Can anyone actually give me a reson to believe in God?

Question

I can't think of a reason. I am happy in my life the way it is - completely free of religion.... so you could say that now I can't go to heaven.
But I look at it this way:

IF there is a heaven, this caring and loving God won’t mind if I have rational doubts about him and rational reasons for not believing in him. This god won’t punish me for exercising my critical thinking skills. And he'll let me into heaven.

And if this god sends people to hell forever for rational doubt, why would anyone want to spend an eternity with such an egotistical monster? So not spending eternity with this god doesn’t sound like much of a loss.

So therefore I can remain atheist, seeing as there is no reason to bother believing.
I love life. And I explained the afterlife situation, so why bother changing?

Answer 1

Nope.
Without evidence to support such a being, we must conclude that it is imaginary.

Answer 2

I cannot give YOU a reason to believe in God. I have personal reasons and examples in my life that are the reason that I believe, as do most believers. I don't know your life, your situations, etc. so I can't give you an example from your life that shows you that God has his hand in it. But I assure you, he does. Whether you choose to believe in him or not, he exists. God, the creator of man, wants only for us to believe in him and obey him (and his laws are not hard to obey) But he did give us the free will to choose not to believe. I think an Egotistical God would have created us all w/o free will. He would control our thoughts, and make us all believe and have no other option.

God Chose to create you, God chose to love you, even now while you don't admit his existence. You have opportunities to open your eyes and heart to see this, and to research, read his word, ask questions (like you are doing) and come to your own conclusions. God wouldn't cast someone away for having "rational doubt" that is only Human, and afterall, he tells us to be faithful, but even the most Holy Christian will have doubtful days, and will then pray, read or ask for guidance.

The only way into heaven is through Jesus Christ, the only Son of God the Father. You can Accept him as your Saviour, Believe his love is real and surrounds you, Repent from your sins, and then Recieve the Gift of Heaven.

I assure you it breaks God's Heart to see any of his creation not spend eternity with him. But he sets rules and asks only that you believe and obey.

I should also say, that I think you have a good question, and I'm sure many people have a simillar one...good luck finding an answer!

Answer 3

I'm having doubts whether to answer this for I know I'll be having a lot of thumbs down. But you asked, so i suppose you need answers other than, "NO.". I respect your views without scorn and I just hope that I may be regarded the same.
There are times that I think of this as just mere coincidence. But sometimes it's just too much that it really makes me wonder of a Divine existence.
I have been loveless for a long time, but on the eve of Dec. 30, 2001, I prayed intensely for Him to give me a sign to let me know the right person meant for me. Not a minute after the prayer, this guy who I have not seen for a year suddenly called. It was so unexpected because we've not spoken for a long time and he had already stopped courting me.So I took it as the signal I was asking for. That call renewed our friendship and you know what, the guy became my husband.
My brother and I went to college far from home and my Mom was the sole provider of the family for my Dad died early. There are times when Mom has to send us our allowance already but she still had no money for it. She told us she would always just pray asking for God's help. And miracles do happen to her. Every time she prays, the following day, money will just come unexpectedly.
We are all entitled to our own beliefs, views and opinion. Some may not believe in God and it doesn't bother me. But in our case, it just so happen that we believe we had experienced manifestations from Him that will make our faith even stronger.

