Does God exist?

[Jim Colyer]

I wrestle with the question of whether or not there is a God. It seems like I can prove it both ways and disprove it both ways. Does the universe need a creator to exist? Or is this just an idea inside man-made theology? Man yearns for the eternal. He wants to live forever and be strong forever. He is the only animal as far as we know which builds churches and contemplates the infinite. This in itself may be an indication that immortality resides in a soul of some kind. If there is truth in religion, I accept the premises of the New Testament.

http://www.jimcolyer.com

[nickerbockerzzz]

well ive been raised in church (non-denominational) and i was always told there is a God...and that there is only one God....as ive grown ive definately wondered this myself but in the end i do believe there is a God!!! I dont know how to explain it ....its like i just know.... :)

[Jim Colyer]

I agree. In the end, we have to have faith.

[elliott]

thats one hell of a question...

personally i think there is a god. i discovered her a few months ago and ive named her aeris, she is kind, just and loves to have fun. she beleives an eternity of pain and suffering is unjust. and gives all her creations and personal amusements bliss. and she loves the gay culture. so i guess you could say im agnostic.

of course on the other hand this world has had 1000's of different gods and religions and some religions simply had more swords and bombs than others. many sailors back in the day were completely agnostic or aethiest cause theyd go from port to port and every port theyd go to theyd discover a whole new god, they had no idea what to beleive

though if you're asking about christianity and such, i just cant worship a god who treats women like second class citizens, demands that sweaters be made from only "one" type of animal fur, allows men to be slaves for 6 years and women for their whole lives, doesnt allow men with "crushed" testicles into church, who favors the jewish people over all other human begings, blesses those who smash the skulls of babylonian babies against the walls, wants blood to cleanse you of sins, allows rape, loves violence, commands bears to slaughter children who insult his prophets, allows people who try and kill him rule over pain and torture and tortures his own creations in hellfire for all eternity for disagreeing with him. but thats just me. and i say this after being brainwashed for 18 years from my parents who would literally ground me and make my life more of a hell than their god made it if i didnt go and learn about this "loving" god who would kil and soak in oill everyone on the earth if they loved to have fun.

i could go on about the bible, but by all means read it yourself and get pissed off. though i dare say thats the biggest problem with religion, no one even reads the damn book. they just know some guy got swallowed by a giant fish and lived.

[wannabe_LDer]

I belive God exisit but I have a hard time coming up with some arguments to prove it. For me it's just something I've always "know", he has been in my life forever, and I can't imagine my life without him. But I do understand ppl who don't believe in him.

[silent_surf]

I don't know, sorry. LOL!

[silent_surf]

No, i dunno. i mean i think that ther eis a "god" or some kind of life force or life energy that we are all a part of, u know?

[silent_surf]

I think it's the same energy that makes out hearts beat that is what we were created by, if that makes any sense to u?

[DoubleEdgeSword]

I think the answer is unknowable. Faith needs no proof, so for those who believe, that's enough.

[elliott]

you guys ever seen donnie darko? he has a great quote in that movie about debating god

Dr. Lilian Thurman: "Donnie, what did Roberta Sparrow say to you?"
Donnie: "She said that every living creature on Earth dies alone."
Dr. Lilian Thurman: "How did that make you feel?"
Donnie: "It reminded me of my dog, Callie. She died when I was eight and she crawled underneath the porch."
Dr. Lilian Thurman: "To die?"
Donnie: "To be alone."
Dr. Lilian Thurman: "Do you feel alone right now?"
Donnie: "Uh, I don't know. I mean, I'd like to believe I'm not but I just...I've just never seen any proof so I...I just don't debate it anymore, you know? It's like I could spend my whole life debating it again over and over, weighing the pros and cons and in the end I still wouldn't have any proof so I just...I just don't debate it anymore...(laughing)...it's absurd."
Dr. Lilian Thurman: "The search for God is absurd?"
Donnie: "It is if everyone dies alone."
Dr. Lilian Thurman: "Does that scare you?"
Donnie: "I don't want to be alone."

