To what extent should non-believers accept "personal experience" or someone's "personal relationship" with God as evidence for God? People often cite this relationship as evidence for His existence. What about your personal experience/relationship should make me believe? Atheists: your thoughts on this sort of thing...?
2007-07-03 03:24:36 · 15 answers · asked by grl235 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I hear personal "evidence" from every different religion, from people who believe in fortune tellers and astrology, and from people who've seen ghosts or the loch ness monster. Why should I give any of these more weight or belief than another?
There are many examples of how people's perceptions are not accurate and are strongly influenced by what they want to see.
2007-07-03 03:31:58 · answer #1 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hm, I am not going to say you should believe because of anything anyone says. It's what you feel inside.
I'm a spiritual person, meaning I have my own personal relationship with God, without the need for religion to tell me how to express that. I listen to my heart and my gut and express that in the way I wish every day. It's a conscious want to grow and be a better person and help those around me. I find that God is in and around all living things, including rocks, trees, plants, people, the universe, the Sun and Sky in everything.
When I get quiet and go within for my answers, I feel that divine spark in me, lovingly telling me what I need to know. Light and Dark. (dark meaning simply not illuminated or hidden from me, in other words, things I know, and things I didn't know.) It's all about learning and growing as a person, and realizing everything is connected for me. I hope that makes sense.
2007-07-03 10:32:48 · answer #2 · answered by Jill S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People who cite personal experiences as evidence are fools (believers or non-believers), don't listen to them.
People like that give us believers a bad name. The true believer has the dignity to say that there is an equal chance that he's wrong as there is that he's right.
2007-07-03 11:07:59 · answer #3 · answered by Dan L 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As a Christian...defending the Christian faith with "personal experience" is illogical.
I realized this right after I joined this board. Empirical evidence is what people search for.
The other thing that kills me is the circular argument of the Bible. The Bible declares itself the authority, thus it is. I recognized this long ago.
It just irks me that Christians don't go deeper and study for themselves what makes the Bible true.
Good question...yeah, even the Christian guy likes it:)
2007-07-03 10:31:49 · answer #4 · answered by Mr. A 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As a believer, I really don't expect that anyone else should accept my personal experiences with my Gods as "proof" that they exist for someone else.
But then, I don't particularly care whether or not anyone else believes the same things I do. I don't need their validation or their approval or their permission to follow my path. I don't need to "make them" believe anything.
2007-07-03 10:35:23 · answer #5 · answered by Nandina (Bunny Slipper Goddess) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personal relationship, well, I only accept that as part of their subjective reality. It doesn't mean that it's not true for them, but they can't make it clearly objective, they can't offer any proof. So therefore, their personal relationship with god should not be allowed to affect objective reality. (i.e. laws, schools, etc.)
I have no problem with them believing whatever they want. But I deserve the same opportunity.
2007-07-03 10:31:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think my personal experiences mean much to anyone who does not believe. . . .I don't guess I see where it could mean anything to anyone but me.
For me my personal experience is the tangible evidence that I have. And, there is no way that I could explain it to someone who does not believe.
And, as far as the Holy Spirit, there is so much more to it then "babbling incoherently".
2007-07-03 10:33:11 · answer #7 · answered by sparkles9 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You start to experience G-d in a personal level when:
1) You realize that nothing happens by chance.
2) You open your eyes and see that the things that happen to you are for your self-improvement as a person, and ultimately are for you own good.
2007-07-03 10:30:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Personal encounters are subjective and pretty much do not mean anything to an unbeliever. However, it is very important for the individual because it disproves the agnostic belief that God cannot be known personally, when indeed He can.
When I first accepted Christ in 1970, I did not know very much of the Bible at all. I accepted because I wanted to know God was real. A few months after my decision, He made Himself personally real to me. Years later, during the Jesus People movement, I was able to learn enough of the Bible to prove God was real by discussion, debate and argument.
During the 90s I was able to get a good handle on prophecy and how it proves without doubt that God is real and has spoken through His Word the Bible.
You can see that growth (akin to our physical growth) is a process. We start as babes, knowing only the love and nurturing of our parents. Soon we learn to walk on our own, then grow to young men/women, then to adulthood.
2007-07-03 10:28:30 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 4⤋
Someone with a relationship with God should be changed to be more like Him. He is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle,faithful and self-controlled.
2007-07-03 10:31:36 · answer #10 · answered by SFECU12 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