I want to believe

[TagliatelliMonster]

I want to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God

But my faith in such an entity has been totally shattered, and this has saddened me greatly

It feels as though a close friend has died

Everything feels bleak

The thing I believe in feels cold, distant, and disinterested in me

So, I'm asking......

Are there any good reasons to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God?

Bearing in mind that I no longer accept scripture as authoritative

I'm pretty certain that there aren't

I feel your pain. Well.... I don't really, but I think I can imagine.

If it is comforting in any way at this point, once you get over this initial shattering of the world view you (likely) were brought up with...
I think you'll find that reality is actually a lot more interesting and wonderous then you could have imagined.

 

[Trailblazer]

Same god i believe. Though of course you can make your own rules up as suits you

I was being facetious...
I also believe it is the same God, since there is only one God.

I don't wonder why the God depicted in the OT is so much different from the God depicted in the NT.....
These books were written by men who depicted God differently.
Also, Moses and Jesus, who were revealed through these writers, had different messages to bring.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Judges 21:10-12, are you telling me 400 captured virgins were nor raped?
Or Numbers 31:31-40 where 32000 virgins were taken as booty

I find the word 'wives ' at Judges 21:14, 18, 22-23
Surely, not as we think of a ' war bride ' as we do today, but those women were not raped, but would be wives.
Backing back to Numbers 31:18 we find they were kept alive because the Law spared them taking them as wives - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

 

[URAVIP2ME]

.........I don't wonder why the God depicted in the OT is so much different from the God depicted in the NT............

Remember: in the OT God was dealing with only one nation, the nation of ancient Israel.
They often disobeyed God and brought trouble upon themselves.
God dealt with them because of His promise to father Abraham and Sarah.
Remember how quickly after going through the Red Sea they complained.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I would only want to believe in things that would also make sense to other people
If a thing only made sense to me then I would take that as a sign that something was wrong with me

Because of what Jesus taught made sense to other people that is why Jesus' teachings spread earth wide.
False clergy twist what Jesus taught to make $$$ for themselves and or a name for themselves.
That does Not make the teachings of Jesus as wrong, but makes the wrong teachings as wrong.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

........................., but I do struggle with believing that God is loving, given all the suffering in this world.

I find the Bible speaks of more than one God.
For example: Satan is the 'god' of this world of badness - 2nd Corinthians 4:4
Satan is the behind-the-scenes Puppet Master pulling the stings on this suffering world - Revelation 12:12,9.
God gave us the Golden Rule, mankind is the one breaking the Golden Rule - Leviticus 19:18
Jesus also gave us a New Commandment found at John 13:34-35 to have self-sacrificing love as he has.
In other words, we are now to love neighbor MORE than self, more than the old Golden Rule.
Thus, a lot of suffering is caused by mankind Not listening to God's Word ( aka Scripture )

Mankind's l-o-n-g history shows that man can not direct his step - Jeremiah 10:23
This is why God is going to have Jesus step in to do away with the wicked - Isaiah 11:3-4; Rev. 19:14-15; Proverbs 2:21-22.
By not taking action sooner, time has allowed for all of us to be born and think who we would like as Sovereign over us.

 

[Trailblazer]

I find the Bible speaks of more than one God.

The Bible is referring to only one God since there is only one God.
The reason God 'seems different' in the OT and the NT is because the message that God had to convey was different.
God was also addressing a different audience. The OT was addressed to the Jews whereas the NT was addressed to all of humanity.

 

[Truthseeker]

I find the Bible speaks of more than one God.

Marcion thought this, also, in the second century. You can look him up. Google him. I just did, and he is called Marcion of Sinope.

 

[ChristineM]

I find the word 'wives ' at Judges 21:14, 18, 22-23
Surely, not as we think of a ' war bride ' as we do today, but those women were not raped, but would be wives.
Backing back to Numbers 31:18 we find they were kept alive because the Law spared them taking them as wives - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

I think you have a strange idea of war bride.
I'm pretty sure a girl who has just seen her family massacred, had her hymen poked by who she sees as murderers of her family is only to willing to marry the murderer.
But feel free to believe whatever you want about the particular bible you use

 

[McBell]

I want to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God

Why?

 

[Eddi]

Why?

Because it would be good if such a thing existed

 

[Trailblazer]

Because it would be good if such a thing existed

It may well exist. The problem is finding evidence that it exists.
Some people do not need evidence, they just believe that God exists because their scriptures say so.
I cannot do that. I need some evidence.

 

[Eddi]

I cannot do that. I need some evidence.

Me too!

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Me too!

If everyone lived by the Golden Rule (Leviticus 19:18) what would the world be like ?
If everyone lived by Jesus' New Commandment (John 13:34-35) what would be world be like.
We are to love others as Jesus loved others willing to die for them.
In other words, we are to love neighbor MORE than self, now more than the Golden Rule.

