(Logical thinking) Christians ONLY please- do you ever have to question your beliefs?Is there any proof of God

Question

Sometimes people say religion is "primative" and now we have science to explain things.

I'm not trying to debunk Christianity, so please don't say something like I think Christianity is primitive. I just question it a whole lot and want evidence for it instead of going by blind faith which makes me question it.

Even if there is a God, how do you know you're worshiping the right one?

Answer 1

"Proofs" is one of those words. "Proof" in math isn't the same as proof in history or in interpersonal relationships or in biology or in any one of a host of other disciplines.

Lord Kelvin (the Father of Thermodynamics) said, “Do not be afraid of being free thinkers! If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion. You will find science not antagonistic but helpful to religion.”

Let me give you one of the many arguments for God's existence (based on scientific evidence): The Cosmological Argument. The argument is simply this: The cosmos is here and must be explained as to how it got here. This argument is using the law of cause and effect, which states: Every effect must have a preceding and adequate cause. What does it mean by "adequate"? Well, the building didn’t collapse because a mosquito landed on it. The tsunami didn’t hit because someone threw a pebble into the ocean.

Now, when it comes to explaining the existence of the universe, you only get three possibilities: (1) the universe is eternal (it has always been here), (2) the universe created itself, or (3) something created the universe. There is no other possibility except to claim that the universe is simply an illusion and does not exist. So let’s examine these three possibilities to see which is the most reasonable.

First, is the universe eternal? Absolutely not. We know this is true because of the universally recognized second law of Thermodynamics (the law of energy decay or entropy). This law states that everything goes downhill from order to disorder, more usable energy to less. This law is the reason why heat flows from hot to cold and why this building will fall apart if it is not kept up with. If someone doesn’t believe in the second law of thermodynamics, just challenge them to live forever; even with this awesome machinery we have in our bodies, you will eventually wear out and die. We can see that the universe is running down and wearing out; the stars are burning up, the radioactive atoms are decaying, etc. As Psalm 102:26 says, the heavens “will wear out like a garment.” Given enough time, the universe will experience what some call a “heat death” where there is no more energy available for work (maximum entropy); every part of the universe will be the same temperature, and no further work will be possible (speaking of energy transfer); all energy will be evenly distributed. Eternal things obviously do not wear out because they would have had an infinite amount of time to come to their end. Since you cannot have an end without a beginning, the universe must have had a beginning. Evolutionary astronomer Dr. Robert Jastrow said, “Now three lines of evidence—the motions of the galaxies, the laws of thermodynamics, the life story of the stars—pointed to one conclusion; all indicated that the Universe had a beginning.” And everything that has a beginning has a cause. This building had a beginning, you had a beginning, therefore there must have been a preceding and adequate cause. The evolutionists know this and so they came up with the “big bang” theory from that “cosmic egg” (the universe exploded into existence). But there is still a major problem—you have to explain where that “cosmic egg” came from. As it has been said, “There must be a cosmic chicken.” Some scientists like Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov proposed the oscillating universe theory to avoid a beginning. This theory states that the universe acts like a yo-yo; it explodes and then gravity pulls it back in, and then the process repeats itself over and over. But the second law of Thermodynamics still refutes that idea, since each cycle would exhaust more and more usable energy. The universe is not eternal!

Ok, that brings us to the second possibility: Did the universe create itself? I think Heb. 3:4 answers that pretty well, “...every house is built by someone...” Let’s say I walk into my livingroom and see a crayon drawing of our family on the wall. When I ask my daughter where it came from, will I accept her answer of, “It just appeared there; it came from nothing”? Her grandparents might, but I won’t. It is pretty clear that something cannot bring itself into existence. As R.C. Sproul has said, “It is impossible for something to create itself. The concept of self-creation is a contradiction in terms, a nonsense statement . . . It would have to have the causal power of being before it was. It would have to have the power of being before it had any being with which to exercise that power.” As it has been said, “Nothing scratched its head one day and decided to become something.” I’m sorry to have to drop this bombshell on you, but from nothing, comes nothing. Besides, the First Law of Thermodynamics (the law of energy conservation) argues against it. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that in a closed system (without a God, this Universe would have to be a closed system) the amount of energy present in that system is constant (it cannot be created or destroyed), it can only be converted from one form to another. So, if the Universe initially contained no energy, and then it spontaneously generated all of the energy in the Universe, the First Law would be violated. Without intervention from an outside force, the amount of energy in the Universe would have remained constant and unchanged at zero.

