I don't know if God exists

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Wahtubee

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Well, I’ve started to doubt heavily, recently. I do believe that there is a purpose in life, but I want to know if there is a god (or God Himself). I mean, I’ve been praying my whole life and I don’t feel like I’m getting any feedback or response. I need some sort of direct revelation. I’ve started to question if Jesus really existed. I do believe that the universe was created; there are many signs that point to that direction. It would be awesome if God existed. I don’t want to lie to myself through prayer or just make up some voice in my head that replies to whatever I say. I don’t want to create “God” in my head. And if I have had contact with God, I don’t think it was enough to prevent me from doubting now.
 
Wahtubee said:
Well, I’ve started to doubt heavily, recently. I do believe that there is a purpose in life, but I want to know if there is a god (or God Himself). I mean, I’ve been praying my whole life and I don’t feel like I’m getting any feedback or response. I need some sort of direct revelation. I’ve started to question if Jesus really existed. I do believe that the universe was created; there are many signs that point to that direction. It would be awesome if God existed. I don’t want to lie to myself through prayer or just make up some voice in my head that replies to whatever I say. I don’t want to create “God” in my head. And if I have had contact with God, I don’t think it was enough to prevent me from doubting now.
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I do believe that God exist. I myself have been struggling with my faith; but I can tell you this God is out there, it only seems like you’re not getting responses but it may just be that the responses you got are nothing what you expected, it may have been more or even less,but God never forsakes his children.(I still have to assure myself of these thing almost 3 or more times in each day;you’re not alone)

It could also be a test of faith and during these times you really shouldn’t give into the temptation(I was told this by a friend; that happened to me before) cause that’s when you’re actually getting closer to God.

Anytime having doubts in your head about the voices just say Jesus is lord and see if you get a response then you’ll know its God.

Take for instance the human body and how it actually functions how the heart carries out its function without actually using up the blood; how fertilization occurs and so on. Human hands cannot carry out this marvelous work of art.

You think if you actually meet him you would not doubt his existence?
Remember the Jews and Pharisee met Jesus but still rejected him; not saying the same thing for you but you should think about it.
 
God doesn’t exist only in your head or cease to exist if you doubt. Good news. :). I suggest you read “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel. It has a lot of evidence for the fact of Jesus’ divinity and resurrection. I imagine Strobel’s other books arguing for God are great as well. Also PM me if you want to talk or anything about your doubts.

~erine
 
Well, the thing is that isn’t God’s style. He doesn’t usually speak directly to people in prayer. You will find God more likely in the small things. You will see him in beauty and in truth, in innocence and love. You will probably never “make contact” with God on Earth, but you will see signs that point in his direction. For me it is music, but you will have to find what convinces you.

And Christ definitely existed, the only thing that people can try and contest is if He was truly God. If Christ didn’t exist then the Apostles and all the Martyrs who died in Rome died for a myth. This doesn’t make sense at all, if the Apostles were faking they wouldn’t die for it. Seeing as about 11 of the twelve died preaching of Christ, it seems pretty good evidence that they died for someone who was at least real if not God himself. But whatever happens, Good luck and God bless
 
I struggle with this too at times. But I suggest you look into st thomas aquinas and his 5 ways

youtube.com/watch?v=EPnfDgNy1dU

also fullfilled prophecy like the return of Israel in 1948 and many of the messianic prophecies Jesus fullfilled.
 
Ontology is usually a good way to start. Because religion in general asks the question of “why” rather than “how”, there aren’t always places where they completely overlap.

For example: “Why is there something rather than nothing”?
While there isn’t an incredible amount of logic that differentiates from verbatim (if any), we know what we know, and that is what we have to work with.
Things that exist have a subjective and an objective reality. There is a perception, and a reality. The same goes for God. There is zeal, and there is truth. If you want to know Christ-- and I should hope you do-- for the purposes of seeing if there really is a God, go to Eucharistic adoration. Don’t expect a miracle or coincidence or a “voice inside your head”. That’s not how God works in most cases. Just go be with him. See what happens.

Also, for a temporary intellectual stimulus, try this out for size:
aquinasonline.com/Topics/5ways.html
 
Hello my friend,
I am very sorry you are currently going through the trying times of doubt. It is a very challenging time, however, it is a necessary step to become freely and deeply in love with Jesus Christ.

