Why believe in god without evidence?

Question

It is true that the theory of the existence of god is possible as it can neither be proved or disproved. But at the same time there is no evidence to support it, which makes it highly unlikely.

In fact anyone could come up with an idea that is impossible to disprove but lacked evidence.

Here’s an example:

The universe was created by an evil demon purely for his own sadistic pleasure, and the more good people do in this world the more he makes them suffer in the next. The demon wrote the bible to trick people into doing good deeds in order to make them suffer more.

Now that idea is just as likely to be true as Christianity all though I doubt many people would want to believe it. Of cause you could come up with billions of different explanations for existence if you didn’t have to worry about evidence. This means the odds of Christianity being right are billions to one.

My belief system works like this..

You can never say anything is 100% fact, you can only assume something is true based on the evidence. So the more evidence there is to support a theory the more likely it is to be true. Take evolution for example. There are vast amounts of evidence that support it, far more than any of the other theories of how we got here. Now if someone came up with a new theory with better evidence, I would happily change my view as I always believe in the most probable explanation. This is where science differs from religion. A scientist is always ready to change their mind if a better answer can be found. Whereas a religious person will never change their mind even if their ideas are found to be completely ridicules, they call this faith.

Believing in something just because you are stubborn... isn’t that the same as being stupid? I mean I could jump of a cliff and have faith that I wasn’t going to get hurt!

Answer 1

FAITH !

Answer 2

Faith! Well, I have a friend who seriously believes that there are fairies at the bottom of his garden and he talks to them every day (he's a university degree holding professional in his 50s). He believes it. Does that make it true?

Then views like williamzos:

# 1 Jesus is a Historical figure
No problem there. He was a convicted heretic, blasphemer and revolutionary. Plenty of Roman and Jewish evidence there.
# 2 Jesus did things that no man could do
Where are the independant witnesses? All that was written about him was written more than 50 years after his death - so no survivors there. So no real evidence for that one.
# 3 Resurrection is a fact
According to WHO? Again, nobody but biased and/or gullible witnesses trying to encourage folowers to help protect them against the, by now, understandibly irate Roman governor.
# 4 Jesus spoke about God as a loving literal being
He spoke about A god. Which one? He never said. besides, that he said it still does not make it true. He may have been decieved or just gullible. We don't know.

So, sdrawkads question is very meaningful. You BELIEVE, you don't KNOW.

As for those who suggest that the evidence is the bible - how come? JC never fulfilled the main prophecies from the Old Testament. His, somewhat sycophantic, followers made much of that up by adapting the prophecies to suit their messiah figure.

Then we get the creationists and those who claim that the evidenve is simply that you exist. They generally don't understand the meaning of the word evidence. That you exist is evidence only that you MAY exist. Nothing more. The mistake is to anthropomorphise. We design and create things, therefore everything MUST be designed and created by an intelligent being. If it's too complex for us to design and manufacture, then a superior being must have done it. They forget probability (which they (probably) don't understand either - if they did, lotteries and raffles would never sell another ticket). Something can be infinitely improbable but that does NOT mean it can't happen. Conversely, something may be extremely probable and yet not happen. In neither case is a super-being needed.

Answer 3

If there was proof of something then it wouldn't be belief. You can't not believe in computers, as they pretty obviously exist!

So to answer the question "Why believe in God without evidence?" is because youcan't believe in him if there is evidence!

To tackle your point about the possibly infinite number of possible explanations we have to think about religious experiences. Many of the founders of religion think they meet/talk to God (or equivalent). This is how the religion starts. The reason no-one believes in your demon idea is that no-one has ever had it 'revealed' to them. The theory most people go on is that one religion was actually inspired by the actual God, and the others inspired by Satan to detract from the real God. So basically you need to try and pick the genuine one rather than the fakes! If there is a God then I think that he must be behind one of the major world religions: he would do something rather than let 99.999% of the world perish in the afterlife.

Answer 4

You answered your own question.

The existence of God can never be proved or disproved. We can never know the truth about that and a lot of other things. So, to wrangle with this question is an exercise in futility. The odds against us knowing the exact truth about God or not-God and what he/she/it/is are infinite.

Still people have sets of beliefs, based on what they are taught or what they experience. I believe God exists (though not the Christian conception), though I realize that it is merely a belief - for which I can never have any proof. Sometimes, belief is more important than "reality" or "truth", because, once again these concepts cannot be proved. Part of the problem is the Western dualism that permeates all our thought - good and bad, on and off, observed and observed. dreaming and waking, etc.
I think it's more important for us to examine the moral lessons offered to us by religion - both Eastern and Western. Intuitively, I know there are important lessons there to be learned by all. When you see evil people trying to control others, by using religion, then it makes you want to strike out at that religion.

