Question 1

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Accepted Answer

This is often called the most fundamental question in philosophy, posed memorably by Leibniz in the 17th century. Naturalistic explanations struggle because any physical cause would itself be ‘something’ that needs explanation. Christian theism answers that a self-existent, necessary God is the foundation for everything contingent — meaning the universe doesn’t need to be self-explanatory because something else is.

Question 2

Does life have meaning without God?

Accepted Answer

Atheist philosophers like Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre took this question seriously and concluded that without God, meaning has to be invented rather than discovered. Christian thinkers argue that ‘invented’ meaning is fragile because it depends on the chooser, while objective meaning requires a transcendent purpose that grounds human dignity, love, and moral worth in something larger than personal preference.

Question 3

Can morality exist without God?

Accepted Answer

People can certainly be moral without believing in God — that’s not the question. The deeper question is whether objective moral values can exist without a transcendent foundation. Philosophers like J.L. Mackie (an atheist) argued that without God, moral facts are ‘queer’ — hard to ground in a purely material universe. Christians hold that the universal human conviction that some things are really wrong points to a moral lawgiver.

Question 4

What is the meaning of life according to the Bible?

Accepted Answer

The Bible’s answer, summarized in passages like Ecclesiastes 12, Micah 6:8, and Matthew 22:37-40, is that humans are made to know God, love others, and steward creation. Jesus framed it as loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself — a vision of meaning rooted in relationship rather than achievement, possessions, or status.

Question 5

Is there absolute truth?

Accepted Answer

The claim ‘there is no absolute truth’ is itself an absolute truth claim, which is why most philosophers — religious or not — accept that some truths are objective. The Bible presents truth as both propositional (statements that correspond to reality) and personal (Jesus saying ‘I am the truth’ in John 14:6). Christianity holds that ultimate reality is grounded in a truthful God, not a void.

Question 6

What does the Bible say about consciousness?

Accepted Answer

The Bible treats human consciousness as an irreducible reality tied to being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). It doesn’t reduce mind to brain or soul to chemistry. Modern philosophers like David Chalmers have called consciousness ‘the hard problem’ — purely materialist accounts struggle to explain why there is subjective experience at all, which is one reason many thinkers see consciousness as evidence for something beyond the purely physical.

Question 7

How do philosophers argue for God’s existence?

Accepted Answer

Major arguments include the cosmological (everything contingent needs a necessary cause), ontological (the very concept of a maximally great being implies its existence), teleological (the universe’s fine-tuning suggests design), moral (objective values require a transcendent source), and the argument from consciousness. Modern defenders include William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, and Edward Feser.

Question 8

What is the problem of evil?

Accepted Answer

The problem of evil asks how a good, all-powerful God can coexist with genuine suffering. Christian responses include the free-will defense (love requires freedom, and freedom enables evil), the soul-making theodicy (suffering can produce virtues impossible without it), and the Christological response (God himself entered suffering in Jesus). Christians acknowledge this is an emotional question, not just a logical one, and the Bible never minimizes the reality of pain.

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