Please consider the following:

The following are Universal to every person which comes into existence:
Faith: Since that which comes into existence cannot prove what came before the first thing, and that which has an end in time, cannot prove what happens at the Fullness of Time, every person of the world must operate under this Universal Faith of not knowing.
Triune Beginning: Since we exist in a world of unchanging forces, the unchanging forces must have existed either prior to or simultaneously to existence, and there must be a single source of all matter/energy, and the unchanging forces and single source must work in unity. This can be wisely stated by the wisdom of the Universal Faith of the Triune God: “In the beginning was the Word (unchanging forces), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” and is universal to every thing which comes into existence.
Peace: Peace is directly proportional to the quality of patience. Every action of a person is the combination of the desires of peace, the quality of patience, and the achievement of peace. Peace is universal to every person from the moment of conception.
Happiness: Happiness is directly proportional to the quality of kindness. Every action of a person is the combination of the desires of happiness, the quality of kindness, the achievement of happiness. Happiness is universal to every person from the moment of conception.
Energy: The use of energy is fully dependent on the quality of motivation. Every action of a person is the combination of the desires of energy, the quality of motivation, the achievement of energy. Energy is universal to every person from the moment of conception.
Wisdom: Wisdom is directly proportional to the quality of knowledge. Every action of a person is the combination of the desires of wisdom, the quality of knowledge, the achievement of wisdom. Wisdom is universal to every person from the moment of conception.
Image/Body: Every purposeful person has an image and body or only image. The body is exactly of the image or the image can be exactly of the body. The image is what a mind perceives. The body is what is materially there. The body can tell the mind what it feels. The Image/Body of a person is universal to every purposeful person from the moment of conception.
Knowledge/Thoughts: Every purposeful person has knowledge and thoughts or only knowledge. The thoughts are exactly of the knowledge or the knowledge can be exactly of the thoughts. Knowledge of the spirit and body are unchanging. Thoughts of the mind are subject to change. The mind can tell the body what the mind thinks the body should do. The Knowledge/Thoughts of a person is universal to every purposeful person from the moment of knowing or thinking.
Spirit/Being: Every Spirit has an image and knowledge of which a will can proceed by others choosing to interact with it. Every being has a body/image and thoughts/mind of which a will proceeds. The spirit/being is universal to every purposeful person.
Will: Every purposeful person has a will which proceeds from the combination of the desires of the body and the thoughts of the mind, and the interaction with the image and knowledge. The human will is free to subject itself to do the will as set by the Greatest Commandments, for this is the Godly will. The will of a person is universal to every purposeful person from the moment of conception.
Truly Loving Nature: Every purposeful person has the choice to align his/her will with that of Jesus Christ: Always want to learn, perfect, and spread the means to be patient and kind and motivated for God with all the body, spirit, thoughts, and will equally towards others and the self, in order to achieve unbreakable peace, limitless happiness, unstoppable energy, and content wisdom, as a society as well as individual. The Truly Loving Nature is the Universal Pinnacle of being, the Truly Loving Nature of Jesus Christ (Mind, Body, Will, and Spirit), and this is universal to all people.
The Holy Trinity: The universally greatest being of society is where the person of the governing head sets the Truly Loving commandments. Then the governed body of persons, including the head person, freely subject themselves to the same laws. Then the will of the body of persons, including the head person, perfectly proceeds from the commandments, as set by the head person, and the body of persons. To simply state this: The Father is the person of the Spirit of God (has the exact image of Jesus Christ). The Son is the person of the body of God that came down from heaven and subjected himself to the laws of existence in this world, therefore He has a human mind, a godly body, a human and godly will, and has a human spirit, which in His mind and will developed and grew to become at one with the Truly Loving Nature. The instance His mind and human will were at one with the nature of His Body, His Spirit revealed the Holy Spirit. But in order to reveal the Holy Spirit of Unity in the Truly Loving Nature to free-willed beings, a free-willed human must become at one with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ to demonstrate to the free world the joy and beauty of being one with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ!

Please know that this is only scratching the surface to the Universal Truths. And these Universal Truths can only be made known by the Catholic/Universal Faith.

I look forward to growing closer to Jesus Christ, Our God, with you throughout this discussion! Please share all your harsh criticisms, especially the logical fallacies you find in these Truths.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Thoughts?
 
