Why do you Believe/Not Believe in God /Allah /Other Higher Power /or Nothing?

Question

Im looking for personal answers as to why you particularly believe or not in some 'higher being/power' and what it is you believe in. I am opening this to all demnominations, no restrictions.

Please no lines of scriptures or personal attacks on others, I just want your own opinion and how you come to that realisation, your personal view. You can also mention how your belief has affected your life, postively and negatively.

This can be your forum for expressing yourself openly.

I personally have no particular strong beliefs, but am interesting in examining any spiritual paths, and what these mean for people.

Thanks for your input, Please Star this question if you think it's an important discussion point.
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Answer 1

I was raised in a Baptist household, and until I was a teenager, never doubted what I'd been taught. Tragedy struck, and I was shocked. I began to question the parts of our religion that weren't borne out by my experiences, and in college, I met a lot of different faiths that felt more comfortable. I investigated Buddhism especially, and eventually came back to a form of Christianity that has more to do with following the teachings of Jesus Christ, and less with the 'religion.'
Recently, I've been taking a Christian apologetics class - not the goofy stuff about trying to deny evolution, or the young earth creationism - but about why we believe God exists, why we believe what the New Testament says about Jesus.
The most compelling part, for me, is that so many of Jesus' disciples stuck with the faith after his death and resurrection, and after Pentecost, they committed their lives to spreading the faith. Many of them gave up everything, and died martyr's deaths. I can't imagine that they would do this for a lie. Their persistence in the face of persecutions tells me that they believed in the resurrection, and that Christ was who he claimed to be. Their faith has gone a long way toward reinforcing my own.

Answer 2

I do believe in a God, or in God, I have read the Bible, it intrest me alot, lately I have been trying to find the connections with Revalations and whats going on in the Middle East right now, you know, Babylon is right smack in Baghdad, God cursed that land, ever since,its had problems, the Harlot as the Bible speaks of , gets drunk off the blood of the innocent ones, who could that harlot be? The US? or Iraq? The seven heads and crowns of the dragon, are those the super powers? These times, I do believe , are the signs of the end. I would like to believe the part about how God said he would not allow the earth to be destroyed again as he alowed when he flooded the earth, so maybe it will do away with a big astroid hitting us. ANd then sometimes, u know, since this universe is so vast, why are we the only ones here? If God made all these plntsin universe because he loved us so much, how on earth are we going to be able to see them? Or is there another race already doing that, hence UFO's and such. Or maybe there isnt a God, maybe its these space beings that have orchestrated a book of standards for the human race to follow as an experiment, now we are being checked on and monitored more than ever. But never the less even then, imho, inside, there is implanted something, that makes us aware that we are created, that we need to percieve as greater than mankind, that we need to worship. I kinda think , u know, since Jesus was around how important it is to do Gods will, he warns us of our impending doom if we dont, I think, man, thousands of years have passed and there is still people carrying out what Jesus did, if there is a hell, rather than a personal hell, is it really that bad that we have to heed a warning that has been passsed along for thousands years?

Answer 3

A lot of intresting answers here.

I believe in God the Father, Jesus our Lord, and the Holy Spirit who was sent to man as a helper.
Three separate beings, with one purpose, the will of God.

This purpose was stated by angels around the time of Jesus birth;
Luke 2:13-14
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace , goodwill toward men!"
NKJV


I believe this because it is the truth, the only truth.

I may have doubted a long time ago, now I am certain.
Not because of a feeling, or emotion, or knowledge that I have learned. I believe because it's the truth.

When the lies surrounded me I could not see and thought I was wise, when the truth entered my heart my eyes were open and I became a fool.
On this planet that is under the sway of the wicked one, those who know the truth are ridiculed by those who believe the lie.

The false religions in this world agree with this world, the true religion in this world is not understood by this world.

That's my answer, short and simple.

Answer 4

Hi JEZZA, thanks for such an interesting question! I'm so glad you asked.
I'm a Christian. I've been thru "religious" experiences, that could have turned me off of God. (I've even had experience in a cult situation) I have no denomination now, as I don't want organized religion; they are man made, and have experienced the results of these man made rules. It has nothing to do with being a true Christian. That's where it's at for me, after all the searching. ( I'm not saying that there aren't any good, Bible teaching churches, there are, I'm sure) But for me, a personal relationship with Christ is the most important reason for my existence. I don't believe in "religion", I believe in "SPIRITUALITY!" It's much deeper, and involves a true walk with God and Christ.
I believe it because I have seen the evidence in my personal life, I have had some very difficult prayers answered, I look hopefully to the time when Christ will come again, for all mankind. I know that He is the answer to all the world's problems, and that he has the love that is so needed for this world. I try to follow the path that he came to show us.
I believe in being non-judgemental towards all others, as I cannot possibly know how another feels about where they are in life; but I pray that they will find their way toward peace and happiness.
I don't believe in preaching to others, as that is Jesus job! If a person is meant to follow Him, at this time; it WILL happen! I can plant a seed, but ...the rest is up to God.
We are all at different levels of understanding, and altho God wants everyone to accept Salvation, He is not calling everyone now. That is for a time in the future. When God calls the rest of the people, they will know that they need to follow Christ, or they will perish, forever. I do NOT believe in an everburning Hellfire with torture. The Bible does NOT support this lie. I believe that everyone will have a chance to know the truth, in the future, and after learning it, if they reject it then, they will be put to death by fire, burned up, consumed by fire, as if they never existed. This is God's love, and the truth; and anyone can prove it, by studying this topic in the Bible. I mention it because most people think that everyone has to believe NOW; and the God I love, has shown me that Salvation is for everyone; except those who absolutely refuse it!
I could go on....and on.....but...I'll stop myself now...as the point is really that having God and Christ in my life is an extremely positive force...I wouldn't want it any other way. "Religion" scares many people away from God; that's understandable when we look around and see some of the negative results, BUT that is not enough reason NOT to seek out the real source of peace and happiness...which is Spirituality, and seeking knowledge and truth. It's challenging, and exciting!
Peace!

