I suspect this question will be seen as an attack on religion but it isn't.?

Question

It suddenly occured to me just now in answering someone else's question. How do we know that God exists when there is just as much 'proof' for the existance of the Greek and Norse Gods.

Surely anyone who says "This proves God exits" could just as easily say "Odin did this" or "Jupiter did this". How does one know that what you worship is what is doing the miracles?

I'm sorry iheartflounder101 but there are stories about Odin and Jupiter which have equally survived to the present day. Why should I believe one ancient text more than another?

Again I don't mean to provoke.

Simmer, science has disproved religion several times over? Has it? If that's the case then I'd think that religion would hav vanished. The trouble is surely that you can't disprove or prove religion. That's the whole point. It's about belief.

mehot - I agree the bible is a great way to live, at least the bits about getting on with each other and not judging people, but that's not quite my point.

Daniel A - There are tales of Egyptian gods returning people to life. In Greek mythology some people were given eternal life. And of course you haven't heard of anyone other than Jesus returning people to life, you don't live in an age when Zeus is given any credit. Come to that when in your lifetime have you heard of someone being cured of an incurable disease or being raised from the dead? It's all only a story of long ago. Why believe one story over another? And you ask for a 'documented' case of a miracle? Show me one which isn't in the bible.

za-za babi - Glad you've got faith. The Norse Gods were the ones whorshipped by the Vikings, Odin, Loki, Baldur, etc.

All I'm saying is how do you know it's God helping you out and not someone else?

Wally -" I am not concerned with what you believe or think.If you want to believe a certain way that is your concern.The way I believe is my concern."

Then why bother answering my question? I appreciate your view, but it's a bit unhelpful to the thrust of my question.

Answer 1

I don't believe that anyone who advances a "proof for the existence of God" actually means that the given proof proves a particular God. I know for certain that all those advanced by St. Thomas Aquinas, for instance, did not proof the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - but only that some creating entity must exist.

It is certainly interesting that we talk about "our God" or "their God" when the truth if God is real is certainly the reverse. By the way, kudos for being so kind to people who were proud enough to be offended at your question on God's behalf. :-)

Xan Shui,
Philosophic Philanthropist, Honest Man

Answer 2

That's why it's called having faith in a religion. There are no hard facts but if anyone on this world believes that they are loved by any God who looks out for them and makes their life more fulfilled then who are we to argue. Unfortunately through a process of murder and brutalisation a certain religious belief has came to the fore, meaning many other have became rather underground and occultish, such as Norse, Greek, Wiccan etc. all of which still exist in some form today.

Personally I think to believe that we are the highest form of life ever to have existed is a bit arrogant, but at the same time we have no proof other wise, with science having many theories about the big bang and evolution.

Yet with all these facts I still believe that there is something, not a God per se, that can influence us in some way.

I'd recommend you watch the dvd of "What the bleep do we know" which deals with metaphysical alteration of various things. It's trying to answer the whole science vs faith (not religion) question.

Answer 3

Good question. As is often the case, the answer is the simplest one: we don't know that a particular god or gods exist at all. In the entire history of mankind, there has never been a sound argument for god's existence, never been a scientifically validated "miracle", nor even a finding that souls or spirits exist.

And please don't say that the bible is a good book to live by. There is some helpful moral philosophy in places, but one has to ignore the vast majority of the book, which is filled with unspeakable cruelty and intolerance. There was a murder in just the second generation. God himself kills innocent babies during the passover, and kills all living things except those in the ark. There's the crucifixion, which god allows. It's mostly horrible in terms of influence on morality. And because so much of it is self-contradictory, or vague, different people have felt free to interpret it however they want, which has curiously almost always been for their own benefit.

Answer 4

It's impossible to know for sure.

The only way for such people to tell others why they are of a certain religion while being hostile to others is just from pure trust and faith. If someone has been told their entire life that one god does everything, then they will blindly follow that belief and say that that god is the causer of the miracles found upon the earth. In contrast, if someone who was taught to look at all material evidence before coming to a conclusion throughout their life was given the same miracle, it is more likely that they will turn to science than a religious belief.

So, it just depends on what you were taught and what you believe in. I don't think it necessarily has to do with what is logical, or what has evidence at all. (Unless, of course, someone isn't a theist. Then they probably bring at least some material evidence into the equation before deciding.)

