Explain to me why god is real using facts

[Valjean]

Of course it does....
So how could God communicate differently than Messengers?
What would be a better way to communicate and why would it be better?

Isn't He omnipotent? Can't He perform impressive miracles to sway the masses? Apparently He used to. Did He give it up?
Isn't He also omniscient and thus able to weigh the results of any steps He might take?

Could He not commandeer the airwaves and internet and issue a manifesto in all languages?
Couldn't He simply install a belief app in all human brains?
Couldn't He just poof away all military personnel?
The possibilities are endless....

Thus far any attempts at religious accord have pretty much fallen flat.

 

[CG Didymus]

Yes, that counts. Not all the God concepts people believe in are accurate but they still believe in a God or gods.
The only accurate ones are Judaism, Islam and Baha'i, and that is less that 25% of the world population....

Thank God for Islam, because they are on target about God and a lot of other things as well... Islam was definitely a necessary link in between Christianity and the Baha'i Faith.

So believing in a make believe God is better than not believing in God? What if all ideas and concepts of a Supreme Being are all man-made and make believe? Would it still be better to believe in these false gods?

 

[CG Didymus]

Yes, that counts. Not all the God concepts people believe in are accurate but they still believe in a God or gods.
The only accurate ones are Judaism, Islam and Baha'i, and that is less that 25% of the world population....

Thank God for Islam, because they are on target about God and a lot of other things as well... Islam was definitely a necessary link in between Christianity and the Baha'i Faith.

One Baha'i has said that the leaders of Islam, starting with the Umayyads in 661, are the evil beasts from Revelation. That's pretty much the very beginning of Islam. So more than a 1000 years of being off "target" while being right about God at the same time?

 

[Firemorphic]

Can't He perform impressive miracles to sway the masses?

Why does "he" "need" to do anything when Hindu's can come to a form of realization about "him" independent of revelation?

 

[CG Didymus]

No.
Perhaps I overgeneralized. Any religions who believe there is one God have an accurate concept of God.
Those who believe in many Gods are wrong as there is only one God. One God and many gods are logically contradictory so they cannot both be true. There was a reason for believing in many gods in the past but the past is gone.

But the One True God has always sent messengers with the truth? That's kind of the point. People seem to have made up their own gods. And since the One God is said to have created everything less than 10,000 years ago... That he walked in the garden and spoke with Adam... That he flooded the whole world. He spoke from heaven. He showed Moses his backside... then maybe this one god is made up also? 'Cause I don't think you or any other Baha'i believe much of the Bible is literal, therefore, couldn't it just possibly be made up?

 

[Firemorphic]

That he walked in the garden

Who walked in the garden? Adam?

 

[Firemorphic]

But the One True God has always sent messengers with the truth?

It works the other way around too, you know. They're a couple in coitus.

 

[CG Didymus]

Yes, I knew I was wrong. Thanks for confirming the Baha'i stance against Hinduism. It's rare that a Baha'i can speak the truth about what they actually think of my faith.

As for my view of your faith, I think it's fine. The world needs variety.

No, no, your faith is fine. You just have a few misconceptions about the truth about your own religion. One God, no reincarnation, I guess karma is an okay belief to have... but where you are way off is... you got to accept the fact that Krishna is the manifestation for all of Hinduism.

If you just look at the progression. Religion goes from one prophet/founder to the next. It's like grades in school. You taught school didn't you? It's like that except the teacher leaves after teaching for a short time and lets the kids "develop" and apply the things they learned. It would be like if the teacher before you taught the kids the truth, but then the kids misinterpreted and then changed those teachings. So what happened? You had to straighten them back out and teach the truth again. But those doggone kids, they misinterpreted what you taught too. So the poor teacher that came after you.

That's exactly how religions are. All the messengers taught the same truth about the one God. Then the people mangled those pure teachings to where they were hardly recognizable. The next messenger, like lets say Buddha, tried to fix the misinterpretations of Hinduism. But then his followers messed his teachings up too. So finally, with Moses, at least one thing got straightened out. He told them... "Listen, you idiotic idol-worshipping polytheistic imbeciles... there is only One God!"

You'd think that would have solved the problem... wrong. Jesus comes along and the stupid people made him part of a three-part God. Thank God for Islam, but even more so, the Baha'i Faith. They made it clear. There is only one God. One lifetime. No Trinity. No Satan. No reincarnation. Just read the writings... it's all their. The proof that there is a God is there too, because who else but God could have come up with all of this? Evolution? Ha, no way.

 

[CG Didymus]

Who walked in the garden? Adam?

God walked in the garden with Adam, then came looking for Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. I know Baha'i don't take it literal. So, since it is not "literal" to them, then, my question to Baha'is, is that then it must be fictional, or mythical, or made up.

 

[Firemorphic]

God walked in the garden with Adam, then came looking for Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. I know Baha'i don't take it literal. So, since it is not "literal" to them, then, my question to Baha'is, is that then it must be fictional, or mythical, or made up.

How can God "walk"? are you sure you're not talking about a random person, I thought we where talking about God. I must have accidentally slipped into the wrong conversation.

 

[CG Didymus]

It works the other way around too, you know. They're a couple in coitus.

The point is aimed at Baha'is, because they believe all religions "originally" taught and believed in one God.

 

[Firemorphic]

The point is aimed at Baha'is, because they believe all religions "originally" taught and believed in one God.

And God isn't a guy. How can "he" "walk"?

