why believe in god?

Answer 1

I just answered this question "why I believe" in my blog. I will email you the link. Oops no email, just go to my 360 page.

Answer 2

One needs to have a formalized understanding of logic and philosophy to understand the topic of God's existence. Here is a starting point:

Premise: Every event has a cause
Premise: The universe has a beginning
Premise: All beginnings involve an event

Inference: This implies that the beginning of the universe involved an event
Inference: Therefore the beginning of the universe had a cause
Conclusion: The universe had a cause

For something to have caused the universe it must have existed outside of the universe and time. That First Cause could only have been an omnipotent supernatural agent, God.

Another argument is one from design:

1. The universe began to exist
2. The universe has complexity, order and fine-tuning
3. Complexity, order and fine-tuning imply design
4. Design that began to exist implies a designer
5. Therefore, the universe has a designer

Premise 1: See Big Bang theorem (Hawking, Penrose) All matter and time itself began at this moment
Premise 2: Universe has complex designs, e.g, cellular DNA, Laws of Physics, fine-tuning for life on earth, etc.
Premise 3: Nothing ordered can come from chaos, an orderer is required. Laws of Nature are often cited as counterexamples, yet these very Laws are themselves ordered.

Premise 4: Self evident. If something did not begin to exist, there is no beginner or designer

Thus, the universe has a designer, God.

Yet another:

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist.
2. Evil exists.
3. Therefore, objective values exist. (Some things are really evil.)
4. Therefore, God exists.

Another way to prove the existence of God is from the impossibility of the contrary. The transcendental proof for God's existence is that without Him it is impossible to prove anything.

The non-believer world view is irrational and cannot consistently provide the preconditions of intelligible experience, science, logic, or morality. The non-believer world view cannot allow for laws of logic, the uniformity of nature, the ability for the mind to understand the world, and moral absolutes. This is because in the non-believer’s world you cannot justify or account for laws in general: the laws of thought in particular, laws of nature, cannot account for human life, from the fact that it's more than electrochemical complexes in depth, and the fact that it's more than an accident. In other words, in the non-believer’s conception of the world, there's really no reason to debate; because in the end, all these laws are conventional. All these laws are not really law-like in their nature, they're just, if you're a non-believer and materialist, something that happens inside the brain.

Thus once I conclude logically that a designer, first cause, or higher moral authority exists, I must then look to evidence of this designer's will. After investigating, the bible appears to me to be the most reliable revelation of this Supreme Being. You can review the two links below for discussion about the reliability of the bible.

Accuracy of bible:
http://www.carm.org/questions/trustbible.htm
http://www.carm.org/demo2/bible/reliable.htm

While all of my questions will never be definitively answered, I find that rationally my belief is on solid ground. There are many things in the world we do not fully understand or “see”, yet we have no problems in believing them. For example, solar physics is not fully known, yet we all objectively accept, using faith and scientific discourse, the "fact" that the sun will rise tomorrow.

Why is it we can believe in many things using rational analysis, even when what we believe is only partially known, yet when it comes to matters like a supreme being, we suddenly want the "show me beyond a shadow of doubt" proof? As Aristotle once stated, "It is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits, and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible."

Persons that seek absolute proof of something are inconsistently applying logic and rationality, for they do not seek this absoluteness in all things. Hence, their epistemologies are not fully formed; they speak without proper understanding of the nature of knowledge.

These persons must first take the time and formal study to answer the question: "What is the justification for the presuppositions informing your epistemology and ethical system?"

I have also taken the time to spend years in universities studying theology as well as science (have a Ph.D.), so I could more fully understand what I have staked my eternal soul upon. I don't advocate everyone do this before making a decision one way or the other, but I do suggest folks go beyond some of the rhetoric in these forums, the media, and elsewhere, so they can be more grounded in their beliefs. These and more are the reasons I believe in God.

Answer 3

If God exists, and I am saved (which I believe He does, and I am saved), then I am granted eternal paradise with Him.

If God does not exist, then I never had anything to lose by believing that he did. I will die ignorant, but never knowing the truth. For as far as I would have been concerned, I would have lived a good life.

By beliving in God, I can only gain.

Answer 4

see i dont believe in "god". I believe in God. spelling "god" implifies a false god. And i believe in God because he is the loving and merciful creator who wants none of us to perish. No1 can ever love me as God does and thats the reason I trust and believe him. In Him alone rests our hope and salvation.

Answer 5

I believe in God because He created me, He loves me, He gives me hope, He is inexhaustable, He conquered death and promises to restore me to life again. He gives my life meaning and purpose. I am not a product of chance. He is the author of life and can restore me to life again. Being my Creator He knows how I should function and live. He knows me intimately. If I draw near to Him, He will draw near to me.

I love Him and cannot imagine life without Him.

Sincerely,

Mark :o)

Answer 6

I believe in God when I was 27-28 yrs old. before that I had sceptical view for Him, but something happened and make me realize that He is real for sure.

Answer 7

historically, people needed to believe in something; there have always been many types of worship, but due to Catholic malingering, God is the thing most of the world worships.

Answer 8

I believe in God of the Bible. I love Him. I want to be with Him here and after. : )

Answer 9

Because He is Love, Life, Freedom, Peace, Joy, The best friend you could ever have.

Answer 10

Pascal's Wager.
Same reason I buy lottery tickets: small downside, good (alleged) potential upside.