I've really tried to believe in God, but I just think it's all lame...hey, maybe it's GOd's will

Question

I've sincerely tried reading the Bible--a good chunk of it. I've gone to church, and prayed. Sang worship songs at church etc. etc. I've prayed asking God to open my heart to Him. I still can't get myself to think past "The idea of God is so lame!!" I just can't. I think the idea of God is ridiculous. I would list reasons, but I'm lazy and don't feel like writing a book.

They say everything happens for a reason. If God exists, maybe he has me predestined for Hell...it's His plan! He made me an atheist. Right? I admire Ghandi. Maybe we can have a quick chat before we burn forever.

**I don't think the idea of a superior being is ridiculous. I should clarify. I'm talking about the Christian God. Sorry for the confusion.

I really went through a time when I really wanted to have God in my life. I was praying every night...it just never happened. I just can't believe.

Will people please read the question? I didn't search for God with the "God is lame" attitude. I discussed God with Christian friends, and read the Bible with intentions to "fall in love" with God etc., but eh...didn't happen

Answer 1

I know of a lot of well educated and intelligent people (including me) who believe in God, so I'm not sure what you mean by "lame". Most people who say that belief in God is lame are usually objecting to the self-discipline that religion requires. If that is the case, then any diet or exercise program (or getting a college degree) requires discipline too, so I fail to understand why that is such a problem for so many.

If you want some type of proof that God is real, the best proof that I can offer is that Jesus returned from the dead and appeared to over 500 witnesses (according to Paul) to show that he was alive again.

I don't know if this answers your question or not, but one of the main reasons that I believe in Christianity is that the people who knew Jesus were willing to be tortured to death rather than change their story that they saw Jesus return from the dead.

If the apostles were lying about seeing the resurrected Christ, then why didn't they take back their story when they were individually being tortured to death? Every one of the apostles (Except John, who died a natural death in exile on Patmos), were killed for their faith. Wouldn't a liar recant this story to save his own life?

What did the apostles have to gain by making it all up? What good does power, control or fame do for a dead person?

I accept the apostles' story because the witnesses were creditable.

If you have scientific objections, maybe the links below might help.

PS: Yes, I have heard the crack about suicide bombers, but the main difference between the modern bombers & the apostles are: (1) the bombers did not see Mommand personally, so they are not eye-witnesses to anything (Unlike Peter, & Paul, who claimed to see Jesus alive with their own eyes and then died rather than take it back); and, (2) the bombers are killing innocent people (others) for their faith, not suffering for it (I assume that blowing yourself up is quick & painless compared with being crucified.).

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"I discussed God with Christian friends, and read the Bible with intentions to "fall in love" with God etc., but eh...didn't happen"

Have you ever tried to make yourself fall in love with someone? Didn't work, I assume. You cannot conjure up a feeling. Faith is an act of the will; it does not depend on a feeling. Check out the testimony of C.S. Lewis on his conversion from atheism to Christianity:
............
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Influenced by arguments with his Oxford colleague and Roman Catholic friend J. R. R. Tolkien, and by G.K. Chesterton's book, The Everlasting Man, he slowly rediscovered Christianity. In 1929, he came to believe in the existence of God although he fought greatly against it. He describes his last struggle in Surprised by Joy:

"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

In 1931, after a lengthy discussion with Tolkien and another close friend, Hugo Dyson, he reconverted to Christianity and (to the regret of Tolkien) joined the Church of England. He noted, "I came into Christianity kicking and screaming."

Answer 2

The idea of God is so lame because 99% of all people do not do what the Creator, Yahweh said to do. Every law said that it was forever and that it was for the jew as well as everyone else. Yahweh also said that if we do not keep the law that we would suffer curses, Dueteronomy 28.
AIDS, Gonereah, Syphilis, Father-Motherless children, WAR.....
I could go on. Read just the curses of that chapter and see if you can find anything in their that is not in the world today.
The Holy Bible says itself that they have over 1 million mistakes in it. It is also written in a language that thy hath a hardest time understanding.
Go to Yahweh.com they have the best translation ever written as reported by many true scholars.

Don't worry either. If you don't belive and if this doesn't pull on you then you're not called and you will have your oppurtunity later.

By the way I have some great intell that says Sep. 12, 2006 or before there will be a nuclear war start. Start not like the world will end and all of mankind is gone.

