Why do you beleive in God? (No Atheists, please)

[tnick777]

I don't mean the no Atheists as a we hate you, I just want to keep this within the boundries of beleivers of any God, not just God, Yaweh or Allah but what ever god you beleive in.

I beleive in god for 3 reasons

Family- I was born into a decent sized town in Finland, to a devout Lutheran family... I was raised in church and no matter what, would always look forward to my next visit to church. Through out my life I've realised that things I've picked up at church, like how to act, has lead to an extremely successful life. Coincidence.. No I beleive that God did that so we would all live to our potential.

Irony?- When I was Eight, my mother's Grandfather died, he was very close to me and my mom. As a kid he'd always tell me this "No matter what you still have God'. I'd shrug this off, and continue what we were doing. Well about two weeks after he died I got a letter in the mail, and it was one of my grandfather's freinds, of whom we'd borrow boats from to go out on the Islands. In it was a short letter explaining that he'd seen something, and inclosed was a picture. On the boat that we used to take out, etched into the metal faintly was "No matter what". I all of a suddon felt secure.

Science- When I moved to America when I was 15, as a teenager in Denver, Colorado I began to once again question god, I was at that point where I felt I knew everything and everything was handed to me. I parted from Him and I knew it. I slid into a dark place that I never want to be again. Finally one day I decided one way or another I'd convince myself there was a God and he was there. One day I dedicated hours to research and I stumbled across this website, it really opened up my eyes to the impossible probability, the fact that if the Earth was one mile closer or one mile further away from the Sun it could not support life. This is a good list of slideshows

That is my faith journey...

What is yours?

[Kscott]

I believe in God because I stopped believing in Christianity.

[jankren]

I believe in God because I stopped believing in Christianity.

I thought you were atheist.

[Scar Face]

Read my signature as well as this post.

For a long time, I believed in god unquestionably as a Child, not due to indoctrination however. It just seemed a natural course for the World, it made sense. After all, in a world where Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy exist, clearly a surpreme being fits in there quite well.

However, not long after I began to doubt the existence of Santa Claus, I began to doubt the existence of god himself. By Ten, I was an Atheist, reading up on Evolution and debating with my sister wether or not God existed. However, at twelve, not long after coming to TWC, I read a book comparing Evolution and Religion. This book was admittedly heavily biased towards Religion, throwing down all the Evolutionary arguments, while promoting god. While I was disgusted by this, I had to admit their arguments against Evolution made sense, I was just disgusted by their blatant biased, in which the Author wrote ha had none.

Lost as to what philosophy I should follow, I looked to myself for the answer. After a while, I came to a conclusion. Its just the logical course in the world, just like it was when I was Six. For a different reason however, back then it was logical due to all the Magic and Wonder, if magic is real then its no great extrapolation that god did as well. However, Magic and wonder were dead to me now, only facts and logic remained. Logically I decided, with all the wonders in the world, that it couldn't be the creation of a few random molecules bumping together to create life. Looking at all the perfect math in the world, how everything was tied so intricately to math, how everything was so beautiful and thought provoking- even our own DNA- clearly this was the work of God. While the Universe may have been Created by the Big bang, what created that Energy? While life may have naturally evolved, and scientifically that makes sense, what created the very existence of *reality* itself? The natural answer to me was: God. God created these things, DNA, Evolution, the Big Bang, were all his brilliant ways of showing his work, hoping one day we would stumble upon them and think. To learn, and expand our minds. Evolution in my mind doesn't disprove religion, it proves it.

-Scar

[Sadreddine]

Lost as to what philosophy I should follow, I looked to myself for the answer. After a while, I came to a conclusion. Its just the logical course in the world, just like it was when I was Six. For a different reason however, back then it was logical due to all the Magic and Wonder, if magic is real then its no great extrapolation that god did as well. However, Magic and wonder were dead to me now, only facts and logic remained. Logically I decided, with all the wonders in the world, that it couldn't be the creation of a few random molecules bumping together to create life. Looking at all the perfect math in the world, how everything was tied so intricately to math, how everything was so beautiful and thought provoking- even our own DNA- clearly this was the work of God. While the Universe may have been Created by the Big bang, what created that Energy? While life may have naturally evolved, and scientifically that makes sense, what created the very existence of *reality* itself? The natural answer to me was; God. God created these things, DNA, Evolution, the Big Bang, were all his brilliant ways of showing his work, hoping one day we would stumble upon them and think. To learn, and expand our minds. Evolution in my mind doesn't disprove religion, it proves it.

-Scar

This one more or less express my reasons too, as I have stated in some other posts of mine.

[Kscott]

I thought you were atheist.

Why did you think that? I'm highly spiritual, just not religious. To me organized religion takes away from spirituality.

[bdh]

Well, lets see.

Raised Catholic, and, after examining various means of belief, I rejected fundamentalism because it is factually incorrect, I rejected scholasticism because it is logically inconsistent, and, after a brief stint with it, I also rejected mysticism due to its similarity to drug seeking behavior (the religous experience generates a 'high' which effects behavior, causes people to seek it, and also becomes more difficult to achieve over time).

So, now, I just believe because I do. No other reason. Just Because.

[Sétanta]

I don't know why I believe in God. I don't have any explanation for it. Everything I look at, everything I do has God involved. There HAS to be a God.

