Is personal experience the only argument for God's existence?

Question

In a previous question, most believers admitted that if they had not experienced divine revelation, the other logical/scientific arguments wouldn't convince them of God's existence.

Do you agree? Or is there other evidence that you feel would convince any unbiased observer?

Answer 1

Personal experience through the Holy Spirit is the main one.....

And Scripture holds the other proof

Answer 2

Given that "religious experience" can be created artificially, the only thing that would convince me is hard, scientific evidence. This was true anyway, as each and every religion has people that have "religious experiences".

Edit:
A good example of personal experience is the spirit guides or totems of the Native Americans. The guide was (or is for those that still practice) real to them and it was a profound passage into adulthood. This sort of experience and others are shared by most if not all other religions.

Edit 2:
Given that there is no evidence supporting any supernatural involvement in evolution, no evidence of a global flood, no evidence of Joseph through Moses and the Exodus and that the only archaeological evidence for the Bible are locations and civilizations, I'd say that hard evidence for God or the Bible is non existent.

Answer 3

Nature gives us what you would call a "general revelation" of God's existence, and the Bible fills in the details.

But the problem is that unless God gives what's called a "special revelation" there is a disconnection between the physical world (ie our body and soul) and the spirit world. That's why Jesus said "You must be born again" He pointed out that once we're born into this physical world, we still need our spirit awakened within.

The body connects us the the physical environment while our soul connects us to our own "internal" environment; but the spirit connects us to the spiritual environment, and until that is "activated" (by an act of God, since it is outside of our reach), we can not fully "know" God.

When we repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ, God unlocks (gives life to) our spirit and we are born again, and then we are adopted into God's Forever Family.

Again, there is objective evidence for God's existence, but until and unless we put our trust in God, we can never have that "feeling" or awareness of certainty.

Answer 4

In the sense that you have subjectively experience everything from your point of view, there is literally no argument that is not based on personal experience.

The experience of God is internal and not external, therein lies this problem you are getting at. To experience God for yourself you would have to find God in yourself. This is an objective experience for each person who finds it, but it is not one that can be shared or pointed to because it is inside me.

So how do you find God in you? I like meditation. Focus on a mantra like Ohm or Amen and let your mind fall silent. Breathing and the mantra will help you re-center when your mind starts up again. Let your ego fall away, don't think or fear or hope. Just be. Try and feel that ineffible energy within you that feels like a burning and tingling and inexplicably feels like Love. Feel that energy connecting with the energy all around and outside you. For me, it is in that place that I can experience God directly.

Note: Atheist Sam Harris also says this is a verifiable individual experience but he is unwilling to make the intellectual assertion that this is supernaturala nd not just natural. That's a unique, scientific perspective that diverges substantially from the experience of humans over the ages. It would be like thinking what I feel for my girl is just that my selfish genes have hoodwinked me into being kind to her so she'll have sex with me and I can carry on my DNA. I don;t experience it this way, for me Love is ineffibly real and more than the mechanical, robotic movements of electricity and atoms inside me. How about you?

Answer 5

Personal experience is the only argument for belief in anything outside of self - even belief in the objective existence of physical things. Asking for scientific proof of God is the same as asking for scientific proof of objective physical existence - both are impossible, there is no conclusive proof for either, both can be doubted (see Descartes "I think therefore I am"). For example the physical universe we experience is indistinguishable from a simulation on a massive quantum computer.

Answer 6

To me, a significant study of just about anything in our material world leads to the question of design or chance. I am also not entirely sold on the word design. What single word could be used to symbolize "causes to be"? The order and structure of it, everything, seams to perfect. What would Vegas odds be on us just happening out of star dust or if you prefer material elements in the known universe? When I say us, I not only mean the physical us but, the mind of us also. According to a Noble Prize winner for Medical science, Gerald M Edelman M.D., Ph. D, if we started counting every connection or synapses in our brain at the rate of one per second we would finish in 32 million years. It’s not just the number that is amazing but each synapse may be used for an untold number of purposes. Exactly how the third party experience of the remembered present arises from this biological system is a matter that far brighter and further educated minds than mine are convinced is the most significant challenge for science. I am further convinced that to study any branch of science will lead you to the same question. Religion is defined as a means of reconnecting to God. I am not sure that any of the organized Religions hasn't lost its goal and replaced it with petty human social functions and dogma. However, I do take solace in the fact that, for me, this life is not random and has significance, which significance is for me to determine.

Thanks for the question.....

So the one line answer to your question is this; there are significant unknowns that are currently beyond our ability to understand via science and may forever be beyond our ability, I gave that a name...."God" and in him I find complete love and understanding.

Answer 7

I never been offered valid evidence of God's existence outside of my own direct personal experience.

The other logical/scientific arguments of God's existence...as you mentioned...I find are filled with holes and inadequate.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 8

It's not the only argument for God's existence and you can argue (as the Bible does) that evidence of God can be seen in creation.

However it is only the personal experience of coming to know God that will convince people of His existence.

Answer 9

Personal experience is the really the only one that counts when it comes to belief. It is what made you believe and what keeps you believing. The rest is just icing on the cake so to speak.

Answer 10

Personal experience, unless co-oberated by many other identical personal experiences is just one person's experience and may be due to many factors such as psychological and mental disorders, food poisoning, diseases etc. To take personal experiences as 'argument for god's existance' or the existance of anything else for that matter, is ludicrous. Otherwise we must give credence to the people who say they were abducted by aliens last night - isn't that a personal experience?

Therefore, 'personal experience' is NO argument for god's existance.

Answer 11

It is in my opinion, which is why I find conversion attempts so annoying.

If a person has not experienced a god, telling them about it will not convert them, and will only serve to make both sides of the attempt frustrated.