Can we really prove that God exists - rationally?

Initially I thought this would be a ‘Paygrade’ issue. Proving a reality beyond our own reality sounds way too much. Personally, I don’t do the shock and awe thing - that God must exist because the universe is so mind numbingly enormous. More at my level is the fact that God has been both seen and experienced by saints for millennia. Surely, we need their evidence for the case for God to become convincing. Let us apply Wesley’s Quadrilateral – Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience!

Scripture records numerous miraculous events like a virgin birth, a resurrection etc – in short, an existence outside our existence. In fact, to be a prophet within the Judaic traditions they had to demonstrate ‘signs’ of operating beyond our physical reality. For instance, all four Gospels record that our Lord could heal the sick, raise the dead, feed thousands of people - twice! These events were of course witnessed by thousands of people. 

Tradition – Currently are 2.3 billion Christians seeking and finding God. The Bible continues the world’s bestselling book and has been for two millennia!

Reason – If you asked an educated person whether they believed in ‘black holes’ they would think you strange – or simply ignorant. We can’t see black holes because visible light can never escape from them - yet we ‘believe’ in them because there is so much evidence for them. Stephen Hawkins did the maths and astronomers have verified it using the evidence black holes have on the space around them - their effects. The evidence for the existence of God can be found in both ‘signs’ (miracles) and in the effect of divinely inspired teaching on our lives and the lives of saints.

Experience – God is a personal force that we experience.  Any practitioner of religion will tell you that the real, life changing evidence for God is a combination both of ‘His signs’ and their personal experience of God. These generate faith. Individually we have to believe the rationale of the Bible if we are to get close enough to the divine experience which proves the existence of God. A foot soldier’s paygrade is enough to be a part of a winning army.  They don’t need the knowledge or experience of the general’s paygrade. However together they both win the divine battle and both become part of the evidence for God.