What evidence is there that God exists and Jesus is God?

Christians find evidence of God within their own lives. They experience his presence through prayer, guidance, answered prayer, spiritual awareness and the work of the Holy Spirit. For them, God is not only an idea: he is someone they believe they have encountered personally.

Christians also see signs of God in the world around them: in the vastness and order of the universe, the beauty and complexity of nature, and even in small moments of wonder and joy. They also see something of God in acts of love, compassion, forgiveness and self-sacrifice. These things do not force anyone to believe, but Christians see them as signs of a Creator whose goodness can be glimpsed within creation and human life.

They also look to the historical evidence for Jesus. The New Testament preserves the testimony of his earliest followers, who described his teaching, miracles, death and resurrection. They believed that they had seen Jesus alive after his crucifixion and began proclaiming that he was Lord.

Paul provides further evidence. He had opposed the first Christians, but became a follower of Jesus after an experience which he understood as an encounter with the risen Christ. He knew Peter and James, and recorded the early testimony that Jesus had appeared to his followers after his death.

The first Christians were Jewish believers in one God, yet from the earliest years of Christianity they gave Jesus divine honour, prayed in his name and placed their hope of salvation in him. Christians believe that the resurrection best explains why Jesus’ followers became convinced that he was alive and truly divine.