If you can just "know" God is there, then how come you can't just "know" he's not?

Question

I see this all the time and I can't help but laugh. I "know" the Christian god has never been a part of my life regardless of the begging that came before this realization. I have had people tell me "Well I just know hes with me". I am not doubting he is. But I "just know" he's not with me. How come it works one way but not the other?

There is nothing wrong with not being sure either. :)

When I used "God" as his name I capitalized it. The second time I used it, it was not a title or a proper noun there fore it is not capitalized

Why is everyone assuming that I didn't "accept Jesus as my savior" and turn my life over to him. Why do you ASSUME that I didn't do alllll the right things but that God just didn't come to me. I love how black and white Christianity is. Your god is the only god, therefore I must not have tried hard enough.
I DO have faith. In MY gods. I understand faith. I also understand lack of faith.

Answer 1

HD - love it! You and I think along similar lines. The Christian God and Jesus never took with me. Despite begging since I was a young child until I was in my early 20s.

And I've heard the same answers you're getting here - "Just ask, confess your sins and he'll answer you." "He will be there for you if you're sincere enough." "Maybe you weren't sincere before." "Why did you turn from God and harden your heart?"

Bah - they just won't accept the fact that their god isn't with us but our deities are. They scoff when we talk about the gods, or say we worship the Devil. Sorry, Christians, that's your invention. They really can't comprehend that someone wouldn't want their deity or would believe in other deities. Especially when their religion teaches them there is no other correct way. Most talk about the love of God but then try and scare you with eternal damnation if you won't convert.

Ah, I'm ranting. Sorry guys.

Answer 2

It's a fact that primitive man (and many modern people) believed (believe) that man himself can control, among other things, nature. This is what we call magic, obviously. It has been suggested that when in certain times and places, people came to realize that man could not, in fact, control anything by magic, that, rather than relinquish the idea that there was some being in control, people imagined the existence of what are basically a sort of super humans- gods. This would explain why gods are invariably in control of things that humans once thought (and as I said, some still believe they can) they could control or influence by magic, such as the weather- and the human soul. That's one theory. I've never really read any others, but I can think of a few possibilities myself. One is that it could develop out of animism- the belief that everything, including inanimate objects, have souls. It wouldn't be a far step from there to believing that some objects were gods with powers based upon the qualities, real or imagined, of the object. Another would be that it could develop out of hero worship. Understand that religion is not necessary for humans to believe in spirits. So, the great hero's spirit lives on after his death, and from there it's also not much of a step to his spirit being called on after his death and not much of a step from there to his being a god. You see that actually happening among the Greeks, but they already were theists at that time, but it's probable enough that this also happened in their prehistory. If you look at anthropomorphic gods in general, it's obvious that they're based on genuinely human types, and even the supposedly non-anthropomorphic Abrahamic "God" is obviously a disembodied human personality. Gods in general were created in man's image- the obvious indication that man created them for a human purpose; to forward the belief that "man is the measure of all things."

Answer 3

I can probably only offer my own experience as an example. When I was young, I had experiences that I would call "with God". At the time, though, I had no way of putting those experiences into any kind of larger context, any kind of meaning, other than the evangelical Christianity I had been brought up with. But I knew in my heart that there were some fundamental dissonances between my experience and the teachings of the church. Eventually, after much study, I found ways to contextualize my experience within (mostly Eastern and patristic) Christianity, and from there I was able to see the similarities with other forms of mystical and spiritual experience.

I no longer feel that anyone's spiritual path leads to a different Divinity, but we each have our own perceptions, our own paths by which we will encounter it in different forms, avatars, gods and goddesses. But it takes a certain level of experience and thoughtfulness to get to that point, honestly. I think it's easier to stay in the narrow mindset that we've been raised with, than to risk shattering that and having to find a new worldview.

Peace to you.

Answer 4

Actually, most Christians would have no problem with that - in fact, they would prefer it that way. "Just knowing" whether or not there is a God is an implication of faith. If both atheists and Christians rely on faith, then the choice is essentially subjective, and atheism is basically just another religion. What Christians don't like is when atheists claim that their position is not a matter of faith, but the only logically sound position.

Answer 5

Its odd really, the a typical answer would be, because I can feel him, well what does he feel like, the a typical answer would be it is different for everyone and hard to explain, well why is it different for everyone, are you better than me because you feel it and I don't, the a typical answer would be either yes, or some form of yes coated in surgery goodness. I tend to look at it like a disorder, have you ever sensed you are being watched, you just know when someone is or has been in your space. I think that while these people have a almost over active sense glad, and yes with any religion survival of the fitness does not reign, so over years and years millions of people could have this disorder (like a heart condition, breast cancer, prostate cancer, mental illness, needing glasses, all genetic traits) and come to believe that they constantly feel something they can't explain, and it is just that they can't explain what they are feeling.

Answer 6

the God belief doesn't work for me! God may or may not exist! I don't deny the possibility of God existing! If God does exist then must be extremely cruel to allow wickedness and nasty things to exist.. or else just too lazy too do a d a r n thing!
I also don't deny the possibility of there is no such thing as God! Perhaps if there is A God and Angels they may be arguing whether humans exist or not!

Answer 7

"T'aint what a man don't know that hurts him - it's what he knows that just ain't so." -- Frank McKinney Hubbard

One of my favorite quotes.

I think if the Christians would leave people alone and stop judging and just ACCEPT like Jesus accepted those around him, this would be a much better world. Sometimes I think Christians are Christ's worst representatives.

Answer 8

well I for one don't think your questions are silly,but uh ,if given enough time you would make a believer become a non-be liver

OK onto the question, god is there because he is there? we can't know if he is there,neither can we say there isn't

its just faith,blind faith, but it comforts me,that someone is looking out for you and teaching you through the events that happens to you,in this pathetic life of ours we need something to live for,something to look forward to

i mean i don't want to go to summerland and later get incarnated into this world again,its too painful,why would i want to come back to a world which has so much....uhh...ok i dunno how to say that but yea you get the point

Answer 9

Does every theist other than Christian theist believe he/she may not exist? Is this just a Christian thing? Faith that is?

I have a couple pagan friends who rely on as much faith in their gods as I do mine.

Answer 10

If this mode of "knowing" is unanswerable and true, then, in addition to your valid point, I'm stuck, since different individuals with their "true unshakable knowledge" have been led to different experiences of ultimate reality.

How can this be handled? If someone feels internal subjective conviction is unchallengeable, they must, for consistency, acknowledge this experience in others, and hence truths at odds to the ones they are utterly convinced of.
If this "knowing" by others is not certainly valid, then neither is theirs.
If one person utterly convinced subjectively can be mistaken, any of them can.