How Do I KNOW God is Real?

Angela Moore
Dec 9, 2025
7 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

Is it possible to know that God exists?

In short—yes. Absolutely.

You can know that God is real without relying on a feeling, a personal experience, or simply trying to have “enough faith.” You don’t have to guess.

You can know it.

It does take a little time and thought, but when you look carefully, the argument is pretty straightforward.

Quite simply, the physical world around us is undeniable evidence that God exists.

From the animal kingdom to weather systems and the grandeur of space, from the intricate details of the tiniest flower to the elephant whose memory and intelligence amaze us, everything points to thoughtful design.

This idea is also found in the Bible. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul writes:

“What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature—though invisible—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” Romans 1:19–20

Paul isn’t just making a bold statement of faith here. His claim is based on logic, and it works like this.

Part 1: In the Beginning…

The Universe Had a Beginning

First, the universe had a beginning. This is now an established fact. At one point there was no physical universe—and now there is one. That means there was a beginning.

If the universe had a beginning, there are only two possible explanations:

the physical universe came from nothing, or
the physical universe came from something that is not physical.

The first option doesn’t make sense, because every physical thing comes from something else.

Physical things do not come from nothing.

Look around you as you read this—the chair you’re sitting on, the device in your hands,

the drink nearby. None of these came from nothing. They all had a source. You can expand this as far as your imagination will take you and you’ll find the same thing.

So if everything physical comes from something else, the universe itself must also have come from something.

Consider the alternative. If the universe could come from nothing, why don’t things continue to pop into existence from nothing today? Why don’t cups of coffee or candy bars suddenly appear out of thin air?

Have you ever seen something materialize from nothing?

Of course not. That’s not how reality works.

The physical universe must have been brought into existence by something nonphysical.

There Must Be a Starting Point

Now let’s consider events and processes. These also depend on causes. Nothing just happens completely out of nowhere.

Think about a leaf falling from a tree, a puppy being born, or a flower blooming in spring.

Each of these events happens because of a series of causes that came before it.

But a series of causes cannot exist unless there is a starting point.

Imagine a long line of dominoes. One falls into the next, and the next, and the next. You can see them falling in front of you, but you can’t see the beginning of the line.

What if someone claimed there was no first domino—that the dominoes just kept falling without anything ever starting it?

That would be ridiculous. There must be a first domino that caused the rest to fall.

The same is true in other situations. You can’t have a photocopy without an original. You can’t have a stack of books without a bottom book. You can’t have a fan running that’s plugged into endless extension cords with no power source.

It’s not possible.

There must be a starting point.

Part 2: Three Things We Can Know About This “Starting Point”

What might this nonphysical “starting point” be? What else can we know about it?

#1: It Must Have Great Power

Without getting too deep into physics, it helps to consider the equation E = mc². This equation shows that mass and energy are closely connected—really two forms of the same thing.

Even a tiny amount of mass contains a huge amount of energy.

Humans usually think about this by asking how we can get energy out of mass, such as in nuclear power. Think about the enormous amount of energy contained in an incredibly small atom...tiny mass, immense potential energy.

But this equation also helps us think the other way around.

Think about how enormous the physical universe is. If even a tiny amount of mass contains so much energy...

The total mass of the universe must have required an enormous amount of energy to exist in the first place.

That is a staggering amount of energy—and it could not have come from the physical universe itself, because the universe did not yet exist.

#2: It Must Have the Ability to Make Choices

The source of the physical world must have the ability to start actions without being forced to do so.

This ability is called will, and when will is used, it is called making a choice.

Think back to the dominoes example. The dominoes do not fall on their own. Someone must decide to start them. You choose to push the first domino, and when you do, the rest follow.

The chain of events begins because a will acted through a choice.

In the same way, the source of the physical world must be able to act without being caused or forced by something else. Only something with will can start a chain of events without being forced.

#3: It Must Have Great Intellect

We can also know that the creator must be able to think.

To make choices, something must have the power of thought and must use that power intentionally.

Choices do not come from mindless forces—they come from thinking agents.

When we look at the physical world, we see clear order and structure everywhere. The laws of nature, the balance of ecosystems, and the complexity of living things all work together in precise ways.

Order like this does not come from confusion or accident.

Because the universe shows such deep and consistent order, many have concluded that the source of this order must involve a very high level of intelligence—far greater than human intelligence.

The physical world looks not like a random accident but more like the result of thoughtful planning.

Part 3: The Big Bang and Evolution Myths

When people talk about how the universe began, two explanations are often given: the Big Bang and evolution.

These ideas are frequently treated as final answers, but in an important sense, they function as myths.

By myth, we do not mean a fairy tale or something people knowingly make up.

A myth appears when we need an explanation, but no one can actually explain how the most important part happened. The explanation simply stops, and people act as though that is enough.

The Big Bang describes that the universe had a beginning and expanded rapidly.

But it does not explain how the universe came into existence in the first place.

It leaves the most important question unanswered: how did anything physical come from nothing?

As we have already seen, physical things do not come from nothing. If nothing truly is nothing, then nothing cannot “bang.” When no deeper explanation is offered—or even allowed—the idea begins to function as a myth.

The same problem appears with cosmic or biological evolution.

Evolution can describe changes within an already ordered system, but it cannot explain where the original order, laws, and structure came from.

When evolution is treated as if it explains everything, it becomes another myth—an explanation that avoids the deeper question.

Part 4: It’s Not Just Christians Who Know This

Long before Christianity existed, philosophers were already using reason alone to argue that there must be a source behind the universe.

Plato believed there must be a highest Good behind all reality. Aristotle argued that everything that moves or changes must be traced back to a first cause that itself was not caused. Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, taught that the world is governed by reason and order, not chaos.

None of these men were Christians, yet they all concluded that the universe points beyond itself to something greater.

This shows that belief in a powerful, intelligent source of the world did not begin with Christianity—it began with thinking carefully about reality.

Part 5: In Conclusion

By thinking carefully about the world around us, we can know that God exists.

The universe had a beginning, and physical things do not come from nothing, which means the universe must have come from a nonphysical source.

That source must have great power to bring the universe into existence, will to start events without being forced, and great intellect to produce the order we see in nature.

This way of reasoning is not blind faith or wishful thinking—it is a logical conclusion based on reality itself.

There are still many important questions to explore—questions like whether this God cares about us personally, whether He is truly good, and why a good God would allow bad things to happen or speak about judgment or even hell. These are real questions, and they deserve real answers.

We’ll get there.

But for now, you can be confident in this much: there is a God — the Creator of the universe—and that is something we can KNOW.

[To dive deeper into the reasoning explained in this article, study Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.]

🔍 RECAP: Why We Can Know That God Exists

When we think carefully about the world around us, it leads to some clear conclusions:

The universe had a beginning
Things don’t come from nothing
Every chain of causes needs a starting point
The source of the universe must have:
- Great power (to create everything)
- Will (to start things by choice)
- Great intellect (to create order, not chaos)