If rationality and faith are NOT opposed, what do you use as proof of Gods existance for your faith?

Question

There are "proofs" of God's existance going back thousands of years. St. Thomas Aquinas' proofs being the most famous. However, none of the theological proofs have withstood the test of time. Philosophers, scientists, even lay people have refuted every single one of them. When asked and pressed on the matter the closest thing to a universal concenseus I've ever gotten is that faith is tied to feeling. People just "feel" that it is the right choice. However, human psychology is a tricky thing and relying on feeling without external evidence is even trickier. In fact, in areas other than faith, believing in something without evidence or in the face of negative evidence, is considered a psychosis. If religion is not a psychosis, how do your rationalize your beliefs? If beliefs don't have to be rationalized then how did you come to know they were true? Was it childhood indoctrination? Was it studying the scriptures and prayer? If the later, how is that different from just an "feeling"?

Answer 1

I can't prove my faith to you. I can't prove God to you. Its personal, its in my heart and its something that I have been shown by the Holy Ghost to be true. I can give you interjectures of how God has intervened in my life, but to most athiests its not proof.

How do I rationalize, I tested, I studied, I found the proof I personally needed from history and then I found the proof in my heart.

Answer 2

If you study psychology, then you know that singularities are incredibly rare. People don't hallucinate once, or even a couple of times, with no reason and no associated damage. I have, literally, no reason to doubt the experiences of the divine that I have had. There was no other good reason, and, indeed, the internal proofs I asked for were provided in short order. (I also asked for one external proof, for one person, and got that.)

But my beliefs didn't require rationalization, they were true because to believe they were not true would be to apply a layer of unbelief to them that I don't apply to anything else. If I look in the sky and see a plane, I assume it is a plane. It do not ask if the person next to me sees it, or go look up the schedules to see if the plane is really there- I trust my sight because it isn't generally wrong.

I don't believe despite evidence, or in the face of negative evidence, I believe because of my experiences.

As for indoctrination, I was raised without a religion and was an atheist before I became Wiccan.

Answer 3

I looked around and said "mmmmmmmmm, I know I came from somewhere, I didn't create myself......... then I learned about evolution and sure some of it makes sense but it really didn't explain where we came from."
Go out side and there are many things that you or no other human created and it all has to come from somewhere, I don't rationalize it with a feeling, nor do I rationalize it with "the Big Bang."
And when I did decide that God was the only answer, that is when He revealed Himself to me. There is no explanation for it, and there is no way I could justify that to you if you haven't experienced it. This experience is why in so many Christian songs it talks about once being blind but God now makes me see.
I can't make you understand what I understand nor can I be mad with you for not understanding it. On the same token Christians shouldn't be looked at as irrational or crazy because of our beliefs. You have reasons for believing what you believe and so does everyone else. I am sorry that there are people of all religions who feel they have to prove themselves to someone. God doesn't need proving, He just is.

Answer 4

in order for a religion to claim it's from god, it must withstand the test of time.


If it stands the test of time, then it must be from god, if it's from god than there is a god.


Only one religion has withstood the test of time.


Suppose 80% of all that is mentioned in the Qur’an has been proved 100% correct. About the remaining 20%, science makes no categorical statement, since it has not advanced to a level, where it can either prove or disprove these statements. With the limited knowledge that we have, we cannot say for sure whether even a single percentage or a single verse of the Qur’an from this 20% portion is wrong. Thus when 80% of the Qur’an is 100% correct and the remaining 20% is not disproved, logic says that even the 20% portion is correct. The existence of the hereafter, which is mentioned in the Qur’an, falls in the 20% ambiguous portion which my logic says is correct.

Answer 5

Hebrews 11:1 answers your question "Faith is the evidence of things not seen".

Take a child that believes his mother hates him, and he will find a way to twist everything she says or does into an act of hate. Take a child who believes that his mother loves him, and he will find a way to interprete every word and action she does into an act of love. Like the children from abusive homes who are convinced their parents beat them because they love them.

If a person believes in God, he will be able to see the evidence of God all around. It is obvious, they wonder how anyone could possibly miss it. Lay the same evidence before a person who does not have faith, and they will have an argument or rebuke for every single one of them. They can not see a single bit of evidence for God. The evidence has not changed. But their faith has determined whether the evidence is "seen".

There will never be evidence to prove that God exist, because as long as a person would believe it, they won't see it. That is why God, in the Bible, ask for people to give him their hearts, not their heads. Once he gets the heart, the head comes along for free.

Answer 6

A good question, Eric:

Faith is considered by many to be blind, and they do not believe in God's Spirit working on the heart.

You know what torture does, people have confessed to bombing the Murrah Building in Ok. Cty., but the disciples all laid their lives on the line for their beliefs. John survived being dipped in scalding oil and was the only one spared. Jesus told Peter his method of crucifixion in advance. They had talked with, felt, and loved their Savior.

But true faith is not blind, but based on evidence. Sure, the priests paid the soldiers money to lie and said the disciples stole Jesus. Bull? Some smelly fishermen stole a corpse from soldiers trained in combat, and who knew they would be executed if a prisoner escaped. You can believe the liars if you want, But there is more...

I was an atheist for years, even had to memorize Darwin's theory in college. Had it all figured out, then I decided to trust no-one. If God was there, He could build my faith. He directed me to the Bible and associated history.

Did you know there are prophecies that predicted the exact date Jesus was crucified, written 600 years before the fact? That there over three hundred prophecies and symbols that predict the manner and coming of the Messiah?

Did you know, Eric, there on one part of the Bible that says (twice) that you can't understand it until "the end of the days" and it proves the Messiah and His mission?

Study for yourself "The Wise Shall Understand" at www.revelado.org/revealed.htm

Yes, Faith and Facts are twin sisters that withstand adulteration.

Blessings, One-Way

Answer 7

I fully admit that any theistic belief has it's problems and complications. However, atheism would fall victim to your criteria above. All atheistic arguments have been shot down long ago as well. I have yet to see any argument, any at all, that can prove that it's necessarily the case that God doesn't exist. Most atheistic arguments I see are attempts at debunking theistic arguments.

But I completely agree with you on the issue of feelings. Feelings are notoriously unreliable and a terrible basis for making any significant decisions bereft of the evidence to support them.

Answer 8

The question isn't whether there is proof of God, but whether the preponderance of the evidence points in His favor or not. I've never been all that big on proof, because it doesn't matter how much you "prove" something, people can still decide to believe otherwise anyway.

Answer 9

i became into perplexed approximately this for years yet i think of I easily have finally figured it out. in accordance to 3 Christians, faith is a 'present' from the Holy Spirit. with out the Holy Spirit, there is not any faith, so of course, having faith ability the Christian bible-god is actual! of direction, like the others have stated, this would not clarify the religion of Hindus, Muslims, pagans, and so on.

Answer 10

Have you ever read the book, THE HEALING POWER OF PRAYER by Dr. Ronald Cherry MD? Double blind studies that prove prayer works and much more. I also use white blood cells as proof of God's existence. I also use the fact that God healed me from severe headaches that I suffered with for over 30 years. God has worked miracles in my life so many times that it would be impossible for me to deny his existence.