Believing in God

[Victor]

I'm an ex christian atheist. Me and my twin brother are the only atheists in our christian family. I stopped believing because i could not see any evidence at all for God. I believed because i was told to believe. Reason and evidence should not be too much to ask for. If blind faith is required then i will guaranteed never ever in my life be a christian again.But anyway the reason why i joined this forum is to ask you guys why you believe in God, first after you have defined God of course.

 

[HammerStone]

Victor, the best definition I can put on God is his title in Exodus 3:14, Ehyeh asher ehyeh. It's translated most commonly to I AM that I AM, but it's literally "He that will be, will be." He exists beyond our comprehension as the Creator of this world. He never exists because one is told (the notion is absurd for one to believe anything absolutely based solely upon being told) or for any other reason. He is, and will be regardless of our choice to believe in Him or not in Him.I'll keep this rather brief for you in that I've found God, so to speak, through my own experiences in life. Through dreams, events, prayers, and many things which I could only tell you about and you either would believe...or wouldn't. They would be no more than hearsay to you. As such, my only advice is that God is individually found in each person through a myriad of ways. I can't tell you how to arrive at God, and I'm not sure if that is your purpose here at this forum or not.I suppose you could either reason that God exists or that this world is always the result of random chance. The former may be cloaked in the dress of various religions or gods or "forces" but either there is a supreme governor (in one form or another) or there is not. If you choose to accept the world of random chance, that is your choice. As such, all I can say is search your soul and be certain of whatever your choice is.

 

[chrissy]

[quote name='Victor;73502]I'm an ex christian atheist. Me and my twin brother are the only atheists in our christian family. I stopped believing because i could not see any evidence at all for God. I believed because i was told to believe. Reason and evidence should not be too much to ask for. If blind faith is required then i will guaranteed never ever in my life be a christian again.But anyway the reason why i joined this forum is to ask you guys why you believe in God' date=' first after you have defined God of course.[/QUOTE'] Believe it or not, at one time I was in the state you are in now. I get your point too. You remind me of Thomas.. in John. Anyhow I was a little different, I was an agnostic. I wonder if you know the definition of athiest anyway...hmm. I'll be quite frank and honest with you, and I know the other "christians" on the forum will love to jump on this and condemn, but whatever. So I used to smoke marijuana like...EVERYDAY, for about 2 years straight. I didn't believe in God, and like you I wasn't afraid to share it with anyone either. I was and still am a conspiracy theorist and the source of information to back my "theories up" also demoted God. (I'd like to mention that before I didn't believe I had had christian family, as yourself and I did believe in God when I was younger.) Anyhow, you want me to define God...well you'll get the same answer that most will give, He is God Almighty and the creator of ALL. Now how can I back that up? Hmm..by scripture..which you probably don't read...lol. Ok ok... well when did I start to believe in God again? Well it definately WASN'T by people's WORD's... Well in a nutshell, some spiritual things happened to me...Yea I know blah blah blah...what "spiritual things" do I mean and how can we prove that it's "spiritual" or not. Anyway I guess I won't go to in depth because I know you will not hear by words... I know because I went through it and I have also read it. I can't say I KNOW God is real...but I have very little doubt... I only know one man that can truly say He KNOWS God is real. Anyhow friend, I hope there will come a day where you will strongly believe or even come to know that God is real. I have a question for ya though... If you found out GOD WAS Real...would you change anything about your life now? (this could be a retorical question if you'd like or one you can answer...) Well take care and I hope that you someday come to believe in God or/and know that He is real. I even hope to KNOW God is real one day as well. Tootles!P.S. you can message me if you are curious as to know what made me strongly believe in God. *Note: It won't bore you either*

 

[Victor]

First of all id like to say i appreciate your responses and thank you for not condemning and damning me to hell for my ungodliness There are however some things i want to point out.

Victor, the best definition I can put on God is his title in Exodus 3:14, Ehyeh asher ehyeh. It's translated most commonly to I AM that I AM, but it's literally "He that will be, will be." He exists beyond our comprehension as the Creator of this world.Anyhow, you want me to define God...well you'll get the same answer that most will give, He is God Almighty and the creator of ALL.

I think you havent really thought about these definitions. Firstly what does it mean to say something just simply "is"? Secondly if God exists beyond our comprehension how can you make any practical claim about him? And thirdly i dont doubt you think he is the creator of the world but obviously you dont think thats not his only attribute. I guess you believe he intervenes when you pray to heal and help and that he wrote the bible and such? To only say he is the creator of the world says nothing about all the other things he supposedly does and is capable of doing, that would be a Deist and not a Theist position.

I believed because i was told to believe.

He never exists because one is told (the notion is absurd for one to believe anything absolutely based solely upon being told) or for any other reason.

I must confess that i over-exaggerated when i wrote that but the bottomline is when you are raised amongst christians its hard not to be one yourself.

I have a question for ya though... If you found out GOD WAS Real...would you change anything about your life now?

