An atheist's favorite word, though they often do not know what it means, is almost certainly "evidence". They use it all the time, implying their views are evidence based, whereas there is allegedly no evidence for "religion" (another word they rarely understand), and in particular Christianity.
In simple terms, "evidence" is just the available body of facts relevant to a discussion assessing a given claim. The problem for atheists is that all too often, the evidence they demand is so irrelevant, it actually demonstrates a lack of understanding.
In particular, atheists love to demand scientific evidence. The first irony of this is that, rather than science providing evidence for God, it is God that gives us evidence for science. In his book "Darwin’s Century: Evolution and the Men who Discovered It" (1961), Evolutionary anthropologist, and notably not a Christian, Loren Eilsley, reluctantly admitted:
"...it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear articulate fashion to the experimental method of science itself Many things undoubtedly went into that amalgam: Greek logic and philosophy, the experimental methods of craftsmen in the arts as opposed to the aristocratic thinker — all these things have been debated. But perhaps the most curious element of them all is the factor dwelt upon by Whitehead — the sheer act of faith that the universe possessed order and could be interpreted by rational minds. For, as Whitehead rightly observes, the philosophy of experimental science was not impressive. It began its discoveries and made use of its method in the faith, not the knowledge, that it was dealing with a rational universe controlled by a Creator who did not act upon whim nor interfere with the forces He had set in operation. The experimental method succeeded beyond man's wildest dreams but the faith that brought it into being owes something to the Christian conception of the nature of God. It is surely one of the curious paradoxes of history that science, which professionally has little to do with faith, owes its origins to an act of faith that the universe can be rationally interpreted, and that science today is sustained by that assumption." (1).
This actually makes science itself a fantastic evidence for God. Although smaller philosophies have undoubtedly existed throughout history that are similar to modern science, Christianity, and Christianity alone, made it workable. It is Christianity that explained the universe as functioning according to a set of firmly established laws. It is Christianity that suggested man, in particular, is permitted, commanded even, to study the natural world. It is Christianity that separated man from beast, showing that we are able to do what nothing else is: Come to a fruitful understanding of the universe we inhabit. It is Christianity that suggested this goes beyond mere survival, even beyond simple pleasure, and that actually, as Sir William Bragg said, "From religion comes a man's purpose; from science, his power to achieve it. Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are: in the sense that the thumb and fingers of my hand are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped." (2). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is Christianity that provides a set of ethics, and foundation for them, by which we must honestly study science unselfishly.
It is this great faith that both created and sustains science, and it is ignorance thereof that so often leads to major failures. Whereas great men like Matthew Maury have historically used Scripture to make successful scientific predictions, other men, like Charles Darwin, have used science to forge whole religions, devoid of God, devoid of reason, and devoid of ethics. The result, for many people, has been devastating. Aside from the fact certain theories have often lead to costly mistakes, such as the removal of "vestigial" organs that turned out to be quite vital, the absence of ethics has lead to great evils, such as the Bodysnatch, men being kept in zoos, and even the Holocaust. When God is removed from science, the devil will exploit the vacuum.
This alone shows Christianity is superior to other belief systems. The very device upon which I am writing this article, and whatever device you are reading it on, is a direct result of Christian philosophy. Even atheists who engage in science must temporarily borrow Christian assumptions in order to be successful in it. By contrast, using science to disprove God is akin to trying to disprove the ocean by presenting a fish.
By now, you see that the evidence for Christianity, rather than being as "simple" as physical evidence, must naturally be more along the lines of philosophical. One might say the evidence for God is similar to the evidence for the Wright Brothers. In both cases, "look up".
As it stands, physical evidence of the Wright Brothers is hard to come by, but looking to the sky, you may well see their legacy. Every day, thousands of planes take flight. Some of them take businessmen to important meetings. Some of them take travellers to their holiday locations. Some of them even go to war. But most importantly, none of them are the end result of a grenade being set off in a scrapyard.
Planes are fantastic machines. They are both irreducibly complex, and specifically complex. Irreducible complexity refers to the fact that a number of vital components are linked in such a manner that if any of them were removed, damaged, or improperly linked, the plane would cease to function. Specific complexity refers to order; it's not just a random mess, like when a cable gets tangled in your pocket. From these two facts, you can tell that a plane must have been designed.
