Why do you believe in God?

[wcknight]

also consider that most scientists accept the big bang theory as science fact. Consider where the source of all that initial energy came from. Nothing comes from nothing. Energy does not suddenly just appear out of nowhere.

Only a being of infinite power and majesty could have generated the power to initiate the universe. When evaluating the infinite and near infinite, we are in essence evaluating aspects of the Almighty.

Consider that in each human being there are literally billions of cells and many more billions of atoms all working with a common purpose. Life itself in a miracle of nature. Consider this along with the billions of galaxies each of which contains billions of stars and very possibly billions of planets or planetary systems.

Does all of this come about all at random ? Does the energy to create all this suddenly spring up spontaneoously from no power source ? All our experience tells us that fantastically powerful explosions do not happen just at random. IF the big bang is a totally random circumstance then why has nothing else happened like it in last 20 to 30 billion years ?

I find folks like Carl Sagan amazing, they look at the infinitely vast and complex universe, see incredibly magnificent order, power, and majesty and conclude there is no God. To me that is akin to looking at the great pyramids of Gaza and saying there were no Egyptians. Things that are incredibly complex and vast do not simply come out of nowhere.

The Big Bang theory is far more fantastic and fascinating that the Biblical creation story, and even more unbelievable. When you consider that a single explosion created billions of galaxies in a single instant and 20 to 30 billion years later the galaxies are still expanding outward, how incredibly magnificent is that !

We humans are incredibly naive and pompous, on our miniscule little world, a mere speck of a planet in an ocean of galaxies in the vast universe, we stare up at God and say He does not exist. He must get one heck of a good laugh each time one of his infitesmially small creations looks up and proclaims that there is no God.

 

[ribozyme]

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I find folks like Carl Sagan amazing, they look at the infinitely vast and complex universe, see incredibly magnificent order, power, and majesty and conclude there is no God. To me that is akin to looking at the great pyramids of Gaza and saying there were no Egyptians. Things that are incredibly complex and vast do not simply come out of nowhere.

 

[mrs_abbott]

To put it simply, someone has to be in charge of the world and all of its inhabitants.

 

[thechrismyster]

But if you ask where did the universe come from, I will rebut: “Where did God come from?”

“Where did God come from?”
That question implies an ordered sequence of events. a movement from point A to B. that is measured as time.
God, being outside time needs no creator since being created would involve a chronology of events, and since he created time, he couldn’t have created himself. God always was and always will be.

 

[ribozyme]

“Where did God come from?”
That question implies an ordered sequence of events. a movement from point A to B. that is measured as time.
God, being outside time needs no creator since being created would involve a chronology of events, and since he created time, he couldn’t have created himself. God always was and always will be.

But that is not my real question. I will ask how come that cannot be true regarding the universe?

 

[wcknight]

expansion of space, time with tremendous release of energy, heat, sound (as in echo) etc, sounds like the definition of an explosion to me. IF it sounds like a duck, looks like a duck and walks like a duck, by golly it is a duck !

 

[ribozyme]

expansion of space, time with tremendous release of energy, heat, sound (as in echo) etc, sounds like the definition of an explosion to me. IF it sounds like a duck, looks like a duck and walks like a duck, by golly it is a duck !

Lol, I could say the same about the consecrated host. “If it looks like bread, tastes like bread, as the molecular properties of bread, it is bread, not the Body of Christ.”

 

[jmcrae]

But that is not my real question. I will ask how come that cannot be true regarding the universe?

Then the Universe is God.

 

[ribozyme]

Then the Universe is God.

Nope, because to me God implies consciousness. It does have some of the characteristics of God though (e.g. being eternal) but the universe is not capable of conscious though, intentions, or emotions.

 

[estesbob]

What makes you believe in God? Even if you’ve never lost faith, what is it that makes you believe? If you were an atheist or agnostic, what made you believe? If you were a polytheist or pantheist, what made you believe that there was one personal God?

I’m sure we can all learn something, so I’m looking forward to reading your responses. Wishing you well

Pete

I believe in God becuase he believes in me. Withour God I am nothing.

