Proof of God: Presenting the evidence for God's existence

By TJ Lakeman

Table of contents

Introduction

The story of how I became an atheist

Near Death Experiences

Blind woman sees for the first time

A Neurosurgeon And Former Skeptic Has A Near Death Experience, Visits Heaven

Husband Sends Fax From Heaven

Neuropathologist gets hit by a car, lies dead for 3 days, returns to life

Embraced by the light – A near death experience so powerful it inspires a bestseller

How can NDE’s be taken as “proof” of God?

A deeper, scientific look into the validity of NDEs

More proof

Miracles

Hysterical Strength

The man who fell from the sky

Faith Helps Boy Recover from Orthopedic Decapitation

Young Boy Recalls Former Life

Awake after a 19-year Coma

Can science and religion coexist?

Scientists who believed in God

Reasons why people believe science and religion can coexist

The Big Bang theory doesn’t disprove God

Dinosaurs are actually mentioned in the Bible

Jesus Christ As Proof Of God

Was Jesus Real?  What proof is there from sources other than the Bible that he existed?

Deeper, Scientifically valid look at Intelligent Design

Morality – Where did it come from if not God?

Why Christianity over other religions?

Why Atheists may not be as smart as they think they are

Final Conclusion

Bonus: Tips for debating an atheist

The basics to winning a debate

Tips to beat an atheist or non-believer in a debate

Closing lines

Copyright

Copyright © 2013 by TJ Lakeman

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

TJ Lakeman

Visit our website at http://proof-of-god.net

Acknowledgements

Thank you for taking interest in this book. This book is dedicated specifically to those Christians who are doubting their faith,

Those of you that are not yet sure what to believe,

Those of you that are curious about the evidence for God,

And those of you that just want some ammo for arguments against atheists and non-believers.

Introduction

Does God exist? Is God real? This question has been asked for centuries, and it’s one of the biggest – if not the biggest - questions we can ask. Our beliefs are the most defining aspects of our lives. Therefore, it is important to take this question seriously and give it a lot of thought.

It is completely natural to doubt and question everything, even God. After all, we can never know anything for sure. We can’t ever be sure there’s an afterlife, at least until we die. We can’t even know that we actually exist, everything may just be an illusion.

That said, we can be 99,9% sure of many things. This includes the existence of God. Many people don’t realize just how much proof there actually is. There are many reasons for this, but the most common reason may be that people simply don’t care enough. To me, it is absurd that people can just disregard religion and spirituality as an afterthought, but humans are complex beings. Nowadays, it’s not “cool” or “in” to be a believer, and for many, that is too much social pressure to take on, creating a bias towards atheism in society.

I know this, partly because I’ve studied the subject closely, and partly because I was an atheist myself.

As a former atheist, I can say that I understand how atheists think. I was an atheist for almost two decades.

I wouldn’t call myself  “enlightened”, but the truth is that I lived most of my early life in a state that can be described as a “haze”. Earlier in my life, I never really thought things trough, and I felt like I was sleepwalking through my days. In hindsight, it is pretty clear that I was depressed.

When I was 26, I quit my day job and traveled the world for almost a year. I visited 13 countries, and it was amazing. The whole experience made me appreciate life more than previously, and for the first time in my life, I felt happy. I was finally cured of my depression, a disease I didn’t even know I had.

And as a nice side effect, I felt like I could finally think clearly. I started to re-evaluate my life and my beliefs, and for the first time since becoming an atheist at the age of 11, I reconsidered my views on religion. I realized that I never had really gone to deep with my research.

I began looking for evidence, this time with an open mind. I read many books, watched many debates and visited many websites, and I was shocked – I never realized there was this much evidence for the existence of God and the afterlife. After all, I had always thought that religion always just used “faith” as a copout; I never really even took religion seriously.

In a way, I wrote this book to my past self. Had I known that there was actually a valid counterargument, even as an 11-year-old, I probably wouldn’t have been so hasty to become an atheist.

Read on to discover all the Proof of God.

The Story Of How I Became An Atheist

Before we begin, I’m going to briefly tell you my personal story…

I was an atheist for all the wrong reasons. I turned an atheist at a very young age, somewhere around 11 years old. My parents and my whole family were very religious – they made me go to Sunday school, church, they made me pray… I hated all of this, and as a result I didn’t get along with my parents very well.

When I was about 10, we had new neighbors move in. It was a family of 4, including a boy of the same age as me. I quickly became friends with him, he was an easy-going guy and we shared a lot of the same interests. For the sake of his anonymity, let’s just call him Mike.

As we got closer, one day Mike mentioned that he didn’t believe in God. “In any God!”.

At first, I was shocked. I had actually never met an atheist before, since all of my existing friends came from religious families (I went to a catholic school).

Mike also told me what his dad had told him;

“All religious people are idiots and religion is a waste of time, there is no God!”.

As an 11-year-old who was mad at his religious parents, I was easily influenced. It wouldn’t take long for me to become an atheist as well.

To cut the long story of my life short, I basically became an atheist to rebel against my parents. I had it all figured out since I was 11, so I never really questioned my faith again. Not until I turned 27 years old and finally started re-thinking my beliefs.

Unlike in most of these kinds of stories, for me there was no “single life-changing moment” that converted me back to theism. That’s part of the reason I decided to write this book – to demonstrate that there’s plenty of proof for God, perhaps a surprising amount – and all of this proof can be validated through research.

Near Death Experiences

Near Death Experiences are probably the closest link between God and man on Earth.

There are hundreds of documented cases of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) that could be used as proof of God and the afterlife.

These NDEs aren’t just cases of ‘people almost getting hit by a bus’ or ‘dodging a bullet’, because those could easily just be coincidences. The NDEs mentioned in this book refer to experiences where the subject also experiences divine intervention or visions, and/or leaves their body (Out Of Body experience, OBE).

Often, NDEs are also coupled with miraculous recoveries, as you will learn later on. It is also notable that they usually affect the person very deeply (unlike dreams), often causing them to become much more spiritual people.

Of course, anyone could make up a story, but don’t worry, we are not just blindly taking their word for it, there is actually some proof scientific behind these NDEs.

Next, you will read about the 5 most interesting and convincing cases of NDEs and the afterlife that also played a large part in changing my beliefs. After that, we will show you why exactly NDEs are a valid proof of God.

Blind woman sees for the first time

Some of the most interesting cases of NDEs are of blind people gaining the ability to see, if only temporarily. Especially if it’s someone who has been blind since birth.

People who have been blind since birth do not even see visions in their sleep, they just see nothing. And “nothing” in this case doesn’t mean seeing black – it just means not being able to see anything at all, which is an extremely difficult concept to imagine for us who are lucky enough to be sighted.

So imagine how frightening it must have been for Vicki Noratuk, blind since birth, to suddenly gain the ability to see while in a coma after a bad car accident. After recovering from the confusion that was caused by suddenly gaining the ability to see for the first time in her life, Vicki realized that she had left her body and was staring down at herself.

She recognized her body, her hair and her wedding ring. She saw how the doctors were trying to save her life.

- They kept saying “We can’t bring her back! We can’t bring her back!” Vicki recalls. But Vicki felt a detachment to her body: “I was thinking, what are these people getting so upset about? I can’t get these people to listen to me, I’m out of here!”

Then, Vicki left the room right through the ceiling.

“It was wonderful to be out there, to be free, to not worry about bumping into anything… And I knew where I was going.”

Vicki heard beautiful sounds and felt a peace of mind as she floated around, but she was still quite overwhelmed by suddenly gaining the ability to see;

“I was approaching this area, there were trees, there were birds and quite a few people, but they were all made out of light, and I could see, and it was incredible!”

“I was overwhelmed by the experience because I couldn’t even imagine what light was like.”

Then, she was sent back to her body and woke up.

She described the place she went to as “a place where all knowledge was available”.

The doctors confirmed Vicki’s out-of-body visions as realistic recollections of what happened during the time the doctors were trying to revitalize her, which is quite remarkable, considering that she was, scientifically speaking, unconscious the whole time. Not to forget, she was blind.

Story source here.

A Neurosurgeon, Former Skeptic Has A Near Death Experience, Visits Heaven

Eben Alexander has made a name for himself with his book: Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeons journey into the Afterlife, published in 2012.

Eben Alexander always believed there to be a scientific explanation for NDEs. After all, he was a neurosurgeon.

Then, it all changed in 2008, when he was struck by a rare neurological illness which put him into a coma. To his great surprise, he entered heaven, where he met angels, dead relatives and long-gone friends. He also saw butterflies and clouds, among other heavenly things.

He also underwent a miraculous recovery, just as his doctors were contemplating on stopping treatment.

