2007-07-01 05:40:58 · 20 answers · asked by G.xi 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
witnessing the birth of my son and the viablility of life on earth (an astronomical long shot)
2007-07-01 05:43:20 · answer #1 · answered by Furibundus 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
1. because the odds that life on earth and all the elements and conditions to support life is all due to chance by far too slim (one chance in hundreds of trillions that this planet would support complex ecosystems, while we only have about eighty billion planets in the universe), and there are too many creatures that cannot be explained by the theory of evolution.
2. the reason i believe IN God, and not just that there IS a God is because He keeps His promises. i've seen too many good things happen in my life since converting, and i truly didn't deserve most of them.
3. this entire category is set up for people who are sincerely trying to get back to what they really are. God created man in His own image and likeness. the proof of that is that there is some form of spirituality and/or religion in every single culture as a result.
2007-07-01 13:05:12 · answer #2 · answered by That Guy Drew 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The universe---ok, let's stick with our planet---is so complex that it requires a creator. A single cell that shows the three signs of life----respiration, irritibility, and reproduction---cannot happen by mistake. To believe in the spontaneous generation of life, and then its evolution into unimaginably complex and diverse life forms is far crazier than to believe that it was engineered, designed, whatever.
second, face it---85-90% of human beings follow similar beliefs or unbeliefs to those they were raised with. I believe---with some reservations---is a very similar Christian God to that with which I was raised.
Third, I have known some excellent people who showed what to me were unmistakable signs of being other-directed, Godly, whatever you want to call it. I want the kind of inner peace that they have. I want to be like them.
I believe the Christian Bible to be flawed and full of contradictions. One can study the Bible like a karate student studying anatomy,(Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs) and find weaknesses aplenty. Or one can look for the good and discard that which is not useful---chew the hay and spit out the sticks. (Sharon Henneman).
edit---When was the last time a big bang created anything? Someone once said that the chances of a big bang creating our wonderfully intricate and complex universe are similar to the liklihood of someone blowing up a printing press and the debris arranging itself into a neatly stacked set of encyclopedias.
2007-07-01 13:08:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe in god for two main reasons.
1) Seems like everyone else believes in god.
2) As a child my parents told me there is a god and I cant change that.
Do you smell the sarcasm?
2007-07-01 12:58:58 · answer #4 · answered by Sina R 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Most obvious, everything I see about me.....this planet, all that's on it, and everything out in space....could not possibly have come into existence, let alone maintain its existence, without a Higher Intelligence/Power.
The experience of others and personal experience would account for all the other reasons. Tried, tested, proved effective. Among others: less stress and more peace of mind, courage in tough times, forgiveness both given and received, contentment even in afflictions, harmful addictions overcome, tolerance/patience in the face of rudeness and hostility, financial stability, improved health, healing for the past, help for the present, hope for the future.....
2007-07-01 12:55:11 · answer #5 · answered by transplanted_fireweed 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Why do I believe in God ? I think I believe in God because I feel his presence in my life in an inexplicable way. There is no rational way of answering this question. If you want to know God just be aware of the awareness within you. You know you are alive. Be aware of your sense of being alive. Just observe your own consciousness. Reasons for believing in God? I think we believe in god because of our conditioning. Knowing God is more important.
2007-07-01 12:50:54 · answer #6 · answered by alec 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Faith can be defined as accepting something as true because you trust the person or source that tells you. Faith is not exclusive to religion, but is a general part of human life. We need faith since human knowledge is imperfect. For example, most people believe that the speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second. They usually accept this as true because they trust science and not because they have personally verified it. Most people do not have the technical training, equipment or patience to measure the speed of light. It is only practical to trust the experts. Ironically most people must take Evolution on faith. Faith is also important in personal relationships. We may believe that someone loves us because he told us; and we trust him, even though it is impossible to verify it. A person without faith is not irreligious but inhuman.
Faith in God is not based on reason, yet there can be reasonable evidence. Reason can help us better explain our faith (1 Peter 3:15) and prevents faith from becoming superstition. Blaise Pascal held that reasoning men believe in God. He was a thinker, inventor, scientist and mathematician of the 17th century. Even today, science recognizes Pascal for his work and genius by naming a computer language and a unit of pressure after him. His argument in favor of God is formulated as a wager, known as Pascal's wager. Even though Pascal's wager is not a proof for the existence of God, it is a powerful reason for believing in God.
For Pascal, God either exists or does not exist. I must bet on one or the other. This wager is unavoidable. Simply ignoring this wager carries the same consequence as betting that God does not exist. If I bet that God exists and am wrong, nothing is lost; but if I am right, the gain could be heavenly. If I bet that God does not exist and am right, nothing is gained. However, if I am wrong, then woe is me.
A reasoning person must consider the gains and risks of this wager. The gain in not believing in God is nothing (except being dead right) while the gain in believing can be eternal happiness. The risk in believing in God is being wrong, but the risk in not believing is the loss of eternal happiness. According to Pascal.
temporary pleasures of sin can intice us to unreasonably deny God, as written in Psalm 14: "The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’" [Ps. 14:1; NASB]
2007-07-01 12:49:05 · answer #7 · answered by C R 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I don't believe in God.
I believe in flying purple people eaters.
1. Because you can't prove they don't exist.
2. I saw the movie so that is evidence they do exist.
3. They answer my prayers.
4. The ghost of the flying purple people eater guides me.
5. They are cool and God's not.
Is this enough?
2007-07-01 12:45:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
1) Numerous, absolutely miraculous (unexplainable by any known scientific means) interventions in my life and the life of friends, many in direct response to prayer, some in response to prayers that people were inexplicably awoken out of a sound sleep to make
2) The scientific impossibility of this universe existing without Him
3) The sweet logic of His word -- it all fits together, makes unified sense out of the past, present and future
4) The changes in people's attitudes when they decide to trust Him (kindness, peace, happiness levels)
2007-07-01 12:46:14 · answer #9 · answered by shirleykins 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
1)prayers seem to be answered when I ask with sincerity and purpose
2) i have met people who have believed for a long time and they have a certain light about them that convinces me that they are on to something
3)intuition or instinct
note: I don't care what other people believe or belong to a religion.
2007-07-01 12:43:40 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 3⤋