God convinced me he doesn't exist. What did he do to to convince you he does or doesn't exist??

[Nakosis]

I had believed in God for 60 years. For the next 10 years I reverted to believing it was some kind of deistic god or higher power, but most certainly this higher power was NOT the Christian pagan god, Yahweh (Yahweh in case you didn't know was a minor Canaanite god in a collection of Canaanite gods that included Asherah, Baal and headed by chief god, El. The early Hebrews living among the Canaanites picked up Yahweh and made him their chief god). Recently I've decided to just go full atheist. I've never had any proof God exists; I've never had any prayers answered; the world is cruel unjust place filled with violence and death; the Bible is riddled with errors and inaccuracies; there's no proof a Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. It just makes more sense to me that it was natural selection that created this marvelous universe. We are a tremendously complex accident and we are now destroying the earth with our avarice. In 100 years global warming will have killed off most of the earth's population and rendered everything but the north and south poles uninhabitable.

What convinced you God exists or doesn't exist?

To me, it doesn't matter if God exists or not. If you want and God to exist, they are easy enough to create. If you don't want God to exist, you can get along fine without one.
Interesting power people have over Gods. To create or uncreate them.

I just figured that I'll leave whatever Gods there may be alone and they'll leave me alone.

 

[The Hammer]

Me neither.

One of my Gods is pretty damn personal, idk

 

[Heyo]

What convinced you God exists or doesn't exist?

I'm neither convinced that god does or doesn't exist. I don't even know what a god is - and neither does anyone else.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I've had instances like that. I try to be careful ascribing that to a God. It can lead to weird places. Like thinking people on the forum are talking as the Gods mouthpieces to you

Well, I was only describing my experience about discussion with God if people wish to misunderstand my words that will be on them
But I do see what you mean by your friendly comment.

 

[The Hammer]

Well, god for you I mean good for you. I think gods are cheaper by the dozen anyway.

Not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

So I'll just ignore subtext.

 

[ppp]

Imo

And would change that opinion be significantly world view altering for you?

 

[The Hammer]

And would change that opinion be significantly world view altering for you?

Not particularly. Why should I become too attached to opinion? My view on the Gods is always in flux

 

[Kenny]

I had believed in God for 60 years. For the next 10 years I reverted to believing it was some kind of deistic god or higher power, but most certainly this higher power was NOT the Christian pagan god, Yahweh (Yahweh in case you didn't know was a minor Canaanite god in a collection of Canaanite gods that included Asherah, Baal and headed by chief god, El. The early Hebrews living among the Canaanites picked up Yahweh and made him their chief god). Recently I've decided to just go full atheist. I've never had any proof God exists; I've never had any prayers answered; the world is cruel unjust place filled with violence and death; the Bible is riddled with errors and inaccuracies; there's no proof a Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. It just makes more sense to me that it was natural selection that created this marvelous universe. We are a tremendously complex accident and we are now destroying the earth with our avarice. In 100 years global warming will have killed off most of the earth's population and rendered everything but the north and south poles uninhabitable.

What convinced you God exists or doesn't exist?

Seems contradictory to me. Someone who exists convinced you that he doesn't exist.

 

[Thrillobyte]

No need to believe in Jesus to think there are Gods willing to help and assist you.

Just because you didn't receive an answer doesn't mean it wasn't given. Ever forget to check you email

Oh sure, even my spam which is where I'd imagine something from God would land. But if this God doesn't even know my email then he's obviously an incompetent boob who doesn't deserve my worship anyway.

 

[Thrillobyte]

Seems contradictory to me. Someone who exists convinced you that he doesn't exist.

It's a catch-phrase. Means that God, if he exists, is working his hardest to convince me he doesn't exist by not offering the slightest bit of evidence he's up there.

 

[The Hammer]

Oh sure, even my spam which is where I'd imagine something from God would land. But if this God doesn't even know my email then he's obviously an incompetent boob who doesn't deserve my worship anyway.

It was an analogy. Not a reality....

 

[Trailblazer]

One of my Gods is pretty damn personal, idk

I'm glad for you. My God keeps His distance.

 

[Yerda]

I'm curious in why you think not?

I guess because I've never had experiences that might incline me in that direction. I've heard a lot of other people's experiences, and I find them interesting, but it always feels like trying to learn a song that only lives in someone else head and that they can only describe with speech.

 

[ppp]

Not particularly. Why should I become too attached to opinion? My view on the Gods is always in flux

I am not talking about your view on the existing gods. I am asking if you stopped believing that any gods existed would it significantly change your worldview? If so, then that is basically a claim to knowledge.

 

[The Hammer]

I am not talking about your view on the existing gods. I am asking if you stopped believing that any gods existed would it significantly change your worldview? If so, then that is basically a claim to knowledge.

Of course it would change my personal worldview.

But I'm not out to convince anyone else of my personal views. They aren't meant for me to influence others.

