Why do you believe in God?

Question

This is a serious question. I'm an atheist. I've never been able to comprehend why people believe in God or any particular religion.

To me, all religions seem to be invented by man to serve two basic functions. To establish rules and morals, and to serve man's basic need to believe that death is not final.

How can you believe a bunch of stories, written thousands of years ago, interpretted and re-interpretted many times, with such unlikely things happening? Do you really believe that God spoke to Moses via a burning bush and that Moses parted the Red Sea? If there truly was a worldwide flood, where did all the extra water come from, and go to? Why was Christ declared divine only hundreds of years after his death? Seems to me if he truly was resurrected, that would have been pretty obvious from day one.

I've observed people are either raised religious or find religion during some personal crisis. No one finds it when everythings A-OK.

As far as life, the universe and the complexity of it all, the argument seems to be this - It's too complicated to have happened by chance, therefore the only other answer must be God created it.

I'm sorry, but that isn't really logical thinking. Because we can't currently explain how it would have naturally happened doesn't necessarily mean it's divine. There are plenty of mistakes. If man is God's ultimate creation, why are we filled with so many biological mistakes. I man come on, the knee and the back are poorly designed. A human engineer could design a far better system of support and mobility. But natural evolution would account for that, being it is just a step along the way as we evolve further.

Answer 1

The best is to look at my life before GOD found me and after GOD found me. Then You see why I believe.

k1

Answer 2

- The belief in God must not be confused with religion. Religion is just a divisive set of man made traditions.

- I believe in God because He is evident in everything we see & experience in life.

Birth - People often take for granted that pregnancy just happens & yields healthy babies, thousands of things have to be just right. The process alone is amazing.

Life - No animal on earth is capable of the things that humans are capable of. From outer space to the plants on the earth order is maintained. The earth is made perfect for supporting our lives. Accidents happen with no explaination of how peole survived. Doctors give certain people no chance of living, they pray ernestly and are healed. The list during life goes on & on.

Death - Doctors cannot explain medically death by "old age" a person being perfectly healthy vibrant one day but in their sleep they "mysteriously" die. Doctors give a best guess. The flesh of the bdy must be connected with the spirit. Bodies are show to be shells after death.

- The Bible has been correct over & over again. Moses did not part the Red Sea, God did. To me it is absurd to think that we as humans can rationalize & put limits on the Creator.

- I find it amusing that even when people who do not believe in God are going through horrible trials in there life, when they can do nothing at all to affect change in their situation the fist & loudest thing out of their mouths is "Oh God".

Answer 3

I can't answer your questions because I don't know how to answer them, but all I can say is Look at the solar system, the earth and its EXACT position in the solar system. If the earth were 2 more inches to either side, it would not be the way it is now. the temperature would be too hot, or too cold, and couldn't sustain life. all the planets are PERFECT spheres...nothing could create these things except for a higher being. look at human beings....our bodies are complex and everything has a reason for it working the way it does..it's perfect. it takes faith to believe in God. when you were a child, yhimou believed in Santa Clause right? why? because your parents told you. you believed in him because it was something your parents told you, even if you couldn't see him, you just...believed. it's as simple as that. read the bible...all the answer's you'll need are in there. God does exist. and I personally did not come to believe in God because of being raised religious, or finding religion in a crisis....I found it as a small child while listening to my mother answering my questions about God. she didn't throw it at me, and tell me this is how i should believe...she let me figure that out on my own, just as God does...she just told me about him, and how wonderful, and loving he is, and when i asked her, how do i let Jesus live in my heart...she said by asking him to come live in my heart. I believed it because my mother told me about God, just as she told me about Santa Clause. Just ask God to reveal himself to you, and have an open heart. "And Jesus said: Behold I knock at the door, and if any man opens, I will come in and sup with him." I may not have the exact quote, but the meaning is the same. God bless, and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Answer 4

If not religious per se, but I do believe in the divinity of creation. You see, religion was invented by man no question. But even if evolution is true, and we trace back everything to that one single infinitesimal particle that we all supposedly started from the question still remains: where did that particle come from. And even if we were created by a God, I wonder how God was created or started. There are just too many questions for a mortal brain.

