How can I believe in something I can’t prove? - Tim Horman
On Sunday, our senior minister, Tim Horman, shared the opening message in our new ‘Questioning Christianity’ series. Each week we’ll be exploring a question about our faith in the hope of answering some of the questions that those curious about Christianity might have.
This week, we tackled a foundational question: "How can I believe in something I can’t prove?"
In this post, we’ll explore:
Why both belief and unbelief involve faith
How reason and faith work together
Why the Christian view offers a deeply personal vision of reality
And some practical ways to live this out
We’ve included recordings of Tim’s message and a and some questions for reflection and small group discussion below.
Understanding the Message
Tim began by noting how common it is today to hear, "I can’t believe in God because there’s no proof." Famous thinkers like Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins have voiced that objection. Many who leave Christianity say that once they put aside emotion and looked only at the evidence, faith no longer felt plausible.
But here’s the key point Tim made: we all live by faith, whether we believe in God or not.
We trust that the world exists outside our minds. We trust that our senses give us reliable information. We trust that love, justice, and human dignity are real. None of these can be scientifically “proven” in a lab — yet we live as if they are true every day.
"To live is to believe. Faith isn’t just for the religious — it’s a human reality." – Tim Horman
Tim also pointed out that secularism isn’t a neutral position. It has its own unprovable beliefs — such as the idea that meaning, morality, and purpose can be grounded without God.
Connecting to Our Lives
If we’re honest, most of us don’t live by reason alone. We’re shaped by:
Intuition
Desire
What we love or hate
Cultural influences we’ve absorbed without even realising
Faith and reason aren’t enemies — they work together. Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century mathematician and philosopher, famously said, “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”
God invites us to love Him with both mind and heart.
Tim explored two broad worldviews:
Reality as a machine – impersonal, self-generating, and ultimately indifferent.
Reality as personal – created by a personal being who loves us and wants to be known.
In a purely mechanistic universe, love is just chemicals, consciousness is an illusion, and free will doesn’t truly exist. But that’s not how we live. We love as if love is real. We fight for human rights as if all people matter. These instincts point to a deeper truth — we are made for relationship with a personal Creator.
"At the heart of the universe is not a machine, but a Person — one who can be known and who knows you." – Tim Horman
So, how can you believe what you can’t prove?
Because everyone believes in things they can’t prove. The question isn’t whether you have faith, but what your faith is in. Christianity invites you to place that faith in the One who made you, loves you, and entered history in Jesus Christ.
One Way to Live it Out This Week
Choose one area of life where you’ve been living “as if” God is absent — and intentionally invite Him into it. It could be a decision, a relationship, or a personal struggle. Pray and ask for His presence and wisdom.
A Short Prayer for your week
Lord, thank You for giving us minds to think and hearts to love. Help me to be honest about the faith I already live by, and to place my trust fully in You. Give me courage to explore my questions and grace to walk in the truth. Amen.
Reflection Questions
For personal reflection:
What’s one belief you hold that can’t be scientifically proven but shapes your life?
How do you see both faith and reason working together in your own journey?
Where in your life do you need to trust God more fully this week?
For small groups:
What stood out to you from Tim’s message, and why?
How do you respond to the statement: “Everyone lives by faith in something”?
Can you think of everyday examples where people trust something they can’t prove?
What’s the difference between “reality as a machine” and “reality as personal”?
How does your view of love, justice, or human dignity connect to your beliefs about God?
Why do you think God allows Himself to be “hidden” rather than obvious?
How might you gently and respectfully explain your faith to someone who doesn’t believe?
How can we pray for each other to grow in confidence about what we believe?