Living in a Simulation, and the Basis of Truth

Saddle up and ride to the top of the hill for the big picture, useful when atheists make assertions. They often claim that they believe in reality because they deny the existence of God; they are materialists and matter is all that exists. That is their definition of reality.

Something simple that this child learned long ago is to ask pertinent questions, including, "How do you know?" Note that many of their assertions are arbitrary. They presuppose materialism, then put Christians on the defensive — if we let them.

Ashokan Reservoir, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen

Things like this illustrate a bigger concern: How do you know what you know? Similarly, how do you know what you believe is true? Atheists make claims that they cannot logically justify. Indeed, if matter is all there is, then logic itself cannot exist because it is not material. Neither is love, hate, joy, integrity, science, justice, and other things that people use every day. Only a theistic worldview warrants belief in immaterial things, including knowledge!

When George Barna asked Americans this question in 2020, 15% said they didn’t know. Another 15% believed the answer lay in science, while others appealed to “inner certainty” (16%), tradition (5%), social consensus (4%), or God (42%). The remaining 5% claimed truth does not exist, although how they know this claim is true remains unclear.

By asking this question, Barna was probing Americans’ epistemology. Derived from the Greek term episteme (ἐπιστήμη), meaning knowledge, epistemology is a branch of philosophy that theorizes about knowledge and belief. . . .

The divided responses to Barna’s survey question highlight our culture’s need for epistemic clarity. In response, this two-part article series introduces how a biblical worldview (rather than human reasoning) yields the best basis for justified beliefs—the most intelligible epistemological framework.

Go to "What Is Epistemology, and How Does It Point to God?" to read the full article, but be sure to come back for the startling conclusion.

Something that is brought up by atheists is the concept that nothing is real, all is imaginary, because we live in a simulation. Personal history and memories, indeed, the entire history of the universe, were programmed. The idea of the multiverse can be integrated because some teenager with a visor in another universe has made us up.

Going beyond a thought experiment, some folks are taking the concept of living in a simulation seriously. However, it fails several tests of reason and cannot warrant belief in logic. It seems a mite ironic that this atheistic idea presupposes a being that is causing the "reality" to happen. This naturally brings up the question on where the maker came from, ad infinitum. Biblical theism challenges the simulation idea, and again demonstrates that ultimate reality — ultimate truth — is found in the Creator as revealed in the Bible.

Are we living in a simulation? This question has garnered massive attention in recent years, with technology tycoon Elon Musk and podcaster Joe Rogan speculating along these lines in a YouTube clip that scored over 10 million views. Another prominent proponent for this idea is Nick Bostrom, a former Oxford professor and leading advocate for transhumanism (the belief that humans should transform their own nature through technology).

Recent research critiques these ideas, known as the “simulation hypothesis,” on mathematical grounds. Still, the debate continues. As these topics spark conversations about the universe’s origins, Christians will increasingly need to be prepared to answer the simulation hypothesis. This article, Part Two in a series on epistemology, responds by applying a biblical worldview to examine recent arguments about the simulation hypothesis.

To read the entire article and conclude this two-part series, see "Can We Know That We’re Not Living in a Simulator?"