This question was recently posed by an inmate during a Bible study.  Actually, the inmate was asked the question by another inmate. He didn’t have an answer, and so he wanted to hear what I might say.  Since this is a question that I have given considerable thought to in the past, I felt like I was ready for a response.  Admittedly, the answer ‘bends the brain’ a bit, but is enjoyable to think through!

The question was asked as a way of challenge from the one inmate to the other.  That’s they way it is generally asked – as a challenge.  Here’s how the usual conversation goes:

Christian: If you believe that the universe began as an explosion of matter, then please explain where that matter came from, and what caused it to explode.

Naturalist: I hear what you are saying.  However, if you are going to tell me that God put everything in motion, then answer your own question and tell me where God came from!

This argument can stump a lot of Christians because we have been trained to accept the doctrine of the eternal existence of God.  However, not everyone begins at the same starting point.  Therefore, it is a good idea to consider the argument from their position.

So … where did God come from?

Imagine that you are setting up a line – a very long line – of dominoes.  Each domino is set to fall on top of the domino in front of it.  But, the reason they don’t fall is because each domino needs to be struck by a falling domino in order to fall.  So, you place another domino into place.  But that domino needs to be struck by a domino.  So, you place another one before it.  But, like all the other dominoes, it won’t fall until a domino strikes it.  It won’t take you long to realize that the dominoes will never fall as long as they are dependent upon a falling domino.

Now, imagine that you are standing near a line of dominoes that stretches into the horizon. Suddenly, you see that they are falling on top of each other, heading your way.  Since each domino needs a falling domino to cause it to fall, you can safely surmise that something other than a domino was involved – or else they could never have begun falling!

Now, let me expand on this analogy.  The universe is like the line of dominoes that is already falling.  Everything has been set in motion by some preceding motion.  For example, you came from your parents, who came from their parents, who came from their parents, and so on.  This motion is like the falling dominos.  What should be obvious is that this motion had to begin by something other than a domino – or by something that didn’t need to be itself started by something else.  If it was started by something else, then it’s not at the beginning of the line, but is just another domino!

I believe that logic dictates that for anything to exist in our world, there must exist something that did not need to come into existence itself.  I believe that this truth is inescapable.  Since, therefore, this universe exists, we can know that something must have existed prior to our universe which itself did not need to come into existence.  Christians have always believed that God is the best explanation of that something that did not need to come into existence, but always was.

God is also the best explanation for the existence of this universe.  God always existed or else nothing would exist.

Dane Cramer is a backpacker, Christian blogger, jail chaplain, and author of two books: Romancing the Trail and The Nephilim: A Monster Among Us.

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