Answer 4

If you were to have the choice between infinite money and infinite life, which would you choose?
Money can make you "happy". It can give you whatever your heart desires. It can keep you from being harmed. It gives you influance and power. It can give you returns of good feelings, such as when you give some to charity.
Will it last though? When your frail body finally gives up on itself, your heart beating it's last, the oxygen to your brain being less and less, your frail hand letting go of the dollar bill...everything you buy, everything you have, all that you own...it's God's.
You say that God wouldn't mind if you have rational doubts about him, I am assuming because you can find no physical proof of Him. He will not let you into heaven if you doubt Him. I can guarentee that. Why? Jesus couldn't/wouldn't heal people becuase they didn't believe in Him. If God in flesh, Jesus Christ-Son of the Living God wouldn't heal people of mere sicknesses because of doubt and unbelief, what makes you think that you are any better off?
God honors critical thinking skills for use of better judgement ("Hmm, I probably shouldn't drink and drive..." "Maybe I shouldn't take the mark of the beast....") but not when it comes to you having trouble believeing that He exists. It's not rational doubt. It's physical doubt. You have no physical proof that He is around us, so you think it's unjustified that He judge people this way?
It may not be much of a loss for you, but the Bible says that you will go to hell. Let me tell you a little about hell.
Your mind will be active. You will FEEL everything. The Bible never says there will be no disease. Can you imagine? Your cuts get infected, your body is sick...the Bible never says there are any bathrooms either. Where does it say that you won't have to go? Eventually you'll just have to go on yourself, and imagine sitting in that for eternity. Imagine sitting in OTHERS crap for eternity. You'll get headaches, pains, coughing...all the disgusting diseases and sicknesses on Earth today will be in hell. Then you'll remember everything. You'll know why you are here, you'll know that you should have listened...
There there is the fire of hell. After all that is happening, you also burn.
Hell? It's not just somewhere to scare people, with a big red devil and pitchfork watching everyone burn. Hell is a place of such utter depravity and separation from God that to think of there puts me into a sad mood.
God is not egotistical, we are rebellious. It IS all about Him, and well it should be. We control what we make, why not Him? God loves us too much to sacrifice on His standards. He will not adjust for us, we adjust for Him. If He provides for me on a daily basis, then that's enough for me. I'll praise Him and His name for the rest of my eternal existance. The Bible says that every breath you take is a gift from God. Appricieate Him for at least that.

Answer 5

You can remain atheist...however what harm is there in believing in a higher power of some sort. For me...religion does nothing fore me really...I do believe in something. A kind and loving spirit that will not send a Creation of his or her own making to burn in hell....one who loves unconditionally and who is with me each and every moment to save me from being alone in times that are both happy and sad. It is a spirit that I choose, probably different from any one elses...however I have this with me to bring out the good in me during times when I would other wise choose to be a butt head about something and to give me the strength and wisdom I need to see things on a more rational level. This is what I do. However we all have the right to choose how we live and who we want to be, if you are more comfortable the way you are....I am not judging you for it.

Answer 6

Funny that you even ask the question.. You must have doubts ... You tag yourself as atheist.. why do you bother tagging yourself at all... the questions are comming from God, like when you do something wrong and you get that shameful feeling.. God... God promises eternal happiness , but only through Jesus Christ can you be saved... I pray that you continue to question and decide that there is a reason for your happiness and that God is the center of it.. I will pray for you..

Answer 7

Lol, to be honest my friend, I don't think that anyone can truly give you a reason to believe in God. You just sort of have to want to believe in God. There is a heaven. There is a hell. Whether you end up in either one, I don't believe that you will stay in them forever.

I'm not big on religion either. Spiriituality is my thing. The problem with organized religion, is that it is organized by men and or women, and the true message brought by their "founders", if you will, i.e. Buddha, Jesus Christ,Mohommad, etc. etc., are usually changed and edited to the point that the real meanings behind the words of these great spiritual masters is lost into obscurity.

Also, Buddha, Jesus, and other great spiritual masters of the past have long ago left this world's physical realm. Therefore, regular people, not enlightened sages, have been left to modify, manipulate, and use the power of the teachings of these great saints.

Take Christianity for example. Did you know that there are a lot of books in the Bible that were taken out? Did you know that the ruler who first established Christianity as his state religion was himself not very religious at all, but instead just wanted to use Christianity as a tool for control and power?

After coming into power and ending the persecution of Christians, a very heated and debate threatened to divide the church. This event is important in history, because it has shaped the way Christians everywhere believe.

Anyway. My point, is that don't be so quick to hold so much weight with what religions teach. As long as you are inherently good and feel like you are doing the right thing, I'm sure you'll go to heaven no problem, whether you believe in God or not. If you do bad things, and don't care about doing right up until the day you die, you'll probably spend some time in hell whether you believe in God or not too.