He concluded that death was simply an illusion, and that there is definitely life after death.

Alexander has been criticized by many of his colleagues, but did you really expect one person to be able to convince the whole scientific community that they’ve been wrong for the entirety of their careers? How many of the skeptics have had a similar experience and still denied its meaning?

If you’re interested in reading the whole story, I suggest you read Alexander’s book. But the bottom line here is that even a lifelong skeptic and expert of the field changed his beliefs after a personal near death experience. How many of the scientists studying NDEs can say that they’ve actually experienced it?

I’ve listed all of the books I recommend here at our website. You are by no means required to read all of the books, but if you have the time, I sincerely recommend it as it very eye-opening and interesting.

Husband Sends Fax From Heaven

This story isn’t a near death experience, but a proof of afterlife nevertheless.

When Faye Aldridge’s husband was in the late stages of cancer, he promised to send her a fax from heaven. Naturally, Faye dismissed this as something that was just a nice thing to say, she didn’t actually expect to receive a fax.

Imagine how surprised she was, when just 2 days after her husband’s death, she received a fax from her dead husband.

Also, 2 separate doctors claim that Faye’s husband, who they didn’t know was dead at the time, had visited them shortly after his clinical death. In both instances, the visit was brief and his message of peace and comfort was concise, the doctors described.

It is worth to mention that the two doctors had never met.

Faye Aldridge and her husband were avid Christians. Faye claims that the experience proves afterlife.

If you’re interested in reading a more detailed version, you should read her book; Real Messages From Heaven.

Faye’s story is important because it is yet another proof of the afterlife and it hasn’t been disproven or really challenged at all by anyone notable.

Neuropathologist Gets Hit By A Car, Lies Dead For 3 Days, Returns To Life

Dr. George Rodonaia was a neuropathologist from the URSS. As it is usual for men of science, has was also an atheist.

He was pronounced dead in 1976 after being hit by a car on his way to the airport. He died on the spot. It was a murder committed by the KGB, the Soviet Union equivalent of the FBI, who presumably didn’t want George to leave for the United States.

George was put into a morgue in a hospital.

During the time he was clinically dead, he claims to have been able to communicate with other people and children in the hospital. Not verbally of course, but “telepathically”.

In another room of the hospital, a young girl was crying, but nobody could understand why. But Dr. Rodonaia was somehow able to ask her why she was crying and managed to calm her down.

The reason the girl was crying was because she had a broken hip.

Note: the girl was in the hospital because of other unrelated reasons to the broken hip, otherwise this wouldn’t go unnoticed by the doctors as easily. And well, it was the 70s in the Soviet Union.

Dr. Rodonaia returned to life 3 days after his accident when a doctor begun to perform an autopsy on his body. After “waking up” from the dead, Rodonaia went to speak to the doctors treating the girl in the other room. He instantly told them that she was crying because of a broken hip, and sure enough, that was proven to be the problem!

The doctors were shocked, and for a good reason… A guy who has just been dead for 3 days walks in and makes a perfectly accurate diagnosis that has slipped the minds of well trained doctors by claiming that he was able to communicate with her while he himself was dead?! It sounds crazy, but the only thing even crazier than that would be claiming that it was all just a coincidence.

After the experience, George Rodonaia gave up his career on science and devoted his life to religion and spirituality. He became a priest and took a doctorate on the psychology of religion.

That makes Dr. Rodonaia the 2nd atheist scientist mentioned in this book who has converted to religion after having a personal NDE. There are even more examples, but these two are the most well known and prolific ones.

You can watch Rodonaia tell his story on Youtube here.

Embraced by the light – A near death experience so powerful it inspires a bestseller

One of the most well-known NDEs to date is the case of Betty J. Eadie, who later documented her experience in her book (Embraced by the Light) that eventually became a New York Times bestseller.

As a quick summary; Betty J. Eadie died from complications due to a surgery, but later miraculously returned to life. While dead, she left her body through her chest and met her guardian angels. She visited her family as a spirit, but discovered that her family couldn’t see her. Betty’s guardian angels told her that she had died prematurely, and eventually, she returned to life. But the experience was so strong that it causes her to become depressed due to separation from the Holy Spirit that she felt connected to during her out-of-body experience.

While this NDE maybe doesn’t offer that much in terms of scientific proof for an afterlife, it is still an amazing read for those who are interested to read and learn more about what the afterlife might be like. It is impossible to properly summarize the ideas and thoughts a whole book can spark in just a single chapter, but if you read the book, I promise it will be worth it.

(Note: I am not affiliated with her or any other author in any way. This is just a recommendation, as it was one of the most important books I read.)

How Can NDE’s Be Taken As “Proof” Of God?

Even the less skeptical of us may think that just about anyone with a little imagination can make up a story about visiting heaven, consciously or unconsciously while in a coma, and call it a true story. And that’s a fair thought, you can never know for sure, unless you experience it for yourself.

But things get interesting when the seemingly unconscious, even temporarily dead people leave their bodies and are able to prove it by knowing things that they shouldn’t know had they only imagined everything. Even the popular “chemicals in the brain” theory can’t explain:

How did George Rodonaia know that the little girl’s hip was broken even before the doctors could figure it out? Remember, George wasn’t even in the same room, he was in a morgue in the same building. Therefore, it was impossible for him to subconsciously have overheard a doctor talking about it – even then, as said earlier, the doctors didn’t even know that the little girls hip was broken in the first place.

How could the blind woman see so accurately that she was able to describe real-world things in detail, even though she had been blind since birth?

How is it possible that two separate doctors contacted Faye Aldridge about her husband’s visits, both with a similar story? Remember, these were respected doctors, not exactly crazy homeless people who just make stuff up.

Then, there’s the fact that even highly educated, life-long atheists like Eben Alexander and George Rodonaia have changed their beliefs after having personal near death experiences. Additionally, many scientists who study NDEs have admitted that they first assumed them to be completely fake, but those who’ve went deeper into their studies have changed their minds. Some of the most notable scientists studying the subject are:

Dr. Michael Sabom, Cardiologist, author of Recollections of Death (1994)

Dr. Maurice Rawlings, Cardiologist, author of Beyond Death’s Door (1978)

Dr. Raymond Moody, Pshychologist, Medical doctor, author of Life After Life (1975)

Dr. Peter Fenwick, neuropsychiatrist, neuropsychologist, one of the leading researchers in the field.

Some other notable researchers that deserve a mention are Bruce Greyson, Nancy Bush Evans, Jerry Gross and Dr Janice Holden, among others I’m probably forgetting.

There are still a number of scientists that remain skeptical, but can’t seem to come up with an explanation for NDEs that can be universally agreed upon in the scientific community.

A Deeper, Scientific Look Into The Validity Of NDEs

Everyone with even slight knowledge about NDEs agrees that it is a very real phenomenon. There are enough documented cases to come to this conclusion.

However, what everyone doesn’t agree on is the cause for these experiences. As you can guess, every scientist doesn’t buy the explanation that NDEs are an act of God.

Yet, none of them have been able to form an alternate theory that doesn’t have holes in it. Let’s look at the offered “scientific” explanations for NDEs in more detail;

1.) Are NDEs caused by shortage of oxygen?

Some scientists have tried to explain NDEs simply by shortage of oxygen at the moment of the experience. A fancier word for it would be “anoxia in the brain”. The offered theory is fairly simple; the subject has a shortage of oxygen that causes these visions! Case dismissed?

Not so fast…

This theory is easily disproved in multiple ways.

First, many people have experienced NDEs while they weren’t under any physical stress or injury.

Also, whenever someone is deprived of oxygen, the visions they experience aren’t nearly as clear as hundreds of reported NDEs. A lack of oxygen causes confusion and loss of cognitive abilities. NDEs are typically very clear and feel real to the subjects. NDEs feel different from just dreams or hallucinations.

To further prove that oxygen deprivation is not the cause of NDEs, there is a study conducted by Dr. Pim Van Lommel. The study took over 10 years to complete and was published in the internationally acclaimed medical journal, The Lancet. The study proved that “anoxia was not a leading cause of NDE’s because the incidence was 12 to 18% rather than almost all or almost none as was expected by skeptics”.

2.) The brain’s death throes?

Dr. Peter Fenwick is an eminent neuropsychiatrist with a worldwide reputation. He’s a specialist on the topic of the interface of brain and mind, along with the problems relating to consciousness. Fenwick is the foremost clinical authority in the UK on NDEs, and he is also the President of the International Association for Near Death Studies.

With Elizabeth, his wife, who is also a Cambridge-educated scientist, Dr. Fenwick has made a thoroughgoing study of the arguments of materialist psychologists and skeptics, namely that NDEs are a physiological side-effect of a brain in its death throes.

