Do you believe in God?

Question

I personally am having my doubts nowadays. I'm thinking about converting to Atheism.

Don't post anything defending God unless you have scientific proof that he exists! And no the Bible is not Scientific Proof.

Woah Woah when did I ever said I didn't think jesus existed? I know they actually have a little proof of him. Even though he was not the son of God

And also both my parents are jewish. So believe me I dont think I have been brainwashed from anyone. I'm just using my brain.

Its kind of funny to see some of your explanitions. Especially the ones that are saying God is real.

Answer 1

It is more of a deconversion. You were born an atheist. When you were born, you had no belief in any gods. You didn't even know the concept. Later, probably not much later, you were indoctrinated into religion. As a child, you really don't have the capability for skeptical reasoning, and church discourages it. You tend to accept what the church tells you.

Congrats on breaking through that indoctrination. It is a difficult thing to overcome, made more or less difficult by your parents and the religion you were in.

I suggest you just look at the evidence. On one hand you have the histories of all the gods that people believe in. You'll find that all of those histories have a very human beginning. You can also look into myths, superstitions, and urban legends, and see how people make up and strongly believe things that are not true. That is scientific evidence that points to the non-existence of any god.

On the other hand, as one of the previous responders, who happens to be a believer, said, there is no scientific evidence that a god exists.

Religion tends to keep itself going purely on emotional arguments, not rational ones.

Answer 2

There are many good reasons to not believe in God, and some not so good ones why you should; but the thing that intrigues me is how so many people in so many different places throughout history have professed a deep faith, at the risk of their lives, in one or another silly thing, all leading to some God being the culprit. Do you remember mom telling you to eat chicken soup when you have a cold? Our scientific society later told you that there was no evidence that an old wives' tale could helb with actually curing a cold, that it would just be a nice thing to eat. Now scientists are saying that chicken soup does help cure colds for some esoteric reason; and for some esoteric reason, sometimes the masses just know. They may not know exactly how or why, and thereby end up killing each other over stupid disagreements of something we cannot possibly understand in the first place, but just because they are so wrong about the details doesn't necessarily mean that God, therefore cannot exist. This God from the bible is a very silly thing and in that respect you should be atheistic; but don't close your mind to an intelligent design; that new paradigm is destined to go further than what the originators expect, like the Soviet Union going further with their freedom than what communist Gorbachev really expected; it just ran away from his plans to have his cake and eat it too. This is what will happen to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But not tomorrow.

Answer 3

I don't believe. The rules of logic, known since the ancient Greeks, tell us that it is impossible to prove a negative assertion (God does not exist.) The same rules also tell us that those making a positive assertion (God exists.) must provide suitable evidence supporting their claim, or the assertion must be considered false. To my knowledge, no Christian has ever provided verifiable evidence to support their claim that God exists in objective (physical) reality.

Five-hundred years before Christ, Aristotle defined the philosophy of Solipsism, which purports that each individual's subjective experience is the basis of reality. Solipsists also maintain that the physical realm is unreal, a construction of mind. Jesus Christ, all of his disciples, the founders of the early church, and the men who wrote books of the Bible were all Solipsists. In modern times, persons who imagine their own subjective perceptions are real are frequently called "spiritual." Such people occasionally believe their thoughts are actually real.

The scientific revolution began about 1590, when the physics of Galileo Galilei proved that the physical realm was actually real. This finding was quickly confirmed by the mechanics of Isaac Newton. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the invention of the EEG machine proved that all thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions arise from the self-contained neurological structures of a living human brain. This undeniably proves that subjective mental experience is not the basis of reality. In other words, the "spiritual" belief that subjective experience forms the basis of reality is not supported by the evidence. On the other hand, the "scientific" view, that the physical realm is absolutely real is completely supported by countless examples of confirming evidence.

Personally, I am a "liberal" atheist. I do not reject subjective experience as utterly without value. I happily agree that God can exist in the subjective experience of those who believe. I do think faith can provide some benefit to those who believe.

If one thinks carefully, it is easy to understand that, despite the scientific revolution, God still exists where He always has -- in the subjective experience of believers. It is also easy to understand that God does not exist where He never has -- in objective (physical) reality. (The ancients didn't worry that God never appeared in the physical realm, because they didn't believe the physical was real.) The only thing which was actually changed by the scientific revolution is how human civilization defines reality. In the Solipsistic past, reality was each person's mental experience. In the Scientific present, reality is the objective (physical) realm.

When the scientific revolution occured, religious people were quick to claim that their God also existed in the physical world. After all, He was God wasn't He? Shouldn't He be able to exist anywhere He wished? Unfortunately, no Christian has ever supplied any evidence that God actually does exist in the physical. Christianity's unwillingness to remain logically consistent and to accept that their ancient God cannot avoid one necessary limitation, drives thinking people away from the the faith by the millions, simply because Christianity stubbornly persists in defining reality in a manner known to be utterly inconsistent with the observable nature of the universe.