Answer 5

I believe in God due to much soul searching and research on my part. Honestly, after reading the book "The Signature of God" by Grant Jeffery and discovering the scientific, historical, geographical and archeaological 100% accuracy of the bible I had no other choice. I then accepted Jesus into my life and am forever changed and can't ever go back. I wasn't raised religious and had no personal crisis happening at the time. I'd be happy to answer your other questions in another post as this is getting long. Peace :-)

Answer 6

good man! i hope this is a start to the negating of all religions for that matter. Atheism is the answer to all our troubles as long as people dont fight for who makes the decisions. Man makes mistakes but when a imaginary being is put in place higher than him then man believes whoever is closest to god is almost as great. I dont hate the pope but i truly hate the fact that millions come out to see him for no reason but to hear him say things we all already know and to quote the bible. Hes just another father to me. Its just stupid how far man goes to be close and have power next to god. There is no god so whoever follows the men and women that feel as though they are the leaders, are just as bad because they all believe they will be saved by this spirit which no one can see, hear, touch, smell, taste...lol. But really people common!

Answer 7

I love what someone put a while back when answering this question- it is harsh and very truthful- to the point- even though there are MANY reasons why I also believe there is a God- what this person said- is definately true!
He said:

"It is sensible to believe in God in order to avoid burning in hell"

-I know that may sound harsh, but tis true! Also God is in creation- so plainly- you can see His intelligent design in the things that were made and their purposes. God has revealed the truth to me through His word- For faith comes from hearing and by hearing the word of God- Romans 10:17

Answer 8

Religion is a tool to arrive at spirituality. Many people missuse it and instead arrive at deeply entrenched, rigid, monotonously repetitive ideas which have no connection with reality. However, some people use it to arrive at an expansion of their inner lives, to gain entry into a mystery, to experience something beyond the material world, a kind of overarching and transcendent Love if you will. I don't think you can throw out all religion just because a certain percentage of religious people are looking for easy answers.

Answer 9

you are correct... all religions are man-made...

but you might be making a wrong assumption on thinking that one needs to be part of a religious group in order to believe in God.

some people (you can probably include me) started to believe the BIble as part of an ongoing journey of faith... do not think of all these as a one shot thing, as a blind kind of faith so to speak.

the first step is for one to believe that there must be a God (an ID, a Creator, a Prime Mover or whatever you want to use)

then because you got that out of the way, you become compelled to seek out that (particular) God... which will take you to take the next step in your faith journey...

in terms of believing the Bible, one can start to read & then believe in the Gospels first... it being a reliable eye-witness account of historical events, not unlike other ancient manuscripts that led all of mankind to believe in people like Alexander the Great, the Ceasars or the Pharoahs.

then you go on & on... read & believe the Acts, then the letters of Paul... then the Old Testament (one step/verse/book at a time again)

all these just take time... most people just assume people that believe in the Bible & on God are a bunch of religious nuts, closed minded, brain washed, uneducated folks.

some are in fact scientists, some are philosophers, some are medical doctors, & what have yous... (some do not even belong to a particular sect or denomination)

Answer 10

We live on a planet teeming with life. Plant life with approximately 250,000 species. Animal life with over a million species. Scientist are learning just how complex life is. So complex that it requires design. The evidence of design requires a designer. Scientists are also learning the conditions for life, just how perfect conditions here on planet Earth are to support all this life.

To think, people believe this all happened by chance. Yes the odds are 1 in 1(with a billion trillion zeros behind it). Yes it is a belief by many that this all just happened by chance. That belief takes a greater faith than believing in a Creator. A virtual impossibility is an impossibility.

There is no other explanation for plant life.

There is no other explanation for animal life.

There is no other explanation for YOU, the entity that lives in a flesh body.

There is no other explanation for Earth, a planet that supports all this life.

There is no other explanation for the universe.

There is no other explanation except God and His Word.

There are only man's theories and conjecture.

Man a very fallible entity.

Answer 11

When I am A-OK, is when I need God the most! That is when I can self fufilled, in a comfort zone, and apethetic. I believe the truth that I find in the word, and I apply it to my life. There I have found sound family principals, a good work ethic, finacial advice, and ways to deal with sickness and stress.

I believe that Jesus was divine always, not just because "someone" decreed it so. But because God said so.

be blessed, vicki