Such materialist arguments are speculative at best, due to the fact that knowledge concerning the brain’s functioning remains extremely limited. The fact is that mere psychologists lack the knowledge and training of top class neuropsychiatrists such as Dr. Fenwick. Therefore, they are far from perfectly placed to make an informed assessment of the physiology associated with NDEs. The training given to psychologists on the topic of physiology is exceedingly basic. A glance at a handful of standard textbooks used to teach psychology at university level reveals that the study of the inner workings of the brain takes up as little as five percent of students’ learning time. When training, psychologists practice no surgery at all, so they obviously lack the necessary expertise to make pronouncements on the supposed physiological causes of NDEs.

Here’s a direct quote from Fenwick:

“(They) just don't have the knowledge...So much rubbish is talked about Near-Death Experiences by people who don't have to deal with these things on a daily basis. So I'm absolutely sure that such experiences are not caused by oxygen shortages, endorphins or anything of that kind. And certainly none of these things would account for the transcendental quality of many of these experiences, the fact that people feel an infinite sense of loss when they leave them behind.”.

In his work as a neuropsychiatry consultant, Fenwick works on a daily basis with people who are brain-damaged, disoriented, and confused, yet this does not tally with NDEs:

“What is quite clear is that any disorientation of brain function leads to a disorientation of perception and reduced memory. You can't normally get highly-structured and clearly remembered experiences from a highly damaged or disoriented brain.”

Likewise, Fenwick rejects arguments concerning endorphins:

“As for that stuff about endorphins, we're boosting the effect they have all the time because thousands of people are given morphine every day. That certainly produces calmness, but it doesn't produce structured experiences.”

3.) Explanations based on neurophysiology?

A NDE researcher Dr. Raymond Moody examined possible connections between NDE patients’ past lives and the kind of flashback experiences of people with neurological problems. His conclusion was that the two things were absolutely different.

Flashbacks are generally speaking random and usually feature trivial events.

The “life review” style of experience, which is typical of NDEs, normally features a series of significant events presented in proper chronological order. In a sense they are like “edited highlights” of the person’s life. Yet, subjects report that visions were seen all at once, and as such they constituted a “unifying vision”, which patients interpreted as being designed to give them insight into the purpose of their lives.

Therefore, NDEs can’t be explained as “flashbacks” that only people with neurological problems experience.

4.) Wish-Fulfillment theory?

Attempts have been made to blame NDEs on the urge for so-called wish fulfillment. In other words, it is argued that NDEs in some way mirror what subjects have been conditioned, not only culturally but also psychologically, to imagine they would experience.

Nevertheless, scientists Gross or Sabom found no correlation or link between spiritual or religious belief and NDEs in their studies.

This is further highlighted by the 2 examples we gave earlier in this book; both Dr. George Rodonaia and Eben Alexander were atheists who really didn’t even want to believe in God, yet they changed their beliefs instantly after their NDEs.

5.) Are NDEs caused by drugs?

There are some people who argue that NDEs are triggered by certain drugs being taken by patients. Morphine and ketamine are two such substances. Once again, this theory can be easily debunked.

A large numbers of people who had a NDE had not taken or been given any drugs. Furthermore, hallucinatory experiences caused by drugs were found to be substantially different from NDEs.

Investigators such as R.K. Siegel have tried to claim that drugs with hallucinogenic properties, e.g. LSD, produce experiences rather like NDEs. Nevertheless, the effects of LSD are distinguishable from an NDE, so the phenomenon of NDEs cannot be explained away so easily.

6.) It’s gotta be one of these then?

Then there are some theories that don’t really even deserve to be taken seriously.

One of these theories, lacking any evidence, is stated by psychologists such as Uri Lowental, who sees NDEs representing “a reliving of the birth experience.” Such hypotheses are widely regarded to be nonsense.

Yet another theory has been advanced by the psychologists Noyes and Kletti, who asserted that NDEs can be read as “depersonalization and pleasurable fantasies, which represent a form of psychic protection against the threat of destruction.”

This theory has been debunked by researchers Twemlow and Gabbard, who say depersonalization is a phenomenon usually occurring in people between the ages of 15 and 30, whereas it is almost unknown in persons older than 40 years of age.

Other researchers have put forward the crackpot notion that an NDE is a type of “autoscopic hallucination” (an exceedingly uncommon psychiatric problem). This has been dismissed out of hand by multiple researchers and scientists, including Gabbard, Twemlow and Sabom who all found such notions laughable.

More Proof

Now that we’ve debunked some popular theories for the causes, it’s time to look at even more proof for the validity of NDEs.

NDEs happen to clinically brain dead people

There have been multiple reported cases of NDEs while the patient has been clinically brain dead, the most famous case of this would be the NDE of Pam Reynolds, but there have been numerous other cases.

While there’s a lot of controversy among the scientists who study NDEs, brain dead people being able to experience them is regarded as a mostly universally agreed upon fact.

Children’s NDEs are very similar to adult ones

We all know how differently kids think, they have the wildest imaginations – so how can it be that there is no difference between adult and childhood NDEs? Surely, young children who can’t even tie their own shoelaces would imagine different things than a full grown adult? But everyone who has studied the subject would agree that childhood and adult NDEs are remarkably similar. You too can make this same observation if you read the bestselling book “Heaven is for real”, which tells the story of a childhood NDE.

Unlike normal hallucinations and dreams, NDEs change people

Imagine waking up from a horrifying nightmare where every lamp in your room turned into monsters and started eating you. What would you do after you wake up? Would you start ripping off every lamp in your house and live in darkness for the rest of your life, or would you simply brush the whole experience off as a fictional nightmare? The answer is obvious – you won’t even remember the nightmare in a few hours.

But if NDEs were simply a weak dream or hallucination, how is it possible that even reputed scientists have completely changed their whole belief system – and life – after a NDE? Even skeptical atheists have changed their beliefs after experiencing a NDE of their own. This doesn’t just happen after normal dreams or hallucinations.

Group near-death experiences

There is a rare type of NDE, called a “group-NDE”, where a group of people experience the exact same NDE. In group-NDEs people who have an NDE at the same time can see and speak with each other while they are out of their bodies, which could easily be the work of imagination – except when they wake up, all of them have remembered and reported the same story.

To conclude the chapter…

There definitely seems to be more than just nothingness waiting for us when we die. There seems to be substantial evidence that points to the afterlife being real. But at the end of the day, we can only find out when our own time comes.

I highly recommend reading about NDEs in more detail. You can find more examples as well as links to all the books referred to at our website

. I especially recommend the books by Eben Alexander and Betty J. Eadie. I would like to share their stories with you in much more detail, but I think that would be unethical toward the authors, therefore I suggest you read their books.

Miracles

If you think miracles are just something that happened in ancient times, think again.

The following miracles have all been confirmed to have happened. Many of these miracles and phenomena are simply unexplainable by science. A lot people like to think that God might have had a hand in all these.

Hysterical Strength

Hysterical Strength describes a phenomenon when a person is able to summon “superhuman” strength when presented with an extreme situation. Often used example of hysterical strength is a case where a mother rescued her children pinned under a car by lifting it.

This phenomenon is so rare that there currently only seems to be “anecdotal” evidence. Never mind that, there have been multiple reported cases where all people involved have told the same story – without there being much incentive to lie.

The most recent documented example (at the time this book was written) would be from 4/11/2013, when 2 teen daughters managed to lift a 3000-pound tractor to save their dad, Jeff, who was pinned underneath.

Jeff was pinned under the steering wheel and could not breathe. He was yelling desperately for help, but each yell would make it harder and harder to stay conscious, as he was losing air rapidly. Smith said he pleaded to God with whatever air he had left.

His two daughters, aged 14 and 16, were out walking their family dog when they heard his scream. They couldn’t wait for help to arrive, so they miraculously managed to lift the 3000-pound tractor off of him just enough that he could be saved.

Source of the story here at foxnews.com.

Other recent examples include a college football player lifting a 3500 lb car to save a man pinned underneath (source) and a 41-year-old mother fighting a polar bear to save her children (source).

Science has tried to explain this phenomenon with just adrenaline, but could it be something more than that?

The Man Who Fell From The Sky

If questioned, many people would seek to deny that there are such things as miracles. In some cases, their skepticism concerning religion and the supernatural means they are determined to find a rational explanation for apparently extraordinary occurrences. Sometimes, however, such skeptical people are left simply scratching their heads, because there are events for which no rational explanation can be found, however hard one tries.

One such case is an incident that took place in New York City in December 2007. A 37-year-old window washer by the name of Alcides Moreno was working on the exterior of the 47th floor of an Upper East Side apartment block. Moreno was accompanied by his brother Edgar, aged 30, with both men cleaning windows while perched on a small wooden platform, which was attached to the building by means of a length of metal cable.

