IV. The Moral Purpose Argument

This argument for the existence of God is based on the premise that all of mankind has an innate sense that life has some moral end and purpose and that this purpose and meaning for life points to a Being outside of the natural world that is directing toward this end. Naturalism cannot account for this universal sense in man for it is not the byproduct of naturalistic causes.

Sir John Templeton said, “Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose”. 18

If there is no God, we exist for no purpose and our lives have no ultimate meaning. Our lives end in the grave and as for any future beyond death, there is none. 

A Cosmic Accident?

Christian theologian and philosopher William Lane Craig has written regarding this: – “Without God, the universe is the result of a cosmic accident, a chance explosion. There is no reason for which it exists. As for man, he is a freak of nature – a blind product of matter plus time plus chance. Man is just a lump of slime that evolved rationality. There is no more purpose in life for the human race than a species of insect; for both are the result of the blind interaction of chance and necessity”. 19  

“Scientists tell us that the universe is expanding and the galaxies are growing farther and farther apart. As it does so, it grows colder and colder, and its energy is used up. Eventually all the stars will burn out and all matter will collapse into dead stars and black holes. There will be no light at all; there will be no heat; there will be no life; only the corpses of dead stars and galaxies, ever expanding into the endless darkness and the cold recesses of space – a universe in ruins. This is not science fiction. The entire universe marches irreversibly toward its grave.

So not only is the life of each individual person doomed; the entire human race is doomed. The universe is plunging toward inevitable extinction – death is written throughout its entire structure. There is no escape. There is no hope – Look at it from another perspective: Scientists say that the universe originated in an explosion called the “Big Bang” about thirteen billion years ago. Suppose the Big Bang never occurred. Suppose the universe had never existed. What ultimate difference would it make? The universe is doomed to die anyway. In the end it makes no difference whether the universe ever existed or not. Therefore, it is without ultimate significance. The same is true of the human race. Mankind is a doomed race in a dying universe. Because the human race will eventually cease to exist, it makes no ultimate difference whether it ever did exist. Mankind is thus no more significant than a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs, for their end is all the same. The same blind process that coughed them up in the first place will eventually swallow them all again”. 20 

Without God, mankind is left in a state of despair, no hope, no purpose and no future.

Man and all of life and existence is simply the result of blind chance. This is the cruel reality of atheism and of life without a Creator. There is no such thing as good or evil only the reality of existence. Are there any ultimate goals for life? Is there any reason to exist? For atheism to be consistent the answer is an absolute no. When a person approaches the end of their life to what end and purpose have they lived? Is life pointless, meaningless and all for nothing? Are we not significant? 

Do We have Ultimate Value?

Deep within the heart of every person there is a clear voice that tells us that we are significant, that life is not meaningless and that we do have ultimate value and purpose. This sense is universal and is found in all societies and cultures. So what do many people do? Instead of pursuing God, we spend our time investing our lives in pleasures, entertainment, knowledge and self-improvement… anything to distract our attention from the need to discover whether God exists and what His intentions for us might be. We cannot accept the reality that life has no ultimate value and purpose. We want the story of our lives to end well. We do not want to live meaningless lives. But for many of us we avoid God, we avoid pursuing Him and learning His ways. We allow the distractions of life to rob us of living our lives for Him. Even the atheists who deny God cannot live without attempting to find and affirm some value and meaning to life. But in order to do so, they cannot truly be consistent with their own worldview. They must find some way to attach ultimate meaning to life apart from God, but that is not possible. 

Conclusion:

The Moral Purpose Argument points to the innate inner sense and “silent voice” that tells us that our lives do have meaning and ultimate purpose and that the Creator has placed this reality and desire within our very nature. How could mere naturalistic forces account for this universal response within us? This awareness and consciousness of purpose and meaningful value cannot be accounted for by the “evolving process of the human brain”. Biological processes cannot explain this inner call for purpose and value. This sense resides in a conscious self not exclusively in the human brain alone and it points to the reality that man is not just a physical being but is also spiritual. And when we open the door to the spiritual we must look to a Being (God) and to a dimension that is beyond this natural world. This ultimate value and purpose for our lives points to a Being Who alone provides us with real value and Who grants us ultimate purpose.