What is your best argument for the existence of God?

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St. SteVen

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Your position for what?
My position of those provided. (list below)
Although I'm not trying to make a claim for the existence of God.

The arguments discussed here are, in no particular order:
- The Ontological Argument,
- The Argument from Personal Experience,
- The Kalam Cosmological Argument,
- the Teleological Argument,
- Paschal's Wager, and
- the Moral Argument.

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Personal statement:
I guess that my position is The Argument from Personal Experience.
However, I do not use this as a claim for the existence of God,
but rather as an explanation for my own religious activity.
Due to my personal experience, I will follow this path.
I see value in it in the here and now, not just as hopes for an afterlife.

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St. SteVen

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My position of those provided. (list below)
Although I'm not trying to make a claim for the existence of God.
Just to be clear, I do believe in the existence of God.
But I understand that it cannot be proven.

Belief in the existence of God requires personal faith.
We must "believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

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KUWN

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My position of those provided. (list below)
Although I'm not trying to make a claim for the existence of God.

The arguments discussed here are, in no particular order:
- The Ontological Argument,
- The Argument from Personal Experience,
- The Kalam Cosmological Argument,
- the Teleological Argument,
- Paschal's Wager, and
- the Moral Argument.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personal statement:
I guess that my position is The Argument from Personal Experience.
However, I do not use this as a claim for the existence of God,
but rather as an explanation for my own religious activity.
Due to my personal experience, I will follow this path.
I see value in it in the here and now, not just as hopes for an afterlife.

[

An experience is not something that is either True or False. But you still have to give the argument that provides support for your secular conclusions (ie, Personal Experience).

How long is that video?
 
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Behold

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If an Atheist corners you, and demands that you "prove God exists".
Then smile and say......."You can't prove that He doesn't exit......have a nice day".

See. it can't be proven that God does not exist.......it can only be argued.

So, Put that seed in them.
It'll grow.
 

St. SteVen

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I guess that my position is The Argument from Personal Experience.
However, I do not use this as a claim for the existence of God,
but rather as an explanation for my own religious activity.
Due to my personal experience, I will follow this path.
I see value in it in the here and now, not just as hopes for an afterlife.
I'm not sure that it is up to us to prove the existence of God to anyone.
I think of Saul on the road to Damascus. He had an encounter with Jesus.
His proof was in his personal experience. He did a 180 degree turn on the spot.

Could any of the other arguments have so much impact in someone's life?

The arguments:
- The Ontological Argument,
- The Argument from Personal Experience,
- The Kalam Cosmological Argument,
- the Teleological Argument,
- Paschal's Wager, and
- the Moral Argument.

[
 
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Behold

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I think of Saul on the road to Damascus. He had an encounter with Jesus.
His proof was in his personal experience. He did a 180 degree turn on the spot.

Actually Saul didnt have a "180 Degree" change on the road to Damascus.
He had it after his blindness started and was convinced by the time Ananias came to Him .
 

KUWN

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I'm not sure that it is up to us to prove the existence of God to anyone.
I think of Saul on the road to Damascus. He had an encounter with Jesus.
His proof was in his personal experience. He did a 180 degree turn on the spot.

Could any of the other arguments have so much impact in someone's life?

The arguments:
- The Ontological Argument,
- The Argument from Personal Experience,
- The Kalam Cosmological Argument,
- the Teleological Argument,
- Paschal's Wager, and
- the Moral Argument.

[
Saul's personal experience was not at all typical. God appeared to Saul of Tarsus that took place during the Apostolic Age. Sign gifts will resume in the Tribulation, but not in the Church Age. And the cessation of sign gifts is given in many verses, but the most notable is Heb 2:3, 4. This marks the cessation of sign gifts until the Jewish Dispensation resumes. cf. 2 Thes 2
 

rockytopva

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If E = mc2 then we can divide and conclude that...

Mass (m) = Plasma (E/c2) --- Making this eternal stuff

Mass can dissociate into plasma... Plasma can reassociate into mass.

Atoms- Packaged energy and light
Cells - Each cell contains trillion of atoms
Living beings- Contain trillions of pre-programmed cells
 

St. SteVen

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Saul's personal experience was not at all typical. God appeared to Saul of Tarsus that took place during the Apostolic Age. Sign gifts will resume in the Tribulation, but not in the Church Age. And the cessation of sign gifts is given in many verses, but the most notable is Heb 2:3, 4. This marks the cessation of sign gifts until the Jewish Dispensation resumes. cf. 2 Thes 2
Why would you conclude that Saul's visitation by Jesus was a "sign gift"?

(read my signature verse, thanks)

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KUWN

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Why would you conclude that Saul's visitation by Jesus was a "sign gift"?

(read my signature verse, thanks)

[
That was my mistake.

There are two different gifts, for lack of better categories, they are Spiritual Gifts, each believer has at least one gift. The Sign gifts are more miraculous. They point to something else. The sign gifts ceased in the first century, but some of them appear to happen during the final 7 years of the Jewish Dispensation (aka the Tribulation).

