Why do you believe in God?

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logical thinking
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Why do you believe in God?

Post #1

Post by logical thinking »

Why do you believe in God?

What specific argument or evidence is it, that persuades you?

Can you please outline the argument or piece of evidence that you believe is the STRONGEST reason to believe in God?

For example, is it the beauty and majesty of trees? Is it the Kalam Cosmological argument? Pascal's wager? Is it that you witnessed what you believe is a miracle? Is it the fact that you think the Bible contains prophecies? Is it because it feels good to believe in something greater than yourself?

Why do you believe in God?

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marco
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Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #21

Post by marco »

1213 wrote:
logical thinking wrote: Why do you believe in God?
For me Bible is the greatest reason to believe. And that is because it has great knowledge and wisdom that I think people would not have without God.
The plays of Shakespeare also have great wisdom and knowledge. I wonder what wisdom and knowledge so impress you in the Bible that compare to Shakespeare's.

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Post #22

Post by PghPanther »

When I was a Christian everything that I couldn't understand or explain in reality I assumed was the providence of God.........

When I began to learn about those things I didn't understand I had an ever shrinking God explanation for those things.

I began to realize my belief in a God from just examining and reasoning from the environment around me was a matter or ignorance on my part of those things I didn't understand and attributed to a supernatural agency instead.

JLB32168

Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #23

Post by JLB32168 »

logical thinking wrote:Why do you believe in God?
There are several reasons I believe in God. While subscribing to the theory of Evolution, I think that the idea that the universe simply happened w/o any form of intelligent direction, is an absurd idea. Evolution selects for traits that help the species. Religions, specifically Christianity, teach us to care of the sick. No other species does that. No other species would allow, for example, the mentally handicapped to survive as long as they do since there exists the potential that they will reproduce and perpetuate something like Downs Syndrome. In short, religion isn’t beneficial from an atheistic evolutionary standpoint.
logical thinking wrote:What specific argument or evidence is it, that persuades you?
I don’t think that belief in God can be limited to one specific argument or piece of evidence. Instead, it requires a synthesis of various and sundry pieces of evidence. Miracles that happen “in the name� of a specific deity are such an example. The atheist/skeptic would offer that other religions have miracles happen in them but I’m not sure why this should be of much import for the Christian since it would suggest the existence of the supernatural at a minimum. The Christian would simply conclude that their Scriptures and their Church predicts that such things will occur for the purpose of leading people astray.

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Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #24

Post by Justin108 »

JLB32168 wrote:I don’t think that belief in God can be limited to one specific argument or piece of evidence. Instead, it requires a synthesis of various and sundry pieces of evidence. Miracles that happen “in the name� of a specific deity are such an example. The atheist/skeptic would offer that other religions have miracles happen in them but I’m not sure why this should be of much import for the Christian since it would suggest the existence of the supernatural at a minimum. The Christian would simply conclude that their Scriptures and their Church predicts that such things will occur for the purpose of leading people astray.
A bit of a double standard, wouldn't you say?

"Miracles in the name of my god proves my god is real. Miracles in the name of your god also proves my god is real and that you are simply trying to lead people astray"

JLB32168

Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #25

Post by JLB32168 »

Justin108 wrote:A bit of a double standard, wouldn't you say? "Miracles in the name of my god proves my god is real. Miracles in the name of your god also proves my god is real and that you are simply trying to lead people astray"
That’s a separate question. The point was that miracles occur that cannot be scientifically/naturally explained and for the theist, this is indicative of the supernatural.

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RonE
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Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #26

Post by RonE »

JLB32168 wrote:
Justin108 wrote:The point was that miracles occur that cannot be scientifically/naturally explained and for the theist, this is indicative of the supernatural.
I'd like to examine your standards in this regard. Please provide a list of a few of these miracles "that occurred that cannot be scientifically/naturally explained". Were they witnessed by creditable sources, and do we have actual first hand accounts of these events? Are there other documented accounts from reliable sources of these events? Obviously, in accord with forum rules biblical accounts of miracles hold no weight.
*"On the other hand, we have people who are believers who are so completely sold on the literal interpretation of the first book of the Bible that they are rejecting very compelling scientific data about the age of the earth and the relatedness of living beings." Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
*The Atheist has the comfort of no fears for an afterlife and lacks any compulsion to blow himself up.
* Science flies to you the moon.... religion flies you into buildings.
* Faith isn’t a virtue; it is the glorification of voluntary ignorance.