Answer 3

Well, if you are a potter and you choose to make a pot just to break it then that's fine. However, God does not want for anyone to perish. So I can't say that I believe that it is "God's will." HE loves you and cares so much for you that even if Jesus could die to only save you then He would have. You are allowing yourself to be hindered. Just because you don't like it the first time doesn't mean you should stop. Keep reading your Bible. Keep going to church. You need to accept Christ and become a Christian.

You have argued against your own point. How can you say that God wants you to be an athiest if you believe in God. Even to believe that He is "so lame" you have to admit that there is a God.

Answer 4

Look God will is not for us to go to hell, the reason you don't believe is because your the type of person that got to see to believe. In the bible there is a scripture that says whom so ever believe in me shall have everlasting life and those that don't believe shall be damned. We are living in the end times the bible says there will be wars and rumor of wars. I'm not downing what you believe but did Gandhi die on the cross for your sin that you shall have everlasting life. Don't let the devil blind you cause if he can stray you away from the truth. I don't what church you went to but if you was to try a Pentecostal Church you find the answer to your problems. I'm Pentecostal and i was scared when i first got in there but enough about me. I don't know you but i read that you like to sing hymns and i know that you have a beautiful voice and that is why the devil is tell you to go another way and that way you can't glorified the Lord with your voice so you go to Church a Pentecostal and you tell me that you don't feel something. You read Act 2:38 in the King James Version and email me back and tell me at [e-mail] May God Bless you and if you would like me to i will pray for you just let me know and please don't get mad at me I'm just concern about your soul.

Answer 5

I understand what you mean....I had the same prob, but when I was 13 I, Like you said really trully wanted to no God so I got down on my knees and asked God to come into my hart and ever sence then I just walk around TALKING not praying but talking to God I do pray as well but I made a friend ship with the Lord, I go to him with all my probs and I just talk to him like im talking to you, You get all my info and yet I get no reply, but God answers me in so many ways I just have to listen, one of the ways he answers us is through thought, did you ever ask God some thing simple, and a little wile after you get an idea that is perfect to the Q you asked DOD? well that was not you that came up with that, that was God ansering your prair....Im 18 now and my love for God is so much more then I can tell.....keep asking God will give it ti you when your ready

Answer 6

What a great attitude! I think the arrogance of the sanctimonious set will definitely keep all of them out of heaven, if there is such a place.

I believe in God, but I think after creating life in this area, God went off to another area of the universe, say about 10 billion years or so ago. Whenever God gets back to checking up on us (maybe 10 billion years more?) we will have either figured out how to make it--or not.

But religion has nothing to do with it. My God-story may or may not be accurate, but I KNOW religion isn't in it.

Answer 7

You can only believe what you are able to believe, Sandy. Good job with identifying what you can't believe. Now finish the job in a positive way: What can you believe? I think that most people's concept of God is really just a kind of shorthand for a whole list of other things that they believe and "God" is the code-word for that set of beliefs. Right now, you are stating that the idea of God that you've been shown doesn't really match your idea of what is sacred, so you can't do the wholesale buy-in to someone else's set of beliefs. That's fine, but it means that you will have to take the longer and more detailed approach to defining what is sacred to you. Come to think of it, most people who say that they believe in God could benefit from the same approach, as in, okay you believe, now what does that mean?

Answer 8

There is one think you need to do. Trust in what the Lord Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. He died for your sins, He was buried and He rose again the third day for your justification. If you would really do this the Holy Spirit would seal you unto the day of redemption and you would be the temple of God. Then you could read your Bible and understand it. Ephesians 4: 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 1 Corinthians 3: 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Answer 9

Look - the reason God isn't working in your life is not because he doesn't want to, but because you won't let him. If you think it is lame then you don't open your mind or heart to possibilities. You go into church with that attitude so you come out the same. If you truly want to believe and understand then you need to open your mind and go in with the thought that you are going to listen, make sense and open your heart up to the possibilities that await you.
God is anything but Lame - He has done so many wonderful things in my life and others that he could not possibly be lame.
If you want examples, or you want to ask questions or need someone to explain things to you - I will be more than happy to do so. Even if you want to discuss why you think it is so lame - contact me and I will be more than happy to discuss it with you. Without judging.

Answer 10

Sandy, don't sweat it. If you cannot believe in Him, don't you think He understands that? He is a loving God and will give all of those who do not believe an opportunity to learn all of the Good News about His Kingdom. You and all the other skeptics and atheists are in His grace.

He would never send you to Hell, because there is no Hell. Just like man will not be raised from the dead to live in Heaven. But, hang in there, faith has a way of claiming even those who do not want to believe and if it never does - that's fine too.