(Cybella;42583)
I would like very much to believe that God exists, but I cannot seem to prove it to myself. Is there any proof for his existence, besides the Bible or "just faith"? I was brought up to be a Christian, but now that I am older I am more convinced by science than a preacher's words. Can anyone help me?
Cybella, there are many ways to come to the realization that there is a creator. Once you come to that realization, there are ways to learn who that creator is.For the first, one is to use science as man understands it. The theory of evolution, being used to explain the origins of species, has some glaring scientific deficiencies. Micro-evolution is fairly well established (changes within an already existing species) but macro-evolution (one species changing into another) has never been observed despite a great deal of study into it. The lack of transitional forms of life between types of creatures is another. The theory of evolution says changes happen slowly over time but studying the 'evolution' of man shows very little indication of gradual intermediaries but latches onto some rather impressive, multiple changes occurring over a short period time. In addition, there is the Cambrian age where life forms became very complex over a relatively short period of time. And then there is the problem with how life started 'spontaneously'. What we know of cellular structure, the conditions that likely existed long ago (all this assuming we actually understand how to properly date things which is another can of worms in its own right) and the means that life forms copy themselves (dna/genetics) make the idea of life starting spontaneously ridiculous. And when every single experiment conducted to test the possibility that life could start spontaneously has failed to ever produce life, one has to at least begin to question its validity. So if the life forms we know could not start spontaneously and do not change from one species into another, what does that say?Another proof is the varied life forms we do have. Could evolution have led to the caterpillar which then transforms into a butterfly? What plausible series of events would gradually lead a life form to make a cocoon and emerge from it an entirely different creature? For that matter, what plausible series of events would lead to such magnificent structures as the human eye or brain?Another proof if you will is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some may dismiss the miracles he performed as old wives tales but they were none-the-less witnessed by many. That Christ lived and the Biblical account of his life is further substantiated by references as far flung as even Roman historians.Another proof is the Bible itself. There are those of course who dismiss the Bible as being written by men but anyone who truly studies the Bible has to note the prophecies, the moral lessons, how accurately it pegs the passions of mankind and come away, if they are being honest, realizing that the Bible cannot be the product of the human mind. Man in his natural, carnal state does not think as Christ taught. Of course there are numerous 'contradictions' that are touted as being in the Bible which 'proves' it is indeed the product of fallible man (or so it is claimed by those who cannot stand the idea of a creator). However, are such claims accurate or are they the result of a lack of knowledge/understanding of what the Bible says? I have studied some of the reputed contradictions (ex. God is evil/God is not evil OR the supposed two different accounts of the creation of man in genesis) and find the problem is more with those who see the contradiction than with the Bible itself.There are many Biblical stories that have been dismissed but as we learn more from the archeological and historical record we find evidence that stories previously dismissed as impluasible become very plausible. There are records outside of the Bible that document the ten plagues of Egypt, the exodus of the Jewish people and so many names recorded in the Bible.Of course, establishing that there is a creator doesn't automatically tell us the nature of that creator but I hope what I've posted at least leads you to consider, based on impirical evidence, that there must be a creator.