And now the third possibility: Did something create the universe? If the universe is not eternal and could not have created itself, then the only remaining alternative is that the universe was created by something or Someone. This would have to be a transcendent, eternal, self-existing being. I can find only one satisfactory explanation to our conundrum, and that is found in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Someone may argue, “If the universe needs a cause, then why doesn’t God need a cause; who created God?” The answer is, everything that has a beginning has a cause; God, unlike the universe, did not have a beginning. Time is linked to matter and space (as we can see from Einstein’s general relativity). If God created the universe, then He created time along with matter and space. If God created time, then He is outside of time and doesn’t need a beginning.

What is more absurd, to believe that God Created everything out of nothing or that nothing turned itself into everything? The fact is, we live in a Universe that is an effect. There must be a preceding and adequate cause for it. The only thing that makes sense is a Creator who is more powerful than anything we can imagine.

Your later second question takes an extremely long answer, so you should probably ask it seperately.

Answer 2

Well you are right that some of the primitives attributed things much different than we would. For instance if there is a total eclipse they may think the sun God was angry at them, or that God was angry that they killed his Son..... today we may just be like, "Whoa cool" and we'll know it is just a natural thing where the moon gets between the earth and sun. Same thing with earthquakes, volcano's, shooting stars, etc. Now indeed these things MAY have a meaning if there is a God, for instance at the crucifixion both a total eclipse and an earthquake are described. Very coincidental timing? Who knows.

There are many things that they attributed to God that we could attribute to nature. For instance they said fire and brimstone destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah when we know it was a volcano. The walls of Jericho fell by an earthquake, not sound waves. The River Jordan typically stops flowing for a couple minutes after major earthquakes, hence the Jews were able to cross shortly after Jericho. An Egyptian document tells of all the plagues mentioned in the Bible. Although we know HOW volcanoes, earthquakes, diseases etc happen, the meaning of it is entirely open to interpretation. A fluke of nature or or some Supreme Being trying to tell us something? The only thing science can tell us is how something happens, and the technical explanations of why..... but not really any meaning as to the purpose.

Is there proof of God? For a person's conscience, yes, for a courtroom, less likely.

Answer 3

I struggle with this even today... But in my heart, I know what TRUTH is... Let me play the devil's advocate on this first. I remember writing a paper about religions. Religions are like a bedtime story... It seems that they were created to answer the "unknowns" of the universe. Think about Greek mythology. A god was created for everything that they could not explain, i.e the sun, the moon, the oceans... etc. Now apply this same logic to modern religions... What is it that all religions are trying to explain? The answer is Death. Throughout human history, death was always mystical. No one knew what happened after death, so they created "stories" to explain a purpose for Death. All religions teach the same foundation of morality -- if you do good, you will be rewarded... Evil-doers will be punished. Sounds childish doesn't it?

Well now, I will speak from my heart... and not just my mind... If every religion teaches essentially the same thing, then who are we to question eons of wisdom? If a dog were raised by a pack of wolves, that dog would behave like a wolf. Now, the same logic applies to religions... If a child were born into Christianity, he would be Christian... The same goes for any other religion out there. But my bottom line is this... If a religion makes you a better person, by all means, worship on~ You are not right, nor wrong... You just become "better" off than you were. We are probably calling the same God by different names... And just bickering amongst ourselves like idiots.

In my personal life, I've experinced God directly... That is why I cannot deviate from my own beilefs of Christianity. However, I will not ever impose my own beliefs on anyone. I will be more than glad to share my thoughts and ideas, but never will I "persuade" anyone into Christianity. It is a decision that you must decide on your own. Ask your God for guidance... He/She/It will lead you in the right direction.