JLB32168

Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #27

Post by JLB32168 »

RonE wrote:Please provide a list of a few of these miracles "that occurred that cannot be scientifically/naturally explained".
Okay
Fr. Dimitrios Moraitis of St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church in Greenlawn, NY shared his personal experience of a blind man being miraculously healed in 1990.
In the 1980's, Father Dorotheos was acquainted with the abbot of a small skete on Mount Athos near Karelia where there is a church dedicated to St. Nicholas; however, on the feastday there was no fish, and the monks were left with only beans and bread for the celebration. The abbot prayed and asked forgiveness and two hours later a man brought a bag of fish into the monastery after being told by a man to take them to the monastery. He pointed to the icon saying that the figure in it was the one who told him to take it.
Dr. Sean Thomas George was proclaimed dead after one hour and 10 minutes. Ten minutes after all attempts of resuscitation that stopped, his wife came and prayed for his life to be restored, which it was and w/o any brain damage.
Archbishop Dmitri Royster of Dallas’ unembalmed body was exhumed after being dead for four years to be interred in a crypt that was contributed to the Cathedral that he built. His body smelled of incense and was incorrupt in spite of the casket having been breached by water and filled.
St. Herman of Alaska stopped a tsunami from inundating the village of Sitka by running to the beach w/an icon of the Madonna and Child. The wave did not pass the icon but stopped at a line before it.
What makes a source “credible?� I have a feeling that no source that attests to a miraculous event will be regarded as credible.

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RonE
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Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #28

Post by RonE »

JLB32168 wrote:
RonE wrote:Please provide a list of a few of these miracles "that occurred that cannot be scientifically/naturally explained".
Okay
What makes a source “credible?� I have a feeling that no source that attests to a miraculous event will be regarded as credible.
If all you've got is personal testimony, as in the cases you cite, I would agree. There is nothing here for science to examine, so I'd say it is not that science cannot explain these events, it is that you've presented nothing for science to even comment on. Even in this forum personal testimony is not considered evidence.

Without evoking science there are other logical explanations that can be put forward for stories similar to your fish miracle, mostly it comes down to who has the more active imagination. :)
*"On the other hand, we have people who are believers who are so completely sold on the literal interpretation of the first book of the Bible that they are rejecting very compelling scientific data about the age of the earth and the relatedness of living beings." Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
*The Atheist has the comfort of no fears for an afterlife and lacks any compulsion to blow himself up.
* Science flies to you the moon.... religion flies you into buildings.
* Faith isn’t a virtue; it is the glorification of voluntary ignorance.

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Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #29

Post by Zzyzx »

.
[Replying to post 27 by JLB32168]

Those are excellent STORIES. Can they be verified as being true and accurate?

Where, when and by whom were they reported?

Were the events reported by anyone other than the people telling the story?

We are all familiar with "urban legends" are we not? What assures that the stories are anything other than urban legends (or church legends)?
.
Non-Theist

ANY of the thousands of "gods" proposed, imagined, worshiped, loved, feared, and/or fought over by humans MAY exist -- awaiting verifiable evidence

JLB32168

Re: Why do you believe in God?

Post #30

Post by JLB32168 »

RonE wrote: If all you've got is personal testimony, as in the cases you cite, I would agree. There is nothing here for science to examine, so I'd say it is not that science cannot explain these events, it is that you've presented nothing for science to even comment on. Even in this forum personal testimony is not considered evidence.
Okay – so once we exclude all evidence that cannot be explained scientifically, there’s no evidence for miracles – which are by definition events that cannot explained scientifically.

I would win every argument I made on this board if I excluded all evidence contra my argument.

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