Answer 5

I don't have a religion but I do believe in a higher power. I only believe in a higher power because I have had a personal experience that made me believe that there is something up there. I believe that most religions have something important to teach. Like, I kinda believe in reincarnation and of course you are suppose to do on to others as you would want them to do on to you. However, since I am on planet earth, I rather listen to earthly facts (science) first. Then, I'll get into all that magical stuff when logic fails. The bottom line is just PEACE and LOVE.

Ewwww, I think I am starting to sound like a hippie. Lol

Answer 6

Since I was old enough to understand, my parents were responsible for teaching me about God and accepting God into my life. I was sent to a religious school run by nuns and basically grew up a Catholic. But it was when I met my then boyfriend (now my husband) and participated in bible studies that my whole perspective of being a Catholic changed irrevocably. My belief in God was based from constant reminders in my childhood that He exists but cannot be seen by us because He is in spirit form.

Now, I fully understand the who, the why and the what of religion and have completely accepted God not because I had to but because I want to. He is a very influential factor in my life, not only in my hours of need and pain but also in times when I just want a friend I could share my thoughts with. He always listens and answers my prayers.

Answer 7

I do not believe in God, although I have been exposed to Chritianity all my life. The Christian god is a jealous, ill-tempered and cruel god. He killed every living animal or plant on earth with a great flood. How could you love a god like that?

I studied science. I came to realize that we are no different from other animals. We all only have one life to live. Why can we just live a happy life? If you think you will have a better life in the next life, why waste your time here?

Answer 8

I do not believe in God.
I know God exists.
I am not religious.
I experienced God directly when I was seventeen.
No message, no mission, no sense of being "chosen".
Just experienced everything, everywhere, everywhen, simultaneously, for what turned out to be four or five hours with the distinct possibility that I was no longer "extant" within the room it happened in, based on what others indicated to me later.

No book, not group, living a happy family life. Keep searching.

Answer 9

I will try to answer as honestly as I can.
For me, the notion that "there was a singularity" and "something exploded" causing the universe to spring into being, that universe being "infinite" or "all that exists" makes no sense at all. That "infinite" universe, I am asked to believe, is still expanding...but nobody seems to know just how "all there is" could be expanding...what, exactly, is it expanding into?
It seems more reasonable to me to suppose that the Universe did have an "Intelligent Designer". But what sort of Intelligent Designer?
Of course, I had a predilection toward Christianity, since it was what I grew up with, but my family weren't really terribly religious, and I grew up in the sixties, when a generation was searching for it's own spirituality, and religion was everywhere. (Today's "Pagans" and "Wiccans" etc. are the children of the Hippie era.) Being a very curious being, I took out reams of books about religion and spirituality, and devoured them. I also sampled several different methods of worship for myself. (I am still grateful for having learned Yoga during that time. I recommend it for any young woman contemplating having children.)
Anyway, it didn't seem logical to suppose that the universe actually needed more than One Creator. Nor does it seem as if any Entity powerful enough to create a universe from scratch, and then people it with life would be difficult for the human mind to understand. It does seem logical, however, to suppose that He would wish to have communication with His creation.
Then, too, there are all those similar "myths" and "legends"...we all know them. The creation story, the flood story, a being that brings forbidden knowledge from heaven, etc, etc...and how many dying but ever-living saviors are there? Don't almost all of them meet certian criteria...like the virgin birth, born in mid winter, born in a cave, rejected, etc, etc... No, coincidence just can't explain all that, not when you consider that the people who held these beliefs were separated by both time and distance. The explanation that they were primitive people who made up their gods to explain things like lightning and to ease the fear of death don't hold up under close examination, either. None of those oh-so-glib explanations really made sense to me...not then, and not now.
Once you accept that God exists, and that the legends are true, it is time to decide which God. We've eliminated a few, but there are many left.
Does history tell us anything? A little, maybe, but not really enough. Well, what about archeology? Better. Archeologists have uncovered places that the Bible speaks about...could the Bible be true? Well, alot of the history it tells obviously happened. The God the Bible speaks of fits the rest of our criteria...could this be the Creator? This seems to be the best representation of Him I could find. OK, it's not perfect...but remember, a good bit of it was written during some very primitive times.
Jesus, however, is far from barbaric. He has great power, but He never uses it to serve Himself. He feeds thousands of people, but He never takes food from anyone. He heals countless numbers of people, but you never hear of Him harming anyone. He raises from the dead, but He never kills anyone. He never even defends Himself, not even when He is facing His killers.
Then there was my tenth grade Biology teacher. I had such a CRUSH on him, he was HOT!! He taught us that energy could not be created, nor could it be destroyed...it could only change form. That hit me, really hard. But...energy had to come from somewhere, didn't it?
God, of course, is the ultimate Source of Energy. Isn't life energy?
I am a Christian.

Answer 10

Im not religious, i think we are just one of many experiments in the universe. Why 9 planets in solar system and only earth has life? Whatever made us wasn't certain as to what temperature or atmosphere we would survive, hence 9 completely different planets at various distances from the sun. Mercury was too hot, pluto too cold, earth was just right.
In effect i guess i am saying that god/the gods are in fact scientists.