, and no one concludes there's no right answer. The question is the evidence for this God, above all the resurrection of Jesus.
Christians don't believe in God because they've rejected other gods. They believe because they think the evidence points to the God who made himself known in Jesus. That's a claim anyone can investigate.
Key evidence
- In Greek myth Zeus is the son of Cronus; in Norse myth Thor is the son of Odin. Both are beings within the world.
- The Bible presents God as the uncreated Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Acts 17:24-25).
- Arguments such as the universe's beginning point to a cause beyond the universe, not to a god within it.
- Many false claims don't show that every claim is false.
Bible passages
- Genesis 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth.
- John 1:3 Through him all things were made.
- Acts 17:24-25 God made the world and needs nothing.
- 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah: decide which God is real.
Discussion questions
- What's the difference between a god inside the universe and a Creator of the universe?
- Does the existence of fake money prove there's no real money? How does that apply here?
- What evidence would help someone decide between the claims of different religions?