Is there a God?

[Warren Clark]

I want to start an all out debate of whether or not there is a God.

I am sure this has been done but I want to hear it from you and I want to share my feed back.

I want to note that we will not come to a conclusion because no one can actually "know" there is a God. You will only have faith that you do.

If you know me, you know that I will answer "no, there is no God because there is no substantial evidence to show there is".

Please post your best evidence and reasoning behind why you think God exists.

 

[PolyHedral]

I know, with absolute certainty, there isn't a God. He told me so.

 

[Breathe]

Maybe. I think there is something that I refer to as 'God', though 'God' is usually seen in too limited a way.

 

[sandandfoam]

I experience the reality of God all the time.
Im my mind there is no doubt.

 

[Warren Clark]

I experience the reality of God all the time.
Im my mind there is no doubt.

What do you think is the reality of God? What are you experiencing in your mind that I am not experiencing?

 

[Warren Clark]

Maybe. I think there is something that I refer to as 'God', though 'God' is usually seen in too limited a way.

So what do you refer to as God and how can you tell he exists?

 

[Warren Clark]

I know, with absolute certainty, there isn't a God. He told me so.

Well that must be an interesting experience. :angel2:

 

[sandandfoam]

What do you think is the reality of God?

Everything. God is in everything, every time I open my eyes that is God.

What are you experiencing in your mind that I am not experiencing?

I don't imagine either of us will ever know the answer to that.

 

[savagewind]

Does the question mean god a creator, god a spirit, or something else?

 

[dantech]

To me, it is just logical that there is a higher being that rules over everything. That being to me is God. Someone else might call it nature, or something else. But to me it really is God as we imagine. A limitless being that knows all, rules all, creates all, etc...
To me, it is impossible for a star to explode, out of no where, for no apparent reason, and create a solar system over millions of years, as well as the start of life all deriving from that one explosion. If the earth was a few thousand miles closer to the sun, we would not be able to live. If the earth was a few thousand miles further from the sun, we wouldn't be able to live either. Do you honestly believe that this precise distance we live in is all just luck that derived from the Big Bang? The complexity and preciseness of the solar system makes it impossible for a random occurence, in a presumably empty space to be its originator.

Also, think about this...
If you were to examine the corpse of a man who died seconds ago of natural causes while being healthy, and then the body of a man who is the same age but who has failing organs, broken limbs, but is alive... What would you realize? You would realize that life is not something physical and has nothing to do with the physical world. It cannot be understood by you, me, scientists or the brightest man on earth.

This is proof to me that "someone" out there, is giving life, and is also taking it away with a timing and with reasoning that we all fail to understand.

Anything that cannot be seen, touched, or examined might appear as not existent. Just because you can't understand it, doesn't make it unreal, IMO.

 

[Warren Clark]

Everything. God is in everything, every time I open my eyes that is God.

God is everything is Pantheism. You being alive, you making conscious movements, the stars and planets moving in the sky. Its all "God". Pantheism... not Monotheism, which is what I was expecting from you.

I don't imagine either of us will ever know the answer to that.

Well there is something going on if you are experiencing something I cannot. either you are gifted or insane.

 

[sojourner]

no one can actually "know" there is a God.

No one can actually "know" there isn't a God.

 

[Breathe]

So what do you refer to as God

Panentheism; I see God as all that exists, but God is more than it.

and how can you tell he exists?

I exist.

Otherwise, too personal to tell you.

 

[Warren Clark]

To me, it is just logical that there is a higher being that rules over everything. That being to me is God. Someone else might call it nature, or something else. But to me it really is God as we imagine. A limitless being that knows all, rules all, creates all, etc...
...

This is proof to me that "someone" out there, is giving life, and is also taking it away with a timing and with reasoning that we all fail to understand.

That is another Pantheist view in some ways that the universe is "mother nature" is God.
Which I actually got many of my pantheist views from a synagogue in michigan...

why call it God or "someone"?
Is it a conscious thing that controls the fate of all matter?
Or could it be something unconscious, natural, or maybe even a law of the universe that has yet to be discovered?
What if the energy that makes up all matter was in itself an active ingredient for life?
I mean we send electrical currents through the body to awaken the unconscious.
Is it necessary to call it God?

 

[dantech]

That is another Pantheist view in some ways that the universe is "mother nature" is God.
Which I actually got many of my pantheist views from a synagogue in michigan...

why call it God? is it a conscious thing that controls the fate of all matter?

I don't view the universe as mother nature. In fact, I was saying that I imagine God to be a unique being, who is one. He is not part of the Universe, he is the creator of the Universe. He is not part of Nature, he created the laws of Physics and the laws of nature... Although we try our best, we could never fully understand him, the same way a child can't always understand why his father does certain things.