Answer 5

That's fairly simple. First of all, Odin, Zeus, etc. don't even claim to be able to do the things that the God of the Bible does. Jehovah is the only God who claims to be all-powerful and infinite. Moreover, all the miracles that I have ever seen or heard tell of were performed in the name of Jesus Christ. I'd say it's more than a coincidence that most if not all of the documented miracles that have taken place in recorded history were performed by Christians in the name of Christ. I don't see Muslims or Buddhists being raised from the dead or having incurable diseases disappearing. If you're interested in miracles and some historical instances of well documented miracles, you should research a man named William Branham.

I'd also be curious to see how science has disproved the Bible. Every time I turn around I hear new scientific facts that make the existence of God more certain. Consider all of the times the historical content of the Bible has been questioned and then subsequently confirmed later by archaeology (i.e. the Hittites).

And how exactly did the universe come into being if it wasn't created by God, unless you want to be really scientific and say that matter created itself... The only way that we exists is if a God who exists outside the confines of time and space created us. It's a no-brainer to me.

I'm not even going to touch evolution.

I told you to research William Branham. He performed countless miracles in the name of Christ, many of which are documented by countless witnesses, and testimonies from M.D.s. I know that at least two people were raised from the dead through his ministry and in both cases a death certificate had been issued, which is a pretty good indication that they were dead. Maybe that's just me.

Why do I believe in the Bible as opposed to any other sacred text or mythology? The Bible is the only book I've found that contains a perfect explanation for everything in the world, is supported by archaeological and contemporary historical evidence, contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies (i.e. the forming of the State of Israel after 2000 years of dispersion), and that literally millions of people have given their lives for, both for the book itself and for what is contained in it's pages; 68,000,000 protestants alone were burned by the Catholic Church during the dark ages, to say nothing of the early Christian martyrs in the Roman Empire and modern-day martyrs in anti-Christian countries.

Here are a few interesting questions:

Why does everyone seem to hate the Jews who have done nothing to deserve it? Why are the Arabs always causing trouble in the world? How has the tiny nation of Israel survived three major wars, hopelessly outnumbered in every case, and even managed to take land? In the 6-day War the Israelis lost around 700 soldiers, while the surrounding Arab countries suffered at least 30 times that number. How has the Bible survived hundreds of years of being banned and burned at every turn? For that matter, why has it been the most suppressed book in history? Why is the Bible the bestselling book of all time? Why does man have a spiritual need in the first place? It can't be accounted for by evolution.

Well, the answers are these: The Bible warns that the Jews will be hated; The Bible says regarding Ishmael (the patriarch of the Arab nation) that "His hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him."; The Bible says that God will fight Israel's battles; God preserved his word, and countless men were murdered for translating, printing, and reading it; The Bible says there is an adversary who hates God and His word; he has tried everything possible to destroy it; No other book so adequately meets the spiritual needs of mankind; And man has a spiritual need because he didn't randomly evolve, he was created, along with a desire for God.

Find me another sacred text or mythology that has all this supporting evidence and I'll CONSIDER it.

Answer 6

I can tell you this with certainty, and if you are willing and able to understand the answer, then you will be a happy, fulfilled person. But, if you cannot comprehend due to a foolish need to argue against common sense, then no knowledge in the world will be of use to you in the pursuit of an answer, for every reply will be in vain.

Jesus Christ is the son of God. No other religion in the entire world professes unconditional love. And Christ died on the cross for our sins as human beings. God is the father of Christ. We know this to be truth because of the numerous miracles he has done and continues to do in the lives of countless men throughout history. He has changed the hearts of cold-blooded serial killers into lovers of peace. Jesus is the living proof, the proof that lives within the heart of man, that God indeed is alive.

God Bless, and walk with the Lord.

Answer 7

Good point! Yes mythology has survived to present day as well...

The bottom line I guess is that you believe what you believe. I don't fault anyone for believing or not believing in God or gods or worshipping cats or trees or whatever works for you! As long as you are kind to others. As long as you practice peace & love & don't destroy your fellow man & other creatures & the planet, then fill your boots! Be happy. Live a good life. Enjoy what life has to offer. If you are a good person you will go to Heaven whether you believe it or not. You can stand at the pearly gates & say "I don't believe it!"

You either have faith or you don't. I have it. There have been times in my life that I've felt very close to God. I've felt His presence. It's usually when I've been close to nature. It's a beautiful world. If you don't like the name God, use Allah, Buddha, Zeus, Jupiter. Does it matter? The point is that some all-powerful benevolent being created everything. Every religion shares this basic tenet. They can't all be wrong. Each culture has its own beliefs & explanations for things. It's the same story with minor modifications. What does it matter who is right or wrong? Some religious fanatics will claim that their path is the only one & that everyone else is damned. I think this is hogwash! Jesus accepted everyone. He's pretty easygoing. He loves us at our worst. He died to save us from sin. He's not going to reject someone who's a good person just because they weren't raised a Christian.