[vote-me]

I think the answer is unknowable. Faith needs no proof, so for those who believe, that's enough.

and thats the problem... maybe!?

[rainforrest]

thats one hell of a question...

personally i think there is a god. i discovered her a few months ago and ive named her aeris, she is kind, just and loves to have fun. she beleives an eternity of pain and suffering is unjust. and gives all her creations and personal amusements bliss. and she loves the gay culture. so i guess you could say im agnostic.

of course on the other hand this world has had 1000's of different gods and religions and some religions simply had more swords and bombs than others. many sailors back in the day were completely agnostic or aethiest cause theyd go from port to port and every port theyd go to theyd discover a whole new god, they had no idea what to beleive

though if you're asking about christianity and such, i just cant worship a god who treats women like second class citizens, demands that sweaters be made from only "one" type of animal fur, allows men to be slaves for 6 years and women for their whole lives, doesnt allow men with "crushed" testicles into church, who favors the jewish people over all other human begings, blesses those who smash the skulls of babylonian babies against the walls, wants blood to cleanse you of sins, allows rape, loves violence, commands bears to slaughter children who insult his prophets, allows people who try and kill him rule over pain and torture and tortures his own creations in hellfire for all eternity for disagreeing with him. but thats just me. and i say this after being brainwashed for 18 years from my parents who would literally ground me and make my life more of a hell than their god made it if i didnt go and learn about this "loving" god who would kil and soak in oill everyone on the earth if they loved to have fun.

i could go on about the bible, but by all means read it yourself and get pissed off. though i dare say thats the biggest problem with religion, no one even reads the damn book. they just know some guy got swallowed by a giant fish and lived.

I was raised the same way and had to go every Sunday and Wednesday to those gay ass church services. I am also one of the few, like you, who has actually read that book instead of just taking whatever the preacher's preaching to be absolute truth. I don't feel that there is proof of no god, but I also don't think that the Christian god is what all Christians make it out to be or what a true god would be like. The bible is also full of contradictions, and most of them are about the character of god. I mean, being kind and forgiving and just is great and all, but telling someone that they are going to hell just because they don't believe in a prophet or his teachings is closed minded and irresponsible.

[05Ivory]

God didn't say rape was okay. The first rape happened in Genesis and it outright says it shouldn't have happened. The Bible does say a woman should be submissive. But it says to be to a godly man. It doesn't say men should mistreat women. Submission is not seen as a bad word in the Bible. It's not a word used to belittle a person. The Bible goes on to say we are all in submission to God.

What you're probably getting the rape comment from is Deuteronomy 22:22-30. I'm going to say those laws are very confusing if you're reading the new translations of the Bible. Because literally you read a line that says it's wrong to rape a married woman and the man should be killed for it then you read the next line and it says if you rape a single woman you must marry her because you've defiled her. One possibility is the Hebrew word used in this verse meant "lay with" more than the action of rape we think of today. It may have been meant to deter men from doing it. Not to mention being a virgin in that time meant something so to take that away from a woman was a bigger deal. You didn't just leave her after sex like men do now.

The Old Testament laws were very strict by our standards. People were stoned for adultery. They had certain things they could or couldn't eat. They had animal sacrifices. Why? Because there was no Savior at that time and all they had were their works to make them right with God. God had expectations for them as he does for us all. Not because he's a big meanie but because he's in the process of restoring the Garden of Eden where there was no sin. Jesus left a spiritual paradise when he died. But he's coming back to restore a literal place where there is no fear. Jesus didn't die and say "well good luck at fixing everything people. I hope it works out for you." No, he said he'd be there every step of the way. He said if we follow his commandments we will start the healing process for ourselves.