It depends very much on how God turns out to be. If every word in the bible is true i would not change anything because i consider that God a malicious monster who deserves no respect or admiration at all. I can easily say i am more moral than that God. However i would maybe suck up to him just because fear of hell but the question is if God would let anyone in to heaven who is nice solely because of fear. God may also just have created the world and left us as i mentioned that Deists believe (or atleast the most common version of Deism). There are an infinite amount of versions of God and maybe there are more than one God in heaven or wherever.

Anyhow I was a little different, I was an agnostic. I wonder if you know the definition of athiest anyway...hmm.

There are some disagreement towards the definitions of these words but to clarify; im an agnostic atheist. I view agnosticism is a subtitle of atheism so thats why i just tell people im an atheist. Im not claiming absolute certainty when i say i dont believe God exists.

I only know one man that can truly say He KNOWS God is real.

Who is this man?

P.S. you can message me if you are curious as to know what made me strongly believe in God. *Note: It won't bore you either*

Why dont you write it right here in the forum? I would really like to know and im certain other people here do to. And i encourage you to bore me, go ahead

 

[HammerStone]

I think you havent really thought about these definitions. Firstly what does it mean to say something just simply "is"? Secondly if God exists beyond our comprehension how can you make any practical claim about him? And thirdly i dont doubt you think he is the creator of the world but obviously you dont think thats not his only attribute. I guess you believe he intervenes when you pray to heal and help and that he wrote the bible and such? To only say he is the creator of the world says nothing about all the other things he supposedly does and is capable of doing, that would be a Deist and not a Theist position.

You asked me for a definition of God, I gave it. I'm just not sure, respectfully of course, if you properly followed the argument I laid out. How exactly do you propose I define an unlimited God in anything that anyone would actually read and wouldn't take more than a lifetime to complete? Perhaps you have not thought about that question enough?As I hope I rather clearly mentioned, I've arrived at the notion of God through a series of personal events. The personal events brought me to the Bible, which I believe to be the Word of God. As such, you'll notice that I pulled His name from that Word of God, explaining that it He merely is, regardless of what one chooses to believe or not to believe. I can attach tributes of Creator, Healer, Comforter, etc. as we know them, but that only begins to cover very few of many.

 

[gregg]

when you were taught about columbus in school you excepted the belief of who he was and what he did yet never saw him.we have never seen GOD yet we except the teachings and eye witness accounts of so many great men.what do you really want to believe?

 

[chrissy]

Who is this man?

Lance.

Why dont you write it right here in the forum? I would really like to know and im certain other people here do to. And i encourage you to bore me' date=' go ahead [/QUOTE'] Well you can find a little bit about me through my posts, and you may understand afterwards why I won't share this on the forum. Let's say for me to recognize God exsisted I first realized satan was real. Unfortunately it happened that way, but it fortunately made me realize that God has to exsist. And further along down the line other things happened to me that were from The Lord, so I strongly believe. Like I said I cannot say absolutely I know God is real, and I highly doubt anyone on this forum , including the administrator can say they KNOW ABSOLUTELY that God does exsist. Well sorry for the inconvenience of not posting my experiences, but like I said if you go through my posts, you might know why.

 

[gregg]

i have never seen my heart but i know its real

 

[Elaine]

Hi Victor,I am also amazed by people with blind faith.I am in a position, for some reason, that I have had so many Divine experiences that there is no way I could deny there is a God, Superior Universal Intellgent Manificent Genius All-pervasive Mind/Spirit that exists.I have been "knocked on my butt" (knees) with experiences or visitations or revelations or something ---I mean just doing nothing -usually talking to God or sitting still opening to "God" in some sort of appreciation of nature ---when like breeze that comes out of Nowhere!! ---All of a sudden "He" zaps me with an altered state and I "see" and feel what I now understand to be the Holy Spirit. I know that chemicals in my brain have changed and some sleeping area was just woken up by shear Grace. And the doors of perception have been opened. I date an atheist and have many friends and associates that are agnostic/atheist. I could care less - and never attempt to change them.It's not up to me, you know? And welcome here - I'm pretty new myself. Elaine

 

[Victor]

Eeek.."more moral than God" ? I beg to differ. If this were true you would NOT say this. Anyhow...

I dont advocate or have ever advocated slavery' date=' human sacriface, rape, murder, genocide, forced worship, admiration and love and punishing people forever for not believing in my or even something as simple as just not loving me... Im just saying.

And welcome here - I'm pretty new myself.Elaine

Thank you

 

[gregg]

victor victor debating or asking.no one ever finds the truth untill they find the way to it. they will wonder untill they realize the path is to wide.

 

[oneway]

Quote: Originally Posted by Victor Who is this man? Chrissy wrote:Lance.Lance Knight?

 

[Boston]

Do you mean your an x-Christian and now an atheist? If so I don't believe that' date=' Christians do not become atheists. [QUOTE']Me and my twin brother are the only atheists in our christian family. I stopped believing because i could not see any evidence at all for God.

