Does God Exist Question

[opuntia]

Does God exist? Apparently this question will never be answered to everybody's satisfaction. This is a subjective question, not objective. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, it was not mere curiosity that drove him but serious issues. In the same manner, all who seek serious answers will make their own approach to Sinai as Moses did.

Jesus once said:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7; KJV).

In another place, James wrote:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5).

Again, Paul said:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).

Apparently the gates of Heaven are not closed to us mortals and we can approach God without fear. Said Paul, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16).

What is deficient in people is not possessing enough faith to call down answers to their questions. Paul said that "all men have not faith." (2 Thessalonians 3:2). He said also that "we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Apparently this life is about seeing who will be faithful and who will be unbelieving, so not everyone will be satisfied with the question of the existence of God.

 

[Jeremiah]

Does God exist? Apparently this question will never be answered to everybody's satisfaction. This is a subjective question, not objective. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, it was not mere curiosity that drove him but serious issues. In the same manner, all who seek serious answers will make their own approach to Sinai as Moses did.

Jesus once said:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7; KJV).

In another place, James wrote:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5).

Again, Paul said:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).

Apparently the gates of Heaven are not closed to us mortals and we can approach God without fear. Said Paul, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16).

What is deficient in people is not possessing enough faith to call down answers to their questions. Paul said that "all men have not faith." (2 Thessalonians 3:2). He said also that "we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Apparently this life is about seeing who will be faithful and who will be unbelieving, so not everyone will be satisfied with the question of the existence of God.

Not everyone has the same faith in the Bible as you. I don't feel it is very wise to place that much importance in one book. Rather an array of reading would be the preferable approach. But I would say that the goal of human life is to lead a good life. It has nothing to do with faith in God unless the individual feels that faith in God is needed for them to lead a good life.

 

[logician]

What god?

 

[Scott1]

Does God exist? Apparently this question will never be answered to everybody's satisfaction.

True... but remember not everyone believes the only way to believe in God is to read the Bible..... some of us believe there are "proofs" for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

Peace be with you,
Scott

 

[opuntia]

Faith as represented in this particular scripture allowed these early saints to receive communication from a divine being. Today, it appears that people are taking an arcane route to demystify God. Why not a direct contact with the Divine rather than some tortuous route? A study of "faith," what it means and how it is accomplished, could be a good starting point of discovery. What good is talking about a subject if it never comes out of the laboratory and into the real world? Faith is not an arcane subject or an academic exercise but a real, functioning aspect of true religion. Paul the Apostle, an ardent spokesman for the early Christians, said faith was a prerequisite for all saints.

It stands to reason that if this particular God demanded faith from the person, then faith must be exercised. If not, then our approach to this God requires no faith but to simply call upon Him to show himself. Someone said "no God." This is an easy approach to take because all it takes is a simple denial of His existence. This person would be hard-pressed to call upon God if faith is a requirement. Also, he or she will never be privy to any secrets of this particular universe where a God demands faith as a requirement.

Again, as all people are very capable of exercising faith or a belief or disbelief in any subject, one would be hard-pressed to deny that there is no faith or belief in any person to exercise. A belief system resides in every person, even in those who profess no belief in a supreme being. There will always be two parties: those who profess a belief in one thing and others who disbelieve that one thing--true opposites must reside in this particular universe.

 

[Papersock]

Anything can be believed through faith, even things that are not true.
I am skeptical of anything that can only be believed through faith because if something actually does exist then there should be definitive evidence for it and shouldn't have to be taken by faith alone.

 

[Frank Castle]

The only proof i can show you, is the proof that has been all around us for ages, the only thing humans can create without hands, are other humans!
This is proof positive that GOD is self-eternal and made without hands, like you!

 

[rheff78]

Look, even hard core people have questions. One of the greatest lines in a movie I ever heard came from a priest talking to a young boy who had questions about God,
"Son, in 30 years of religious study I have came to two incontravertable facts; there is a God and I'm not him".
Just puts things in persepective.

 

[opuntia]

It appears that God is not understood as being a communicative being.

It should be understood that if there is no communication between a God and a human being, then there is no way to verify truth. But as prayer is set forth as a means to verify certain truths, then a two-way communication exists between us and the Divine. Faith requires that we believe He will answer us in due time, i.e. His way and in His time. There should be no mysteries if people only knew how to open the windows of Heaven, there would be knowledge and safety from erroneous doctrines and practices.

Hard to accept?

 

[science_is_my_god]

It appears that God is not understood as being a communicative being.