 

[The Hammer]

I guess because I've never had experiences that might incline me in that direction. I've heard a lot of other people's experiences, and I find them interesting, but it always feels like trying to learn a song that only lives in someone else head and that they can only describe with speech.

That's not an inaccurate assessment. The main aspect of any experience of the Gods I e had is ineffability. It can't really be described with human language. It's an experience. Not something that can be passed via discussion and debate.

 

[ppp]

Of course it would change my personal worldview.

But I'm not out to convince anyone else of my personal views. They aren't meant for me to influence others.

It wasn't intender to come off as an accusation. I am sorry if I phrases myself poorly. I am just talking about the nature of knowledge.

 

[PureX]

This is not the hand of God.

Does that mean, then, that God has no hands?

 

[Trailblazer]

I had believed in God for 60 years. For the next 10 years I reverted to believing it was some kind of deistic god or higher power, but most certainly this higher power was NOT the Christian pagan god, Yahweh (Yahweh in case you didn't know was a minor Canaanite god in a collection of Canaanite gods that included Asherah, Baal and headed by chief god, El. The early Hebrews living among the Canaanites picked up Yahweh and made him their chief god). Recently I've decided to just go full atheist. I've never had any proof God exists; I've never had any prayers answered; the world is cruel unjust place filled with violence and death; the Bible is riddled with errors and inaccuracies; there's no proof a Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. It just makes more sense to me that it was natural selection that created this marvelous universe. We are a tremendously complex accident and we are now destroying the earth with our avarice. In 100 years global warming will have killed off most of the earth's population and rendered everything but the north and south poles uninhabitable.

What convinced you God exists or doesn't exist?

I guess you mean that God did not convince you that He exists. I do not believe that God ever convinces anyone of His existence but rather people become convinced by doing their own investigation. I do not think God wants to provide absolute proof of His existence because that would be too easy, and God does not make things easy.

To be brief, I was not raised in any religion or believing in God. My parents had been raised as Christians but they left the Church before us children were born.

So I never even thought about God until I stumbled upon my religion, the Baha'i Faith, during my first year of college. Shortly after that I became a Baha'i and I have been a Baha'i now for over 51 years. But probably because I was not raised believing in God I never had a close relationship with God. In fact, it has been very difficult for me to believe that God is loving or just because of all the suffering in the world. As for God intervening when we say prayers I cannot say I believe that either; although sometimes I think God is guiding me in some way, I can't say "I know."

Just recently in a conversation on this forum I realized that maybe I am a theist-deist.
All that said, my religion is similar to Christianity in that we believe God is a personal God, but not as personal as the Christian God. This website explains that.

God in the Baháʼí Faith

Back to why I believe in God. I believe in God because of the Messengers of God, who I believe are evidence of God's existence. I believe there have been many Prophets sent by God, but only a handful of universal Manifestations of God, like Jesus and Baha'u'llah.

Question: How many kinds of divine Prophets are there?

Answer: There are three kinds of divine Prophets. One kind are the universal Manifestations, which are even as the sun. Through Their advent the world of existence is renewed, a new cycle is inaugurated, a new religion is revealed, souls are quickened to a new life, and East and West are flooded with light. These Souls are the universal Manifestations of God and have been sent forth to the entire world and the generality of mankind.

Another kind of Prophets are followers and promulgators, not leaders and law-givers, but they are nonetheless the recipients of the hidden inspirations of God. Yet another kind are Prophets Whose prophethood has been limited to a particular locality. But the universal Manifestations are all-encompassing: They are like the root, and all others are as the branches; they are like the sun, and all others are as the moon and the stars.

Twelve table talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká
The Three Kinds of Prophets

 

[firedragon]

I had believed in God for 60 years. For the next 10 years I reverted to believing it was some kind of deistic god or higher power, but most certainly this higher power was NOT the Christian pagan god, Yahweh (Yahweh in case you didn't know was a minor Canaanite god in a collection of Canaanite gods that included Asherah, Baal and headed by chief god, El. The early Hebrews living among the Canaanites picked up Yahweh and made him their chief god). Recently I've decided to just go full atheist. I've never had any proof God exists; I've never had any prayers answered; the world is cruel unjust place filled with violence and death; the Bible is riddled with errors and inaccuracies; there's no proof a Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. It just makes more sense to me that it was natural selection that created this marvelous universe. We are a tremendously complex accident and we are now destroying the earth with our avarice. In 100 years global warming will have killed off most of the earth's population and rendered everything but the north and south poles uninhabitable.

What convinced you God exists or doesn't exist?

No evidence.
Bad place to live.

These are the reasons for your conversion basically am I correct?

P.S. I think your title "god convinced me" is not really correct because you don't believe God exists. Nevertheless, congratulations for making peace with yourself. Its one of the most important things in life in my opinion.