Faith in God

[Spartan]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

Who says there's no evidence? Are you up-to-date on your research? Here's some recommended reading:

"The Historical Jesus," by scholar Dr. Gary Habermas;

The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, by Dr. Craig Keener

"New Evidence that Demands a Verdict," by former skeptic Josh McDowell;

"Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics," by Dr. Norman Geisler;

"The Case for Christ," by Lee Strobel," and

"The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus," by Dr. Gary Habermas.

“Miracles – The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts,” by Craig S. Keener

“The Case for Miracles,” by Lee Strobel

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Well, I used to be an atheist, so I will answer with a version of such a frame:

I have faith in God, because I need a crutch. It brings me peace of mind and so on, but it is a wrong, belief, because it is without reason, logic and evidence and is irrational, delusional and so on.

Now I have given it a lot of thought and I have figured, that it is really not the business of those people, who do so, to judge me simply because I have faith in God.
How do I know that?
Because it is a fact, that I can do so,
Just as nothing follows from a lack in belief in gods, nothing else follows from the fact that I have faith in God.

I have faith in God.
But what happens then is that some people judge me solely based on that and it seems to end in morality, ethics and psychology. It is bad, that I have faith in God.

 

[74x12]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

Faith is not necessarily blind faith. Most basically, it means belief. So you can have faith in God because of experiential, empirical or objective evidence. It's all about what convinces people. Some people have a harder time being convinced and some people are easier to convince.

 

[Trailblazer]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

There will never be any experiential, empirical, or objective evidence of God because...

• Experiencing God is only evidence to the one who had the experience and there is no way to prove anyone ever experienced God, as it could be their imagination.
• There cannot ever be empirical evidence for God because nobody can ever see God.
• There cannot ever be objective evidence for God because God is not an objective reality....

I have faith because I believe in the Manifestations of God such as Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah, etc.
Logically speaking, if they are the only evidence God provides, they are the evidence we should look at.
At the very least, we should check them out.

 

[atanu]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

To me faith is ‘shraddha’, which does not mean ‘belief’ but signifies confidence in the truth.

God is variously defined as: ‘Be still and know I am God’ or ‘That you art’; or ‘Allah is the seer. Allah is the knower’. I understand that the common point in above three is that God is the true cognising subject in all ego selves.

I do not require any evidence for this. But people may still wish to have evidence.

So, we have two choices. Ego can strive to silence the mental chatter and see its innards. Other than this there is no other way to prove God. But brain plasticity or our ability to control brain waves and other physical parameters of body, suggest that self-will has control over mechanism. If it seems that mechanism has control, it is due to lack of enquiry and discernment.

Alternatively, the ego can continue to believe ‘I am this body’ and that it’s cognitive powers developed from insentience. Ego self can continue to believe that chemicals arranged themselves, without role of any intention/will, and acquired powers to enjoy orgasm etc. This is a mythical belief that can never be proven and will not pass the Occam’s parsimony test. This belief can never be proven since no proof can ever be outside of the extant consciousness.
...

 

[JJ50]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

As there is no verifiable evidence that any god exists, I find it hard to understand why people have faith in them.

 

[Jim]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

I have a kind of trust in an imaginary person, that may or may not be what you would call “faith in God.” It looks to me like my trust in Him grew out of my experiences with Him.

 

[Jim]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

“... in the absence of any evidence ... why do you have faith?” It looks to me like your question is addressed only to people who think they have faith in someone or something they call “God,” who don’t think, themselves, that they have any evidence for it. Am I understanding that right?

 

[Prestor John]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

It is my opinion that the best things in life are those that cannot be proven through any evidence.

 

[Jim]

Do you have faith in God?

While I can appreciate such faith in the presence of evidence, in the absence of any evidence (experiential, empirical, or objective), why do you have faith?

Lots of people believe in dark matter, the Bang Bang, electrons, quarks, relatively theory, and the existence of cities named on world maps that they’ve never seen or heard of, without ever seeing any evidence for them. Most things that people think they know, including what they call “science,” are not from seeing the evidence. It because they trust what some people are telling them. Sometimes people trust what some religious sources say about God, and their own interpretations of their own experiences, more than they trust what some media and faction stories say about the opinions of some people with science degrees.

 

[ChristineM]

Actually no, not by your definition:





I have more faith in His existence than I do in my own sanity (I've seen more evidence for the former) .

Which creates a convenient puzzle.

Not really, just different thresholds of evidence

 

[ChristineM]

It is English "faith" not Greek.

Yes i im english and use the dictionary definition

 

[SalixIncendium]

Lots of people believe in dark matter, the Bang Bang, electrons, quarks, relatively theory, and the existence of cities named on world maps that they’ve never seen or heard of, without ever seeing any evidence for them. Most things that people think they know, including what they call “science,” are not from seeing the evidence. It because they trust what some people are telling them. Sometimes people trust what some religious sources say about God, and their own interpretations of their own experiences, more than they trust what some media and faction stories say about the opinions of some people with science degrees.

The reason people believe in these is because there is evidence supporting their existence.

 

[Jim]

... it is not a deity's role to be the recipient of faith.

Is that part of your definition of “deity”? If so, then the question is not about deities. It’s about some other things that people imagine, that are not deities according to your definition, that they call “God.”

 

[Jim]

The reason people believe in these is because there is evidence supporting their existence.

And how do people know that?

 

[SalixIncendium]

And how do people know that?

Through the scientific method...systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

 

[Jim]

The reason people believe in these is because there is evidence supporting their existence.

The only “evidence” supporting their existence is that some people who have a reputation as scientists find it useful in their research to think and talk about them as if they exist.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Well ya hit the hammer on the head with the term experience.

So lets talk about that. Do ya read a book and go oh tastes like an orange! Even if you have never have tasted one!? Well no. Do religious folks talk about a book or do they talk about their experiences?

I experience something but i have no idea. I turm to those who claim They understand because they read a book. Now what may be close to what you experienced but maybe it eventually seems confused and you leave.

Now you cant get rid of the experience what you can do is discard are the interpetations of others about that experience. And go about your business letting it devlop in you rather than running around. That is a Road less traveled.
.
In the end of the day god nature it does not matter. Same thing. If ya arent exleriencing god you arent seeing nature as it really is my friend. And if you arent experiencing nature like your on fire for god you dont understand much at all.

Does not matter church or nature. I am all about nature and its the profound. Truely fall in love with nature and then you will understand god. Not a conflict with science since there is more than just science.

Yes.



That question seems to assume a lack of evidence.



For me, faith is more about *His intentions than His existence.

I'm sure He exists, I'm just not sure what He's up to.


*the pronoun is optional.

You both appear to have experiential evidence.

Yes, the question does assume lack of evidence, because there are those who do believe with no evidence aside from a book. I suppose my question was more or less direct toward them.

 

[SalixIncendium]

There will never be any experiential, empirical, or objective evidence of God because...

• Experiencing God is only evidence to the one who had the experience and there is no way to prove anyone ever experienced God, as it could be their imagination.

These two statement appear to contradict each other.

 

[Jim]

Through the scientific method...systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

I’m not talking about the people who do the research. I’m talking about all the people who believe that those things exist, without ever seeing the evidence for it themselves, or even what any scientists say about it. All they know is what other people who are not scientists have told them. The only way they know that there is evidence is because some other people have said that there is. Besides, most people who believe those things don’t consider any evidence, before they believe it. Even if there is evidence, they’re believing it without considering any evidence. Why?