Beyond faith, what are the motivating factors for belief in God?

Question

I've read the bible, but remain unconvinced. I do not discount the possibility that God may exist, or that some being that seems Godlike in nature exists, however, I will not put my faith in something that may or may not exist. What evidences should I be looking at to persuade me to have more faith?

Answer 1

I use to think like that, too. Faith was a daily struggle and I argued with people over really trivial things. I finally came to the conclusion that believing is a good thing, isn't hurting anything in my life and will probably be a really good thing when I die and it does turn out that the masses of people around the world were correct to believe in something bigger than ourselves. I don't think of God in a biblical sense, I think of God in a scientific and as a universal entity. There are things here on Earth that we cannot explain. We can speculate with scientific theories, but isn't faith just a personal theory? The only evidence that I can give you in order to persuade you to have more faith is that I don't think billions of people around the world would waste their time and form their lives around faith in their God if it wasn't true and real. Good luck in whatever road fate takes you down, just remember that it would not be a good thing to be a non believer upon your death and your God is there to decide your eternal fate. Peace.

Answer 2

1. We're here.

2. Time tested. The Bible was written over a span of 2,000 years by a wide variety of people, all making similar claims about who God is and what He's done. Plus Christianity didn't just pop out of nowhere, it traces things all the way back to the beginning.

3. Prophecy. There's lots to check out...but I'd start with Isaiah 53 and think about how this was written 700 some years before Jesus. There's a ton more too...

4. Love. Hopefully you've had the chance (as I did before I started attempting to live for God) to know some serious Christians who are filled with love.

5. Teaching. I like the profoundness of Jesus' teaching. Check out Matthew 5-7.


Maybe you don't really think some of these are really "proof," but they're some of my reasons. It does come down to faith though, because no matter how much "proof" of God you have, you still could come up with reasons or excuses to counteract them. But I've found if you have some faith in God, He will reaffirm that faith. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in.

Answer 3

common sense. As I see it, you are trying to be christian but don.t know how since you can not start to believe in. Here's the guts, being a christian or any member of a religious denomination is a journey towards the realization of that common sense ( i may now call it faith), when we are slowly reaching the end of our life and the shock of it when we suddenly expired!
The pick here is that, if you have the belief, even a speck of dust, nourish it with self-purpose of your existence, this will make a parallel faith in "someone" or something (if that you want to call yourself) that may not have or should have exist.
See the world history, theologies and science...has lot of differences yet will come only into conclusion, as you have said, you do not discount the possibility that some force beyond our comprehension exists! That's the your starting point. now take little steps forward, don't afraid to fall.
believe me buddy, I was there...and I am taking my journey..there's nothing to lose except "I shouldn't have" or "I should have" at the end my journey.

Answer 4

We all term god in our own way. And most of us really can not get passed the fact that we can not put god, or what I term, reality/existence/being/life into a box. So I believe in god as being but if it is a person, if it is finite, and or, if it is a thing or object none of us will "know." But let me also say this: I believe in Gaia as the earth too, I believe in Ra as the sun, I believe in Krishna as a form of imagination.

So, beyond the obvious question "Do you need motivating factors for belief in god?" I would say the most tangable thing beyond faith is that our idea of god, which usually is existence, is a USEFUL thought (I think thoughts and tools are also synonomous terms) SOMETIMES. There may be moments when the belief in god is opposed by limitless logic and facts, in which case, you'll have to decide if you still care or if these logics and facts are part of "god" again.

Answer 5

Ask yourself, does the alternate suggested origin of like convince me?
Research into the Darwin concept. It is far from being proved.
Really, faith is not the motivating factor ot all. The motivation arrives, when after realizing that there is a plan from God regarding restoring the earth to it's intended state, you appreciate this and begin to have respect and even love that our creator did not just leave us in the lurch. He left us with a detailed history and a promise for the future to put our faith in, something that is reasonable. That is why it is not faith that motivates, rather it is what follows, when we gain the confidence, that he, God, will do everything he has promised.

Answer 6

The universe didn't "decide" to magically pop into existence on it's own. Even scientists say the universe has a beginning -- a starting point. Simply ask yourself how did it come into existence if there is no Creator? If there was once a point in time when the universe didn't exist, then why and how all of a sudden did it become to be? If there was a state of nothingness before the universe, then what decided that a universe should be born? What was the driving force behind the universe's birth?

Answer 7

peer pressure ,
lack of imagination,free will or rational thought .
And tradition

if you are looking for real Gods
there is always the Earth mother
all of Life ,and all of life´s nessesities and much more comes from Mother Earth.And many examples in Nature exist of there being a general intelligence beyond the individual animals and plants
the Indians called this Manitoe,we call it Gaia.

And all of this is made possible by the Rays of the Sun(Baal.Ra)
It has been shown that subspot activity coincides with mayor Human events.

And the Moon(iris),influence,has direct effects on all ,tides ,water flows and currents of this planet,including the flows of our blood.

these are the Mayor factors that make our existance possible ,and affect everything

They are all huge and can be seen all the time ,nothing imaginary about these cosmic bodies,
Many other Planets also affect life on this planet in subtler ways,(this is why we have horescopes )

How much more god like does it have to get

Answer 8

I can undoubtedly tell you that, indeed, faith is over half the reason why I believe in God. However, there are some other things I see that help me believe in his existance.
1. Creation. You think natural science could be so perfect to create human beings in such exactness...or animals or plants for that matter. The perfection is too unscientifically inclined.
2. The complexity of the human beings mind. Sure science can explain fingers and toes. It can explain causes of illness...but it cannot explain feelings of love, faith, hope, and imagination.
There are soo many more ways to know God exists. The problem is that so many people are looking for some big sign that says "hey, I'm God and I'm herre" but if he did that and people STILL denied him...he would be forced to punish them. Goad is far too kind to put people in such a position.
Secondly, Say that there is no such being of power. Say that it is all untrue. What would you be losing by following a moral path and doing your best to help others? what is there to lose but drunkin stoopers and pregnancies out of wedlock. What is there to lose but unkindness between people or hurtfull words? Nothing. But what is there to lose if you deny Him if He did indeed exist. Too much to take that chance I'd say....

Answer 9

I'm not a christian..I guess you would say i am agnostic.. I think the reason i believe in god come down to two things..
1. What would the point of life be, if there were no god, no afterlife..And when you die there is nothing, life is over with, you cease to exist? What would be the point of going through life, learning things, trying to be good to yourself/others/family, and then nothing happens?
2.There are too many coincidences in life, being in the right place at the right time, seemingly being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even when it doesn't seem like it, everything happens for a reason.

Answer 10

Have you ever wondered how our eyes work? Or how every system in our bodies work in harmony with one-another?

Pick a system, any system in the human body and imagine it NOT being there. For example, imagine the nervous system disappearing from your body. What are the consequences of no nervous system?

I know that what I described is obvious. What I am trying to say is that systems do not just happen, especially feedback systems.

I suppose that you may have heard the typical argument that complex systems cannot be created from nothing. Well, I spent a lot of time thinking about it and I cannot find a more satisfying explanation.