As for proof... there are none for a reason... God is all about Faith... and if we had proof, then how would we ever "prove" our faith to Him? We must "prove" ourselves to God, before we can ever ask him to "prove" Himself to us. There's proof for you... Conceptually, it may be hard to grasp, but once you do-- you'll see it!

Answer 4

Is there proof of God? I think we infer the existence of God. If you have a book it's a safe bet that somebody wrote it. If you see a building it's obvious that somebody built it. Books don't write themselves, buildings don't build themselves.

Likewise, when you see something infinitely more complicated than any book or building such as a living cell it's reasonable to presume that some creative force was responsible. No scientist in any lab has ever made a living thing. As far as we know living things only come from other living things. What did the first living cell evolve from? How was it formed? Nobody knows for sure. Science can't explain it. Thus we infer the necessity of a creator.

Answer 5

Do you have a conscience? Where did it come from? Can you tell right from wrong? How? Do you think people were just laying around one day and decided it would be good to invent good and evil? Where do you think things like logic come from? If you do something you think is wrong do you feel guilty? Why? If you do somethng really nice for someone do you feel good about it? Why? Why should you feel any way about anything if you're just a physical body? Are you not curious? Where does curiosity come from? If there is no GOD what is your purpose for living? Are you here just to take up space and consume resources? What is the logic in bringing more children into the world?

Answer 6

You think science explains everything? And holding onto faith is primitive? Can science explain why a stem cell reacts to different stimuli to build different parts of our bodies.. I understand they know that it can. But how?? No... Can science tell us why only only "R" optical isomers build DNA while only "L" build proteins.
Why when the optical isomers are produced by random chance they are in a 50/50 mixture with no way to separate them but still the "L"s and "R"s are used to make the building blocks of life. separately? When it come to how life began there are theories but No Proof of anything. So thinking logically do you ever just question the guesses scientist has made and wonder if God isn't there after all?

Answer 7

Faith is believing without proof. Sure, I've questioned, especially when bad things happen, but we all question our beliefs from time to time. Honestly, I don't think I could deal with a world where children die of starvation, cancer, all kinds of diseases, without faith in it all having a purpose. And truthfully, science hasn't actually answered many of the relevant questions. For me, religion and science go hand in hand. For example, many of the old testament laws just seemed without reason, but science has told us there really was a reason ancient people who knew zilch about hygene and/or properly cooking or storing food should not eat pork or that there are many people in this world who are alergic to shellfish. They were told not to touch dead bodies, and we all know the nasty bacteria there. When the bible was written, people were simply too dense to comprehend such things so they were given these rules as religious rules. These were people with such short attention spans they couldn't deal with Moses being gone for a while, so just had to build a golden calf. Do you think these guys would have understood anything at all about bacteria?

Answer 8

There have been times when I questioned what I believed. Someone said something that raised a doubt so I was unsure of where I stood. My only "proof" of God is the relationship I have with Him. Like the sound of your parents' voice you know immediately when He talks to you. That removes my doubt and I show it to Him so He can explain what I misunderstood.

Science only shows us the physical side of the universe and the laws God created to hold it together. Science has explained many of the restrictions in the Hebrew laws in terms of hygiene and healthy living styles. Science can give us great insight into what is going on around us but it does not explain so much what is going on with us in our spirit.

Answer 9

I have questioned a lot of things regarding Christianity. Like -why would God allow suffering, etc. Why, why, why.
I question a lot of things in the bible.
Is there any proof of God, like the earth is round proof because there are satellite images that prove it? No.
I have my own proof, because through my prayer and meditation, I have come to find the answers. I have seen the spiritual realm, and I don't have to believe or have faith, because I know in my heart, mind and soul that there IS a God. And even though I may not fully understand his purpose, it doesnt mean he doesnt exist.

Answer 10

I know there is only one true God ,and He is the creator of
everything,He is Alpha and Omega,you have to know Him
personally,you cannot explain the existence of God,it is like
explaining to someone how it feels to be in-love, they will
never understand if they have never been in-love themself.