Is there meaning to life? Is God real?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tadtomczyk
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tadtomczyk

Guest
Hi, im 13 and if you see my other posts, i am losing my faith deeply. it all started when i thought about my death. I was a HUGE believer in god before this happen just so you know. Now it hit me to think that what if god ISNT real? Ive seen EVERY ARGUMENT there is to know and I’ve had some of my own. I am a very logical and analytical person too. I just think that it makes ZERO LOGICAL SENSE to believe a god exists! someone told me before it all about looking in yourself! I thought about it and it doesn’t make sense. in my mind i put myself in a position were i was a MUSLIM boy and i was trying to find my faith. I did the same “looking inside yourself” thing and i found its just believing in what you want to believe. I thought that if i put myself in a B.C. world where i had NO UNDERSTANDING of how the universe works, Genesis would unfold SO REASONBLY to my eyes! Think about it! Its almost like humanity CREATED god! Help! These questions won’t stop! is my life not worth living for? DOES GOD EXIST?!!?!?😦
 
Tadtomczyk said:
Hi, im 13 and if you see my other posts, i am losing my faith deeply. it all started when i thought about my death. I was a HUGE believer in god before this happen just so you know. Now it hit me to think that what if god ISNT real? Ive seen EVERY ARGUMENT there is to know and I’ve had some of my own. I am a very logical and analytical person too. I just think that it makes ZERO LOGICAL SENSE to believe a god exists! someone told me before it all about looking in yourself! I thought about it and it doesn’t make sense. in my mind i put myself in a position were i was a MUSLIM boy and i was trying to find my faith. I did the same “looking inside yourself” thing and i found its just believing in what you want to believe. I thought that if i put myself in a B.C. world where i had NO UNDERSTANDING of how the universe works, Genesis would unfold SO REASONBLY to my eyes! Think about it! Its almost like humanity CREATED god! Help! These questions won’t stop! is my life not worth living for? DOES GOD EXIST?!!?!?😦
Click to expand...
What do you mean that you were thinking about your death? Are souls are immortal, we can only physically die.

You want to know if God didn’t exist? Think about this, how many times do you hear that there should be other people out there in the universe? The percentage is above 50%, yet we obviously haven’t made contact with aliens or have seen other life on other planets. This is because God created the universe, and he purposely made us the only life. The sheer chance of humans being able to exist is a number beyond which we can imagine when you consider how perfect everything would have to be. So logically, we conclude that someone must have purposely created it so this would happen. If you create your own town with Legos or building blocks, do you just scatter the Legos all around? No, you set them carefully so it does what you want. (Sorry, this might be a bad analogy but it’s the only I can think of:confused:)

It is illogical to think God doesn’t exist. Everything must have had a cause or creator. Eventually, you will get to the Big Bang. But who caused the Big Bang to occur? Logically, someone must have caused it to happen. He is God. Now you could say then who caused God? Well the thing is is that God is eternal and lives outside of time. The only thing that could have created us is something that is outside of time, God. He is living in an eternal present outside of our world. It is like he is always in the present. This is very hard for humans to understand because we live in a world of space and time with past,present, and future . First imagine it as dominoes. There are a bunch of dominoes lined up and ready to go, and then someone knocks them down. They knock down perfectly just so it is shaped like a person’s face. Obviously, it just didn’t happen by chance. Now The first domino is like the Big Bang.Atheists will say the domino just topped over without anyone doing it. Now do you see how this is illogical? This analogy is not perfect because in reality, God sees the first and last domino toppling because he is outside of time. Imagine we live in a bubble, and each action is like a step. Well God is outside of that bubble and he sees all the steps until the end. He created and is witnessing the Big Bang, and is also witnessing the end of time as we speak.

Above all, I urge you to pray to the Holy Spirirt for guidance, and I will pray for you too.
 
Oh and also, you are correct about looking inside yourself doesn’t make sense. However, you could look inside yourself and realize how complex your body is. The trillions of atoms, and they all are in the same place to work out perfectly. Did this happen by chance, or did someone do this on purpose?

If you see bushes that shape like words when you look at it from the sky, do you conclude this happned by chance or do you conclude that someone must have purposely done this?
 
Also, remember that there are 2 ways to know God exists:
  1. Natural reason(As I have made the argument in my previous posts)
  2. Revelation(God himself telling human beings that he exists most likely through miracles)
I will focus on revelation in this post.

