Hey Pandas, What’s The Most Compelling Argument Or Reasoning You Have For Believing In God? (Closed)
Let us know!
This post may include affiliate links.
For me, itās just everyday life, science, studying inwards towards ourselves and life on earth and outwards to the wonders of space.
How the smallest living organism has all of its necessary cellular structures to thrive and grow. How everything works in harmony with all the other moving parts, a chaotic yet calculated system.
How everything can be traced to a cause, and can be mapped to an effect. How the stars, planets, and other celestial bodies perform their intricate ballet.
This is but a glimpse into the wonders of our universe, just think about all that I havenāt said, all that is as humans donāt even know of yet. Could all of this really been through a happy accident, just randomly occurring, and somehow all of these random occurrences line up exactly to give us our detailed universe?
everyone talks about the ugly things in the world but i donāt understand how all the beauty could ever just be by coincidence. to really appreciate the good in things you have to have bad things too, theyāre inevitable.
I was raised atheist because religion is shunned in the motherland, because of stuff implemented by the USSR. But i have two reasons:
1) Yes, the big bang created the universe, and the universe created us, in one big stream. but what on earth created that tiny speck that held all of everything ever? where did it come from?
2) THE UNIVERSE IS TOO DAMNED ORDERLY TO BE ONE GIANT MISTAKE.
Well, this isnāt hard evidence or anything that really convicts the people who are adamant about God or Jesus. The user āJā explained my logical reasoning.
My other reasoning is this: when I commit my actions and life to God and his Word, I am affected by a positive change. Without God, I am afraid of the dark, afraid of demons, afraid of death, and afraid of mirrors and being alone. Without God, I allow myself to indulge my wants and selfishness, and I donāt have much motivation to try to be goodā¦
Itās not the prospect of Heaven that makes me good, itās my love for the man who suffered a lot for me and my family that makes me want to do what he says is right. Surely a man so selfless and kind knows what is right and wrong? I sing any worship song that I can remember when Iām afraid, and with time my anxiety goes away and I find peace. I commented below on someone elseās post, but when I go to worship concerts I feel so free and full of joy. Every worry goes up to the sky to God, and all that matters is that I have two loving fathers (my dad and God lol. My dad is also my brother in Christ. Kind of weird honestly). Thereās something veryā¦ constricting about doing what you want, that either isnāt good for others or yourself. You would like to stop, but why stop if you like it in the moment, yknow? And then youāre reminded of Jesus, who did a lot so you could be in Heaven with him and help others reach Heaven too.
It hurts my heart when people say that if there was a Heaven, theyād rather be in hell. Theyāre angry or indignant at God. I understand, they donāt want to accept it. I donāt want to make them feel awful while trying to show them the light, so I kind of withdraw whenever they get defensiveā¦ itās so easy for people to say youāre shoving your religion down their throats or forcing it on them. And then, in my mind, when they die, theyāre going to suffer. Itās just awful to think about.
And itās not a religion. Itās a relationship. The better you know God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the kinder you become. The calmer you become. Iām not saying you become perfect, because youāre still a human in a broken world, but you become improved from before. And of course you still experience trouble like anyone else. Ecclesiastes, the teacher in the book, says that often we see the evil living long and the good living short lives. But itās also reverse, too. No one gets out alive, and no one lives a perfect life.
I Know a lot of wonderful Christians, who are very nice and nonjudgmental. I know there are Christians who havenāt really set their priorities straight, shouting above the kind people, and so many people hate Christians and blame them for a lot of things.
Thatās all I guess. I strayed from my reasoning, sorry lol.
Hereās a cute faceā¦ :l does that even qualify as cute? He looks sadā¦ ā¢-ā¢ still sad, but cuter lol
I'm christian, I beleive that jesus died on the cross to save our sin's and such etc... But the thing is, there is litterally historical evidence to back up what I beleive in is real! https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/is-the-bible-true/proof-3-history/ (if u want more detail... ) plus, i go to both youth group and chruch, plus winter camp and summer camps, and I've really felt touched by the holy spirit many times then-some of the times during worship. =)
Always feel it when I go to concerts. Everyone in the room singing songs of praise, itās more than just a feeling. Last one I went to I was dead tired, but could NOT deny that it was so nice. My throat was also tense from singing everything and I lost my voice after that day, but thereās nothing that replaces the feeling of being with family and feeling the Holy Spiritās presence =)
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The gospel writers and Paul make many claims regarding witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that would have been falsifiable at the time. (Meaning if I claim I have witnesses to an event, but I donāt, it can be relatively easily discovered). Furthermore, if the resurrection was a hoax, the cost of the hoax was far too high to keep it going. To quote Chuck Colson, ā I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.ā
i donāt really know if this counts, but i believe in the universe. itās like a voice in my head sorta. it helps me a lot and sometimes when i ask for something it happens.
That's one of the reasons I believe, because there has always been a presence that I can reach out to, and if it's not God, what is it? It could just be me, but I have had mental health problems, so I don't always trust myself, but I always trust this presence.