But this does not prove the Wright Brothers are the designer. In fact, when it comes to modern planes, they are not. Modern planes are beyond the capabilities of the Wright Brothers' original design. So even looking at a modern plane, in no way, shows that the Wright Brothers existed. For this, we have to go back to the historical record. Based on the testimony of reliable witnesses, we can trace the design of modern planes right back to the original, which was designed and flown by the Wright Brothers.
All of these facts lead us to conclude, without having to disturb the Wright Family plot in Dayton, Ohio, that the Wright Brothers existed. In much the same way, we can prove that the God that both men faithfully confessed exists, and is worthy of your worship.
To begin with, consider the simple fact that the Wright Brothers, being themselves faithful Christians, took much inspiration from God's own designs. By studying birds and other flying creatures, they were able to successfully invent the world's first man-made flying machine. Today, we continue this tradition by way of biomimetics. Biomimetics, as the name suggests, is the intentional mimicry of the natural world to produce and improve technology. In a sense, we copy God's designs, or, as Johannes Kepler once said, "...merely thinking God’s thoughts after him."
Yet, all our designs seem quite inferior to God's. We are constantly, and more importantly consciously, improving our designs, whereas the Lord needs no such improvement. Oh how I wish my cameras were as efficient as my own eye. How many amputees would desire their prosthetic limbs function like the real thing? We may copy mosquitoes to improve our medical needles, but the little pests certainly need no help biting us. What, then, can we call atheistic science but plagiarism? If our designs are so comparatively pitiful, with all our efforts and intentions, what logic is there in denying the hand of a god in the nature that inspires us?
But there's quite a difference between "a" god and the God. Of course, simply by looking at nature, we can narrow it down a little. As surely as you can tell the difference between a footprint left by a dog and a dinosaur, you can tell, by the way of the world, that various gods did not do this. Zeus, for example, is not a viable candidate. This is because of his extremely limited power. Not to mention his... well, I'll keep this article family friendly, so I'll just say lack of impulse control. By contrast, the universe we observe is vast, far beyond the reach of what amounts to a super villain. Regardless of whether you believe God did it in 6 days, it is very obvious that only a God of Biblical description is capable of creating this universe as it is.
To this end, God tells us in the Psalms "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1). He goes on to say, in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,". As human beings, there are certain conclusions we are expected to draw about God, even without being told. This evidence is so powerful, God actually holds us accountable for how we respond to it.
But He doesn't just leave us floundering like some Deistic deity. Rather, God has been quite active in human history for the past 6,000 years. Often, this leaves physical evidence. Most of us are quite familiar with fossils, for example. When we look around the world today, we see billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the Earth. This, beyond all imagination, includes sea creatures, which have been found on top of high mountains. "The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered." (Genesis 7:20).
The flood of Noah's day is perhaps the most famous event in the entire Bible. And I say this not because everyone knows it from the Bible. I say it because even before there was a Bible, cultures who descended from the Tower of Babel retained distorted memories of the event, leading to a wide range of flood legends being spread across the world, most of which are far too similar to the Biblical flood to be a coincidence. It is far more likely that the flood genuinely happened than that hundreds of isolated cultures all happened to invent a similar story about how God got angry with the world, told a man to build a boat for him and a bunch of animals, and wiped everything else out with a flood. Even less likely elements, such as the ark having 8 occupants, the ark settling on a mountain, and a Noah-like figure sending out a dove, often feature in these accounts.
What's even more amazing is that even though the Biblical account originated in Egypt at the hands of a Hebrew (yes it did), the ark the Bible describes is so robust, modern ships still use the same dimensions for similar purposes. The obvious difference is our ships are the result of thousands of years worth of experience combined with modern scientific studies. Moses, by contrast, had no business knowing how to build such a seaworthy vessel.
As the Bible draws closer to Moses' time, it also becomes, more frequently, as much a result of direct witness testimony as divine inspiration. The inspiration factor, ultimately, never goes away, but as Peter says, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:16-21). This is one of the most fantastic testimonies to the reliability of the Bible, and not simply in the "it says it, so it's true" kind of way, as it is so often mischaracterised.
See, first of all, Peter sets himself and his fellow disciples forward as eyewitnesses. Witness testimony, and in particular well-scrutinised witness testimony, has always been seen as a reliable piece of evidence. Witness testimony is both the start and finish of many criminal trials, for example. I, myself, have served as a witness to convict a man who attacked me back in 2014. And of course, ultimately, the entire historical record is just a string of testimony and the record thereof.