Does something come from nothing? If something did come from nothing, and, therefore there is no God, then what are the moral consequences? If we answer the first question in the affirmative, we have intellectual poverty. Moreover, the consequences of a Godless universe is the absence of objective goodness and beauty.

God is love. Therefore, God must live in community because love is, at minimum, trilateral. Thus, God is trinity: the lover the beloved and the love they share. Love is unconditional. The Word of God, who is love, became incarnate. He did this to unite us to him. God chose to suffer on the cross to share in our pain. He chose to suffer death to conquer death. He rose again from the dead because death had no jurisdiction over him since He was the author of life. The Word is Christ. Christ desires us to be in unity with him. We enter this unity through the the sacraments; especially the Eucharist.

I am convinced that every other belief system is ultimately futile. I have climbed the stairways of abstraction; Catholicism fits the bill. All other castles sit atop clouds of no foundation. The stairways we climb to their tops, as entertaining and intellectually stimulating as they may be, do not lead us to truth.

I believe in God, in part, because there are no alternatives. If God did exist, he would be personified as love. While God must be one because He is a necessary cause and not a contingent cause, He is, after all, love. Love must be a community. The only spirituality that gets there is Christianity. More is necessary to get us to Catholicism but we save that for later.

I suggest reading “The Dark Night of the Soul”. Or, perhaps you should at least read about it. May God bless you all your days.
 
Wahtubee said:
Well, I’ve started to doubt heavily, recently. I do believe that there is a purpose in life, but I want to know if there is a god (or God Himself). I mean, I’ve been praying my whole life and I don’t feel like I’m getting any feedback or response. I need some sort of direct revelation. I’ve started to question if Jesus really existed. I do believe that the universe was created; there are many signs that point to that direction. It would be awesome if God existed. I don’t want to lie to myself through prayer or just make up some voice in my head that replies to whatever I say. I don’t want to create “God” in my head. And if I have had contact with God, I don’t think it was enough to prevent me from doubting now.
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Why do you doubt?

What started your doubt?
 
“If there were no God there would be no atheists.”
– G. K. Chesterton

Without God, nothing could exist.

We have a lot of atheists coming on this board trying to convince us there’s no God.
What they can’t explain is how anything can exist without God.

Chesterton said it all in a nutshell. He was good at that. 🙂
We will now hear from Perplexity, the King of Quibblers. :hey_bud:

Take it away, your majesty! 🍿🍿
 
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (It’s a click-able link).

This is an excellent book. Not just for the existence of God, but also for the existence of Jesus. Read it, you won’t be disappointed. 👍

Also, if you have Netflix, you can watch ***The Case for Christ ***and The Case for Faith right now! Both are excellent.
 
empther said:
“If there were no God there would be no atheists.”
– G. K. Chesterton

Without God, nothing could exist.

We have a lot of atheists coming on this board trying to convince us there’s no God.
What they can’t explain is how anything can exist without God.

Chesterton said it all in a nutshell. He was good at that. 🙂
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Whether he knew it or not, his statement was true another way. If God were ever disproved conclusively, there’d be no such thing as atheism. The word itself would lose all relevance and meaning. In the same way that nobody has ever invented a word to label the idea that they don’t believe in astrology.
 
Wahtubee said:
Well, I’ve started to doubt heavily, recently. I do believe that there is a purpose in life, but I want to know if there is a god (or God Himself). I mean, I’ve been praying my whole life and I don’t feel like I’m getting any feedback or response. I need some sort of direct revelation. I’ve started to question if Jesus really existed. I do believe that the universe was created; there are many signs that point to that direction. It would be awesome if God existed. I don’t want to lie to myself through prayer or just make up some voice in my head that replies to whatever I say. I don’t want to create “God” in my head. And if I have had contact with God, I don’t think it was enough to prevent me from doubting now.
Click to expand...
Given that the human mind works by means of symbols, it, as mind, is incapable of knowing God. I can “know”* about*" God, in a speculative sense, or a hypothetical sense, because in terms of human thought God is made into an object–necessarily. God as God is unthinkable, that is to say, is not susceptible to analysis by discursive thinking, and therefore any conclusions about God are intellectual constructs and not sustainable as real, regardless of whatever sensations might align to emotionally convince one that their faith has an actual object. The lesser cannot contain the greater, or All.