The wonderful thing about believing in God, is that when you truly truly truly know God, then you are completely and totally satisfied. Whether you are a King, or a beggar, you are so incredibly happy, nothing much can bother you, materially that is.

The problem lies in going about truly knowing God. Not just believing, but actually knowing who God is. I'm not going to say go read your bible more and study scripture and whatever to better understand God, cuz that won't get you to KNOW God

If you don't KNOW who God is, I truly believe that no one can blame you for not believing in God, because if you don't know God you're really just going on hearsay and, well, belief, to believe that God exists.

I know someone who teaches people how to Know God and realize for themselves what Jesus meant when he said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" and "You are Gods", and " I and my Father are one."

The fact is, everyone regardless of race, religion, color, creed, country, is a son or daughter of God. Everyone is entitled to go to Heaven. In fact, everyone will eventually spend time in Heaven.

I know this all sounds crazy, but to back up this statement,so you can find out for yourself and not just go on my word, check out this website www.godsdirectcontact.org. There, if you're really interested, you can find out more about how to truly know and see God. Not just read about him in books.

Peace

Answer 8

Sometimes you spell God and sometimes you spell god - I spell it G-d. I think if He exists He will prefer capital G (don't you think so)?

Even if you don't believe in G-d, maybe G-d believes in you.

I don't want to convince you to believe in G-d. Why should I?

By the way, I am an agnostic which seems to me the most sensible thing to be because there is no definitive proof either way.

Here are the lyrics to Manchester England from the Broadway show Hair:

Manchester England England
Across the Atlantic Sea
And I'm a genius genius
I believe in God
And I believe that God
Believes in Claude
That's me that's me

Claude Hooper Bukowski
Finds that it's groovy
To hide in a movie
Pretends he's Fellini
And Antonioni
And also his countryman Roman Polanski
All rolled into one
One Claud Hooper Bukowski

Now that I've dropped out
Why is life dreary dreary
Answer my weary query
Timothy Leary dearie

Oh Manchester England England
Across the Atlantic Sea
And I'm a genius genius
I believe in God
And I believe that God
Believes in Claude
That's me (that's he)
That's me (that's he)
That's me (that's he)
That's me

Answer 9

i am a believer. if you are looking for a reason to believe you might never find it. faith is sometimes beyond rational thought. it's more about feeling & believing without really seeing or hearing or sensing. i think it's a gift and god gives it as he pleases.

seek and you will find. me, i only know that i am nothing without him. there is a void in me that only he can fill. perhaps you feel the same void so you ask this question..?

i don't know if he sends people to hell for rational doubt. somehow i don't think so. he is very merciful. he reveals himself to those who seek him. he is a loving god and he doesn't just punish people because he feels like it. he is reason itself, the source of all wisdom. he wouldn't stoop down to doing irrational things.

...and he is not egotistical. he is just deserving of all praise because he is goodness itself. he is perfect. and in giving praise to god, it is man who is actually doing himself a good service. god is so self-sufficient he does not need us. at the same time, he is so abundant in goodness that he needs to share himself to others.

Answer 10

do you need a religion for that? do you need to look at someone else breathing to know that you are breathing?
to believe in life is all that you need,forget about heaven and hell, reward and punishment, those that tell you so are very sick people. The very fact that you used a capital G in god says that you have acknowledged that there is one. is that a good enough reason for you?

Answer 11

One of the flaws of your critical thinking is that God would condemn you to hell for having doubts.

Not so. Doubt has nothing to do with it.

So, use your critical thinking skills to determine why God would condemn anyone to hell forever.

For living an evil, wicked lifestyle? For rejecting Him as creator over all things and people?

For turning to yourself as the standard to live by, instead of turning to Him and living by His standards?

For judging Him as being an egotistical monster, when in fact He didn't have to create anyone?

Do you have children? Did they ever disobey you over an issue that was for their safety, then accuse you of being an egotistical monster?