Peter was not alone in his testimony. In fact, he was among a special group known as "The Twelve", a select group of people who had the privilege of studying and serving under Jesus during His ministry, and being sent out by Him after His resurrection. Other witnesses included James, one of Christ's brothers, who had previously denied Him, and also, beyond all imagination, Paul, previously Saul of Tarsus, a violent and deadly persecutor of the Church.
On top of this, the primary audience of the Bible would also have consisted mainly of witnesses. It's important to note that the Apostles were not thinking about how to convince people in the 21st century. Rather, they were addressing people who were in a position to closely examine the evidence. Paul himself wrote "After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:6, emphasis added). That means the evidence for the resurrection was, at the time the Bible was written, examinable. Sites could be visited, witnesses could be interviewed, official documents could be requested, the very cross upon which Jesus died could even still have been in use.
But Peter's testimony contains something else particularly fascinating: Prophecy. The Old Testament is riddled with such a fantastic miracle, so much so that often sceptics often attempt to revise the authorship dates of certain books based on their pre-conception that prophecy simply cannot happen.
One book whose authorship date is beyond dispute is Isaiah, which just happens to contain one of the clearest Messianic prophecies in the entire Old Testament. Isaiah 53 is so clearly about Jesus, 700 years before the Incarnation, that when people first hear it, they often believe they're hearing the New Testament. That includes Jews, who are often surprised when they then find it in their own Tanakh.
I remember, in particular, debating one atheist who had a hard time with this one. Initially, he said he would be likely to convert if I could show him a successful prophecy. I showed him Isaiah 53, but he said he'd need proof that Jews interpreted it as Messianic before Jesus was born. So naturally, I showed him that they did. To my knowledge, he is still an atheist.
This ultimately shows that evidence never was the problem. The evidence we do have is astronomical, so much so that incredibly intelligent, and stubborn atheists have often set out to disprove Christianity, only to come back as Christians themselves. We may not be able to put God into a glass or a bottle, but we would struggle about as much to do so with the number 3. God, like the laws of physics themselves, is beyond the natural world. Scripture tells us that God is Spirit. The only time He had a physical body, which is now in a place we cannot follow (John 13:33), was during His Earthly life, leading to His death, and His resurrection.
For this event, there is ample evidence, sufficient to convince all but those who are not willing to be convinced. This is just as well, for Christianity stands or falls on this one central creed: "...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). If Christ did not die, or rise again, then Christianity is false, plain and simple. But if He did, that verifies everything. Better to believe a man who rose from His grave than 8 billion who are heading to theirs.
The founders of every other religion are either dead or dying. But ultimately, lies have one father: The devil. The same ancient serpent who lead humanity into death continues to deceive us to this very day, cheating us our of eternal life. Thus, God tells us "But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:23-26).
To that end, dear reader, I encourage you to study the evidence for the Christian faith in greater depth than I have explored here in this article. If you are already a Christian, doing so will strengthen your faith, and enable you to carry out the above command. If you are not yet a member of the Lord's chosen flock, you will have more reason to join, but know this also: You will have less excuse not to.
Ultimately, in time, all of us will pass on from this world, and all doubt will be removed, for we will stand before the judgement seat of God. There, we will give account for every deed, every idle word, and even our very thoughts. The scary thing is, God is a just judge. His standards are without fault, His power is without weakness, and His wrath is without end. As Scripture tells us, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31).
And what a terrifying thing indeed, for all of us have fallen short. In one way or another, each of us have rebelled against Him, and on a daily basis at that. For this, we deserve death. But God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11), and so He has no desire that we should do so (2 Peter 3:9). It is His desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4), and so "The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:8-14).
But if God is just, where does His wrath go? "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21). The same Jesus Christ, whom we have discussed in this article, died in our place, absorbing the full wrath of God as if He was the one who sinned. The only thing we need, therefore, is to receive this salvation in faith. "...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9). The evidence is sufficient for this. What are you waiting for?
References
1. Eilsley, Loren - Darwin’s Century: Evolution and the Men who Discovered It, Doubleday, Anchor, New York (1961)
2. Bragg, Sir William Henry - The World of Sound: Six Lectures Delivered at the Royal Institution (link)