The world is so complex in design. It didn't just happen. I have more but this is short and sweet
Complexity is not a hallmark of design. The more complex a design the more can go wrong. Simplicity is what defines design, amongst others.
Everything has a cause. Infinity is illogical. There must be a First Cause. This is God. Where did this First Cause come from? Super-God created God to be the First Cause.
Im not sure im understanding correctly. God had a super-god that created god? is this one of then turtles all the way to the top things?
For a long time, if I really wanted something to go right, I would whisper over and over again "Please work. Please work. Please work." and so on, and 86% of the time, it WORKS.
By the way I don't think it's magic from god and go all out religious on this, it's just that there has to be SOMETHING, because there's no way I'm that lucky specifically when I ask to be.
How two humans come together and create another.
Mind blowing!
In Islam, it is said that 124,000-odd men and women have been people who have testified to the existence of Allah as prophets or saints; billions more average people, like you or me, have said that God exists. That's cool.
However, the most interesting thing about this to me is here in the USA, a person can be sentenced to death by a comparatively INSANELY lower number than 124,000+, something like 5? I don't know precisely; someone in the comments will correct this anyway :P. Beyond that, it's 100% possible that innocent people were missentenced and put to death; in other words, these poor bastards were innocent and were still killed under capital punishment. Seeing this, why put people to death with 5 witnesses, yet at the same time not believe in a God who has 124,000 saintly men and women and billions of average people who testify to His existence?
The sheer amount of people saying the same thing across 6,000 odd years is mind-bogglingly hard to attack and disprove.
This is the USA we're talking about, we're a little crazy over here anyway. But that last sentence is why I also believe in Islam. With Christianity and Judaism, as you move back in history, you'll find the messages have been changed and manipulated as per the time. With Islam, we can quote a saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and follow the chain of narrations all the way back to whomever it was nearly 1,500 years ago that actually heard it from his mouth. The teachings of Islam, the Qur'an, Fiqh, etc has all remained the same. Even when people did and do unjust things in the name of our religion, they choose to ignore certain parts of the religion, but that doesn't erase or change the religion itself. The preserved form still exists. Even today, when we have the "sects" like Ahmadis, Quadiani, and whatnot that have added their own things and claimed newer prophets, we still have the real, pure religion with the proof that they are the same, original teachings.
I don't necessarily believe in God. "A" God, like the Abraham ones (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) or even "multiple" Gods, like in the old days.
I believe in.. life. It's hard to explain, because most people think of "life" to mean humans, or animals or plants or Earth. But life is... everywhere. It doesn't have to be complex and sentient. Stars, black holes, dust, galaxies, gamma, x-rays, etc. it's ALL "life" to me.
Because we're essentially made up of the same stuff. We're all star dust. The universe is... so massive, we can't wrap our heads around it. Trillions until trillions of galaxies, even more for stars, planets, moons. To think we're alone in the entire universe is... ridiculous.
There could be multiple universes, alternate dimensions, alternate realities, etc. We just don't know. I connect better, in my heart, with that nebulous, ephemeral, wondering idea of life than I do with any man made (written down) system. For me, I FEEL life, everywhere, even where I can't go.
I honestly don't know at this point what I am. I know I'm not "religious", I know I'm not an "atheist".. I'm nothing, the vast majority of the time. My feelings and beliefs go deeper, I guess?
Death doesn't scare me, honestly. The MANNER of death, is scary. Because... duh. There's a big difference between having a heart attack and being thrown into a wood chipper alive. But death itself? Nah.
I'm wide open, for whatever might be an "afterlife". Maybe I'm wrong, and I'll go to Hell or something but... my gut says, I don't think so. I also don't mind if there's absolutely nothing after death. If I just die and there's... nothing.
My selfish side always says I want an afterlife where I could see my loved ones again AND my animals (something a lot of religions say isn't "allowed" when it comes to the animal part), but I think that's natural. To want your animals with you in the afterlife, to see your babies again, etc.
But I can also say that I don't care if I "die alone". Nobody can "go with me", and I wouldn't want them to. It wouldn't bring me comfort, it would agitate me and make me cling to life harder, so that I don't add to their burdens or make them upset or cause them undue pain. Dying alone... I like that idea.
I do think there's something out there.. "life" in general. But people laugh at me when I mention that or they demand that I clarify. Usually wanting me to say a religion they've heard of, at least, but I can't.
I just know that for me, I can FEEL it.. I don't have words for it. No explanation, no nothing. I have a phase, "I know what I know, but I don't know how I know it." That's me, I guess.
So.. long story short? I have no idea about a higher power. But I feel SOMETHING, even if I don't know what it is. And I'm not scared, or worried. Maybe I should be, but I don't feel that way. I just.. FEEL.
I have many reasons for believing in God.
(1) Case for a Designer.
