To christians: would you still believe in god, if christianity didnt exist?

Question

If you didnt learn about the christian god through priests, pastors, or ministers preaching about it, or from your parents (since they wouldnt have learned about it either), would you still believe in god?

Imagine no religion. How would people know there is a god? The same way cave men did, with storms and other natural events? Did cave men know of a god in the first place, or did religion start later, when people were more civilized? Did a "magic-user/healer" of a tribe one day decide that, in order to better control his people, he should create a "god"?

Nope, I didnt forget. I choose to keep god all in lowercase, for 2 reasons. One, as a rebellion against people who think I should capitalize god, and two, because I dont think god actually cares.

To Josh: Can you prove the universe had a beginning?

As for the Big Bang theory, many people have said they have disproven that.

Many other people believe that the universe expands and retracts indefinately.

Im not against religions, but merely asked whether a certain one had never existed.

Answer 1

You forgot to capitalize God.

Wow you are a true rebel! Nothing like the rush of not capitalizing the word God!

Answer 2

I think I would reason that there must be a God or creator. The first reason is because there appears to be order and design present in the universe.

If I were walking through the forrest and suddenly came upon Mt. Rushmore, my reaction would not be, "Wow, that's really neat how those rocks fortuitously fell together to look like men's faces." No. I could tell by examing this mountain that it clearly was designed to look like this. Likewise, the universe shows both order and design. If there is design, there must be a designer.

Secondly, humanity could reason that there must be a God on the basis of universal morality. If one agrees that under any circumstance molesting a child is wrong, then he believes at least on some level that there is absolute right and absolute wrong. Once one believes in absolutes, the only logical progression is theism. If there is absolute right and wrong for all humanity, something had to establish these.

On these 2 bases, I do feel that I would still believe that a creator/designer existed, even if I knew nothing of Christian thought.

Answer 3

From a scientific point of few it's hard not too. Logical atheism died the day the red shift was discovered and the universe was proved to be expanding. It made the universe finite and we're able to track it back to a singularity. What will blow your mind is that if you understand that then you understand that the universe must have a beginning!

After that its a matter of following this simple logical proof.

Everything with a beginning has a cause.
The universe had a beginning
Therefore the universe had a cause.
Furthermore that cause had to be outside the boundaries of the universe.

That's the most solid argument I've ever heard for the existence of a creator.

Answer 4

that's kind of a moot question, since people did learn about Christianity through other people. and that's part of the point. in the bible, it talks about how everyone is without excuse. God has made his case to the world and His words were spread however He decided they would be. That's the reason for Christian outreach at all. it's not that we want to push our religion on everyone else, it's individual choice, but because we believe we have an obligation to give everyone that choice. another thing, i believe i'm detecting some sarcasm when you talk of "'magic-users/healers' of a tribe deciding to control his people better one day" so "he should create a 'god'" are you against ALL organized religion? (buddhism, scientology, wicca and other glam/popular beliefs of the moment)

Answer 5

I probably would not. Christianity to me is liberating in that I don't have to do anything obtain salvation. Other religions that offer some form of salvation make extraordinary demands on its followers in order to obtain salvation. The appeal of Christianity is that God took care of the demands for me in Jesus, so it's not a checks and balances system were I have to do these things and not do these other things in order to have salvation. I don't have to worry about that.

If I was under the fear of judgment or being "good enough" to get into heaven, I'd give up and adopt hedonism, which is much more appealing than the dull drum of following rules. I could eat drink and be merry because I would have no regard for life or consequences.

If there was no religion and no God, then the world would be in chaos. It is unlikely that men would have any sense of morality. Civilization could not exist because people would kill each other like animals do. (Some people already do this anyways) So it seems to me that God is a prerequisite for civilization to exist.

If the former is true, then either civilization come into existence after cavemen made up God, or God made men, and told them about himself. God to the caveman would have to be the greatest imaginable being. If cavemen made God up, then it is possible that God could exist in reality. Suppose God exists only in the mind of the caveman and not in reality. If this is true, then it possible for something greater than God to exist in reality. This cannot be possible, because God is the greatest thing imaginable, so God must exist in reality in order for God to exist in the mind of the cave man.

Furthermore, naturalistic causes aren't sufficient to explain how the cavemen came into being. Evolutionary processes taken to their extreme would suggest that men came from a single celled organism that came from an organic soup billions of years ago. If one takes this even further then the molecules and atoms had to originate somewhere. Some scientists speculate that all matter and energy originated at the Big Bang. If this is indeed how the universe came into existence, then the Big Bang needed a causer. Matter doesn't just appear because the first law of thermodynamics doesn't allow for this. So there has to be something or somebody to create the matter.

If this isn't enough, naturalistic causes don't explain things like the ability to reason, appreciation for beauty, the origin and sense of morality, emotions such as love and hate, and the concept of God. If these things originated through naturalistic means, then perception, reason, and awareness are nothing more than chemical reactions in the brain. If all these things are chemical reactions and natural processes, then murder is nothing more than a chemical process. I could walk up to a person, and shoot them with a gun, and cop out saying, "It's okay! It's just a chemical reaction and natural process." This is absurd, so these things have to more intrinsic value than nature alone affords them, so this value would have to come from something outside of nature, namely God. It is then necessary for God to exist in order for cavemen to come up with a concept such as God.

So rather than reducing God to a conspiracy theory, (which is a fallacy by the way), try and reason why God does not exist. That would give more credence to the arguments.

Answer 6

I think I would still believe in some form of God and know just by looking at the world around me that someone or something created everything. The Bible says that the whole world cries out "there is a god".

Answer 7

I am labeled as a Christian, but I do not practice any religion. God saved my life. I was going to commit suicide, but he stopped me at the last second. In all human laws, I should be dead. Jesus showed me He was real. I now have a relationship with him, like any other friend. God is always with me. The Holy Spirit guides me in my everyday life.
The answer to your question is yes. There was no Pastor, or Priest there. I can pray and talk to God anytime I want to.
I practice no religion, and yet there is still a God named Jesus Christ looking after me.

Answer 8

I believe God has made himself known through creation. Just think about how your body functions. The way your brain can make your hand do what you want without much effort. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20) We are fearfully created.

But I don't think believing in God has to do with head knowledge, but instead it's a matter of the heart, which cries out for love and freedom from pain, and for someone to understand it's intricacies. Can you separate the artist's heart from what he has created? I believe God understands our hearts very well. I believe he wants us to know him, that he makes it clear daily, and he will make himself known even if there wasn't "religion."

Answer 9

I think that all religions have a start with some form of a God--even God tells not to have any other gods before Him, so He is aware of the competition!!

Answer 10

There will always be people who search for a higher being. They will not be all the same. If the the bible was never composited there would still be belief in God as there always has been. The stories would be different that's all, so would his character.