Questions from kids about God
From an 8-yr old boy: How did God come to exist?
Here’s the quick answer: The question’s a really good one, because as we look around our world, everything comes to be. You came to be, I came to be. We ask, ‘When is your birthday?’ That’s the only way – I came into the world. If we look at objects around us – like furniture or cameras and lights – well, they came to be. At one time they didn’t exist and they came into being. Think of all the birds and animals, who are moving around outside – they all came to be. Even the mountains; even though it was a long time ago, they also came to be at some point. So that’s why it’s natural for us to say: ‘Okay, if everything came to be, how about God?’
Well, the point is: God didn’t come to be. God is. God always was. God always will be. He’s not like things in the world. That’s what makes God unique; that’s what makes God, God. He doesn’t come into being the way things do, because if he did, we’d have to look for what caused him. Then, whatever that was, that must be even greater than God, right? So, God is!
It’s interesting that the Bible uses a lot of images for God. One of them is a Rock. It says, ‘God is a Rock’. Now why do we reach for that image? Because, of all the things in our experience, that looks like it’s been there forever. Even though it came into existence at some point, but of all the things we know, a rock looks really permanent. And so those who wrote the Bible say, ‘God’s like that. He’s like a rock; He’s always been there.’ That’s the point. God didn’t come into being; He simply is.
Credit: ‘Word on Fire’ Kids Q&A with Bishop Barron