That's one of the big things Jesus did for the Jewish people who accepted them. He told the teachers of the law that they lost their love and mercy by being so burden stricken with the law. That's what Jesus was talking about several times in Matthew.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." - Jesus (Matthew 23:23)

Many of the other religions at the time worshipped multiple Gods so the Jews were God's choosen people. You'll find throughout the New and Old Testament the Bible writers saying worshipping man-made figures as God isn't going to get people anywhere. But Jesus came he extended that line of salvation to anyone.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." - Galatians 3:26-29

Jesus was the Savior they were waiting for. He was the official atonement for their sins through faith. You want to get right with God now? This is what you do. You do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Or another way to put it, love your neighbor as yourself and love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." - Romans 1:21-23

I don't understand the concept of hell either. But being angry about it isn't going to fix anything.

[05Ivory]

I wrestle with the question of whether or not there is a God. It seems like I can prove it both ways and disprove it both ways. Does the universe need a creator to exist? Or is this just an idea inside man-made theology? Man yearns for the eternal. He wants to live forever and be strong forever. He is the only animal as far as we know which builds churches and contemplates the infinite. This in itself may be an indication that immortality resides in a soul of some kind. If there is truth in religion, I accept the premises of the New Testament.

http://www.jimcolyer.com

You should pray to God instead of asking people. Ask him to reveal himself to you. Pray.

That's how anybody becomes a believer. They had an encounter with God. I did. And while I don't understand everything and I never will, God is real and the Holy Spirit is real. Feeling alone is the illusion, not the other way around.

I know it sounds stupid to non-believers to say things like "I just know." But it's true. I don't know how to describe it. It's just a continous sense of wholeness within your being.

I got tired of fighting it one day. The difference it has made within me and my life in such a short amount of time is a miracle and for the rest of my life I'll give God back the glory.

[05Ivory]

And elliott even though you seem angry, you aren't stupid. You aren't asking questions other Bible readers haven't before.

I read the Bible. And I question things too. I've come to realize that I'll never get it all. I'll never get why the wars took place in the Old Testament. I don't know why those children were killed while they were looking to kill Jesus.

Sometimes we see why those horrible things happen and something we don't. But I've come to understand that it all works in some bigger picture for God. That's what the Bible is. It's the account of a bunch of really messed up people interacting with God and God turning it to good. The Bible is a big account of God going way out of his way to make a relationship with people work. I mentioned the blood of animal sacrifices in my last post being necessary to cleanse people of their sins. You're absolutely right in saying that God didn't have to do that. But what's amazing is that it was Jesus who then took the place of that animal and shed his blood so that it would not longer be necessary for his children to do it.

That's the way God planned it. The law looked so "hard" at first and then came the story of redemption from that. That's how God chooses to work. He could have made us all robots that never was introduced to sin and just made us praise him. But he didn't. It's hard but it grows character. The Jews figured out early on that being treated unjustly led them to love justice.

This time when we go into paradise it'll be our own will. It'll be as free agents who love God and are praising him sincerely in our hearts because we learned while walking on this earth what the other option was. We learned on this earth that in good times and bad times we know how to get through with the God of the Universe.

The truth is the truth. God is God. And being worked up over not understanding everything isn't going to add an hour to your life.

Let go and let God and you'll finally find some rest.

Rejoice. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

When it comes to "disagreeing" with God I'm not sure why you would. Since he created you he knows what he's talking about. You can disagree all you want but in all reality you'd be digging yourself in a deeper hole because you'd be living contrary to the way that's the best for you. I'll be praying for you and your parents. Following God is "fun." It's just not the same fun as being drunk or high or other things that many people think are fun.

[AlexzAficionado]

There is a "Creator Source". The word 'God' has too much baggage attached to it and is probably not entirely accurate.

Things way above us seem to be positive entities. They respond to positive thoughts, actions, and lifestyles. Intend and desire rules the universe with manifesting what we think and feel. The energy of thought creates the world around us. So you're where you are entirely by your doing because this is the reality you've chosen to be in.

"God" is within you, as you share a piece of the creator at all times, but there is also free will, which can create the negative energy of making the world a bad place.

This is actually a really simple concept, but like all things simple, it takes a Thesis paper to get the point across.