A tougher question is, how do we KNOW we KNOW anything? Philosophers have pondered the questions of how we know what we know for ages. Surely, it's a disputable subject. However, most of us operate from a set of practical standards that for the most part seem to be instinctive. We consider as knowledge–as knowing'the things we experience in our lives or that we hear from others we consider as authoritative. Many also consider as knowledge the things they feel intuitively. The Bible says eternity is bound up in our hearts. All of these ideas of knowledge can be brought into question, even things we see with our own eyes. All our perceptions can be deceived. Magicians have proven that over and over with their slight of hands that appear to do amazingly, impossible things. They are able to trick our perceptions.

God is more difficult to perceive because he is much different that anything else we could ever experience. We don't see and experience him as we do other people. But, this doesn't mean he's not real. We don't see and experience atoms specifically, although we experience their many combinations. We cannot see (with the naked eye) or feel or hear bacteria or viruses, but they are nonetheless very real, as well all know experientially from their effects. Very little evidence exists for much of what is recorded history and yet we as humans feel we know these things to be true because of the records handed down to us.

Many appeal to science as the ultimate in knowledge. But just a little research will demonstrate that while science is a noble and extremely beneficial endeavor, it has its own limits. Science by its own nature is a study of the physical world, and as such has no real ability to address the nonmaterial or spiritual world. Science requires as much, if not more, faith than religion does, for when a whole person is imagined from a couple of teeth or from a jawbone, faith indeed is active. This does not mean what scientists believe to be true is not true. It's just that it is a best guess based on what is known.

To know God, one must look beyond the obvious and reason out some things. To come to the conclusion that there is any god at all, one must take what can be known in the most reliable fashions–be seen, heard, felt, tasted, touched, reasoned–and work from there. We can see the trees and rocks and ground around us. We can see mountains and hills. We can hear birds singing, frogs croaking, and brooks babbling. We can measures weights and lengths. But, we cannot see when it all first began. We can see that the physical laws are universal. We can see the constancy of the universe and we can see its sometimes radical, unbelievable changes. We can measure the waves of the rainbow. But we cannot see where rainbows originated.

Some would assert that the views Darwinian evolution can explain the origin. However, to be fair, it should be noted that great and noble thinkers still bring into question the many challenges to this theory (that is so often stated as if it were a proven fact). However, even evolution does not account for design and origin. Even the idea of evolution suggests design and progression. This universe seems, to most, clearly a product of intelligent design. This universe reflects great engineering beyond human imagination, wonderful architecture designed for all forms of life, beautiful artistry and expression that brings wonderment and joy, and deep love and tenderness that raise the human experience far above other animals. The mere thought of the spiritual suggests its reality.

The ancient Psalmist wrote, "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." The Apostle Paul, formerly Saul the persecutor of Christians, wrote that the invisible qualities of God are clearly perceived through the things that are made. He said unbelief was inexcusable. The point is clearly debatable. But the majority of ancients and moderns alike consistently have concluded what Francis Schaeffer so eloquently captured in the title of his book, "He is There and He is Not Silent." The design all around us seems to scream for most of us that there is an artist and a designer behind it all. And, just as observing art or architecture reveals something of its creator, so it is with God–the creation tells us about its creator. We can know, as we know most things, that God is real by observation and reason. It's like seeing a light shining from behind an object. We cannot see the light, but we know its there. We know it by what we can see–the effect around it. It is a mental construct built by our everyday experience. It's the same with God, and even more so, we cannot see God directly but we can see his effects all around us. There is a "knowing" within us.

Men have written perhaps countless books discussing the proofs of God. Others have written to disprove his existence. The majority of mankind still agrees that there is a God behind this universe. And, we can be as sure of this knowledge as we are of anything else.