What if God really exists? Part 3 – the reliability of the senses

In an earlier blog, I am discussing the question of God's existence and that it is possible to know that God does exist and even to know God. I also asked such questions as:

If such a being exists, can we know?

How can we know?

Has this God communicated to us in any way?

Did this Being leave any signs or hints that it exists, like a painter signing his art?

Has this Being interacted with us-- or anyone at all ---in any way?

We may also ask questions such as, “If such a being exists, is it good?

Is it benevolent towards lesser creatures or pay any attention at all?

Does this God set things in motion and then move onto something else, leaving us to our own decisions? Can we get its attention and perhaps win awards or favors?” Or the opposite? That is, incur God's disfavor or wrath?

I suggest that you read the series in order and that you should start here: https://bylivingwatersministries.blogspot.com/2021/11/what-if-god-really-exists.html

We are taking a step by step approach to these questions and need to establish some foundations. In the last blog, we started with self-awareness which led us to at least knowing that we, ourselves, exist. I exist, but I am finite. I do not know everything and there is much I experience that is outside of myself. This realization of self-existence and awareness leads me to ask the next questions:

1. How can I know if anything else exists?

2. If I exist, and I am a finite being, where did I come from?

3. Why does anything exist and how did it all come into existence? (Why is there something instead of nothing?)

You can read that in my blog here:

https://bylivingwatersministries.blogspot.com/2021/11/what-if-god-really-exists-part-2-i.html

How can I know if anything else exists?

In order to do that, we need to understand a few things about ourselves. So what am I aware about myself? We established that I can think and doubt, at least. I believe we can also conclude that we not only have a mind capable of thought, but also have a material component and have physical bodies. (There is also a spiritual component, which we will explore later.) We, as physical or material beings, experience the material universe through our five senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. How reliable are our senses? Can our senses be fooled? Most certainly they can be! If our senses can be fooled, can we truly trust our senses at all? And if we cannot trust our senses, can we truly know what else exists or what is true? Sometimes we believe we saw something but it was not accurate. Or we hear a sound that we interpret as one thing, but it turns out to be something else or maybe the trick of our mind. Illusions occur, as the cinema and magicians demonstrate regularly. However our five senses are the only way we can possibly process the material universe. Living in physical bodies, sight, sound, touch, taste, and hearing are all we have as ways to interact with the physical world.

Fortunately, I believe are senses are basically reliable, even if they are not absolutely reliable or infallibly reliable. We may hear something incorrectly or see something incorrectly, or guess wrong what we are touching. However, we can trust our senses enough to walk down the steps without falling or know that we are eating an apple instead of a cactus or to stop at a red light. We will quickly pull our physical hand out of a real fire. So our five senses must be at least basically reliable. In fact, the scientific method is dependent on the reliability of our five senses.

So, if our senses have a rudimentary reliability, and we see, taste, touch, hear and smell things in this world, that we can perceive that a material world exists. We can can conclude that we, ourselves, exists and that some type of physical world exists.

If these statements are true, then it brings us to another question:

Why is there something rather than nothing? Where or how did this universe with all of its complexities come from? If I exist, and I am a finite being, where did I come from?

We can conclude that there is something (you, myself, a physical universe, etc., exist) because God exists, which we will explore in the coming blogs. We will also need to look at some assumptions that I have been using in these posts and which everyone assumes when engaging in any discussions even if they do not realize.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! -Psalm 34:8 (ESV)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

-I John 1:1-4 (ESV)