Do you know how many miracles have been approved by the Catholic Church? Too many to count. How can all of these be wrong, and also notice how no other religion has the same amount of miracles? When have you ever heard of a Protestant “miracle” or a Hindu “miracle” in modern times? Almost never. However there are many Catholic miracles, one of the famous is the apparitions at Fatíma. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun

50,000 people of all religions including atheists will testify that the sun literally dance in the sky. This sounds ridiculous, but think about, how is it possible for this many people to have had a mass hallucination. Probably 0.00000000000000 and so on %. Many atheists will try to say that that’s what happens when people look at the sun, but really? They had umbrellas and it was raining, and no one knew it was going to be a sun miracle(not even the children). Plus, how would looking at the sun make it look like it is literally dancing? It also doesn’t explain the fact why the ground was immediately dried. Thus, it is only logical to say that there is a God who did this in order to show he is God. And atheists will try to say that it is impossible because it breaks the laws of physics, but God created the laws of physics, and I’m sure he created it to allow for him to break it occasionally.

This is just one miracle. One. Out of thousands.

Here are some more than seem to lack an explanation:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pio_of_Pietrelcina
roman-catholic-saints.com/incorruptible-saints.html (Notice the very long list of saints)

When you add it all up, the evidence overwhelmingly points to the existence of God, specifically to the one that the Catholic Church describes.
 
Many atheists will point to the fact that there are so many different religions and claim that it is obviously a hoax and which one to believe in anyway?

Well you see, these religions were based off people who correctly assumed there was a God through natural reason but not through revelation. They guessed on what they thought what a divine being would look like. That is why there were so many different religions in the ancient world. Now, other religions were founded based off of false revelation. Someone intentionally made up a story, or mistakenly thought God revealed himself to him, and spread it to other people. The other people trusted him and believed him, and they told other people, etc. Some religions, such as Islam, especially thrived because it was Islam or die(in some countries it still is) Also, some people might have mistakenly thought coincidences were miracles. For example, if someone says Islam is the right religion, and then says that proof will be that it will rain today, and it rains, that is obviously a coincidence. If someone says this team will win because Islam is true, and the team wins, it is obviously a coincidence because the chances were so high. Are the chances of 50,000 people mistakenly think they saw the sun danced high? Not at all.

There are so many miracles of the Church, so many more than all the other religions(and more rarer or spectatular). This all points to the fact that God exists, and he has revealed himself through the Catholic Church, and that the other religions falsely think God revealed Himself to them.

Also, I know it is very tempting to skim over some paragraphs or some of my posts, but please don’t.(I’ve been guilty of this many times)** Please take the couple of minutes to try to read and understand it. It is very important that you read this and I strongly urge that you do, because it will help you understand a whole lot better.** Thank you for asking for help.
 
Tadtomczyk said:
Hi, im 13 and if you see my other posts, i am losing my faith deeply. it all started when i thought about my death. I was a HUGE believer in god before this happen just so you know. Now it hit me to think that what if god ISNT real? Ive seen EVERY ARGUMENT there is to know and I’ve had some of my own. I am a very logical and analytical person too. I just think that it makes ZERO LOGICAL SENSE to believe a god exists! someone told me before it all about looking in yourself! I thought about it and it doesn’t make sense. in my mind i put myself in a position were i was a MUSLIM boy and i was trying to find my faith. I did the same “looking inside yourself” thing and i found its just believing in what you want to believe. I thought that if i put myself in a B.C. world where i had NO UNDERSTANDING of how the universe works, Genesis would unfold SO REASONBLY to my eyes! Think about it! Its almost like humanity CREATED god! Help! These questions won’t stop! is my life not worth living for? DOES GOD EXIST?!!?!?😦
Click to expand...
Walk outside and have a look around, the current working theory is the ‘Big Bang’ one massive explosion, you find a more logical explanation than a grand designer (God) give me a call man. 🙂

p.s. Please read my previous responses to your previous threads.

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
When one faces the fear of death for the first time, it is very easy to doubt God.

Hang in there though, remember we have a God who is stronger than death.

ICXC NIKA
 
I suggest you look up the ‘incoherence of atheism’ by Ravi Zacharias, on YouTube, some food for thought
 
theoda said:
What do you mean that you were thinking about your death? Are souls are immortal, we can only physically die.

You want to know if God didn’t exist? Think about this, how many times do you hear that there should be other people out there in the universe? The percentage is above 50%, yet we obviously haven’t made contact with aliens or have seen other life on other planets. This is because God created the universe, and he purposely made us the only life. The sheer chance of humans being able to exist is a number beyond which we can imagine when you consider how perfect everything would have to be. So logically, we conclude that someone must have purposely created it so this would happen. If you create your own town with Legos or building blocks, do you just scatter the Legos all around? No, you set them carefully so it does what you want. (Sorry, this might be a bad analogy but it’s the only I can think of:confused:)

