Does God exist?

[otseng]

Does God exist? What reasons are there to believe that God is real?


Admin note:
This thread used to be called "Does God exist or not?"
I have renamed this thread to be "Does God exist?"
Another thread has been created to discuss God's nonexistence, "Disproving God".

[bernee51]

I have been fortunate enough to meet someone who had an encounter with god.... He told me that he once had a dream....

He met god in a dream? Or was it three gods? Forgive me if I find this ratjher unbelievable in terms of a 'god' experience.

I want to say that evidences are there but we can choose not to believe in it.

evidence does not require 'belief'. Evidence is proof. There is no proof. If there was proof belief would not be necessary.

Again the evidences could not be anymore clearer.
Which of these objects are existent:

witches: I have met people who claim to be witches.
unicorns; never met one
dracula: ditto

But:
ghosts: nope
aliens: more likely to exist than JCI god.

{Alines} (i know that they do not exist)

how do you know they don't exist

Lastly:
god: the JCI god non-existent. A god yet to be defined - a possibility.

our senses cannot tell us straightforward, right? but if christians, yes a billion of them have something extraordinary to tell though they are in the same positions as atheists in that they don't have tangible evidences.

wouldn't matter if there were 2 or 3 billion. The numbers do not give credibility

Even if you can disclaim any evidences of god, it is not possible to deny that Jesus really lived, healed the sick, performed miracles, died on the Cross and was raised from the dead to fellowship with his disciples.

I dispute that Jesus existed - there is no contemprorary evidence. As to healing the sick and performing miracles. All a folk tale.

Have you noticed that as the chronology of the texts increases the claims become more fantastic. i.e. the earlier texts (from around 50 CE) are much more credible that those written around 100CE

[dangerdan]

Hi Jian^sia, I think this is my first reply to you.

I have been fortunate enough to meet someone who had an encounter with god. But he doesn't believe in Jesus. He told me that he once had a dream. He went to this place were there it was very bright and he said that he shook hands with three men but got an 'electric' shock from it and after that he woke up and found that he was still alive.

Hmmm, I’ve had many dreams in which I’ve met many people. I think I’ve met aliens, talking robots, and probably Jesus a number of times.

I want to say that evidences are there but we can choose not to believe in it. Or we are blinded by misconceptions or our own views that reject these evidences.

Ummm, I don’t think I’m blinded by my misconceptions, I think I’m weighing up the evidence quite objectively and rationally.

Even if you can disclaim any evidences of god, it is not possible to deny that Jesus really lived, healed the sick, performed miracles, died on the Cross and was raised from the dead to fellowship with his disciples.

I think most dispassionate scholars generally say that there is a good possibility that a Jesus type person existed, but his actions and miracles are very open to debate.

I am only human and of weak faith.

What’s wrong with that? I call it good old fashioned skepticism.

As Bertrand Russell, an atheist philosopher has said that the question to the purpose life is meaningless unless you assume a god.

Hmmm, I’ve just finished a rather huge book called The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell. Needless to say he is one of my favorite philosophers. I’ve even done a huge pop art portrait of him (seriously!). In fact I even have one of his quotes as my signature thing (if I can ever get it to work). And I must say, I can’t recall him saying anything along those lines. It sure a heck wasn’t in his infamous lecture – “Why I am not a Christian”. In fact, here are some more of his quotes, just for interest…
-


Bertrand Russell
I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organised in its Churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

Why I Am Not A Christian

Bertrand Russell
I was told that the Chinese said they would bury me by the Western Lake and build a shrine to my memory. I have some slight regret that this did not happen, as I might have become a god, which would have been very chic for an atheist.

The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell
Look at what Christ said about sin. The sins of the flesh. He said that a man who had looked after a woman lustfully had sinned as much as the man who had seduced her. How absurd! If a man in good health does not experience some kind of sexual reaction when he sees an attractive woman, there is something wrong with him. Paul said some wicked things, but Christ started it.

An Interview with Kenneth Harris


In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question
mark on the things you have long taken for granted."
Bertrand Russell

Dear DangerDan, can I pray that God appears to you and not to you when you have a video camera or suitable audio recording equipment because it is not like God to get caught on camera.

Why not? I mean that’s an honest question.

[dangerdan]

No wait, I just reread the Russell quote, and it does make sense, but he’s talking about some abstract meaning that is imposed by religion. Sorry to jump. I just got excited when you mentioned my-man-Russell.

[cpoteet]

1. Every human being to the most primitive civilization has recorded history of pondering about a Creator.
2. Therefore, God exists (he has left his mark).

[cpoteet]

I dispute that Jesus existed - there is no contemprorary evidence. As to healing the sick and performing miracles. All a folk tale.

O really? Do you believe Julius Ceaser existed? Because we have only 4 historical documents to prove that he lived, but we have over 100 (outside of the Bible) to prove that He existed.

Read about some secular historian accounts.
http://marshill.org/Jesus%20the%20Messi ... _Jesus.htm

"Atheism is incredibly bad theology"
-Me Ranting

[The Hungry Atheist]

1. Every human being to the most primitive civilization has recorded history of pondering about a Creator.
2. Therefore, God exists (he has left his mark).

1. Every human being to the most primitive civilization has recorded history of pondering about a Creator.
2. Therefore, human beings are a curious species, to whom it comes naturally to investigate, ask questions, and try to solve problems to which they don't know the answers.

Also, where did you get your numbers about the historical documents verifying the existence of Caesar/Jesus?

[ENIGMA]

I dispute that Jesus existed - there is no contemprorary evidence. As to healing the sick and performing miracles. All a folk tale.

O really? Do you believe Julius Ceaser existed? Because we have only 4 historical documents to prove that he lived, but we have over 100 (outside of the Bible) to prove that He existed.

Read about some secular historian accounts.
http://marshill.org/Jesus%20the%20Messi ... _Jesus.htm

"Atheism is incredibly bad theology"
-Me Ranting

How many written before 50 AD?

Wouldn't you be at least a little curious if not a single newspaper, letter, diary, etc., mentioned Abraham Lincoln until 1880?

There were no shortage of historians actively recording the events of the day during the first half of the first century. Why didn't a single one of them mention anything?

[ENIGMA]

1. Every human being to the most primitive civilization has recorded history of pondering about a Creator.
2. Therefore, God exists (he has left his mark).

I hereby request evidence for the first point.

You have little basis to claim that every human being pondered about the existance of some deity as the creator of the universe.

Perhaps if you wish to provide verification, you could provide the personal journal/mental transcript of every single human being that has ever lived.

Since that is information about 10+ billion people, I would suggest hosting it on a different server and simply providing a link.

[The Hungry Atheist]

Also, for many of those people, the pondering has led to the conclusion that he probably doesn't exist, or certainly doesn't, or that a God exists far different from yours.

[cpoteet]

I hereby request evidence for the first point.

Dude, don't know you're history? Study the nomads running around the Fertile Crescent.

I always wondered what goes on inside an atheist's head: o wait, nothing.