Do you believe in God? A deity, or higher power?

[Scratchtown]

All the discussion about christianity, and moral rights and wrongs has led me to ask these questions.

 

Do YOU believe in God? The God of the Bible, a different deity, or just a "higher power"?

Secondly, Who was Jesus to you? Do you believe that Jesus was also God manifest in the flesh? Or was he just a good teacher? Or do you believe that he never existed?

I would like to see what you believe, and also why you believe what you do. Or what/why you don't believe.

Now, lets try to be respectful of everyone's posts. No room or reason for being hateful. Everyone makes their OWN choice. Discussion based communication and difference is healthy, and should be kept rather than allow emotion filled rants to fly.

[NUance]

Yes. I'd bet my life on it.

[Landlord]

#TeamJesus

[Scratchtown]

I guess I didn't state my stance. Probably obvious in my previous posts in other topics...

God-fearing, Bible believing, and struggling Christ follower and sinner. (I wouldn't have it any other way)

[darkhorse85]

Used to. Not sure what I believe now. I left a great deal of my faith on the streets of Fallujah.

[knapplc]

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

[wildman]

I've always been told i have a really warped belief when it comes to this stuff. So i'll do my best to try and explain it in writing.

 

I was raised baptist going to multiple churches in Alabama when I was younger and Nebraska when we moved. I've always been taught God is why everyone is here and he put each of us here for a reason. As I've gotten older and gone through school, started researching things myself. Plus having the privilege to experience other cultures and their beliefs. Has caused my own beliefs to drastically change. The way I feel is that God not necessarily the god of Christians is why we are all here. Through the big bang and evolution is how she/he did it. The reason I feel this way is because science has shown a lot of evidence in support of big bang and evolution. Where as religions it's based on faith and beliefs with very little if any evidence. Now the reason I still lean towards religion. Is because through out my life I've witnessed things that according to people and science shouldn't be possible. I've heard voices in my car telling me how to avoid a vehicle accident, that i probably wouldn't of survived. That has happened to me twice. Which has lead me to be interested in the paranormal research. With that I go in everywhere being a skeptic trying to find a logical reason for the experiences and not a paranormal one. Sometimes I succeed and other times I end up with evidence of possible life after death.

 

But something I have learned about most of the religions out there. Is they are generally a good thing. They provide hope, faith and a sense of belonging. For some people sadly that is the only place they experience that in their life. Plus most religions provide a path of how to respectfully treat others in order to make earth the best it can.

[Scratchtown]

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

[wildman]

 

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

 

 

I always thought Athiest believed in god just that Jesus hasn't walked on earth. Or am I wrong in this?

[knapplc]

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

That's a question with as many answers as individuals who make those choices. I can't tell what IS the reason, but I can tell you that humans by nature are fearful of the unknown, and tend to reject a reality that points to a blank wall.

 

Regardless of how the forces of gravity swing (the Big Crunch or the Great Expansion), there is no "forever" for humanity. Our descendents will either be squished to ultra-compact bits when the universe collapses back in on itself, or it'll just continue expanding forever until, eventually, matter just drifts apart into nothing.

 

Either way, we die and nothing we do will last.

 

That's a damned scary reality, but that's a macro reality. None of us will be here to see it, and it's quite likely humanity will have evolved into something completely unrecognizable in the several billion years between now and those eventualities. In the micro reality, our personal lives, we're all looking at a brick wall at the end of our lives. None of us will live forever, and we're all of an age to be aware of the realities of our own death creeping inevitably towards us. But we want to live, that's in our nature, so it's far more comforting to think that there's "something else" for us to do, that death isn't the end.

 

Christianity sells "eternal life" in Heaven as a way past that scary blank wall. It's a security blanket, only nobody has ever seen it, reported on it, confirmed it, or proven beyond doubt that it exists. In the absence of any proof whatsoever, it's pretty easy to believe that it's just a made-up story to assuage our human fears.

 

 

 

 

Now, regarding atheists converting to Christianity... does that prove anything? Because we wouldn't have to stretch the powers of google too much to find atheists converting to Judaism, or to Islam, or to Wicca, or to Buddhism. We could find Christians converting to any of these or 100s of other faiths, and we could find anyone from any of those faiths converting to Christianity. Does any of that prove anything? It's certainly not a proof of the correctness of Christianity.

 

 

 

Maybe they go back for the same reason a horse runs back into a burning barn. It may not be the best place for them, but it's what they know, and where they feel comfortable.