It is illogical to think God doesn’t exist. Everything must have had a cause or creator. Eventually, you will get to the Big Bang. But who caused the Big Bang to occur? Logically, someone must have caused it to happen. He is God. Now you could say then who caused God? Well the thing is is that God is eternal and lives outside of time. The only thing that could have created us is something that is outside of time, God. He is living in an eternal present outside of our world. It is like he is always in the present. This is very hard for humans to understand because we live in a world of space and time with past,present, and future . First imagine it as dominoes. There are a bunch of dominoes lined up and ready to go, and then someone knocks them down. They knock down perfectly just so it is shaped like a person’s face. Obviously, it just didn’t happen by chance. Now The first domino is like the Big Bang.Atheists will say the domino just topped over without anyone doing it. Now do you see how this is illogical? This analogy is not perfect because in reality, God sees the first and last domino toppling because he is outside of time. Imagine we live in a bubble, and each action is like a step. Well God is outside of that bubble and he sees all the steps until the end. He created and is witnessing the Big Bang, and is also witnessing the end of time as we speak.

Above all, I urge you to pray to the Holy Spirirt for guidance, and I will pray for you too.
Click to expand...
But aren’t there theory’s like what if the Big Bang is just a result from the last universe that crunched back up?
 
Please, remember this person stated they are 13 years old.

I’m not sure what you’re going to decide, OP. Maybe you’ll decide there is a God, maybe you’ll decide there isn’t. Either way, life has meaning. Life is wonderful! And whether we believe we were put here by God or whether we evolved from stardust…we can still lead a full, meaningful life.

If you choose the path of faith, don’t expect to have all the answers, understand that a lot of it is mystery, remember that faith is not the same as certainty.

If you choose the path of atheism, always keep an open mind, learn all you can about the world - it is a fascinating place. Listen to your conscience always. Make your own meaning.
 
Genesis is not a science textbook, it was only taken to be so by some fundamentalists Christians in the anglo world around the 17-20th centuries in reaction to the so-called “enlightenment” which attempted (fallaciously) to use science as a weapon against Christianity. This isn’t a position that Christians have taken because science has forced them to either, St. Augustine, one of the greatest theologians of all time, writing in the 4-5th century in North Africa interpreted genesis (in a book called “On the Literal Meaning of Genesis”) in a way that is very profound and demonstrates that genesis is not disproved by modern cosmology or evolutionary theory because that wasn’t really the point.

You say you’ve seen every argument and have found them illogical, but I think you should spend some time investigating them more. Start with exhibit A of theism, the Kalam Cosmological Argument:

youtube.com/watch?v=6CulBuMCLg0

After watching the video, click the resources page in the description to read more about it.

Is there anything you find illogical about this argument? You say that man created God, but arguments like this are simply reasoning from what we know about the world and reality to a plausible explanation for it.
 
Tadtomczyk said:
Help! These questions won’t stop! is my life not worth living for? DOES GOD EXIST?!!?!?😦
Click to expand...
Is there meaning to life? Yes. To share in the blessed life of God.
Is God real? Yes, there are greater/better beings/experiences, therefore, there is the greatest being/experience AKA the infinitely greater being!
What if God isn’t real? Then there would be no greater/better nor lesser/worse being/experience.
Is your life worth living for? No, our life is not worth living for, however, God’s life is worth living for.
Does God exist? Yes. We have direct access to Him in the Eucharist! To help see Him in the Eucharist, consider the Presentation of Jesus Christ in the Mass:

When you sign yourself with holy water, this is the presentation of your baptism in the Jordan River.
When the priest signs himself with holy, this is the presentation of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan River.
When the priest enters the Sanctuary, this is the presentation of Jesus’s triumphant entry into the temple.
The readings and homily are the presentation of Jesus preaching in the temple.
Declaring, “[Jesus] is True God from True God,” is the presentation of Jesus declaring himself God, “…before Abraham was, I AM.”
The Crucifix leaving the Sanctuary is the presentation of Jesus hiding to prevent being stoned.
Us offering the bread and wine is the presentation of the soldiers handing over Jesus to the authorities.
Us offering the money is the presentation of Judas returning the money to the high priests.
The priest handing over the wine to the deacon for pouring into the Chalice is the presentation of Jesus’s scourging by the soldiers.
The priest washing his hands is the presentation of Pontius washing his hands.
The priest going down to his knee three times is the presentation of Jesus falling down three times during his passion.
The priest breaking the Body is the presentation of Jesus’s death.
The priest and us consuming the Body is the presentation of Jesus’ resurrection into a glorified body.
When exiting the Church, signing ourselves with holy water is the presentation of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan River.

Thank you for sharing the questions, and may you see the light in the patience and kindness of Jesus sooner than later, so that you may embrace his Love and experience the peace and joy of Christ forever.
 
Human embodied life is its own meaning, it’s own reward. No philosophy needed or sought.

IMNAAHO!!!

ICXC NIKA.
 
