Is it possible to believe in God just for the sake of believing?

Question

John Locke said something like 'Best to believe in God because if God exists you go to heaven and if he doesn't exist you havent lost anything'

Answer 1

I'm a follower of Hugh Heffner

Answer 2

I chuckle when I hear people talk about God being selective or judgemental or knowing who is good or bad, who deserves heaven or who doesn´t, God will banish you, God will punish you.
ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!
I´m amazed at how we assign human emotions to God, who is an all loving being.
You can not be Unconditional Love, and at the same time be judgemental, selective or punishing!
We are all a part of God, you can trust your own inner-thoughts, your sub-conscious, you can talk with God.
We can never be apart from God and never will be.
So, no, no such thing as hell. That was invented by the church.
We are all going to what we have called heaven it´s just that some humans don´t want to think of all people as being worthy.
And therein lies a big problem with our world.
Enough of dissecting word for word books that were written thousands of years ago. Do you think that´s the only time God tried to communicate with us?
He is trying all the time if you will just listen - that is listen to the love in your heart.

Answer 3

It doesn't really help because the faith that saves and brings you into communion with God is a gift from Him, Ephesians 2 especially verse 8. It is not from yourself.

Consider too, 1 Corinthians 15/19, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Answer 4

Yes. Believing and having faith are important parts of our lives, just as having popcorn with a movie -- inseparable, right? Okay, unless you have a popcorn allergy. Sorry about that for you.

Look at the converse proposal: Should people disbelieve just for the sake of disbelieving? That is what many do, just to rebel, right?

What's wrong is believing in a God that chooses only one people and makes promises to them to the exclusion of other races of folks on this fine earth we live on. Just why would people be condemned for generations? And why would on race be favored over another?

So I choose to believe partly for the reason you've proposed, and then mostly because it makes sense and Allah has opened my heart and soul to His message. And that message is one of love, hope, forgiveness for all earthlings and possibly an alien or two as well.

Salaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh -- Wishing you Peace, Blessings, and the Mercy of the One, Lord, who is neither male nor female.

Answer 5

Yes one can believe God in the head and not in the heart. The former will not cause you to be truly born again. A proper spiritual birth involves true repentance. faith in the heart towards God, baptism in water and baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire which inparts in you the zeal for God.

Answer 6

According to Jesus, two great commands serve as the foundation of all the teaching of law and the prophets Matt. 22:37-40. the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and soul. he stated that the second great command is to love thy neighbour as thyself, which is another reference to the Golden Rule. In other words, love is the act of doing unto others as we would want them to do unto us. We Human beings tend to be impressionable, reactionary creatures. In other words, we generally reflect the treatment we receive from others. Our behavior toward people tends to be the catalyst the motivation for how they relate to us. Consequently, treating others with courtesy usually causes them to be courteous to us. Patience and kindness promotes patience and kindness, etc. Ask yourself how you wish to be treated? Would you like to be shown encouragement? Do you want your shortcomings to be treated with tolerance and forgiveness? Do you desire to be shown love and acceptance? then treat others with the same attitude and consideration that you wish to be shown.
Faith is a way of thinking, an attitudes of mind that gets results, the faith spoken of in the Bible is a conviction based on eternal laws and principles which never change, faith is a fusion of your thought and feeling, or your mind and heart, which is so complete, inflexible, and impregnable that no external events or happenings can move you. Our mental attitudes and beliefs, which represent our faith, make our own heaven and hell. What is your faith? the noblest, grandest, and highest faith is that which is based on eternal principles which never change. Have faith in the creative law of your own mind, in the goodness of God and in all things good, a joyous expectancy of the best, and a firm belief inscribed in your heart that infinite in diligence will lead you out of your difficulty and show you the way. have a firm conviction in the power of God to solve your problems and to heal you. In such a black-and-white universe, right and wrong are two distinct paths, one leading to heaven, the other to hell. true believers of any tradition would say it is an either or choice. Some religious proponents recognize the link between the dark side and the light, and the relativity of each in the human world.

Answer 7

that what is most people are doing ever since. they have no sense of truth. they just listens to others. they don't actually think deeply into the real deal.

Now i ask you . Do the name God you just heard or do you really think or know God?

Answer 8

But here is the catch, God can read hearts, an He knows who the real believers are, and those fake believers, or believers with ulterior motives other than worshiping Him.

Answer 9

No, you can't be saved by only believing! What you have to do is: Believe, and confess with your mouth that He sent His Son, Jesus, to come and save us. You also have to confess with your mouth that Jesus died for you on the cross. That's the way to really believe... and go to Heaven, cuz God really exists! Hope that helped(I'm a Christian..so I know!!:))

Answer 10

its not a good idea to believe in something blindly just because you can, its foolish at best. John Locke was a coward if he actually said that. Pascals wager has no merit.