[Junior]

 

 

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

 

 

I always thought Athiest believed in god just that Jesus hasn't walked on earth. Or am I wrong in this?

 

 

Atheist: "a-" meaning without; and "theos" meaning god. Atheist literally translates to "without god".

 

Now Jews believe in god, but that Jesus hasn't walked the earth.

 

Agnostics believe one cannot know with certainty that a god does or doesn't exist.

[wildman]

 

 

 

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

 

 

I always thought Athiest believed in god just that Jesus hasn't walked on earth. Or am I wrong in this?

 

 

Atheist: "a-" meaning without; and "theos" meaning god. Atheist literally translates to "without god".

 

Now Jews believe in god, but that Jesus hasn't walked the earth.

 

Agnostics believe one cannot know with certainty that a god does or doesn't exist

 

thanks for clearing that up

[WoodyHayes1951]

 

 

 

I used to believe in God (the Christian God) for a long time. I doubted for a long time, and finally I stopped ignoring those doubts in a knee-jerk fashion and explored them - really explored what I believed and why. It became clear that the reason I was Christian was that my parents were Christian, I was taken to Christian church my whole life, and I'd never had any real experiences with any other religions. I had never spent a year in a mosque, or a temple, or giving any other religion more than a cursory glance (reading their texts, talking to a few believers, etc).

 

When I stopped simply believing what I was told and truly thought about these stories, I couldn't believe them anymore. Funny thing - the clincher was a two-year cover-to-cover study of the Bible. I'd read this or that book, chapters and verses galore, but never the whole thing in an exhaustive study. Once I did, it was over for me.

 

 

 

I've talked about the House & the Shed analogy before here. My epiphany came to me as I stood on my deck, looking at my shed. It was dirty and needed to be cleaned out, mostly from mouse debris but I had some spilt bags of sand, tons of dirt, the usual stuff. It was a nasty, smelly mess. So bad that I never wanted to go in there.

 

As I stood there looking at that stupid shed, it occurred to me that I wouldn't even let a child of mine go in there in that condition. And then it dawned on me that the Bible story, as we're told it, teaches that God, who has the power to do anything, makes me live in that shed. He could very easily pull me out of it, give me a room in the house and let me live there instead of living in squalor, but he doesn't.

 

If I wouldn't let my own children go into that shed, why would the all-powerful God of the Universe let his? I decided to stop ignoring my doubts right there. It was clearly a story made up by the church to control people. No actual factual God as described in the Bible would allow children he loves to suffer this way.

 

The stories the Bible tells us, the stories the church tells us, are very clearly made up after the fact to explain what already is, to try and put some kind of explanation on things. There are 1,000 reasons why this would happen - control, power, influence, all the basic human character flaws, ignorance, fear of the reality of life, bap bap bap. The list is as long as man's journey through time.

 

The process took years. I was taught that God was real and that the Bible was true, I even taught that myself as a church leader. But it's clear to me that it's not true, and I feel much happier now, like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.

Ok Knapp,

 

Here is a question that has always perplexed me. Since it is so clear to you that these stories are made up etc.

 

Why do devout Athiests convert to a belief in God after exploring scientific explanation of things etc.

 

Clearly there are conversions that go both ways. Why? (Please excuse any perceived "negative" tone, it was just a question)

 

 

I always thought Athiest believed in god just that Jesus hasn't walked on earth. Or am I wrong in this?

 

 

Atheist: "a-" meaning without; and "theos" meaning god. Atheist literally translates to "without god".

 

Now Jews believe in god, but that Jesus hasn't walked the earth.

 

Agnostics believe one cannot know with certainty that a god does or doesn't exist.

 

 

 

Do you mean they don't believe Jesus or that The Christ has walked the earth?

[Scratchtown]

I would assume he meant they don't believe the "messiah" has walked the earth

[Ratt Mhule]

I believe in a creator of the universe (one God). Not sure about the Christian God as I cant worship a God who has killed so many people. I also believe religion(s) are man-made to make themselves feel better about their life. I can't take responsibility for my own downfalls, so I am going to persecute others (gays, Jews, Muslims, etc.) to make myself feel like a better person. Not something I can get behind. Yes, Ive bullied and put people down before, but not in the name of God. Because I was a douche when I was younger.

 

Plus too many things in the bible have been proven to be wrong. No way people lived to be hundreds of years old...sorry.