Suddenly, the platform gave way and the Moreno brothers were sent hurtling toward the ground. They plummeted around 500 feet, and all that Alcides Moreno remembers is that he held on to the platform all the way down. Sadly, Edgar Moreno died that day, but his brother Alcides lived to tell the tale.

Although he sustained terrible injuries, including nine bone fractures, Alcides Moreno was able to sit up on the sidewalk as firefighters came to his aid. He was rushed to hospital, where he received numerous blood and plasma transfusions, followed by nine orthopedic operations aimed at treating his broken bones.

Naturally, a full recovery would take longer, but Moreno was back on his feet by summer 2008, having undergone 16 major operations. In 2010, three years on from Moreno’s accident, his wife, Rosario, was reported as saying that her husband had recovered physically from his accident, but not mentally: “He forgets things,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll ever be the same. He’s only 45 percent recovered mentally."

Nevertheless, the question is how on earth did Alcides Moreno survive a fall of 500 feet? “If you are a believer in miracles, this would be one,” remarked Dr. Philip S. Barie, critical care chief at the hospital that treated the Ecuadorian-born window washer. Dr. Barie continued: “Above 10 stories, most of the time we never see the patients because they usually go to the morgue.”

Of course, it is not completely unheard of for people to avoid death when falling from a great height. In Alcides Moreno’s case, skeptics say that he survived because he impacted the ground feet first, thus avoiding serious injury to his head. In addition, it seems that the wooden platform he was working on protected him to some extent. As he plunged, the window washer held on to the platform for dear life and it may perhaps have broken his fall to a degree.

Skeptics are also keen to point out that Edgar Moreno was NOT saved from death. If Alcides was saved by a miracle, why was his brother not spared, too? Of course, it is only to be expected that people with this mindset ignore the maxim that “God works in mysterious ways.” In other words, you cannot, as a mere mortal, hope to second guess God’s intentions.

On the other side of the coin, Alcides Moreno himself is in no doubt that his survival was a miracle. Moreno, a Christian, is reported to have told his wife that it wasn’t his time to die. Furthermore, it was Christmas Day 2007 when Moreno awoke in the hospital from the coma into which he had descended shortly after his accident.

Faith Helps Boy Recover From Orthopedic Decapitation

Jordan Taylor, from Hillsboro, Texas, survived orthopedic decapitation – an injury that kills just about everyone of those who suffer it. Orthopedic decapitation describes a situation where the skull becomes detached from the vertebrae and the victim’s head remains attached to the rest of their body only by soft tissue.

It was in 2007 that Jordan, nine years old at the time, was involved in a bad auto accident when riding in the back seat of his mother’s car. His mom, Stacey Perez, recounts what she saw in the aftermath of the collision with a dumpster truck: "I just kept screaming. I just wanted him to wake up." She added: “I do remember seeing him in the car and his head was just kinda hanging down.”

At Fort Worth’s Cook Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Richard Roberts quickly surmised the extent of Jordan’s injuries. The boy’s spinal cord was still connected but his skull had been detached from his neck. “All of the connective tissue that essentially keeps your head connected to your neck was destroyed," observed Dr. Roberts. At first, the doctors delayed telling Stacey, who was not badly injured, just how serious her son’s condition was. But they worked hard to treat what at first seemed like a hopeless case.

First, they stabilized the situation by placing the boy in a halo. This is a ring made of carbon fiber, which was screwed into Jordan’s skull and also attached via a vest. The next step was a tricky operation in which a titanium plate was attached to the back of Jordan’s skull by means of rods and screws fastened to the boy’s neck.

The procedure just described dealt with the immediate physical concerns, but there were serious worries that Jordan might suffer permanent brain damage. Fortunately, these fears proved to be unfounded and young Jordan went on to make virtually a full recovery within months of the accident.

In answer to this, skeptics and atheists will simply say, “So what?” To them, Jordan Taylor’s recovery is entirely down to a combination of luck and the skill of the medical personnel treating him. But Stacey Perez, along with other members of Jordan Taylor’s family, strongly believes otherwise.

When Jordan’s life seemed to be in the balance, his mother and some of his other relatives got the word out to churches up and down the country, and prayers were said for him repeatedly. Stacey Perez, for one, believes her son pulled through due to the power of prayer, and that Jordan’s recovery is a true miracle.

Young Boy Recalls Former Life

Nearly seventy years ago, Japanese gunners blasted a young American Navy pilot out of the sky while he was on a Pacific mission. Until recently, the victim’s name was forgotten, but now, courtesy of 15-year-old James Leininger, the world knows all about him.

Certain curious facts have led many people to believe that the dead flyer has been reincarnated – as young James. Bruce and Andrea Leininger, the boy’s parents, were skeptics to begin with, but now they say they are convinced of this.

Right from a young age, James loved to play around with toy airplanes, although they also gave him nightmares for some reason. His mom told an ABC News reporter: "I'd wake him up and he'd be screaming." When asked what was wrong, the boy replied that in his dream he was trapped in a burning aircraft.

According to his parents, young James had only seen children's TV shows at this point. He had not seen movies or documentaries about World War II. Yet, on one occasion, he told his mom that a detail on the underside of a toy aircraft was not a bomb but “a drop tank.” It was not clear to her how he could understand what such a thing was.

When James’s nightmares got worse, his grandmother suggested he be given counseling. The boy was taken to see a woman named Carol Bowman, who is a believer in reincarnation. Gently, Bowman encouraged James to let it all out and gradually his nightmares faded.

As time went on, James’s parents say that he revealed more and more information, often in extraordinary detail, concerning the life and death of a young fighter pilot. For example, he related that his plane, which he identified as a Corsair model, had been shot down by the Japanese.

He further remarked that the Corsair was prone to troubles with its tires. Information concerning this issue could be found in books and TV documentaries, but James had never seen such material.

James informed his dad that the ship he flew his plane from was called the Natoma, and he also mentioned a fellow flyer by the name of Jack Larson. Bruce did a spot of research and found out that both Jack Larson and the Natoma were real. In the case of Larson, the man was still alive and resided in Arkansas.

Trawling the internet, Bruce conducted interviews with other men who had served on board of the Natoma. And, in connection with the fact that young James had mentioned being shot down at Iwo Jima, Bruce found out that the sole pilot from the Natoma slain at Iwo Jima was a man named James M. Huston Jr.

Now, Ralph Clarbour was a gunner on a plane based on the Natoma, and he says his craft was directly alongside the one James M. Huston Jr. was flying on March 3, 1945 near Iwo Jima. Clarbour states that he observed Huston’s machine spiraling down in flames after its engine was hit, which tallies exactly with the description of the battle given by young James.

Bruce Leininger says he is convinced his son lived a past life as James M. Huston Jr. Bruce and his wife sent a letter to Anne Baron, Huston’s sister, explaining about their son, and she is now a believer, too.

As he grows up, young James’s memories are fading, but the evidence that he is the living reincarnation of a WWII flyer is amazingly strong.

Awake After A 19-year Coma

In 2007, a man from Poland woke up having been in a coma for nineteen years. When he awoke, he found out the Communists no longer ruled the roost in Poland, and that food was freely available – without rationing.

Jan Grzebski was aged 44 and working on the Polish railways in 1988 when he suffered an accident in which a train hit him. Shortly after, he descended into a coma.

In 2007, he unexpectedly woke up from his coma. He commented during an interview on TV: “Now I see people on the streets with mobile phones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin.”

Grzebski reckons the credit for his recovery should go to Gertruda, his wife, who looked after him for nearly two decades and never gave up hope that he would one day recover.

By contrast, at the time of Grzebski’s accident, medical professionals were of the opinion that he would most likely “expire” within a few years and that would be the end of it.

Patients in a coma are said to be comatose. This is defined as a state of complete unconsciousness, in which victims are utterly unaware either of themselves or the world at large. Generally speaking, no attempt at rousing someone from a coma is likely to be successful. This makes Mr. Grzebski’s recovery all the more remarkable, if not miraculous.

It is popularly supposed that comatose individuals exist in a completely vegetative state. While this is often true, it is not unheard of for victims to move about. They can even sometimes open their eyes up and speak.

Speaking of his unexpected recovery from a coma that lasted nineteen years, Mr. Grzebski praised his wife: “It was Gertruda that saved me, and I'll never forget it," he gushed.

Reports say Mrs. Grzebski had a policy of moving her husband each and every hour so as to prevent the development of bed sores.

Although she tried to remain positive, Mrs. Grzebski would get upset on occasion: “I cried a lot, and I prayed a lot,” she admitted in a TV interview. She added: “Those who came to see us kept asking: 'When is he going to die?' But he's not dead.”