But while an intellectual approach to God is necessarily a fail, a mystical approach, some ways being more readily than other, can lead to a conclusion outside of discursive mentality as it is normally experienced by humans. For guidance in this area, one must go to the Great Mystics inside and outside of the Church. One must also realize that this means that one’s rudimentary ideas about God must be eventually abandoned. But the reward is great if one takes courage in hand and embarks on the path of inquiry. Then perhaps as was exclaimed by many, you too might realize as well “I was not deceived!” You will discover that God knows nothing of faiths, and only knows the Allness of Being as Self. Thus was Jesus able to say “I and my Father is One.”
 
Whadyamean said:
Given that the human mind works by means of symbols, it, as mind, is incapable of knowing God. I can “know”* about*" God, in a speculative sense, or a hypothetical sense, because in terms of human thought God is made into an object–necessarily. God as God is unthinkable, that is to say, is not susceptible to analysis by discursive thinking, and therefore any conclusions about God are intellectual constructs and not sustainable as real, regardless of whatever sensations might align to emotionally convince one that their faith has an actual object. The lesser cannot contain the greater, or All.
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The lesser degrees of knowing God does not contradict what He is in the complete sense, so what we can know of Him in these lesser degrees still hold truth. Though I sense you take a St. Bonaventure approach where the intellect ceases, love of Him goes further than comprehension.
 
ASimon said:
*“If there were no God there would be no atheists.”
– G. K. Chesterton

Without God, nothing could exist.

We have a lot of atheists coming on this board trying to convince us there’s no God.
What they can’t explain is how anything can exist without God.

Chesterton said it all in a nutshell. He was good at that.*
Click to expand...
The word wouldn’t lose all relevance and meaning because atheists have existed and it would be necessary to refer to it - like other historical facts. It is also a gratuitous assumption that the existence of God could be disproved conclusively…
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I do believe that there is a purpose in life, but I want to know if there is a god (or God Himself).
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  1. If there is a purpose where has it come from?
  2. Do you believe in the reality of good and evil?
  3. Do you believe life is an accident?
  4. If not why not?
  5. What do you value more than anything else in life?
 
Trevor_Stamm said:
The lesser degrees of knowing God does not contradict what He is in the complete sense, so what we can know of Him in these lesser degrees still hold truth. Though I sense you take a St. Bonaventure approach where the intellect ceases, love of Him goes further than comprehension.
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Saint B. has it right in my book, Though God includes intellect as Mind, mortal mind does not know God except as a symbolic notion. The point of spiritual practice is to transcend that notion by elimination of attachments to limits. This process has been made very difficult cumbersome in the Christian tradition while it is streamlined in another way, one which seems to occur spontaneously in some individuals as evidenced by history. The methodology is available, but is unpalatable to the Christian because the intellectual statement of the conclusion appears contrary to dogma, while it is not, in fact. somewhere the Church appears to have put the Fact of the matter. or un-matter, behind Paul’s dark glass. That is tragic. in my opinion, for all the excellent intention and good works of the Church as an institution. It appears to not take into account the very revelations of its best mystics, nor of the words of Jesus Himself in this matter. I don’t get it.
 
tonyrey said:
The word wouldn’t lose all relevance and meaning because atheists have existed and it would be necessary to refer to it - like other historical facts. It is also a gratuitous assumption that the existence of God could be disproved conclusively…
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It would still essentially lose all meaning and relevance. The word would still appear in the dictionary and would be “known” for what it used to represent, but it would essentially be calcified in the lexicon. It’d be like someone standing up today and calling himself an American Abolitionist. Yeah, you and everyone else, buddy.

Also, while it may be a gratuitous assumption that the existence of God could be disproved conclusively, it’s someone else’s gratuitous assumption. We won’t ever disprove God, sadly.
 
ASimon said:
The word wouldn’t lose all relevance and meaning because atheists have existed and it would be necessary to refer to it - like other historical facts. It is also a gratuitous assumption that the existence of God could be disproved conclusively…
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It would be calcified only if the existence of God were disproved conclusively for once and for all - which as you admit is impossible…
We won’t ever disprove God, sadly.
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That suggests you find belief in the existence of God objectionable and a source of evil - like Dawkins.,
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