Let's say that your'e walking along in a forest. You look down and see a tooth pick. You know that it was designed by someone, it's a toothpick. Now let's say that you are walking along the same path a you see an iPhone sitting there. You know for an absolute fact that it was designed. Nature didn't just somehow grow a phone randomly, that's impossible. That phone took years of design for an intelligent being to intentionally make that. Why would animals, humans, plants, or anything on earth be different? Clearly someone designed the human just right so that we could see. It is so much more complicated than an iPhone, yet people just say it happened randomly.
(2) Case for Christianity
Some people are skeptical towards Christianity and the existence of God because of the "rules" or the people that claim to be Christian. Yes, those people, if they believe in God, are Christians. Yes, those people are still saved. I'm talking about the "Karens" you often hear about that claim to be Christian. They are not properly reflecting what Jesus and God are about. Now obviously people make mistakes, so how can we get into Heaven being imperfect people?
(3) Case for Grace
The only thing you need to get into heaven is to accept God's gift of grace. God sent his son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sins, since people are not good enough to get eternal life in heaven. You would have to be perfect. You don't need to be a good person to get into heaven contrary to popular belief. If the all powerful God sent his son to die, it wouldn't be enough? Was Jesus's sacrifice insufficient? No. You don't have to do good to get into heaven. You only need to believe God sent his son to earth to die for your sins. That is all. You don't need to be baptized. You don't need to donate to the church. You don't need to be a good person. You don't need to do anything but accept God as your savior.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments. I might not be able to get to you or I may not see it, but I will try to answer them.
um, yeah, you gotta be nice to get in to heavan. thats kinda the whole point of heaven/hell/limbo. to judje if you were nice or not.
Honestly, I would say that, for me, asking my most compelling reason for God's existence is like asking for my most compelling argument for existence's existence - it just is. I believe God is the ground of all being, all life comes from Him, He permeates all of creation, and without Him, there is nothing.
I'm aware I'm a bit late to the party, but this is why I believe in a God:
2000 years ago, a Palestinian Jew travels the middle east claiming to be the Son of God. Around him are rumours of miraculous deeds: the blind seeing, water turning into wine, him having control over nature as if he created it, etc.
But this doesn't necessarily prove there's a God, right? It could equally just prove there's a magical part to this world. But there's a twist: This man goes along saying outrageous claims like
"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can get to the Father except through me", and
"I am the ressurection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even through they die"
He claims to be sent by God to give people a relationship with God - eternal life with God, to anyone who believes in him and that he can defeat death. Furthermore, with many parallels to the Jewish holy scriptures in his life and speech, he says he is indeed God who came down to live with humans!
Wow. These are powerful words. And he's either telling the truth or not. Either he is indeed God, or he is either an egotistical maniac who has no clue what he's saying or a cunning Machiavellian deceiver.
He never retracts his claims, not once under torture and when provided with an out, which means he likely isn't the Machiavellian (unless he also is a lunatic).
Speaking of lunatic, his words certainly are countercultural for every culture, but does "love your enemy", "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God" and "sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" sound like words of a madman?
Okay, so what if he was a Machiavellian who became hysterical once his plan was unravelling? Again, there aren't really any sources to indicate this and this is just speculation. He was unusually quiet, like a lamb before the shearer and then when he did speak, it was to tell John to treat Mary as John's mother, a compassionate act of foresight, which would satisfy either criteria.
So, the only option I believe is left is for this man Jesus to be God!
oh no! My formatting came undone! Thanks to anyone who read this rambling. I didn't even get to the main point: I believe Jesus then rose again, proving that there is a God and that he is it!
Honestly as an atheist I don't understand the reasoning behind any of these but hey have fun. A lot of people are saying 'stuff is too complex and beautiful to be by accident' but like it's not an accident? It's evolution and we've evolved to be complex and to find the world beautiful. I personally just appreciate what we have, there doesn't need to be a reason.
I agree with you
Load More Replies...
Every bit of honest science puts me in greater awe of God's creation. It's all too beautiful and amazing! But the clincher for me is that it takes a higher power to transcend The Law Of Conservation Mass and The First Law Of Thermodynamics... that matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed, only altered. Then how could it all begin?
Religion robbed me of God. But physics brought back a supreme Creator whose evidence is everywhere around me, from the miracle of a single celled organism under a microscope to the enormity of the Cosmos. I see God's hand everywhere around me ... and I'm flooded with joy and awe!
Honestly as an atheist I don't understand the reasoning behind any of these but hey have fun. A lot of people are saying 'stuff is too complex and beautiful to be by accident' but like it's not an accident? It's evolution and we've evolved to be complex and to find the world beautiful. I personally just appreciate what we have, there doesn't need to be a reason.
I agree with you
Load More Replies... Every bit of honest science puts me in greater awe of God's creation. It's all too beautiful and amazing! But the clincher for me is that it takes a higher power to transcend The Law Of Conservation Mass and The First Law Of Thermodynamics... that matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed, only altered. Then how could it all begin?
Religion robbed me of God. But physics brought back a supreme Creator whose evidence is everywhere around me, from the miracle of a single celled organism under a microscope to the enormity of the Cosmos. I see God's hand everywhere around me ... and I'm flooded with joy and awe!