At the time Jan Grzebski suffered his accident, the communist Wojciech Jaruzelski was still ruling Poland.

“When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops,” said Mr. Grzebski. “Meat was rationed and huge petrol queues were everywhere,” he recalled with a shudder.

But within a year of Grzebski’s accident, elections in Poland resulted in a post-communist administration, which was the first of its kind anywhere in Eastern Europe. In 1999, the country joined NATO, with European Union membership following in 2004.

Mr. Grzebski says he has noticed that people today seem unhappy with their lives, despite having a better standard of living and access to modern technology. By contrast, he is happy to be back from the dead, remarking: “I've got nothing to complain about.”

Can Science And Religion Coexist?

For one reason or another, some scientists seem to instantly disregard anything to do with religion without giving it a second thought. To be fair, some religious people, who may just be taking the Bible a bit too literally, could be blamed of the same kind of ignorance.

So the question we ask is:

Q:  “Can science and religion coexist?”

You may have guessed it already, but the answer is…

…Yes! Science and religion, can, in fact, coexist, according to theories and thoughts by both religious people and scientists.

And here’s the explanation, in as much as a nutshell it can be put in:

Scientists Who Believed In God

You may be surprised to hear how many scientists believe in (a) God. Many of them may not be the most devout believers, but there’s still a fairly large portion of scientists who believe in a higher power. Contrary to the popular belief, the number of theistic scientists is not decreasing, either.

Two of them have already been mentioned in this book … In addition to Eben Alexander and George Rodonaia, some of the most influential religious scientists include:

Dr. Gerald Schroeder – Physicist, author of the book “The Science of God” plus many more, also one of the main influences that turned me back from atheism and inspired this book.

Prof. Anthony Flew – One of the most famous atheists who later admitted belief in God after reading books by Roy Varghase and Gerald Schroeder.

Max Planck – The originator of quantum theory.

Isaac Newton – Physicist, mathematician, originator of the theory of gravity

Francis Collins – Physician-geneticist, famous for discoveries of disease genes and leader of the Human Genome Group (HGP), director of National Institutes of Health.

James Clerk Maxwell – Famous theoretical physicist, originator of theories on electromagnetism

These are just some of the most famous names.

Furthermore, the following is a list of the most famous scientists who couldn’t deny God and believed in some sort of a creator, or at least acknowledged the possibility of God’s existence. The list may surprise you:

Albert Einstein (Source)

Charles Darwin (Souce)

Richard Dawkins (Source)

Stephen Hawking (Source)

Carl Sagan (Source)

Mark Twain (Source)

After looking at the above list, it seems kind of silly that so many 16-year-old atheists claim to know the “absolute truth”, doesn’t it? Do they really think they’re that smart?

Reasons Why People Believe Science And Religion Can Coexist

Reason #1:

As more discoveries are made in science, it is actually becoming more and more apparent that the universe had to be designed by an intelligent being, as there are incredible amount of coincidences that have “magically” fallen into place for the universe and life to be possible. More on this subject on the later chapter, “Deeper, Scientifically valid look at Intelligent Design (theory by Gerald Schroeder)”.

Reason #2: The Bible was never meant to be taken 100% literally. If you believe in both science and religion, you must also believe this. Fortunately, even in the Bible itself there are some quotes that seem to confirm this, as described by Gerald Schroeder on his website:

“Yet how can such a strange and poetic text be read literally? Two millennia ago, long before paleontologists discovered fossils of dinosaurs and cavemen, long before data from the Hubble and Keck telescopes hinted at a multibillion-year-old universe, the Talmud (Chagiga 12b) stated explicitly that the opening chapter of Genesis, all 31 verses, is presented in a manner that intentionally conceals information. Furthermore, Moses, on the day of his death, exhorted the people three times to read the Bible as a text having within it a subtext harboring multiple meanings (Deut. 31:19,30; 32:44).” Read the full article here.

Furthermore, this seems to be becoming a widely accepted opinion among an increasing number of Christians, as evidenced by women’s equality, the growing acceptance of gay marriage, the acceptance of the Evolution and Big Bang theories, all of which would contradict the Bible if it was being interpreted literally.

Reason #3

: They believe both Science and religion are required to answer life’s questions. Science can prove gravity and help save many lives, it may even some day be able to prove how exactly the world was created. However, science can’t answer many questions that religion can: Why is there something rather than nothing? How is it possible that everything seems to be in such perfect harmony that life can exist? What is right or wrong? Do we have a soul?

The Big Bang Theory Doesn’t Disprove God

Before the Big Bang Theory in 1960, scientists collectively agreed that the universe had been eternal; it was always there. They didn’t believe it was created or that there needed to be a creator. When the Big Bang Theory was verified and became commonly accepted as the explanation in the scientific community, they actually agreed that the universe was either created or happened by itself, but either way, there was a starting point.

Furthermore, the Big Bang theory only dictates how the creation of the universe happened, not what caused it to happen. More and more scientists are starting to agree it might just have been God, and the reason for this will be covered in the later chapter “Deeper, Scientifically valid look at Intelligent Design”.

Dinosaurs Are Actually Mentioned In The Bible

Many people think that because the dinosaurs weren’t even mentioned in the Bible, it either means that a) Somebody planted the fossils and made them up, or b) it proves the Bible is not true.

But neither of these assumptions are true. In fact, dinosaurs were mentioned in the Bible, right at the beginning, but it had been lost in translation 2200 years ago, because the Greek translators either made a mistake in translation or simply didn’t know what the words meant. Long story short, quoting an early, untranslated version of the Bible: Genesis 1:21, "and God created the big taneneem …". Big taneeneem translates into “big reptiles”. If translated into greek, big  = deinos (dino), reptile = sauros.

So, it can be argued that dinosaurs were mentioned in the Bible, but because people 2000 years ago hadn’t seen one, the phrase was simply lost in translation.

Conclusion: Yes, science and religion can coexist, and that is exactly how it would be if there was a god, wouldn’t it?

However, note that the theory says ”Science and religion can coexist” not ”Science and religion definitely coexist”. It is, ultimately, still up to you, the reader, to decide what exactly you choose to believe. This book only attempts to prove God, not define your exact beliefs.

However, for both theists and atheists, it is important to always keep an open mind.

Jesus Christ As Proof Of God

It is interesting how many atheists simply don’t believe Jesus even existed, even though there is a massive amount of proof. Even Richard Dawkins, a famous agnostic that atheists like to quote, admits that Jesus was most likely real – as do almost all credible ancient historians.

Nevertheless, here’s some proof for Jesus’ existence:

Was Jesus Real?  What Proof Is There From Sources Other Than The Bible That He Existed?

Questions such as these are frequently posed by atheists and religious skeptics. The following chapter will seek to prove that there is actual evidence of Christ’s existence, and from contemporary sources – not merely the Bible.  These sources demonstrate not only that Jesus existed but, in fact, that he is one of the most well documented and verifiable figures of ancient times.

Evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ from historical sources other than the Bible

Although he wrote about Jesus, Josephus did not subscribe to the view that he was the Son of God.

Additionally, there were numerous other non-religious historians active during the century following Christ’s death, and their writings confirm his existence.

Flavius Josephus

The biographical entry for Flavius Josephus on Wikipedia contains the following information: “Titus Flavius Josephus (37 – c. 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry… Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War.”

Two of the most notable works by Josephus are The Jewish War (c. 75), in which the author gives a lengthy account of the uprising of 66–70 by the Jews against Rome, and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94), in which Josephus writes about history from his perspective as a Jew, but for a Roman readership. Both these books give deep insight into Judaism in the 1st century as well as of the circumstances in which Christianity emerged.

It is important to state of Josephus that, despite his being Jewish, he did not believe in Christianity or the claims by Christians regarding the significance of Jesus Christ. For example, in The Antiquities of the Jews, he writes:

“Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

In the same work Josephus also writes:

“But the younger Ananus who, as we said, received the high priesthood, was of a bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of the Sadducees, who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we have already shown. As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he thought he had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and Albinus was still on the road; so he assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having accused them as law-breakers, he delivered them over to be stoned.”

The significance of the two above quotations is that Josephus makes clear reference to the existence of a man named Jesus. Furthermore, he states that the man was executed by crucifixion at the command of Pontius Pilate. In all respects, this account tallies with that in the Bible.

Tacitus

In the year 115, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (55 – 120) made a reference to Jesus in a work called The Annals. This work was occasioned by a fire that consumed a large part of the city of Rome. The relevant passage reads as follows:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”

It is clear in the quoted passage that Tacitus loathed Christianity, but he does confirm that Jesus existed and that he was crucified on the orders of Pilate. Thus, the reference is an important non-Biblical source for the authenticity of the events described in the Bible.