 

[thechrismyster]

But that is not my real question. I will ask how come that cannot be true regarding the universe?

because the universe is the creation, not the creator. The creation can do nothing on it’s own except for what it is allowed to do.

like all of us breathing. it is willed by the Creator. otherwise it would never be.

Without Van Gogh, Starry night would not exist. it is a proof to Van Goghs existence. without being a picture of him… It bears his mark.

We bear the mark of the Creator by being a Creation. Without him, we cannot be.

 

[wcknight]

Lol, I could say the same about the consecrated host. “If it looks like bread, tastes like bread, as the molecular properties of bread, it is bread, not the Body of Christ.”

You could say that BUT there have been Eucharistic miracles where the bread or wine DID in actuality become the Body and Blood of Christ, as in real human blood and real human heart tissue and in one case an actual human beating heart.

 

[jmcrae]

Nope, because to me God implies consciousness. It does have some of the characteristics of God though (e.g. being eternal) but the universe is not capable of conscious though, intentions, or emotions.

God is nothing more than First Cause. Whatever is First Cause is God.

Ideas about whether God is conscious, or what God thinks, are religious ideas.

Leaving aside special revelation for the moment, religion is simply a way of speaking about the First Cause, and different religions have different ideas about what God is actually like.

 

[ribozyme]

You could say that BUT there have been Eucharistic miracles where the bread or wine DID in actuality become the Body and Blood of Christ, as in real human blood and real human heart tissue and in one case an actual human beating heart.

Looks like I have to take your word for it… could you kindly refer me to an article in ,Nature Science, or PNAS that said such an event happened?

 

[jmcrae]

Looks like I have to take your word for it… could you kindly refer me to an article in Nature, Science, or PNAS that said such an event happened?

Better. You can go to Laciano and see it for yourself - a friend of mine went there, and yes, there is a little tiny bleeding human heart there, and it has been bleeding for more than 800 years.

 

[ribozyme]

Better. You can go to Laciano and see it for yourself - a friend of mine went there, and yes, there is a little tiny bleeding human heart there, and it has been bleeding for more than 800 years.

I looked up “Laciano” on wiki and google, and I didn’t get anything that relates to the Eucharist. Did you spell it correctly?

 

[LSK]

What makes you believe in God? Even if you’ve never lost faith, what is it that makes you believe? If you were an atheist or agnostic, what made you believe? If you were a polytheist or pantheist, what made you believe that there was one personal God?

I’m sure we can all learn something, so I’m looking forward to reading your responses. Wishing you well

Pete

the short answer for me is that I believe in God because God created me to do just that; by imprinting on my soul from the moment of conception the Natural Law I always, and without realizing, have searched for Him.

 

[jmcrae]

I looked up “Laciano” on wiki and google, and I didn’t get anything that relates to the Eucharist. Did you spell it correctly?

I forgot the “n” - try here >> therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.html

 

[cheese_sdc]

I believe in God because it takes as much faith to not believe in Him (or Her) as it does to believe in Him (or Her).

 

[MikeinSD]

The OP should have postulated “Gods” and got some of the good pagans to respond. No need to have so called divinity to have one source

I think the natural world has complexity and mystery enough without postulating a creator who needs addressed by it’s creation as “Lord.” Study the process of photosynthesis. Converting sunlight into sugars. And the being who created that beautiful simple yet complex process demanding to be addressed as a medieval monarch who threatens its creation with eternal punishment in it’s dungeons or eternal bliss kneeling and worshiping it.

Let’s see – photosynthesis – natural result of millions of years of evolution.

Medieval monarch who demands titles, bowing and scraping, and threatens torture if denied – human expression based on tribal government for about 3,000 years.

To put it simply, someone has to be in charge of the world and all of its inhabitants.

And people who believe in the medieval monarch in the sky demand I give them money and property or their monarch might chain me in it’s dungeon. Gone thru a court case about this very subject. The folks demanding my money and property in the name of their god lost in court. My partner’s brother also demanded money and property in the name of his god and sued my partner. The brother also lost in court.

Therefore some folks want everyone to believe in a monarch in the sky so that they can make some money. Other folks really believe in that monarch. Some folks don’t. OK. The US is (still) a free country.