Master Vigil
Well-Known Member
I have, but not much. I shall read more.
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The Existence of God: Please participate!
- Thread starter Thanh
- Start date
Khale
Active Member
I was born into a Catholic/Lutheran family and raised in a Lutheran/Baptist church. These churches, who all believed in the same god, had varied beliefs on just who this god was. This combined with a little help from my parents who encouraged truth seeking as opposed to feeding on the churches word led me on my own little quest to find GOD. After spending a few years on my own, away from any churches, and surrounded by people of non-Christian faiths* I started to look quite critically at my own religion. During this time I began to lose faith in pretty much everything, but I still held on to a sliver of the religion. After all it had gotten me through tough times before and had not caused any damage. Why should I just throw it to the side of the road?
About this time I met my professor for bible as literature. I was fascinated by him. Here was a man of faith who actually knew the history of the bible. This including all of the flaws and problems with the faith. After essentially relearning my faith from him I decided to pick it up again. Since then I have continued to grow in my religion to this day and still am. I have found that the to staying strong is to keep an open mind. I believe because it has helped me stay steady in life. I believe because I think that a divine create is extremely possible**. I believe because through time it is this religion that has made the most sense to me.
* That is to say people who actually knew there religion. This opposed to the angst filled gloomy characters who were warlocks because they had black clothes.
**Just take a look at what we are able to accomplish now. We are coming closer and closer to creating life forms from scratch. While many people use this to denounce religion it only stands to reason that something even greater than us could have done the same on a much larger scale.
About this time I met my professor for bible as literature. I was fascinated by him. Here was a man of faith who actually knew the history of the bible. This including all of the flaws and problems with the faith. After essentially relearning my faith from him I decided to pick it up again. Since then I have continued to grow in my religion to this day and still am. I have found that the to staying strong is to keep an open mind. I believe because it has helped me stay steady in life. I believe because I think that a divine create is extremely possible**. I believe because through time it is this religion that has made the most sense to me.
* That is to say people who actually knew there religion. This opposed to the angst filled gloomy characters who were warlocks because they had black clothes.
**Just take a look at what we are able to accomplish now. We are coming closer and closer to creating life forms from scratch. While many people use this to denounce religion it only stands to reason that something even greater than us could have done the same on a much larger scale.
cvipertooth
Member
I was born into a Christian Church, so naturally, i am born a christian. I was taught many things along the way. I approached the things I was taught, applied reasoning, scientific data, thought, and what my gut told me to decide whether to accept or throw out what I was taught. (The Bible says to do that, by the way). My most recent accomplishments, so to speak, is accepting evolution and many other things that go against the mainstream old school reactionary church. Right now I'm trying to decide whether or not all religions end up in the same place. Most of all, I desire truth. I believe in my gut that God is real, and I will seek after him and learn about him till I die. And if im wrong, so be it
patronkerr
Member
I think you'll have to define your terms. Which God? What God? The Christian God? The Muslim God? Etc. Etc? It depends where you were born, who you were born to and so on? Yes, some people do convert from one religion to another, or one branch of a religion to another,ie from Baptist to Roman Catholic, from Jew to Gentile and so on.
There is a lot to consider.
I just have to admit, it's beyond me. I don't honestly think proof is possible. You either believe or you don't. I read a theory in the press the other day that there is 'Belief' gene. That could be the answer! So good luck in your search!
There is a lot to consider.
I just have to admit, it's beyond me. I don't honestly think proof is possible. You either believe or you don't. I read a theory in the press the other day that there is 'Belief' gene. That could be the answer! So good luck in your search!
patronkerr
Member
I just thought of something to add. This is a BIG subject!
The Bible, of which I know about, having been brought up a Christian, is full of contadictions and some weird stuff. (Read Leviticus!) But a true believing Christian will ignore or excuse all of this. He/She believes and that is that! Some go further (the fundamentalists) and to them it is the literal truth. NOTHING will shake their faith, not even a Tsuami which kills thousands of people despite their believe that their God is all powerful, all wise and in total control, and is a forgiving and loving God and is saving them from their sins so that they will live in heaven forever after.
Someone said that the Bible is the 'Cuchoo-nest syndrome'. Believe in something, even slavery and if you search the Bible, you will find confirmation of it.
The Bible, of which I know about, having been brought up a Christian, is full of contadictions and some weird stuff. (Read Leviticus!) But a true believing Christian will ignore or excuse all of this. He/She believes and that is that! Some go further (the fundamentalists) and to them it is the literal truth. NOTHING will shake their faith, not even a Tsuami which kills thousands of people despite their believe that their God is all powerful, all wise and in total control, and is a forgiving and loving God and is saving them from their sins so that they will live in heaven forever after.
Someone said that the Bible is the 'Cuchoo-nest syndrome'. Believe in something, even slavery and if you search the Bible, you will find confirmation of it.
First of all when we say "God" for each one of us a certain image comes to mind, even those that say they dont believe in God. I dont recall when I first started believing there was a God, I was very young and I thought of him In the Image of a Man.I did not doubt that he existed. It wasnt until about a year ago that I started Questioning the reasons why I believed. I realized that i had no real foundation( base on what I knew) which wasnt much. So I started reading ( the bible) and doing some research on the internet ( I wanted to know what other people thought) Looking for some wisdom, but I always went back to the bible. I now no longer think of him as a man, for if he were a shape he would have to be formed and that by something greater. Everything that we can see with our eyes, touch with our hands smell and hear comes from a formed matter. That matter had to have something greater to form it. Cause and Effect. Science says that if you cant touch,feel or see then it must not exist. Can you put emotion under a microscope? no. Does that mean that it does not exist? No. My God is the "reason or cause" before all that exists. I can not see him with my eyes but he most certainly exists. Why? Because I exist.