[PurpleScotch]

When I enter a mosque, I feel this amazing feeling inside of me. It is a feeling like no other, you just feel so light, and as if paradise is your future, you can feel God beside you...I am sure Christians also know this feeling, it is like you are flying in Paradise! I can stay in a mosque for a million years without getting bored, I feel so safe and protected by God, and I feel the love and mercifulness of God everywhere!

That is only one of a million other reasons I believe in God.

REMEMBER: Allah is the Arabic term for God, Allah isn't another God we worship, Allah is just the word in Arabic.

Don't ask me why some Muslims use it in English too.

[Centurion-Lucius-Vorenus]

When I enter a mosque, I feel this amazing feeling inside of me. It is a feeling like no other, you just feel so light, and as if paradise is your future, you can feel God beside you...I am sure Christians also know this feeling, it is like you are flying in Paradise! I can stay in a mosque for a million years without getting bored, I feel so safe and protected by God, and I feel the love and mercifulness of God everywhere!

That is only one of a million other reasons I believe in God.

REMEMBER: Allah is the Arabic term for God, Allah isn't another God we worship, Allah is just the word in Arabic.

Don't ask me why some Muslims use it in English too.

I know what you are saying, whever i go to a church, or pray i feel peace within myself, no matter what troubles i may have.

[Holger Danske]

Science- When I moved to America when I was 15, as a teenager in Denver, Colorado I began to once again question god, I was at that point where I felt I knew everything and everything was handed to me. I parted from Him and I knew it. I slid into a dark place that I never want to be again. Finally one day I decided one way or another I'd convince myself there was a God and he was there. One day I dedicated hours to research and I stumbled across this website, it really opened up my eyes to the impossible probability, the fact that if the Earth was one mile closer or one mile further away from the Sun it could not support life. This is a good list of slideshows

Please, don't ever mix religion with science. There is NO scientific prove for the exitance of a God. All other explinationens for the personal believe in God is fine for me, as long as science isn't involved.

[__PoweradePaladin__]

Please, don't ever mix religion with science. There is NO scientific prove for the exitance of a God. All other explinationens for the personal believe in God is fine for me, as long as science isn't involved.

Something can never be created from nothing.
But then that brings up the question-- who is the predecessor of "god"?

who knows.

there has to be some sort of entity in which created life.
but then you could rebuttle
what created that entity?

*brain explodes*

[Ummon]

I do think God exists, but why, how, and what exactly is God, would require such a long discussion that in truth, this thread needs be spared it.

[tnick777]

@KillerxGuy

I know that Allah=God=Yaweh=Jehova etc

[Shaun]

I believe in the flying Spaghetti Monster because there is an actual picture of him creating the world.



I also believe in him because because all my family does, and I cannot think for myself or create my own morals so I have to let the FSM do it for me.

[LegionnaireX]

I believe in the flying Spaghetti Monster because there is an actual picture of him creating the world.



I also believe in him because because all my family does, and I cannot think for myself or create my own morals so I have to let the FSM do it for me.

Just couldn't resist could you?

tnick,

as stated by somebody else don't mix science and religion. You shouldn't base your faith in God on scientific gaps and "astronomical probability", that is weak faith and a very slippery slope. To your arguement about the earth being just 1 mile closer or further away not supporting life: it does nothing to prove or disprove God/divine intervention/etc. An atheist would argue that, given the size of the universe, number of stars and planets the astronomical odds bound to happen at some point. If we weren't the "lucky ones" and the earth was a mile off we wouldn't be here to think about this would we? IMO that is a very strong arguement from the atheistic perspective. Believers such as you and I should base our faiths and much more profound spiritual truths rather than sketchy and not-thoroughly-thought-out arguements from creation scientists.

[Bwaho]

You shouldn't base your faith in God on scientific gaps and "astronomical probability", that is weak faith and a very slippery slope

agreed... damn snooping scienstists with their fancy satellites and their so called "theory" of how the earth is round.

[Shaun]

Well in that case, I believe in the flying Spaghetti Monster because there is an actual picture of him creating the world.



I also believe in him because because all my family does, and I cannot think for myself or create my own morals so I have to let the FSM do it for me. I also blindly accept everything that the FSM tells me, regardless of how pathetically wrong it is scientifically, I believe that all those who do not believe will go to a very noodly hell.

[Ummon]

These are all indeed good reasons... for believing in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, that is.

On a sidenote, Jehova does not exist as a name of God, it is an invention of some sect (Jehova witnesses) based on bad understanding of the languages in which the Bible is written.

The tetragrammaton is told to be the name of God, which though is not the real name of God but the explanation of a function and a state.

Allah quite likely is not the same as the Jewish God, although it may be a part of it.

In truth, I strongly suspect that all these have little to do with God.

[SickBoy13]

A) I admit, it was and still is beaten pretty hard into me by my family.
B) It is not scientific gaps, nor improbability, but it is the intangible, indescribable feeling that I feel when I pray. I feel a bond between myself and God, that is again, indescribable and intangible. I am always at peace when thinking about God. The Bible's teachings apply to life, and it serves as a small starting point to my belief, but then after that everything is very spiritual and I am unable to convey this in words.