Answer 4

Take a look at Humanism. Humanism is a philosophy of life inspired by humanity and guided by reason. It provides the basis for a fulfilling and ethical life without religion.

Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values.
Humanists see no convincing evidence for gods, the supernatural, or life after death.
Humanists believe that moral values are properly founded on human empathy and scientific understanding.
Humanists believe we must live this life on the basis that it is the only life we'll have -- that, therefore, we must make the most of it for ourselves, each other, and our world.
Humanist philosophies have arisen separately in many different cultures over many thousands of years. Whether or not they use the term humanism, tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around the world agree with the humanist philosophy of living a happy and productive life based on reason and compassion.

Answer 5

I'm Agnostic, meaning I don't 'know' either way. If there's a God, I'm open to it- just show me the proof. If there's not, then I'm open to some other alternative to how we all came to be. Whatever is true, that's what I will believe. Truth is not 'subjective' imho, but there should be concrete proof to back it up. So far, I've seen no concrete proof for either the existence or the non-existence of 'God.'

Answer 6

Good luck, dontdude.
Way to make up your own mind.
I stopped believing in God when I was about 16... I think it was just a process of growing up.. I wasted my time before then studying all kinds of things about the Bible, trying to learn more from the time I was about 8 years old; I even wanted to become a missionary.

Now I wish I had that time back, to learn from real teachers-- the moral philosophers.
The sooner you become a free thinker the better in my opinion!

Answer 7

Well...I do understand your doubts. We were not born with the knowledge that God exists. We were taught either by our parents or someone else. What we were taught either stirred something within us, or it did not. If it stirred something in us, by choice we accepted the bible as truth. We used this bible as a handbook to guide us how to live our life. I am a christian and the existance of God stirred something within me. It makes me comfortable, it give me hope, it helps me to be a better person. I wish everyone could feel this way.

However my faith and my denomination is not for everyone. It is not for me to convert the world and change everyone's religion to mine. Nope that is not my job. I can tell you about my God and what he does for me and how he makes me feel personally. Maybe you will like what I have to say and look deeper into it, but maybe not. The choice is yours. I don't condemn you. My bible teaches that there will be believers and none believers and you have to accept that. You can plant a seed and if it grows, fantastic. My religion teaches that you are to love everyone as you would love yourself. In my eyes that means EVERYONE! No matter what their denomination or beliefs.

You know what I would suggest? That you seek out what stirs your inner emotions. What makes you feel comfortable. Make sure that you do educate yourself. My religion teaches that my God already knows who will accept him and who will not. It is only my duty to tell you about him, not hog tie you and whip you into believing. No matter which way you go, I hope you find the inner peace that you deserve.

Answer 8

Of course not. In ALL history, there has NEVER been ANY verifiable evidence that even suggests that gods exist. The idea itself is completely without basis, because in ALL history there has NEVER even been a sound philosophical argument in favor of the existence of god(s).

If you have a good open mind and are willing to learn new things, you will still admit that there is some small possibility that god(s) exist. But that possibility is so remote that it is virtually irrational to consider. That is the definition of "fact".

Answer 9

You want scientific proof of God's existence? Look in a mirror or out a window. Look at the sky, birds, anything! He created all things.

Answer 10

Yes, I believe in God.

Christianity has a rich history which started with the jews at the beginning of time. The bible is filled with historical facts that Archaeologists use and has been proven very reliable. We have over 5000 documented ancient findings of scripture, many in different languages, all the same. WE have the dead sea scrolls to prove this also. The Vatican just bought 2 gospels dating 90 ad, the same as we have today. There is prophesies that has come to pass from the bible that proves it's reliability. Over 300 just for the man Jesus.

We have non christian evidence of Jesus from Tacitus and Josephus both historians. And a Governor named Pliny the Younger who all wrote about "Christos" and his followers the Christan's.

Archaeologists have found the tomb of Caiaphas who was the Pharisee that brought Jesus to trial.
Jesus WAS a real person who was an historical figure. Even well read Atheists KNOW this.

We have eye witnesses who had every thing to loose by claiming to be a follower of Jesus. Why? When Jesus was killed they scattered. Afraid. BUT when they saw he was resurrected they became bold. Why?
Since the bible is reliable, and Jesus WAS here you must decide.
Was he a nut? A liar, Or who he claimed to be.

For me, I personally have had MANY supernatural experienced with God/ Jesus. So many in fact I started keeping a journal.
God is real, Jesus is The Christ and there is salvation in no other name.
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