Whether you attack religion or not, you are entitled to your opinion & free to speak your mind!

:)

Answer 8

There is a great difference between the "pagan gods" and the "One True God" that is not fully understood by science, nor religion. The true fact is that the pagan gods of mythology and pagan religion (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) are merely personifications of the Sirian Trichotomy (Sirius B, Sirius A and our Sun which is Sirius C) forming the "Sacred Triad" of paganism being the Great Father Begetter God (Sirius B), the Great Mother Goddess of the Gods (Sirius A), and the Great Child/Hero God (Sirius C, the Sun). Hence, the "Great Mystery of the Ages" is that the Sirius Binary star system and our Solar System were formerly unified into a singular "Osirian Trinary Stellar System" composed of 3 stars and eleven planets for a total of 14 celestial members. The trinary split in half when our original paternal star, Sirius B (our Sun did not create one object in our Solar System; it was the last object to be created in the system; and the Earth pre-dates the Sun by several million years), underwent a Nebula Discontinuity after depleting its helium in its Red Giant phase. This cosmo-cataclysmic event created the celestial dynamics that split the system in half and formed the “Local Compression Bubble” in our sector of the Milky Way Galaxy. The great “exploits of the gods” are merely the stellar interactions between the Sirian Trichotomy; these events were recorded into the worldwide “mythocorpus” (body of myth) by eye witnesses. Consequently, the Sirius Binary is actually the other half of our Solar System. The two systems, electromagnetically interlocked, always return back to the path around the galactic center that they were originally blown apart from every 12,000 and traverse directly through each other; this is an extinction level event (the Sirian-Solar Reconvergence) that wipes away every global technoculture that rises to its zenith. This next extinction event will occur when the Constellation Orion reaches its 12,000-year apex in the sky, in about 15 to 20 years.

In addition the Biblical “six days of creation” are merely six great epochs spanning about 24 million years (not 5 billion years as erroneous Evolutionists would have you believe) to the chronological history of our Solar System (the Hexaheliogenic Epochs) plotting the course of the stellar-metamorphosis of Sirius B (“let there be light”, the Hebrew word “Or”) from a Blue Supergiant 5 times the mass of the Sun; to its 70% mass reduction (“before” its 9-millionth year in age) due to the Comet Metis Impact shrinking it into an F-1 class star about 1.5 times the mass of our Sun; to its hyperdialation 100 times its mass into a Red Giant (which sent out a sudden radiation burst that laid down the Carboniferous Layer in the Geological Column); and to its Nebula Discontinuity (shrinking it into a White Dwarf, its current state). This stellar-metamorphosis was adopted by pagan man as “reincarnation” of the stellar deity, and emulated by pagans, but as an actual phenomenon it does not exist for humans.

Thus, Sirius B was personified as Osiris, Odin, Orcus, Orion, Orpheus, Ouranos, Uranus, Cronos, Ra, P’tah, Apsu, Balder, Attis, Adonis, Apollo, Thor, Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Indra, Baal, Tammuz, etc.

Thus, Sirius A was personified as Isis, Rhea, Hera, Aphrodite, Venus, Athena, Minerva, Tiamat, Semeramis, Astarte (meaning “star”), Ashtoreth, Ishtar, Cybele, Kali, Persephone, Medusa, etc.

Thus, Sirius C (our Sun) was personified as Horus, Zeus, Marduk, Merodach, Mummu, Perseus, Hercules, Heracles, Buddha, etc.

The pagan gods are merely personification of stars. Why worship a star, a created object, when one can worship the Creator Who created the stars? Christ (the Son of God) came to point the way to the Father (the One True God), and to liberate Humankind from this deception, to set the captives free.

Also, all this plainly means that the linear concept of the Evolution'Uniformitarian Model is totally inaccurate and severe misinterpretation of the data. It is "misconjecture".

Answer 9

Odin or Jupiter is not living thing nor spiritual being, God is, that's why he can do the miracles not the Jupiter. What ever is happening, it could be from God or devil or something you may created. check out www.intouch.org or www.sacornerstone.com Hopefully, you can find what you're looking for while you drive through those two web-traffic. And don't worry your question is not attack on religion AT ALL,it mean something else when they say its attack.

Answer 10

It's okay to challenge beliefs, especially when they are the predominant beliefs in your society. More so when it's looked upon as heresy if you choose to think differently. Your point is valid. All religions rely on ancient texts, or passed along stories on which they base their beliefs. They have no proof, and therefore can not give you realistic answers. Keep thinking for yourself.