GROW IN FAITH: YOUTH – Why Believe in God?

Is Belief Rational?

Opening Prayer

Lord,
You are not an idea but the source of all being.
Help me think clearly and honestly
about the question of Your existence.
Lead me to what is true.
Amen.

Part One

The Question Cannot Be Avoided

At some point, everyone faces the question:

Does God exist?

Not:

Is belief comforting?
Is religion useful?
Is faith traditional?

But:

Is God real?

If God does not exist,
then the universe is ultimately accidental.

If God exists,
then everything changes.

The Catholic faith does not ask you to believe without reason.

It teaches that the existence of God
can be known by reason.

Faith goes beyond reason —
but it does not contradict it.

Pause and Reflect

Have I seriously considered whether God exists?

Do I treat belief as an emotional choice
or a rational question?

What would change in my life if God were real?

Part Two

The Argument from Existence

Everything we experience in the universe:

Exists.

Changes.

Depends on something else.

You exist because your parents exist.
They exist because their parents existed.
Every physical thing depends on prior causes.

If everything depends on something else,
we must ask:

Can this chain go back infinitely?

If nothing has independent existence,
then ultimately nothing would exist.

An infinite chain of dependent things
does not explain why anything exists now.

There must be something
that does not depend on anything else.

Something that does not begin.
Something that does not receive existence.
Something that simply is.

The Church calls this being God.

Not one object among others.

But the necessary foundation of all existence.

Think Carefully

If everything requires a cause,
what explains the existence of the whole system?

Can something come from absolutely nothing?

Is “nothing” capable of producing being?

Part Three

The Argument from Order

The universe is not chaotic.

It follows mathematical laws.

Physical constants are precisely balanced.

The human mind can understand reality.

Why?

Why should mathematics describe physical reality so accurately?

Why should human reason correspond
to the structure of the universe?

Order suggests intelligence.

If you find a book filled with meaningful sentences,
you do not assume the letters assembled randomly.

You infer a mind.

The greater the order,
the more reasonable the inference of intelligence.

The Church does not claim
that complexity automatically proves God.

But she teaches that order and intelligibility
are signs pointing beyond themselves.

Reflect

When you look at nature,
do you see accident or intelligibility?

Does the precision of physical laws require explanation?

Part Four

The Argument from Morality

We all recognise certain moral truths.

Cruelty is wrong.
Injustice is wrong.
Human dignity matters.

These are not merely personal preferences.

We expect others to recognise them as binding.

But if the universe is only matter in motion,
where do moral obligations come from?

Chemistry does not produce duty.

Physics does not generate justice.

If moral law exists,
it points toward a moral lawgiver.

Not a tyrant.

But a source of objective goodness.

The Church teaches that God is not merely powerful.

He is good.

And goodness itself requires foundation.

Consider

If morality is only biological instinct,
why treat it as binding?

If moral truth exists,
does it require a source beyond human opinion?

Part Five

Faith Beyond Proof

None of these arguments are mathematical proofs.

They are rational foundations.

They show that belief in God is not irrational.

They make belief reasonable.

Faith then responds to revelation.

God is not discovered only by philosophy.

He reveals Himself in history —
most fully in Christ.

Reason prepares the ground.

Revelation completes it.

Belief in God is not a leap into darkness.

It is trust grounded in reason
and fulfilled by revelation.

Quiet Reflection

Sit quietly for a moment.

Ask yourself:

Is belief in God unreasonable —
or does it explain reality more fully?

Have I dismissed belief without examining it?

Remain in silence.

This Week

Choose one:

• Reflect on the question: Why is there something rather than nothing?
• Observe order in nature and consider what it suggests.
• Examine whether moral truth requires a foundation.
• Pray simply: “Lord, if You are real, help me see.”

Choose deliberately.

Closing Prayer

Lord,
You are the source of all that exists.
Strengthen my mind in truth.
Help me recognise the signs of Your presence
in creation and in conscience.
Lead me to deeper faith.
Amen.