Can One be Mentally Agnostic and Faithfully a Believer?

Question

"During the experience it seemed like there was a vast amount of information that I was somehow allowed access to"

Seems to me like youve encountered the System. I call it the System, the pool of information about everything...its like a medium that resides between the real world and the ethereal.

Theres an interesting correlation between this and what the Quran says about info, that God has it all "written" in the the Arsh. Hard to explain what the arsh is tho.

dogsneeze, makes an interesting point

Answer 1

I was for years then this happened to me.

Several years ago I had an unusual experience concerning an uncle, a distant relative who lived over a thousand miles away.

While driving my car I suddenly felt the unmistakable presence of this relative that I hardly even knew. He was more like someone I had heard about than someone I knew. It was very strange; it felt as though I was momentarily lifted right out of my physical body. I seemed to be suspended somehow beyond space and time, bathed in a love so intense It felt like I could have just disappear into it at any moment if It would have let me. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to last forever at the same time. I realize how crazy this must sound. The experience was so strong that at first I was afraid I was loosing my grip on reality. I finally managed to chalk it up to an over active imagination.

Three days later I got a call from my aunt telling me that this uncle we are talking about had gone into a coma and died the day I had the experience. It felt like ice water had been poured down my back when she told me this. I had lost any real ideas of God or faith and had become somewhat of an atheist. Needless to say this experience caused me to rethink some of the conclusions I had come to.

I feel blessed to now understand that even in our darkest confusion something loves us so much that it went out of its way to assist me and bring me back to a state of absolute certainty about Gods love for us.
During the experience it seemed like there was a vast amount of information that I was somehow allowed access to. One thing that I came away from this experience understanding beyond any shadow of a doubt was that any Idea that God is unhappy with us or would judge or allow us to be punished for any reason is simply impossible.

I can’t explain the love I felt with words. They simply don’t make words big enough or complete enough to do this. The only way I can begin to convey this love to you is to say that there was simply nothing else there. Nothing but love. No hint of judgment, no displeasure of any sort. It is as though God sees us as being as perfect as we were the day we were created. It is only in our confused idea of ourselves that we seem to have changed.

I hope this is of some help to you. Good luck. Love and blessings.

Your brother don

Answer 2

I get the psychology of why they believe but not the rational so no. I don't look around and see the creator. I see nature only. They can cite the butterfly, kittens, newborn babies, sunsets, and rainbows but they seem to overlook the butterfly dying in the spider web, babies who are born with horrible birth defects or diseases, the completely natural explanations we have for how these things work. They must resort to introducing a new fictional character without evidence for things like birth defects, disease, "evil" while science provides logical explanations supported by evidence. They only argument they have at all that I could at one time sort of see is the origin of the universe. The real answer though is just we don't know. A naturalistic explanation is more likely to me just as a naturalistic explanation replaced our belief demons caused epilepsy, Zeus threw lightening, sin caused illness, etc.... I look at the very basis of the predator/prey system the world is based upon and logic precludes the kind of god most people are peddling at any rate.

Answer 3

In terms of Christianity, there are forms of fideism that verge on agnosticism. So I think the answer is yes, but i don't think this position can be sustained over great lengths of time. One will either have greater confirmation or not enough and make a move.

Answer 4

Yes, faith does not require absolute knowledge.

Agnostics are ones who lack knowledge if a God can be proven to exist. They are capable of having faith and belief. There are Agnostic Atheists, and there are Agnostic Theists

Answer 5

"Agnostic" means understanding that the existence or nonexistence of YHVH cannot be proven. If you take "proven" to mean scientific proof, with test tubes and stuff, then in a sense every thinking person is an "Agnostic" , and you can well have faith in YHVH so long as you don't have enough faith in "science" to believe that nothing it cannot prove can exist!

Answer 6

Depends on who you talk to.

Christians who prefer the words of James will say that you show your faith by your works.

Christians who prefer the words of Paul will say that in order to get into Heaven, you have to be born again.

Answer 7

Faith is believing in what you cannot see and being an agnostic means not believing because there is no proof...your trying to hold on to your old ways of thinking. One or the other.
Kill your God, Free your mind.
Amen

Answer 8

"If Satan be divided against Satan, how shall his kingdom stand?"

The schoolboy defines "faith" as "belief in that which we know not to be true." It sounds as if you agree. You might ask yourself, though, if it's really necessary for "spiritual" truth to insult your intelligence and common sense.

Answer 9

If you are having doubts, thats fine. Every believer has doubts one way or another.

Answer 10

the carnal mind is an enemy of God, nor can it know the things of God for they are spiritually discerened