In this Prager University course, I want to focus not on the evidence for God's existence,

but on the benefits of belief. If God exists, then the world didn't just evolve by chance,

but by deliberate design. There's an artist behind this incredible work of art, this big and beautiful

world. If God exists, we're living in a great story, an epic like The Lord of the Rings,

with real heroes and heroic tasks. Ultimately, all the twists and turns of this epic narrative

will be paid off. Everything will make sense. It will even have a happy ending,

not necessarily or even likely in our own lifetime. Even Moses didn't get into the promised land,

but over the grand course of time, in an afterlife, which exists as surely as God exists.

If God exists, the presence of evil, hard as it is to accept, makes sense. God allows it for a reason,

namely to preserve our free will, and God will reconcile all injustices in the end.

If there is no God, life is one big crap chute. If God does exist, morality is a real

objective feature of the world. If there is no God, morality is just the rules we make up for

this little game of life that we play. If God exists, love is the nature of an eternal reality.

If there is no God, love is just a fleeting feeling, no more than a bunch of chemical and

neurological interactions. If God exists, you are of infinite value. He knows you, as a parent knows

his child. He is accessible to you. If there is no God, each of us is as insignificant as a rock on

an unknown planet. If God exists, death is conquered, because if there is a God, there is a reality

outside of space and time. If there is no God, there is nothing immortal, and all the good things

in life are destroyed forever. You, and everyone you love, and everything you think matters,

are all consigned to oblivion. If there is no God, life is pointless. Everything we've done and

lived for will ultimately be in vain. Can I prove with an absolute certainty that God exists?

I can make the case that overwhelming evidence suggests that He does, but no, I can't prove that

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