Another thing I’d like to share is an argument for the immortality of the soul. I remember being around your age and finally coming to the realization that one day I shall die too and thinking that that was all to it, because I didn’t know any of these arguments for God or for the immateriality and immortality of the soul. I assume that you might be thinking that reality is just material, the doctrine called materialism, that there is no God or soul and all there is is the physical universe.

peterkreeft.com/topics-more/case-for-life-after-death.htm
 
I had very similar doubts when I was your age, Tadtomczyk. It’s very common and probably healthy to question beliefs that have been handed to you.

My advice would be to ignore the long litany of assertions offered by some posters. Providing answers to your questions without any justification for the validity of those answers is not helpful.

I think that Doubtfire offered the best response. I wish you luck. Trust yourself to come to the conclusion that is best for you.
 
Nixbits said:
I had very similar doubts when I was your age, Tadtomczyk. It’s very common and probably healthy to question beliefs that have been handed to you.

My advice would be to ignore the long litany of assertions offered by some posters. Providing answers to your questions without any justification for the validity of those answers is not helpful.

I think that Doubtfire offered the best response. I wish you luck. Trust yourself to come to the conclusion that is best for you.
Click to expand...
Yeah I remember when I was an atheist too, it started around OP’s age. One thing I thought was that if you were an atheist and actually believed that there was no god, why would you waste any time of your one and only life talking about something you thought was completely false; why would you spend your days talking about religion if you were saying that you didn’t want to be dominated by it. It never made any sense to me.
 
Tadtomczyk said:
. . . i am losing my faith deeply. it all started when i thought about my death. I was a HUGE believer in god before this happen just so you know. Now it hit me to think that what if god ISNT real? . . . Think about it! Its almost like humanity CREATED god! Help! These questions won’t stop! is my life not worth living for? DOES GOD EXIST?!!?!?😦
Click to expand...
I apologize for it sounding disjointed, but here are a few thoughts on what you write:

I like the capitals; it shows emotion that reflects the reality that there is something wrong.
A life without God is worthless and meaningless.

If we consider time we see:
  • cycles: day and night, new and full moons, the seasons and the years
  • a coming in and out of being: musical notes, the leaves on the trees
  • continuous transformation: ancient sea beds that are now mountain ranges.
Where do we fit in?
  • participants in this grand opera
  • lingering and gone in an instant
    We age and see the coming and going of people in our lives.
    Who is it that ages? What am I?
If death were to bring an end to everything, to all our relationships, then all would be swallowed by oblivion.
There would be no good, no evil because it would not matter.
Whatever one did, the end result would remain the same - nothingness.
Although this is the end to all that is transient,
we are eternal beings, and that is why this is scary.
To the extent that our hearts are devoted to what inevitably must perish, we will suffer.

In this moment, is your entire past.
All decisions and the circumstances in which they were taken, have led to this.
This moment continues in its ongoing transformation,
its voyage in time, remaining ever in itself,
towards your perfection - becoming who you are.

While you are making of your life what you choose.
This being that you are is not self generated.
You are not bringing yourself into existence.
Your Source is a transcendental Being we call God.

God is eternal - the Cause of all that is, was and will be, unchanging and ever-present as the Creator of time.
He is Love:
  • a giving union, three persons within Himself and
  • in relation to His creation - humanity, His children.
  • Love is eternal.
    He is the living Truth.
    He is the infinite beauty that is only dimly revealed in the people and the things we love and enjoy.
    He is goodness itself, wanting for us, all the angels and saints, to unite in His love for ever and ever.
    In Him, we find the fulfillment of all our hearts’ desires.
 
Aloysium said:
I apologize for it sounding disjointed, but here are a few thoughts on what you write:

I like the capitals; it shows emotion that reflects the reality that there is something wrong.
A life without God is worthless and meaningless.
Click to expand...
You do realize you’re speaking to a 13 year old?

What do people who decide that life is worthless and meaningless DO?

If this child chooses atheism - (a perfectly regular occurrence even among believers during their youth) - you’ve just encouraged them down a very dark road.

Shame on you.

Life without belief in God is NOT worthless and meaningless. Life has INTRINSIC value.
 
Note: This is supposed to be an edit to my previous post:

Then what created that last universe? Eventually, you would have to have a First Cause. Something just can’t come from nothing. A pencil just can’t magically appear when you need it. If you would say it just was eternal, that is impossible since we live in time. We therefore have to assume that the creator is outside of time, in an eternal present. Everything has a cause, but since everything in our world is inside space and time, there is a first cause caused by something in an eternal present. The idea of eternity is indeed a baffling concept that is hard to understand by humans.

Besides, there is a lot of evidence for the Bang Bang and that is why the good majority of scientists and atheists accept it. Everything points to the Big Bang. Here is a good article on proof of Big Bang:schoolsobservatory.org.uk/astro/cosmos/bb_evid
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top