Why do you believe?

[Not_Certain]

There have been numerous attempts at proving God’s existence, such as St Thomas’ Five Ways and St Anselm’s famous proof. While these proofs are interesting and are still debated centuries later, most honest Catholic philosophers admit that they aren’t terribly convincing.

Pascal’s Wager is another interesting attempt at using logic to persuade someone to believe in God. However, while it’s a very interesting mental exercise, it has serious flaws too.

In any case, I doubt many people of faith believe in God because of one of these logical arguments, and they are unlikely to convince very many to believe. Even if we proved God’s existence, it is still a long way from proving that our religion is the right one.

I suspect more people believe because of some emotional or mystical experience or feeling. Perhaps one feels that God has blessed one’s life in some way.

I ask “why do you believe?” because for many people, it’s hard to see a reason to believe in God or believe that God cares much about us or what we do. Even for believers, it’s often hard to see how God affects our daily lives.

 

[Maranatha]

Where did you get your information asserting “most Catholic philosophers admin that they (philosophical proofs for God) aren’t terribly convincing.”

At the very beginning of the Catechism the Catholic Church teaches:

[27](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/27.htm’) The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

and

31 Created in God’s image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called 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.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

There have been numerous attempts at proving God’s existence, such as St Thomas’ Five Ways and St Anselm’s famous proof. While these proofs are interesting and are still debated centuries later, most honest Catholic philosophers admit that they aren’t terribly convincing.

Pascal’s Wager is another interesting attempt at using logic to persuade someone to believe in God. However, while it’s a very interesting mental exercise, it has serious flaws too.

In any case, I doubt many people of faith believe in God because of one of these logical arguments, and they are unlikely to convince very many to believe. Even if we proved God’s existence, it is still a long way from proving that our religion is the right one.

I suspect more people believe because of some emotional or mystical experience or feeling. Perhaps one feels that God has blessed one’s life in some way.

I ask “why do you believe?” because for many people, it’s hard to see a reason to believe in God or believe that God cares much about us or what we do. Even for believers, it’s often hard to see how God affects our daily lives.

Hi,

For me it was a gradual change. But what I do believe is that the reason I believe is because God enabled me too. He called me out to believe in Him. It was up to me to accept this belief and I did. I can say that I am a changed person. My life was a train wreck and honestly I should be dead. But obviously God had another plan for me. I have several testimonies as to how God has blessed me. Some are personal but I will tell you one.

I was trying to get pregnant with my second child. I was a teacher at the time and hubby and I lived paycheck to paycheck. I was currently doing a maternity leave. As a teacher I was trying to manipulate the timing of my pregnancy so I could go back to work in Sept. Well it was the end of Oct. and I knew it was getting late in the year to have a baby so I could go to work in Sept. I was trying SOOOO HARD to do it MY WAY.

Finally, I sat down and said:God, you know what whatever you want for me. I cant do this anymore, Im stressed and I give up. If you want me to have a baby fine, if you want me to go to work, fine. Whatever you will for."

One week later I was pregnant and about one and a half months later my father died and left us a nice inheritance. I realize losing my father was horrible(although we had a lousy relationship)but God turned it into something positive.

The two things I was worried about He gave me but only until I submitted to His Will and admitted that I needed Him. This was not an AHA moment for me until maybe 2 months after my father’s death.

God gave me my son and enough money that I didnt have to work anymore.
God pretty much told me that if I put my faith in HIM everything will be OK. no matter what. Even though I wanted that baby I was willing to let go of that want and accept whatever God had planned for me.

 

[jmcrae]

I believe because I hear Him speaking to me in so many different ways. Obviously, that’s not something that’s going to convince anyone else - but my mother taught me how to pray when I was very, very young, and I can’t remember ever not knowing that God was there, or ever not praying, pretty much all the time.

 

[hasikelee]

There have been numerous attempts at proving God’s existence, such as St Thomas’ Five Ways and St Anselm’s famous proof. While these proofs are interesting and are still debated centuries later, most honest Catholic philosophers admit that they aren’t terribly convincing.

Pascal’s Wager is another interesting attempt at using logic to persuade someone to believe in God. However, while it’s a very interesting mental exercise, it has serious flaws too.

In any case, I doubt many people of faith believe in God because of one of these logical arguments, and they are unlikely to convince very many to believe. Even if we proved God’s existence, it is still a long way from proving that our religion is the right one.

I suspect more people believe because of some emotional or mystical experience or feeling. Perhaps one feels that God has blessed one’s life in some way.

I ask “why do you believe?” because for many people, it’s hard to see a reason to believe in God or believe that God cares much about us or what we do. Even for believers, it’s often hard to see how God affects our daily lives.

I am not of the group that believes for spiritual or emotional reasons.

I believe a a higher being exists due to the efficient, complex, autonomous and logical structure of the universe. Everything from the earth’s orbit to the three smallest bones in the human body speaks to a complexity we can’t even understand, let alone recreate.

I follow Catholicism specifically because the particular beginning of this religion is the most connected and even more importantly, its teachings are solidly logical in natural and supernatural law.

Every now and then I do feel some emotion though. I’m not that cold!

Probably the only thing that I believe in emotionally, or at least without a concrete/conscious reason is that God gave me this gift of faith. I figure it all out, but it wasn’t really me…not sure what the purpose is, but I hope I find out soon!

 

[ncgolf]

I see myself in the Gospels … read Luke 15, the Parable of the Lost Son. Like many others that is me in the Parable. God never gave up on me and as I got older I began to see more of the goodness and greatness of God … the anger and selfishness slowly gave way to His loving embrace.

Having been on both sides it is much better on this side.

 

[Della]

I believe in God and in Catholicism in particular because both concepts answer the questions that science cannot, never will, and doesn’t even want to answer:

Why are human beings so very different from the rest of the flora and fauna of earth and yet so alike?

Why can human beings surpass the laws of nature by ordering the whole of it according to his will?

Why are human beings capable of being so good or so evil and yet seem on the whole to maintain themselves and their families?

Why do human beings sense the need for a higher power and the sense that we are all responsible for the fate of our species but no other species does–not even the great apes or dolphins or elephants?

And these are just off the top of my head–there are hundreds more questions that only the existence of God and of the redemption of Christ can answer.