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (aka Pliny the Younger)

Wikipedia states that Pliny (61 – ca. 112) “was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome…Pliny is known for his hundreds of surviving letters, which are an invaluable historical source for the time period. Many are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian, Tacitus. Pliny himself was a notable figure, serving as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned AD 98 – 117).  Pliny was considered an honest and moderate man, consistent in his pursuit of suspected Christian members according to Roman law, and rose through a series of Imperial civil and military offices, the cursus honorum.”

There is surviving correspondence between Pliny and the emperor Trajan (Epistulae X.96) in which the magistrate briefs the emperor on his progress in suppressing Christianity. Pliny also asks Trajan for further instructions on how to deal with Christians. In his letters, he mentions that he is in the habit of forcing Christians to renounce Jesus, where necessary employing torture to secure this result. He further observes of Christians that “they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of a meal–but ordinary and innocent food.”

This passage illustrates that Pliny knew of Jesus Christ, plus he clearly had some knowledge of the religious practices of Christians. Another Pliny quote provides information on the persecution of Christians:

“Even this practice, however, they had abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had forbidden political associations. I therefore judged it so much more the necessary to extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.

In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel not doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.”

This quotation demonstrates Pliny’s determination to mete out harsh treatment to Christians, including the death penalty. Furthermore, he indicates that Christians were reluctant to abjure their faith even when faced with paying the ultimate price.

Tallus and Julius Africanus

The Christian historian and traveler Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240) is of note in this matter, mainly due to his influencing not only Eusebius but all writers on Church history who came later. Tallus, a non-Christian 1st century writer on history, is quoted by Julius Africanus in his Chronicles when seeking to provide an explanation of why it was so dark at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion:

“An eclipse of the sun, unreasonably, as it seems to me (unreasonably, of course, because a solar eclipse could not take place at the time of the full moon), and it was at the season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died.”

There is a double significance to the above quote:

1.) It provides non-Christian verification of the existence of Jesus.

2.) It represents further confirmation that the account in the Bible of the crucifixion is accurate.

Referring to the time of day when Jesus was nailed to the cross, the Bible says: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”  The “sixth hour” means midday, and thus 3:00 pm would be the ninth hour. Therefore, it is plain to see that Tallus was attributing the darkness of the sky at noonday to an eclipse.

Also quoted by Africanus is a Greek scholar and historian of the 2nd century AD by the name of Phlegon, who also mentioned that an eclipse occurred when Jesus was executed. This is another valuable piece of proof, emanating from non-Biblical sources, of the historical reality of the existence of Jesus Christ and the manner of his death.

Lucian of Samosata

The Greek satirist and rhetorician Lucian (c. 125 – c. 180) authored over eighty works. While he relished subjecting Christians to mockery in his writings, he nevertheless did at least acknowledge that Jesus existed; indeed, he furnished evidence of this:

“He was second only to that one whom they still worship today, the man in Palestine who was crucified because he brought this new form of initiation into the world.”

He also commented on the beliefs of Christians:

“Having convinced themselves that they are immortal and will live forever, the poor wretches despise death and most willingly give themselves to it. Moreover, that first lawgiver of theirs persuaded them that they are all brothers the moment they transgress and deny the Greek gods and begin worshiping that crucified sophist and living by his laws.”

And further:

“They scorn all possessions without distinction and treat them as community property. They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time.”

Despite the fact that Lucian never names Jesus in the above passages, there is no mistaking whom he is speaking of. Furthermore, he mentions the crucifixion having taken place in Palestine, and that since his death Jesus had attracted numerous acolytes. These people have a belief in eternal life and also that they are all equal before God. Moreover, according to Lucian, they reject other gods entirely.

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69 – after 122) was a Roman historian who wrote biographies of a sequence of twelve Roman emperors, including Domitian and Julius Caesar. These works are together called De Vita Caesarum.

In his work, Suetonius mentions that the Jews were expelled from Rome. He states that this was because they “constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Christ.” Incidentally, the name “Christ” appears in the original Latin as “Chrestus”, which is the same form used by Tacitus, another Roman historian.

This discrepancy in spelling is oftentimes exploited by skeptics anxious to disprove that the references are to Jesus Christ. Nevertheless it tallies with a raft of other accounts, all of which speak of a man who was crucified in Palestine, and who subsequently became the focus of a new and popular religion.

The Bible as a historical document proving the existence of Jesus

The New Testament is the number one source for evidence of the existence of Jesus. Yet, skeptics love to dismiss the idea of the Bible being used as a historical document. They always demand that proof of the existence of Christ be provided from elsewhere, despite the fact that the Gospels are jam-packed with solid historical information concerning Jesus’ life and times.

There are commonly accepted ways to measure the veracity of historical documents. The first of these is the question of how many copies are available of particular manuscripts from ancient times. Also of importance is the amount of time between production of an original manuscript and subsequent copies. The Bible, when judged by these criteria, provides top class evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ.

Examples of early manuscripts forming what we call the New Testament are such items as the Chester Beatty Papyrus, the Bodmer Papyrus, and the John Rylands Fragment. All of these were made c. 50–100 AD. The earliest copies of these were produced in the years 125–200 AD, which means that the gap between creation of originals and copies is of the order of 30 to 130 years, i.e. around fifty to a hundred years after Jesus’ death. Contrary to what you might think, this would be regarded as perfectly acceptable by experts in the field.

Now, let’s examine a few of the more notable historical documents in order to see how they stack up against the Bible in this regard:

Plato

Plato’s writings date from 427 BC to 347 BC. But the earliest known copy of Plato’s writing was made in 900 AD, which is 1,200 years after the great philosopher’s death!

Julius Caesar

Caesar, who lived from 100 BC until 44 BC, is regarded as one of the most uncontroversial figures in antiquity from the point of view of any doubts as to his existence. Yet no manuscript copies of his writings were produced until around 900 AD, which is 1,000 years after the death of Caesar. Yet, few people would dare to suggest that Plato and Julius Caesar were not one hundred percent real figures from history.

Homer

Some historians these days doubt the existence of Homer, yet he gets the credit for authoring the Iliad around 900 BC. The Iliad, in the form of the first manuscript copy of the original, is thought to date to no earlier than 400 BC. That’s 500 years after Homer went to his grave. Interestingly, though, there are nearly 650 ancient manuscript copies of the Iliad, and when experts have compared them, the manuscripts have been found to be about 95.3 percent consistent with each other.

By contrast, despite the fact that the New Testament was copied less than a century after the execution of Christ, and the 5,000 or more manuscript copies of it from antiquity have around 99 percent consistency, skeptics will not stop pushing the idea that the Bible cannot be trusted to give an accurate version of historical events.

The actual fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ is one of the most strongly verifiable historical figures from antiquity.

Deeper, Scientifically Valid Look At Intelligent Design

Dr. Gerald Schroeder is an author, physicist, lecturer and a professor known for his theories that attempt to prove God trough science. He is a scientist who believes in the coexistence of religion and science. The following chapter will summarize (in as much layman’s terms as possible) his thoughts on the fine-tunings of the universe and what it means for the existence of God.

As we learn more and more about the universe, it’s becoming more and more clear just how incredibly fine-tuned it actually is. There have been an incredible amount of so called “coincidences” to make life possible. The fine-tunings of the universe are an undisputed fact in the scientific community. Furthermore, it seems that an increasing amount of scientists are simply starting to accept the fact that the universe must have been brought to existence through intentional planning, and is way too unlikely to be a chance-event, even if we factor in the multiverse-theory.

To give you an idea of just how many coincidences have had to have happened to cause life to exist (according to science), we need to start with the Big Bang. First, if any of the natural constants, laws of physics were even slightly off, there would be no chance for life to exist. Or even anything to exist. If the constants are nudged even slightly, starts couldn’t possibly form, they would burst, or they wouldn’t produce anything other than helium, which would mean no life could ever come to be. Remember, according to science, humans are just stardust, and everything that you’ve ever seen is stardust as well.

To quote Dr. Paul Davies:

"The really amazing thing is not that life on Earth is balanced on a knife-edge, but that the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural 'constants' were off even slightly. You see," Davies adds, "even if you dismiss man as a chance happening, the fact remains that the universe seems unreasonably suited to the existence of life -- almost contrived -- you might say a 'put-up job'."

Yet, the theory presented by science is that it really was a chance happening – a mere coincidence. To simplify, the theory implies that somehow stardust was able to develop into everything trough an incredible set of coincidences – and at some point, the stardust developed the ability to think, feel and even love.

To go back to a previous point, we either have to agree that everything was a) created by chance or b) created by an intelligent designer who put a set of rules into practice.