 

[Firemorphic]

To my knowledge, Baha'i's believe in a similar conception of God as Jews and Muslims (well, except for Wahhabis). Since when was God a physical person? wouldn't that just be a physical person and not God? or would it be a flapjack superhero like Spiderman?

 

[CG Didymus]

How can God "walk"? are you sure you're not talking about a random person, I thought we where talking about God. I must have accidentally slipped into the wrong conversation.

I think you're in the right place... It's that in Genesis, God walked around on Earth. Which makes God sound like he's a made up fictional character. Baha'is take the story as symbolic fiction. So why not God? After all, he's the main character in the fictional story? Why can't the concept of a Supreme Creator God be symbolic and not real?

 

[Firemorphic]

I think you're in the right place... It's that in Genesis, God walked around on Earth. Which makes God sound like he's a made up fictional character. Baha'is take the story as symbolic fiction. So why not God? After all, he's the main character in the fictional story? Why can't the concept of a Supreme Creator God be symbolic and not real?

You spent any time with Jewish theology? Genesis isn't a stock-Baha'i text.

 

[Firemorphic]

I think you're in the right place... It's that in Genesis, God walked around on Earth. Which makes God sound like he's a made up fictional character.

Nor is that idea what the Torah teaches, lol

 

[lukethethird]

To my knowledge, Baha'i's believe in a similar conception of God as Jews and Muslims (well, except for Wahhabis). Since when was God a physical person? wouldn't that just be a physical person and not God? or would it be a flapjack superhero like Spiderman?

No, God was just some dude, a dude with messenger dudes.

 

[CG Didymus]

Isn't He omnipotent? Can't He perform impressive miracles to sway the masses? Apparently He used to. Did He give it up?
Isn't He also omniscient and thus able to weigh the results of any steps He might take?

Could He not commandeer the airwaves and internet and issue a manifesto in all languages?
Couldn't He simply install a belief app in all human brains?
Couldn't He just poof away all military personnel?
The possibilities are endless....

Thus far any attempts at religious accord have pretty much fallen flat.

That's the thing, The Bible does have God doing miracles... and destroying things with fire and brimstone and great floods. He speaks from heaven at Jesus' baptism. And he has Jesus rise from the dead. But... the Baha'i don't take any of that literal. I get the feeling that Baha'is believe the Baha'i writing are so profound and so sensible that people are supposed to realize that it is the truth from God. That is their great miracle. I've read some of it, and I'm left with tons of questions.

 

[Trailblazer]

Yes, I knew I was wrong. Thanks for confirming the Baha'i stance against Hinduism. It's rare that a Baha'i can speak the truth about what they actually think of my faith.

As for my view of your faith, I think it's fine. The world needs variety.

I was not speaking of your faith. I was speaking of one God vs. many gods.

I thought you said you believe in One God.

I do not speak for the Baha’i Faith. I am just one person who has an opinion. Certain beliefs are contradictory to other beliefs, such as one God/many gods. In other words, they cannot both be true. That does not mean the *people* who have those beliefs have to be at odds with each other.

I like variety, but I do not think that the variety of faiths is going to ever result in unity and harmony in the world. I suppose anything is possible but it just does not seem to be going in that direction. I think that eventually something has to give. That could be a gradual change or it could happen suddenly.

From what I know of them, I think Buddhism and Hinduism and are very peaceful and unobtrusive, but I think certain religions are detrimental to society. What effect do you think it has when 60% of the adult population in the United States believes that Jesus is coming back to fix everything that is wrong in the world, not to mention that many Christians believe that everyone else is going to hell when Jesus returns? Atheists are much more likely to make the necessary changes in the world, but unfortunately they are small in number.

 

[Trailblazer]

Contrary to your belief, polytheism is alive and well. There are still many reasons for honoring many gods in the present. In fact, it's been pointed out by various writers that polytheism on the whole is better adapted to handle modern challenges than monotheism. But I won't derail this thread by going into that other than to say that many of the criticisms of "theism" leveled by atheists in the West fail to apply to polytheism.

I did not mean to start WWIII.

I approach religion from logic, not from emotion. I know people like the idea of many gods, but there are either many gods or there is one God. Both cannot be true because theyare logically contradictory.

Logically speaking, there are either many gods or there is one god. If there is one God then polytheism is a fantasy, not a reality. If there are many gods, then one God is a fantasy, not a reality. It is as simple as that.

I think in terms of what makes the most sense. The last three major religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- championed one God, so it makes sense that there is one God. Also, I cannot understand why we would need any more than one God if God is omnipotent and omniscient, and if God does not have those characteristics He is not God, not to me.

The criticisms of "theism" leveled by atheists in the West fail to apply to polytheism because polytheism is not a threat to atheists. Older religions are generally not a threat, it is the newer religions that pose a threat. But even though it is not new, Christianity that is a threat in the West because it is the majority religion; less so Islam, except for terrorists,who are a relatively small group. I do not see many atheist criticizing Judaism even though they are the first major religion to believe in one God and I think that is because it is such a small religion compared to Christianity and Islam.

I have talked to a lot of atheists online and it seems to me that it is the Bible God they object to, the God of the Old Testament who was anything but nice. I have no comment on that because I do not know the Bible well enough to have an opinion.

Is the reason polytheists do not like one God because He is purportedly All-Powerful, All-Knowing and All-Wise, and that is somehow too overbearing, too controlling, threatening in some way, frightening? Psychology is my other hat so I always wonder why people think and feel as they do.

How would polytheism handle the modern challenges we see in the world today better than monotheism?