People tell me technology / science will solve problems No God needed.
Look at mankind's long history influenced by greed, hatred, besides their own human imperfection.
Cars were to be the solution to horse dung, but now green-house gas pollution.
More money spent on war weapons than medical problems.
War can't get hatred out of hearts .
Whereas, the Bible challenges a change of thinking rather than the overthrow of a nation.
Men disobeying Jesus does Not make Jesus as wrong.

People (Not Scripture) thought Earth has supports, but Job 26:7 taught Earth hanging on nothing.
No rocks nor animals supporting Earth as people believed but floating on nothing.

People (Not Scripture) thought rain came from their gods like Baal.
The 'water cycle' is taught in Scripture at Job 36:27, so what man could not long figure out the Bible knew.

When did quarantine isolation begin ? The keep-away concept goes all the way back to Leviticus chapter 13.
Thus, the root problem of HIV treatment is still with us.

So, putting faith in technology/science is setting up oneself for disappointment because humans are limited - Psalm 146:3-4

 

[Eddi]

If everyone lived by the Golden Rule (Leviticus 19:18) what would the world be like ?
If everyone lived by Jesus' New Commandment (John 13:34-35) what would be world be like.
We are to love others as Jesus loved others willing to die for them.
In other words, we are to love neighbor MORE than self, now more than the Golden Rule.

People tell me technology / science will solve problems No God needed.
Look at mankind's long history influenced by greed, hatred, besides their own human imperfection.
Cars were to be the solution to horse dung, but now green-house gas pollution.
More money spent on war weapons than medical problems.
War can't get hatred out of hearts .
Whereas, the Bible challenges a change of thinking rather than the overthrow of a nation.
Men disobeying Jesus does Not make Jesus as wrong.

People (Not Scripture) thought Earth has supports, but Job 26:7 taught Earth hanging on nothing.
No rocks nor animals supporting Earth as people believed but floating on nothing.

People (Not Scripture) thought rain came from their gods like Baal.
The 'water cycle' is taught in Scripture at Job 36:27, so what man could not long figure out the Bible knew.

When did quarantine isolation begin ? The keep-away concept goes all the way back to Leviticus chapter 13.
Thus, the root problem of HIV treatment is still with us.

So, putting faith in technology/science is setting up oneself for disappointment because humans are limited - Psalm 146:3-4

The golden rule is not exclusive to Christianity

It has popped up in other traditions too

 

[Muffled]

I want to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God

But my faith in such an entity has been totally shattered, and this has saddened me greatly

It feels as though a close friend has died

Everything feels bleak

The thing I believe in feels cold, distant, and disinterested in me

So, I'm asking......

Are there any good reasons to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God?

Bearing in mind that I no longer accept scripture as authoritative

I'm pretty certain that there aren't

I believe God is close and loving to me. Maybe the difference is that I have received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

 

[Muffled]

Could you work with appreciation of the ideal and values in lieu of belief of the existence of a personification?

Happiness is a warm gun? I believe many have found a word to be meaningless but I find a living word to be warm and friendly.

 

[Muffled]

I might add, it can be helpful to pray to a few as well, when in doubt. Never know who will answer.

At least, those are my thoughts.

I believe because I am open to spirits I get the devil on occasion and that is never a pleasant experience. Not only that but he is a liar as well.

 

[paarsurrey]

I want to believe​

I want to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God
But my faith in such an entity has been totally shattered, and this has saddened me greatly
It feels as though a close friend has died
Everything feels bleak
The thing I believe in feels cold, distant, and disinterested in me
So, I'm asking......
Are there any good reasons to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God?
Bearing in mind that I no longer accept scripture as authoritative
I'm pretty certain that there aren't

• One is welcome to believe with reason using the tool of "Religious Method" of claim and reason/argument given by One-Gd himself, right?

• You should pray, in my opinion, and see what happens.

A good suggestion.

the Bible / Scripture is Not God, but it is God's Word because God is the Author.

Gd never claimed to be author of the NT-Bible, please, right?
NT-Bible has so many contradictions, won't it be therefore an accusation against Him that He has authored it, please, right?

" NT Bible was neither narrated/authored by Jesus/Yeshua- the truthful Israelite Messiah nor inspired by G-d "
nor written by any of the "twelve disciples" of Yeshua, please, right?
The claim of the Pauline-Christians that NT Bible is narrated/authored by Yeshua or GD or by any of the twelve or is inspired by them is, therefore, no more than an accusation against them all , please, right?

Regards
____________

Matthew 7:22-23
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 

[Aupmanyav]

But my faith in such an entity has been totally shattered, and this has saddened me greatly
It feels as though a close friend has died
Are there any good reasons to believe in a concerned, loving, and personal God?

it does feel like that in the beginning, there is an emptiness. but there are no good reasons to believe in a super-natural entity.
why should you be sad and shattered by accepting something reasonable?
in time, the sense of freedom and responsibility it creates is exhilarating.
i am responsible to mysef for what i do, not to any external entity.