Christ's appearing to people like Saul is not a Spiritual Gift obviously. I therefore assumed it would be a sign gift. But I am more than happy to remove the word "gift" when referring to Christ's return to earth to talk with Saul, that doesn't happen any more. That was my error. Thanks for catching that.
 
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St. SteVen

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Christ's appearing to people like Saul is not a Spiritual Gift obviously. I therefore assumed it would be a sign gift. But I am more than happy to remove the word "gift" when referring to Christ's return to earth to talk with Saul, that doesn't happen any more.
What do you make of this?


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KUWN

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What do you make of this?


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I wonder if Jesus looked the same to all 200. Just curious.

I do believe that God uses supernatural ways on rare occasions to bring people to Christ, like Saul. We are told in Hebrews that some have entertained angels without knowing it. This is actually like the angelic evangelism that occurs in Revelation. So, if God decides to give a group of people a dream, I have no problem with that. i knows this, that God wants all people to be saved, including Muslims. Personally, for what it is worth, I believe that many Muslims are "saved," evidenced by their commitment to God. Saved Muslims are not part of the Body of Christ (the Bride of Christ). That is, they will go through the Tribulation. Only the Bride of Christ is exempt from the Tribulation (Rev 3.10).
 
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St. SteVen

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I do believe that God uses supernatural ways on rare occasions to bring people to Christ, like Saul. We are told in Hebrews that some have entertained angels without knowing it. This is actually like the angelic evangelism that occurs in Revelation. So, if God decides to give a group of people a dream, I have no problem with that.
Here's my story.

At eight years of age I was attending a Summer Bible camp in Wisconsin. In a morning chapel service the man speaking did as they always did, he gave an invitation to receive Christ. He asked that all heads be bowed and all eyes closed. But I found myself peeking to see if any of these "lost sinners" would raise a hand. At that moment God spoke to me. Though it was a supernatural event, it seemed as natural to me as anything. I knew who it was and wasn't frightened, or disturbed by it. What I heard was mind-blowing. It came like a tap on my shoulder. The message was clear and direct. "If you think it is so important, why haven't you done it?" I was speechless. I answered with my feet. I knew the drill. I rose to my feet and pushed my way to the aisle to go forward before we were even asked to do so. When I was a young adult I made a connection about this event that had not been apparent to me at the time. The man who led me to Christ was the son of the man that led my father to the Lord. A Christian Alliance missionary that went from farm to farm inviting people to Sunday School and sharing the gospel in the area where my father grew up. Basically in the middle of nowhere. Such a wonderful mystery, the workings of our great God.

[
 

KUWN

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Here's my story.

At eight years of age I was attending a Summer Bible camp in Wisconsin. In a morning chapel service the man speaking did as they always did, he gave an invitation to receive Christ. He asked that all heads be bowed and all eyes closed. But I found myself peeking to see if any of these "lost sinners" would raise a hand. At that moment God spoke to me. Though it was a supernatural event, it seemed as natural to me as anything. I knew who it was and wasn't frightened, or disturbed by it. What I heard was mind-blowing. It came like a tap on my shoulder. The message was clear and direct. "If you think it is so important, why haven't you done it?" I was speechless. I answered with my feet. I knew the drill. I rose to my feet and pushed my way to the aisle to go forward before we were even asked to do so. When I was a young adult I made a connection about this event that had not been apparent to me at the time. The man who led me to Christ was the son of the man that led my father to the Lord. A Christian Alliance missionary that went from farm to farm inviting people to Sunday School and sharing the gospel in the area where my father grew up. Basically in the middle of nowhere. Such a wonderful mystery, the workings of our great God.

[
When I was about 18, a friend of mine witnessed to me for about 3 nights in a row. The last night, I tried to go to bed, but I was under conviction. I felt scared. I looked out the bedroom door and "kind of saw" a dark shadow moving in my direction. I went back to bed and accepted Christ then. My fear left me, and shortly after that, I went off to Bible College. That's a thumb nail overview of my experience.
 
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St. SteVen

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When I was about 18, a friend of mine witnessed to me for about 3 nights in a row. The last night, I tried to go to bed, but I was under conviction. I felt scared. I looked out the bedroom door and "kind of saw" a dark shadow moving in my direction. I went back to bed and accepted Christ then. My fear left me, and shortly after that, I went off to Bible College. That's a thumb nail overview of my experience.
Not all angelic visitations are from God.

[
 

Gottservant

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I recently came to the conclusion, that God is "God" because God is the only one with experience, in creating the Universe.

What's good about this argument, is that it's testable: when you pray to God, does God respond in ignorance or operate as though He is a force and nothing else? No! He responds as though He knows what you've asked!

If there is a competition between God and the Devil, over experience, the Devil definitely loses!
 
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St. SteVen

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New topic:


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