It is not a thing. It is a living being. He has always lived, is living, and will always live. The word living is not really a good one since life requires birth, but I can't really figure out another way to say it other than : "He always was, He is, He will always be" He is definitely conscious, and he consciously controls the fate of all matter, definitely.

I call him God, because I am forbidden to call him by one of his real names for no reason. God is more of a title than anything else.

 

[Warren Clark]

No one can actually "know" there isn't a God.

never said they could "know" anything about "God" even if it/he exists.

 

[sandandfoam]

God is everything is Pantheism. You being alive, you making conscious movements, the stars and planets moving in the sky. Its all "God".

There is no God but God and God is closer to me than my jugular vein. The Koran says, “There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alteration of night and day, for those with understanding” (Koran 3:200). And it also says that “He explains His signs to those who understand […] There truly are signs for those who are aware of Him” (Koran 10:19). “There is nothing that does not glorify Him in praise” (Koran 17:44), meaning that his signs are in everything, because he is everything.
source The Template of Religion: Panentheism -- Islam - Rochester Philosophy of Religion | Examiner.com

Pantheism... not Monotheism, which is what I was expecting from you.

I am a monotheist, I suppose it could be said my beliefs are panentheistic, as I said previously, I believe that there is no God but God.

Well there is something going on if you are experiencing something I cannot. either you are gifted or insane.

I'm mad as a brush. I'm suspicious if you claim that you're not.

 

[Warren Clark]

I don't view the universe as mother nature. In fact, I was saying that I imagine God to be a unique being, who is one. He is not part of the Universe, he is the creator of the Universe. He is not part of Nature, he created the laws of Physics and the laws of nature... Although we try our best, we could never fully understand him, the same way a child can't always understand why his father does certain things.

Interesting. So there is a separate manifestation that created all that is living...

Why assume this? What makes you think there is a unique being?
I've stated other theories... what makes a "unique being" of God more plausible?

 

[dantech]

Interesting. So there is a separate manifestation that created all that is living...

Why assume this? What makes you think there is a unique being?
I've stated other theories... what makes a "unique being" of God more plausible?

have you read my initial post after it was edited?

To me, it is just logical that there is a higher being that rules over everything. That being to me is God. Someone else might call it nature, or something else. But to me it really is God as we imagine. A limitless being that knows all, rules all, creates all, etc...
To me, it is impossible for a star to explode, out of no where, for no apparent reason, and create a solar system over millions of years, as well as the start of life all deriving from that one explosion. If the earth was a few thousand miles closer to the sun, we would not be able to live. If the earth was a few thousand miles further from the sun, we wouldn't be able to live either. Do you honestly believe that this precise distance we live in is all just luck that derived from the Big Bang? The complexity and preciseness of the solar system makes it impossible for a random occurance, in a presumably empty space to be its originator.

Also, think about this...
If you were to examine the corpse of a man who died seconds ago of natural causes while being healthy, and then the body of a man who is the same age but who has failing organs, broken limbs, but is alive... What would you realize? You would realize that life is not something physical and has nothing to do with the physical world. It cannot be understood by you, me, scientists or the brightest man on earth.

This is proof to me that "someone" out there, is giving life, and is also taking it away with a timing and with reasoning that we all fail to understand.

Anything that cannot be seen, touched, or examined might appear as not existent. Just because you can't understand it, doesn't make it unreal, IMO.

 

[Warren Clark]

[/color][/color]

There is no God but God and God is closer to me than my jugular vein. The Koran says, “There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alteration of night and day, for those with understanding” (Koran 3:200). And it also says that “He explains His signs to those who understand […] There truly are signs for those who are aware of Him” (Koran 10:19). “There is nothing that does not glorify Him in praise” (Koran 17:44), meaning that his signs are in everything, because he is everything.
source The Template of Religion: Panentheism -- Islam - Rochester Philosophy of Religion | Examiner.com

then it is only for those that believe already. you first have to believe in a god in order to see the evidence. that is a bit backwards in science.
its why i don't follow any kind of holy text.

you dont pick up a random puzzle piece and make it fit. you look for the puzzle piece to match the space you already created.

Occam's Razor.

I am a monotheist, I suppose it could be said my beliefs are panentheistic, as I said previously, I believe that there is no God but God.

so you believe god is separate from but works with nature. Why?
Why can't nature act alone?

I'm mad as a brush. I'm suspicious if you claim that you're not.

Well I would question my own ethics if I were talking to Frank the bunny who tells me the world is going to end. (Donnie Darko)
But I think I would be just as insane if I were seeing things no one else were seeing.