GodofCats
New Member
I'm new here. I have one post, and I plan to add many more.
My theory on religion/god:
I believe that anything is possible. I believe there most likely is a higher power in existence. But my opinion is, we will never know until we percieve something we blieve in our hearts to be true. I hold on to these ideals, and for that matter, you could say I believe in a few gods. The Light, Life and Love have always been my gods. I will strive to fight out the Darkness, Death and Hate.
I want to study religion from now on with a passion. I am currently studying a religion, you may have heard of it, it is called Christianity.
I do not believe in the Bible. The Old Testament, as I have read on this forum before, is just a well-told mythological tale. I am reading the New Testament, and so far, I have found inconsistancies in the Apostle's renditions, but nothing that can not be accounted for with the fact that these words have been passed down and rewritten for so many years.
Anyways, just my two cents.
My theory on religion/god:
I believe that anything is possible. I believe there most likely is a higher power in existence. But my opinion is, we will never know until we percieve something we blieve in our hearts to be true. I hold on to these ideals, and for that matter, you could say I believe in a few gods. The Light, Life and Love have always been my gods. I will strive to fight out the Darkness, Death and Hate.
I want to study religion from now on with a passion. I am currently studying a religion, you may have heard of it, it is called Christianity.
I do not believe in the Bible. The Old Testament, as I have read on this forum before, is just a well-told mythological tale. I am reading the New Testament, and so far, I have found inconsistancies in the Apostle's renditions, but nothing that can not be accounted for with the fact that these words have been passed down and rewritten for so many years.
Anyways, just my two cents.
Science = knowledgelinwood said:
Science as the observation of something to understand how it works or why it works or
how it came into existance, it does not study what it cannot " see" If it cannot be observed then to them it must not exist. Emotion, we all know to exist, but not as a material substance and on the most part when science cant really understand something of the non material they apply the cause to the material. What I was trying to say was that just because we cant see something as a material or chemical we know that this doesnt mean it doesnt exist. For me there is something more than the material universe something nonmaterial, unchangeble the source of all the material existance, the source of all life.I cant see "it" with the naked eye, i cant observe "it". But we all live,breath and think by "it". We cant observe God, but we can observe his actions, his creation
his words and all these things reveal Him.
Chemically and materially our bodies, is of the same substances as found in the soil of the earth . So why isnt the earth producing more of us on a daily bases?
Where did our ability to think come from?
Donna
You know I could go on forever trying to get a non believer to "see",but unless it has been granted
for them by God to see, then all I say is in vain. In truth I have to ask myself what are my real
reasons for doing this? Is it in truth and from a pure heart out of love or is it for my own glory?
If it was out of love then I wouldnt have to say a whole lot, my prayers would be sufficent.
So for the time being Im going to stick with those of the same faith in my discussions so that I
might grow more in my own faith.
for them by God to see, then all I say is in vain. In truth I have to ask myself what are my real
reasons for doing this? Is it in truth and from a pure heart out of love or is it for my own glory?
If it was out of love then I wouldnt have to say a whole lot, my prayers would be sufficent.
So for the time being Im going to stick with those of the same faith in my discussions so that I
might grow more in my own faith.
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
Kassi - I do not hold the same views of God or creation that you do, but I can respect your beliefs. I must say that after reading this post, I am impressed with your wisdom, I admire your honesty, and I bow to your self control - even though we are most definitely not on the same page.kassi said:
TVOR
groovydancer88
Active Member
I believe in God because to me, a life without God lacks purpose. From a logical perspective, life just wouldn't make sense without God - why would we be here? How did we get here? Personally, I can only understand the meaning of everything if I accept the presence of God.
Master Vigil
Well-Known Member
Groovydancer, to say that it is illogical that a universe exists without god is not logic, it is belief. There is no proof that a god even exists, so any of your logical premises are not without question. Also, sure we don't know everything, but just because we don't know something, doesn't mean the meaning can be understood simply if we believe god did it. That does not prove anything, so your meaning is not backed up by evidence. Just like, my sister is a scientist, she does breast cancer research at UCLA. But she still believes in god. I asked her why and she showed me a picture of the inner ear. She believes that because the inner ear is so complex but is designed just the right way so that we can hear, that there must be an intelligent designer behind it. Sure its a nice thought, but there still is no evidence. No proof. From a logical standpoint, her argument falls short.
groovydancer88
Active Member
Master Vigil -
Good point. (All of them, actually.) I suppose I didn't really phrase my original thought the way I should've. I said that there is no purpose in life without God. I guess what I really mean is I don't see a purpose without God - not to say there isn't one, I just don't see it, which means something completely different.
Good point. (All of them, actually.) I suppose I didn't really phrase my original thought the way I should've. I said that there is no purpose in life without God. I guess what I really mean is I don't see a purpose without God - not to say there isn't one, I just don't see it, which means something completely different.
Master Vigil
Well-Known Member
You are very humble groovy dancer, I frubal you for it. I wish more people realized that their belief does not constitute fact. I wish you much luck in your spiritual journey. And may the spirits be with you.
groovydancer88
Active Member
That really means a lot to me. Thank you.