Answer 5

If you take a moment and look around there is evidence all around you. The Bible is being proved all the time - by expert scientists who don't believe.
An evil demon would not have compassion to make good people as you say. Evil breeds evil. God does exist. You can't prove that he doesn't. He exists when you experience the birth of a new baby. He exists when someone is on their deathbed and come back fully recovered. He exists even when we mere humans don't get our way because he has something bigger planned in the big picture of life.

Answer 6

It is ALL about Faith....
When you believe in God, and form a relationship with him....things and changes in your life become evident. You feel it inside, and in your heart. It may sound like a cheesy , full of you know what idea....but im telling you IT IS TRUE! I am a reasonable person, with a good head on my shoulders, I am constantly thinking (which is one of my faults), and I can be a big skeptic of things.....but when it comes to God and the Bible I am certain it is true! I had similar questions when first starting my relationship with God...why? how? where? I talked to some people and had my questions answered which calmed my skepticism, I formed my relationship with God, and I have total faith in him.
Many people witnessed the miracles of Jesus during his time on earth, just because it was a REALLY long time ago, doesn't mean it is not true....tthink of how many people,still today, can be skeptics for life, then all of a sudden they are born again christians.... do you think they just woke up one morning and said..."hmmmm..ok I'll go to church today". I doubt it, I believe started learning about God from people or books, and started their relationship with God, and felt something inside.
If this is a sincere question you want answered......go to a church where you feel comfortable, and ask to talk to someone to explain it to you...I know of a church in my area (kind of a new age church...young ministry) but they have small group meetings each week for skeptical people ....there is NO PRESSURE to join the church, just a chance for you to get your questions answered and see what it is all about.
I don't know when the last time you went to church was(or if you have ever gone before), but some churches have really changed a lot since I have grown up, and the sermons make more sense, they are very interesting, and can be really life changing.

I am not trying to tell you what to do, or what to believe, but if you have not been to church lately or been exposed to different types of christian churches, then maybe try it sometime. Even though you probably don't want to hear this right now:
God loves you, and he wants a relationship with you. He's waiting on you....

Answer 7

The whole point is to believe in God WITHOUT any evidence, it's called FAITH. However, Karl Popper would have said that if a theory is unfalsifiable then it's RUBBISH (or something along those lines):

"Falsifiable does not mean false. For a proposition to be falsifiable, it must be possible, at least in principle, to make an observation that would show the proposition to fall short of being a tautology, even if that observation is not actually made. The logical precondition of being able to observe something of a given description is that something of that description exists"

Answer 8

While your analysis is exactly right, you left out one very important fact which is used in determining whether a particular mythology (religion) is 'true' or not... the 'Warm Fuzzy Feeling' factor.

While your idea that "... the universe was created by an evil demon purely for his own sadistic pleasure" can be justified as easily as, say, Christianity... and it is certainly a lot more plausible than the christ cult, given the state of humanity, past and present... it just doesn't give us that 'warm, fuzzy feeling'. Instead, we get a 'cold, prickly feeling' which, to the irrational (religious) mind, automatically makes something 'untrue'.

Answer 9

First of all, the meaning of faith is essentially the belief in something without concrete evidence, although you can still have faith even if there is evidence. You asked about believing in god and then went in to organized religion, and the two are not the same thing.

There IS proof of a god, or a higher power, or a creator, whatever you want to call it. To deny the existance of your creator is to deny your own existance, which is insane. I assume you are not insane, and I assume you acknowledge that you exist. If you acknowledge that you exist, you must by default acknowledge that whatever created you also exists. Extrapolate that backwards and you will soon realize there has to be a creator (god).

There is NO proof, however, that any one organized religion is the correct religion to follow, as they are all man-made ideas, and the bible itself was written by man. So, religion requires faith, but acknowledging a creator exists does not.

Answer 10

There is an amazing book that asks this same question, it is fiction and tries to prove the existence of god to a man who is total atheist. The proof lies with whether a feral child found in the forest, who has no concept of anything human, can come to learn on her own what 'god' is.
I'm not religious at all, but this book really made me think - it is amazingly written and very insightful, even apart from the religious concepts it's a great read - by Jill Patton Walsh (I think) and called "Knowledge of Angels"

Answer 11

Why believe that you have a soul without evidence?
Can you see your soul? NO
Can you touch your soul? NO
But you know that there is a soul in you . right?
Once you die your soul is no longer there. Although you didn't see this soul leaving the dead body. Why do you believe that there is no soul in the dead body?
It is faith.
It is not necessary to see everything to believe. Evidence for God's existence cannot be listed here. I will give you one example , that is yourself.
Do you have the control of your heart beat?
Do you have the control of your breath.
Are you the one who is controlling the all the metabolism system taking place in you body even while you are sleeping.
Will you be able to tell the food to go this way and not to go that way? What if it went to your lungs or heart instead of the intestine?
Your own body has countless miracles. Just sit for a while and think and you will know that there should be somebody managing & controlling this complicated process. It is not you anyway.