Well at least your honest, I believe that.

I believed because i was told to believe.

Well actually you followed along according to your parents direction. If you believed, you would still be a believer.

Reason and evidence should not be too much to ask for.

If you were a believer, you would have had enough evidence. But, after all, you did say above, You believed because you were told to believe.

If blind faith is required then i will guaranteed never ever in my life be a christian again.

You sound angry. Genuine God given faith, is not blind faith; human directed faith is not genuine faith, and therefore blind.

But anyway the reason why i joined this forum is to ask you guys why you believe in God,

I believe in God because Christ, my Redeemer, was crucified for my sins, and by grace, God, the Holy Spirit applied this truth to my heart.

first after you have defined God of course.

Its not that simple; which part of God do you want defined? Even then I am sure I will fall short.What do you want defined?God's,Essence,perfection,Eternal,Omnipotence,Omnipresence,Immutability,His will,His foreknowledge,His mercy,His faithfulness,His Long suffering,His power,His love,His infinity, ect.. ect..ect...?

 

[Stumpmaster]

Matthew 13:18-23(18) Hear you therefore the parable of the sower.(19) When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.(20) But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that hears the word, and anon with joy receives it;(21) Yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while: for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended.(22) He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.(23) But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.The missionfield is the world full of people some of whom for various reasons don't know that God loves them.The wayside is trampled down by the foot traffic of people who stay on the outer edge of the missionfield where all the preaching of the gospel is being done. The hardness of the wayside symbolises the hardness of the hearts where the word of God doesn't penetrate and Satan snatches it away.2Corinthians 4:3-6(3) But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:(4) In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.(5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.(6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

[TallMan]

[quote name='Victor;73502]I'm an ex christian atheist. Me and my twin brother are the only atheists in our christian family. I stopped believing because i could not see any evidence at all for God. I believed because i was told to believe. Reason and evidence should not be too much to ask for. If blind faith is required then i will guaranteed never ever in my life be a christian again.But anyway the reason why i joined this forum is to ask you guys why you believe in God' date=' first after you have defined God of course.[/QUOTE']God never asked people to trust him without first proving he could do what no man can do!He gave those he was calling first-hand experience.He rejects "mystery religion" whereby we are supposed to accept things blindly "by faith" - This is not the faith of the bible!I also walked away fereom what I had been brought up to believe was "God's church".I later found it wasn't.I met people that had received God's Spirit to indwell them, just like ALL the disciples of Jesus - Acts 2:4, 33, 39; 10:44-46.I saw the difference it made! - they had what I had only read about.I believed God was no respecter of persons and when I called upon him for the same I received it and have gone from strength to strength since - that was 23 years ago!God wants to put people like me in your lives.(I can reccomend some near you if you contact me.)

 

[Elaine]

[quote name='TallMan;73677]God never asked people to trust him without first proving he could do what no man can do!He gave those he was calling first-hand experience. He rejects "mystery religion" whereby we are supposed to accept things blindly "by faith" - This is not the faith of the bible! I also walked away fereom what I had been brought up to believe was "God's church".I later found it wasn't.I met people that had received God's Spirit to indwell them' date=' just like ALL the disciples of Jesus - Acts 2:4, 33, 39; 10:44-46. I saw the difference it made! - they had what I had only read about. I believed God was no respecter of persons and when I called upon him for the same I received it and have gone from strength to strength since - that was 23 years ago! God wants to put people like me in your lives.(I can reccomend some near you if you contact me.)[/QUOTE'] Excellent post.

 

[chrissy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Victor Who is this man? Chrissy wrote:Lance. Lance Knight?

No, a different Lance.

 

[Adstar]

• Hello Victor
  
  

  I'm an ex christian atheist. Me and my twin brother are the onlyatheists in our christian family. I stopped believing because i could not seeany evidence at all for God.

  
  God cannot be "scientifically" proven or disprove.
  
  How can you measure Someone who has ensured that He cannot be measured.
  
  

  I believed because i was told to believe.

  
  Then you never believed.
  
  Or what you did believe in was your parents, for a time. But when it dawned inyou that your parents where fallible then faith in them died along with allthey shared with you.
  
  
  

  Reason and evidence should not be too much to ask for.

  
  Reason: If you disagree with Gods reasoning then Reason will not be good enoughfor you.
  
  Evidance: I have found that most evidences that people give for God can becountered with the, "oh you could have imagined that"..
  
  In other words the only evidence that sways people is the evidence they experiencethemselves.
  
  

  If blind faith is required then i will guaranteed never ever in my life be achristian again.

  
  I have never met a person with blind faith.
  
  
  

  But anyway the reason why i joined this forum is to ask you guys why youbelieve in God, first after you have defined God of course.

  
  Because i read the Bible and the message over its entire length resonatedwithin me with truth. I have nothing but love for that truth. I admire greatlythe wisdom of the God of Abraham.
  
  
  All Praise The Ancient Of Days