It should be understood that if there is no communication between a God and a human being, then there is no way to verify truth. But as prayer is set forth as a means to verify certain truths, then a two-way communication exists between us and the Divine. Faith requires that we believe He will answer us in due time, i.e. His way and in His time. There should be no mysteries if people only knew how to open the windows of Heaven, there would be knowledge and safety from erroneous doctrines and practices.

Hard to accept?

Yes very. That's like saying "Oh, the tooth fairy is real, but in order to understand him you have to speak to him first."

 

[opuntia]

Yes very. That's like saying "Oh, the tooth fairy is real, but in order to understand him you have to speak to him first."

A man alone in the universe.

A man made an observation in 1915 that is very relevant to naysaying religion:

"To deny the actuality of miracles on the ground that, because we cannot comprehend the means, the reported results are fictitious, is to arrogate to the human mind the attribute of omniscience, by implying that what man cannot comprehend cannot be, and that therefore he is able to comprehend all that is." James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ (Salt Lake City, UT: 1915; repr. 1973), p. 149.

In order to deny a supreme being, one must have gazed into the universe and seen all there is to see and say God was not seen anywhere. Omniscience is an attribute where one is able to see into every corner of the universe and say what exists or does not exist. I don't believe science has developed an instrument powerful enough to examine every particle of the universe or to say how large space is.

 

[science_is_my_god]

Very funny. I don't have to "gaze into the universe and see all there is to see" to disbelieve in a god's existence, because, the theist is the one that makes the claim that a god exists, and generally, whoever makes the claim is the one that has to back that claim up. I could argue that one would also have to "gaze into the universe and see all there is to see" to fathom a god's existence, just as you say I need to in order to say there isn't one. Even if a god is beyond human comprehension, then why would you try to understand him through religion?

 

[gnostic]

Again, Paul said:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).

You could say that it is impossible (for some of us at least) to believe in a god without evidence.

In this days and ages, where divine miracles are non-existence, and with so many different religions and sects, it is hard for non-religious people to believe in anything or taking anything seriously without evidences or proof.

Faith is just simply not enough.

What Christianity have not destroyed of ancient pagan religions, they laughed off at the narratives that ancient people held sacred and claimed these are nothing more than myths. But considering that some of the narratives in the bible are just as equally as outlandish, we could claim the bible contained nothing more than myths and fables.

 

[Cordoba]

Even if a god is beyond human comprehension, then why would you try to understand him through religion?

If the Eternal Creator of this amazing universe has sent mankind His Guidance, there is no other way to investigate whether God exists or not except through researching His message to find out whether it's true or untrue ...

If God does exist, life would make a lot of sense

If on the other other hand He does not exist, what would be the purpose of life?

 

[UnTheist]

If on the other other hand He does not exist, what would be the purpose of life?

Whatever you think it is

 

[Cordoba]

Yes, but that would be very sad to believe that we are here on this planet just by pure coincidence, that we will live a number of years up to the age of 70 or 90, then will die from old age in pain and suffering

The whole idea that God does not exist simply does not make sense

Where did this universe come from?

Was the Eifel tower in Paris built on its own just by pure coincidence?

 

[UnTheist]

You're comparing devices made by humans and devices made by nature. They're not the same.

I can't prove that God doesn't exist in the first place, since it is impossible to prove a negative. Disbelief in God, however, requires no support, assuming that evidence to the contrary has not been provided

And assuming that you think that God exists because it is not known for sure where energy (or the Universe) came from would be an argument from ignorance. One can say "I don't know", and that would be a perfectly valid answer

 

[Cordoba]

The Eiffel Tower was built at the end of the 19th. century

We did not witness that event, but we are sure it was not built by coincidence

We are certain that an engineering team did the design of the tower and turned the design into reality

Why should the same law of Cause and Effect not be applied to this amazing universe?

 

[gnostic]

You can prove that the Eiffel Tower was being built by man's ingenuity.

On the other hand, you can't prove that a god created this world or this universe.

As Un-Theist, they are 2 different things. One is provable, the other is not.

 

[Cordoba]

There are only 2 possibilities:

Either the universe has a Creator, or it has no Creator

Till the 19th. century, to avoid the possibility that the universe has a Creator, most scientists in Europe and elsewhere claimed that the universe is eternal, and therefore it's simply a coincidence as it has no begining

Today we know that the universe is around 14 billion years old

It is not eternal, it does have a beginning

The logical conclusion is: there must have been a cause which made it come into existence

That Cause is the Creator of the universe

It's as simple as that ...