Now, let’s look at just how likely it is that the universe was just a random occurrence. In fact, listing all of the “coincidences” that has made life possible would not just require an extra book, but multiple extra books.

For example; if the ratio of electron to proton mass would be either smaller or larger by even a tiny notch, chemical bonding would be insufficient for life chemistry; thus, no life could exist.

If the expansion rate of the universe would be larger, no galaxies would form and there could be no life. If it was smaller, the whole universe would just collapse in itself, obviously making life impossible.

If the gravitational force constant was larger, starts would be too hot, making life chemistry impossible. If it was smaller, stars would not be hot enough to ignite nuclear fusion, which would also make the forming of life chemistry impossible.

If the ratio of number of protons to number of electrons was any different, electromagnetism would dominate gravity, preventing any galaxies, stars or planets from forming.

We could go on and on…

Hopefully you’re beginning to see the point here, even these single coincidences are so unlikely, that you’re more likely to win the lottery every day for a year than for these chances to have come into fruition – yet they have and there’s millions of them. And more and more are being discovered all the time.

Now, consider there’s a creator, which Christians like I obviously believe to be true. If we also believe in the coexistence of science and religion, wouldn’t it actually be expected that we’d eventually start to find these kinds of incredible rules and constants which would point to a creator? That is the basis of this argument, and that is what is happening.

If anyone is more interested in the theory, I suggest you read more about it on http://www.geraldschroeder.com as well as search the internet with the phrase “Fine-tunings of the Universe”.

Morality – Where Did It Come From If Not God?

How did stardust suddenly learn to think, yet alone develop universal moral values that seem to be written in our DNA? And on the subject of DNA, there’s yet another prime example of incredible fine-tunings of the universe.

But we digress…

Humans, excluding psychopaths, all have certain morals. While there are many debates on more trivial issues like homosexuality and eating meat, all healthy humans still seem to agree on the fundamentals; everyone would agree that killing innocent people for pleasure is wrong, for example. These morals exist all around the world among healthy people – exceptions can be found in war- and poverty-ridden countries and cultures that have been traumatized beyond repair, and mentally ill psychopaths who are born without a conscience or regard for morals.

Healthy humans have agreed to fundamentally similar laws throughout history, regardless of their location on the globe.

If atheism, or metaphysical naturalism, was the truth, every reputable scientist and theist would agree that there then would be no objective moral values. If there’s no creator, everything concerning morals would be subjective, not universal.

The human brain, or mind, recognizes universal moral values, regardless of the culture they’re surrounded with.

But as described earlier, studies suggest that people agree that it is obviously wrong to do certain things, therefore there must be a foundation beyond the physical world or Darwinism, and that foundation can be explained by a God.

Ironically, even atheists say they can recognize right from wrong without needing religion to do so. This just further proves the point – universal, basic moral values do exist.

Furthermore, there is no good alternative theory for the origin of basic moral values. Even scientists themselves agree that all of these theories are “still incomplete”. That is exactly what they would be if there was no other explanation than God.

To sum up, the argument goes like this:

1. There exists a universal moral law

2. If a universal moral law exists, there is a law-giver

3. If there’s a law-giver, it must be God, (humans still can’t form a feasible alternative explanation)

4. Therefore, God exists

Why Christianity Over Other Religions?

There are hundreds of religions around the world, so how can we possibly know that Christianity is the most true religion? How do we know we’re right as Christians and everyone else is wrong? This is a question that everyone should ask themselves, but luckily there is an answer; Christianity has the most proof of any religion.

And what is the proof? It starts with Jesus.

Jesus claimed he was the Son of God, this is a historic fact. Now, if you’ve ever been to a mental hospital, you’ll quickly find that anybody can claim that. So how is it that Jesus is the only man in history who’s managed to convince a significant amount of people that he truly is the son of God?

There is historical data that confirms that Jesus died on the cross. There’s also some historical data, other than the Bible, that indicates that the resurrection really happened. Most historians agree that Jesus’ tomb was found empty on the Sunday after his crucifixion. There is also evidence that suggests that Jesus appeared to different individuals and groups of people after his death. And finally, the fact that the original disciples came to believe the resurrection of Jesus despite having all the predisposition to the contrary.

N. T. Wright, who has written an 800-page study on the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection, concludes that the empty tomb and post mortem appearances of Jesus have been established to such a high degree of historical probability that can be compared to the validity of the death of Caesar Augustus (17 A.D) or the fall of Jerusalem (70 A.D). To those uneducated of history, that means it is very certain to have happened.

Naturalists have tried to explain these facts by the disciples stealing the body, or that Jesus wasn’t really dead. Both of these theories have been widely debunked and there doesn’t seem to be a plausible naturalistic explanation.

But even if we discard all of that, the following fact remains: The Christian Church started expanding very rapidly only about 2 weeks after Jesus was executed – and the expansion started in the very same town he was executed in.

There has to be a reason for that. And the explanation given by the Bible (and some other historical records) is clear: Jesus was resurrected and appeared to many people who saw him die. And the guarded grave was empty. If that didn’t happen, how did over 3000 people suddenly all change their minds at the same time? This wasn’t just something trivial that didn’t matter to most people, this was religion, something that could and did get you killed during those times. Why did so many people change their minds and risk their lives in the process if none of this was true?

Why Atheists May Not Be As Smart As They Think They Are

Not all atheists really did extensive research or practiced “flawless logic” before abandoning their faith, even if they think they did. In fact, it’s a lot easier to understand atheists when we look at deeper, psychological causes for atheism.

It may surprise some to find out how often people give up their faith in God for purely psychological reasons. Some of the common causes for atheism include:

Teenage rebellion. Surprisingly common, and extremely difficult to admit to. Teenagers often want to be edgy and rebel against their parents, teachers or families. They possibly want to fit in (among friends), or alternatively, be a “special snowflake”. As much as it hurts to admit it, this was me.

‘Fear’ of God. Some people simply don’t want to believe in God, so it’s easy for them to adopt atheism. Possibly, these kinds of people don’t want to be judged or to answer for their sins. Therefore, they may adopt atheism very early without even giving it too much thought or conducting proper research. They abandon their faith simply to gain a sense comfort, because they’re uneasy with the idea of “being watched” by God, however twisted that may sound.

Sense of superiority – some people will subconsciously look for ways to feel superior to their peers, becoming an atheist is often an easy way to do that.

Misintepration of Science. Some people misinterpret science, or trust science too blindly, ignoring the fact that science and religion can coexist.

Personal reasons. Some people have had misfortunes and have abandoned their faith, again, without much research. They’ve abandoned their faith as a knee-jerk reaction to something bad happening.

Upbringing. Some people are born to an atheist family and are never even given the chance to form their own beliefs.

And finally, some people just truly don’t believe even after conducting proper research. This group may actually be a minority, but I admit that there are smart atheists around as well.

Give some thought reasons listed above. Even if someone is academically smart, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t prone to deep psychological flaws in their thinking, especially if their beliefs were formed at a younger age.

However, it’s also important to remember that just because someone is an atheist, it doesn’t automatically make them a bad person. The human mind is extremely complex. Most priests actually accept that atheists can still go to heaven if they are otherwise good and moral people.

Final Conclusion

To sum up the argument, the following facts can be used as proof of God

1. Near Death Experiences alone can prove the afterlife and God.

2. There are many miracles happening all the time that can’t be explained by science.

3. Science and Religion can coexist and many of the greatest minds and scientists who ever lived believed in a God.

4. The Bible wasn’t meant to be taken literally.

5. The universe couldn’t exist without numerous “coincidences” and fine tunings, and if God really created the universe, that is exactly how it would be.

6. Jesus Christ existed, and thousands of people risked their lives after his resurrection.

7. Universal sense of morality can be used to prove a creator.

So, as you can see, there is plenty of scientifically valid proof of God, especially considering that this book only scratches the surface of many of these subjects. After all, I wanted to make this book easily readable.

However, many of you may feel like you now want to learn more about many of the subjects I have laid out in this book. In fact, I would recommend doing that to anyone.

Near Death Experiences, Out Of Body Experiences, Miraculous Recoveries, Fine-tunings of the Universe, Ancient History… All of these subjects present a strong case for the existence of God, and there are hundreds of great in-depth books written on each subject. If you want to start expanding your knowledge even further, but don’t know where to start, be sure to check out our book recommendations here.

Bonus: Tips For Debating An Atheist

Originally, I was planning on releasing this section as a separate book, but decided to throw it in here as a bonus. Enjoy!

We’ve all been there at some point – whether you actively look for a debate or not, at some point in our lives comes a day when you just can’t resist debating against someone who doesn’t share your beliefs.

