Why do you believe in God ?

Please, explain the logical progression of ideas that leave you to believe that something that can be described as 'God' actually exists.


1.I cannot honestly and logically deny that, if contingent being exists, necessary being must exist.
2. I cannot honestly and logically deny that contingent being exists.
3. Therefore, I cannot honestly and logically deny that necessary being exists.

The "God" that I am left to believe actually exists is necessary in being.
The implications of contingency and necessity not only lead me to my immaterial, spiritual and eternal inferences, they also guide me through me through them. They are the 'magnetic poles' by which I navigate the ideas I consider.

As a contingent being, its not so much that ideas are really ever proved to me as it is that all of the other ideas, that I have considered, have been, to my satisfaction, disproved. Whatever remains is what I am left to believe. Then, that's tested, and so on, and so on. To date, I am left to believe that the God of the bible uniquely fulfills the implications of necessary being. Let me be clear. I do not believe in a God because I found one in the bible. To date, I am left to believe in the God of the bible because I can find in the God of the bible a necessary-being.

So, that's me. Why do you believe in God ?

 

I don't believe in God as we know it, but I'm open to the idea of an intelligent design to life on earth.
I am not sure that pure randomness is the answer to why the universe is the way it is or why there is something rather than nothing.

 

I have seen him work miraculous things in my life.

Sure you could explain 2 or 3 of them away but when it consistently happens you sit back and go Woah!

Its sad that so many will not experience that because they refuse to believe, the joy is just incredible when you see God working in your life.

 

This strikes me as strange. You say that you don't prove the god you believe in so much as you disprove the competing options. This seems to me to leave unexplored areas, unless you have a reason to believe that you have considered all plausible options. Given that humans are not very good at thinking about concerns pertaining to God, I would be very hesitant to conclude that the trust has to be found in one of the ideas that humans have come up with.

Ok, so what about some more deistic ideas? They include a God which is similar to the God of the Bible (at least they resolve things like contingency in the same way as the Biblical god) but avoid some of the other, more practical issues (like the whole Jesus thing).

 

I can still remember how the tooth fairy myth brought me joy as a very young child.

Logic did kicked in however and that ended the Tooth Fairy and the Santa Claus myth and shortly afterward the Christian god myth.

I can still remember being shock that while it was ok if somewhat sad for me to had reach the age of reason to be rejecting the first two myths but the adults still wish me to at least paid lip service to the god myth.

Never could figure out why that belief in a Christian god should call for such at least lip service belief when I found after reading the King Jame bible that the god in it was almost pure evil unlike the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.

 

The biblical deity is Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews and the God of the armies. I'm not interested in worshiping him even if he does exist (which he doesn't).

 

God is a product of man designed to convince other men to give them money.

 

In a word, the universe. Clearly in all it's glory and magical changes of various forms, it was the work of the creator.

 

That is actually the definition of Government.

 

You are speaking of the ancient Hebrew Bible accepted in full by the Jews.

I used to argue that in the old testament God was a brastard. And in the new testament a wonderful being.

But I believe in GOD since there is a wonderful created universe.

 

I think it's more sad that well fed and safe westerners choose to see the workings of an all-powerful supernatural being in their personal affairs, while children continue to die of starvation in the dirt of distant lands. Actually it's well beyond sad .. it's grotesque.

 

Which god?

 

Not relevant. It is like asking you, which Crank.

 

You will have the blessings in your life. Keep your faith steady.

 

It is relevant, because there are many, many gods.

 

You may be getting someplace when you speak of many gods. Why do you believe in many gods?

 

I'm not taking any chances and I don't know if it's just a myth or not that when you stand before St. Peters at Heavens gates all you have to say is "Another Marine reporting sir, I've served my time in hell !"

Worse case scenario, the streets of Heaven aren't guarded by U.S.Marines but by Mexican bandidos.

 

Q: "Why do I believe in god?"
A: "Because I don't understand science very well."
Signed - most Christians.

 

Correct, as usual.
Yes THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of claimed gods/prophets throughout history. To believe that one can pick the "one true god" is the height of arrogance - because none of the gods/prophets have any more courtroom level of evidence for their divinity than any of the other gods/prophets (or even more evidence than Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.!)

 

Correct.
Why does Jesus hate Africans so much?

 

Correct! Yes, why would a decent, sane person (and one of my all-time favorite posters!) like you worship an entity who, according to the Bible, is EVERY ONE of these barbaric things that Dawkins (PBUH) spells out here!?

 

Your reply is exactly what I was hoping for. You are correct. That is exactly why I continue to search out new ideas and continue to test the ones I have been unable to dismiss.

As to deism. I have been able to dismiss deism because no effect can transcend its cause, and person transcends non-person. I cannot honestly and logically deny that I am a person. Therefore, I cannot honestly and logically deny that necessary being is also, at least, personal.

 

No where in the bible does the bible hold up the bible as the reason that the existence of God is obvious to man. In Romans, the bible holds up the nature of everything else as the reason why man can know that this is a creation and there is a Creator.

The bible is the key to understanding everything else, and the nature of everything else is the key to understanding the bible.

 

Probably because they don't pray to him.

(See, I can troll, too.)

 

Fine that you attribute good things in your life to God but, do you also attribute the bad ? If not this is a logical inconsistency.