This next chapter will help you win those arguments.

Whenever in a debate, it is important to remember that it is extremely unlikely that you’ll manage to change your opponent’s beliefs – even if you manage to do so, it’s even less likely they’ll admit it on the spot. Our egos often prevent that.

What’s the point then, you may ask? Well, there are a couple of reasons a debate may actually be helpful…

1. Your argument can affect the opinions of the undecided audience.

If you’re debating someone and there’s an audience, be it on the internet or otherwise, it is very unlikely you’ll change the opinion of the person you’re debating, as it makes it even harder for them to admit defeat in front of an audience. However, you can still affect the opinions of the audience, especially those who are still undecided about the subject. If you ever watched a presidential debate, the candidates are obviously not trying to change each other’s mind; instead, they’re trying to convince the audience.

2. Young people are more subject to changing their beliefs

If you’re arguing with a child or a teen, you’ll find that they are much more open minded towards changing their beliefs. Contrary to popular beliefs, this isn’t because young people are dumb, but rather because young people don’t have rock-solid belief system in place and may still be undecided or not 100% on many issues, including religion.

I sincerely think I would have never become an atheist in the first place had I debated with a skilled and knowledgeable Christian.

Young people’s opinions are a lot more subject to change because the longer a person believes something, the stronger the belief becomes. The longer someone has believed something to be true, the harder it gets for them to change their beliefs.

3. In rare cases, you may be able to change the beliefs of an open minded person and make the world a better place!

However, do not drag the debate on if it becomes clear you won’t be successful, at least if there’s no audience. There’s no sense in arguing with a close minded person, and it will only create anger, conflict and waste your time. The best you can do at that point is to pray for them. Warning: Do not say that aloud to the person, it will likely piss them off even more. Just pray silently.

The Basics To Winning A Debate

However smart you may be, when debating in front of an audience, it is important to also be able to appear smart. Even a genius may “lose” a debate if he lets a skilled opponent take control of his emotions and lead him to a trap, regardless who may be right or wrong. This is why it’s important to know a few of the basic principles of debating.

The following tips will make debating easier:

1. Control your emotions and appear calm

It is never good to resort to insults and yelling, you must always try to control your emotions. This makes you appear wiser and communicates confidence in your arguments. That said, subtle, even humoristic “daggers” or “zings” will make your opposition look worse. But keep it civilized, you don’t want to appear childish.

2. Think before you speak

When you say something, make sure you mean it, as everything you say will be used against you (especially if it wasn’t well thought-out). Always try to think a little bit ahead (the best time to think ahead is even before the debate).

Also, watch out for obvious traps – sometimes it’s even better to not say anything at all if the opponent asks a completely ridiculous question with the purpose of getting you to say something stupid.

3. When debating an atheist, don’t quote the bible or other religious texts

An atheist doesn’t believe in the bible, there’s no use quoting it. When debating an atheist, try to appeal to his belief-systems. If debating about God’s existence, you should refer to scientific theories (or “facts” as they like to call them) like, for example, how NDEs can prove the afterlife, how Jesus has been proven, fine tunings of the universe and/or other theories mentioned in this book.

4. Appear confident

No matter who is right or wrong, people will always gravitate towards authority if they’re torn on a subject. Appear confident in your beliefs and do not stutter your words. This has been proven in studies, and really, it is common sense.

Even faking confidence is better than not appearing confident at all.

5. Do your research and know more than your opponent

Find a subject, preferably something the opponent specializes in and show them you know more about it than him. When debating an atheist, that would be science. To be able to debate something, you must know many things about it – if you know nothing about a subject, how can you debate it?

A good subject to familiarize yourself in when debating against an atheist would be the big bang and the multiverse -theories, just as an example. And no, I do not mean the TV show.

6. Stick to the subject

When someone realizes he’s losing an argument, he will often resort to fumbling all over the place and trying to change the subject. They may also resort to insults. Don’t let them do this, and just stick to the subject and know that you’ve “won” the debate!

Tips To Beat An Atheist Or Non-believer In A Debate

Now that you’ve learned some basics of debating, it’s time to teach you some of my favorite “tricks” to beat an atheist in a debate.

1. Determine why they’re an atheist and how strong their beliefs are.

There can be many reasons for a person to abandon their faith. You can gain an early advantage off the bat if you determine that someone is an atheist just to rebel or to appear different, or any other similarly stupid reason.

This is generally the case when your opponent is the one who insists the debate. The more they insist, the more apparent it is. Other factor may simply be their age, are you debating a rebellious teenager or someone who was one?

Ask them this question: “Do you want to believe in God?”

If the answer is “no”, then it may be that they’re actually afraid of God (and punishment), and they’re simply rationalizing everything without even looking at actual facts.

Remember, the reason I know this is because I was one of those people before regaining my faith later in life.

Be careful with this though – if the person you’re debating appears very rooted in his beliefs and has actually done some research, this tactic may backfire.

2. Refer to scientific truths

If debating against an average person, chances are that they’ve never even heard of most of the proof presented in this book, like the validity of near death experiences, fine tunings of the universe, confirmed miracles, strong proof of Jesus, the sudden explosive growth of Christianity, etc.

Educate them on the various theories and proofs, plus remind them that science and religion can coexist.

Your average atheist has never even heard of most of these things and bringing them to light may overwhelm them so much that you’ve already won the debate in the audience’s mind.

3. Make it known that religion makes the world a better place and gives life meaning

Ask the questions: If there’s no God, why is there something rather than nothing? Also give them examples of what happens when a person thinks there’s no consequences for their actions, if you’re feeling cheap, you may even refer to Stalin and other great dictators.

4. Familiarize yourself with the theory of the big bang and evolution, etc

Very simple, if you want to seriously debate an atheist, make sure you know what you’re talking about; otherwise it’s too easy for the atheist to win the debate. If you know nothing about even the most basic scientific theories, you are no better than an uninformed atheist, regardless of who might be right or wrong in the end.

5. Counter the question: “If there’s a God, why is there so much evil in the world?”

Simple answer: In order to allow people to be good, you have to allow them to be bad. It’s called “free will”.

6. Counter the question “Why does there have to be a creator?”

Often, atheists will ask “Why does there have to be a creator?”. They say it’s much simpler for something to have been created from nothing than there having to be a God. Point out that according to their beliefs, humans were still created by evolution or the universe, therefore humans have a creator. So why does the universe not need a creator? Make it known that Occam’s razor isn’t always right, just because the simplest explanation is often the correct one, it doesn’t mean it’s always the correct one.

You can also argue it known that God has made himself known through Jesus. This is an opportunity to expose your opponent’s possible misinformation about Jesus and his proven validity.

7. Refer to the list of scientists who were either agnostic or theist

In the earlier chapter “Can religion and science coexist” you’ll find a list of famous scientists who either believed in God or were unsure and agnostic. Ask your opponent, “Do you really think you’re smarter than all of these people?”. Only ask this if you’re debating a self-claimed atheist, there’s no use with this argument against an agnostic.

That is all as far as tips go. But remember, nothing beats pure knowledge in a debate!

Closing Lines

Thank you for reading! I hope this book has presented you with the answers you were looking for, or at the very least, educated you on some important subjects.

As I said in the beginning of the book, our beliefs define our whole lives. By reading this book, it shows that you are probably an intelligent person that wants to learn about the world, and you have my deepest respect.

Visit our website for news, contact details, book recommendations and more.

God Bless,

TJ Lakeman

Table of Contents

Introduction

The story of how I became an atheist

Near Death Experiences

Blind woman sees for the first time

A Neurosurgeon And Former Skeptic Has A Near Death Experience, Visits Heaven

Husband Sends Fax From Heaven

Neuropathologist gets hit by a car, lies dead for 3 days, returns to life

Embraced by the light – A near death experience so powerful it inspires a bestseller

How can NDE’s be taken as “proof” of God?

A deeper, scientific look into the validity of NDEs

More proof

Miracles

Hysterical Strength

The man who fell from the sky

Faith Helps Boy Recover from Orthopedic Decapitation

Young Boy Recalls Former Life

Awake after a 19-year Coma

Can science and religion coexist?

Scientists who believed in God

Reasons why people believe science and religion can coexist

The Big Bang theory doesn’t disprove God

Dinosaurs are actually mentioned in the Bible

Jesus Christ As Proof Of God

Was Jesus Real?  What proof is there from sources other than the Bible that he existed?

Deeper, Scientifically valid look at Intelligent Design

Morality – Where did it come from if not God?

Why Christianity over other religions?

Why Atheists may not be as smart as they think they are

Final Conclusion

Bonus: Tips for debating an atheist

The basics to winning a debate

Tips to beat an atheist or non-believer in a debate

Closing lines