Does God Exist?

[abraXas]

Does God Exist? Please tell us a bit about why you think so.

 

[abraXas]

I voted "Maybe". I think it may be possible for god(s) to exist, but without empirical evidence of the existence of any of them there is no cause for belief.

I couldn't vote "Maybe" and "No"...

 

[Atonement]

Being an ex-Satanist myself. I have many things that I could share on why I know their is a God. I was heavy into drugs and was delivered the same night I came to Christ. I was a alcoholic and was delivered the same night I came to Christ. Since I was a boxer for 6yrs I use to go to the bars/clubs and pick the biggest guy I could and fight them. I was delivered from my abusive/anger background when I came to Christ. And when the Holy Spirit feel on me I was a new person all together. My friends and family could see the change and asked what happened. I brought people to Christ because of my past and those who knew me. My entire life was changed. This is a personal testamony of what Christ did for me. This does not exclude all the evidence that is in the Bible that I have come to find out to be true such as Prophecy and ancient cities that have proved the Bible correct. And I live by faith now. I have the seal of the Holy Spirit now on me. So I know with out a doubt that God does exsist.

God Bless
Atonement

 

[Havoc]

Thanks for a balanced question and answer set. I often am excluded from these kind of polls because people forget there are other religions.

 

[God's Child]

I don't have religion. I have a relationship with God. There's a difference.

 

[abraXas]

Thanks for a balanced question and answer set. I often am excluded from these kind of polls because people forget there are other religions.

I'm no so sure that kind of thing is as simple as 'forgetting'. It's been my experience that dissenting opinion is often excluded and supressed with the intent of inhibiting it in the hopes that the majority can maintain their majority. I think it is motivated by the fear of change and the desire of people to put their beliefs on others.

I am guessing you chose the "Yes. I believe that god(s) exist, but not the Judeo-Christian God." option. What god(s) to you believe exist?

I don't have religion. I have a relationship with God. There's a difference.

I see. Perhaps we'll have the opportunity to discuss that sometime.

 

[Havoc]

I don't have religion. I have a relationship with God. There's a difference.

We've been through that on this board before I believe. Christianity is a religion and a personal relationship. AS is Islam, Shinto, Wicca, Hindu, etc etc.

The definition of religion includes a personal relationship with a diety. A personal relationship with the Divine is not the sole purvue of Christianity. Those types of slogans are catchy sounding but they are rarely accurate.

 

[abraXas]

I don't have religion. I have a relationship with God. There's a difference.

The definition of religion includes a personal relationship with a diety. A personal relationship with the Divine is not the sole purvue of Christianity. Those types of slogans are catchy sounding but they are rarely accurate.

That makes more sense. The 'personal relationship' is an aspect of the religion. To say you have a 'personal relationship' with some deity, but no religion, is absurd.

 

[Jeffreyw]

Personal Relationship with any Diety isn't taught by all religious mentor from different religions. Religion is like do this and do that to please God or to add merit to your good works in order to get to heaven. Born-again or Protestant Christianity basically teaches personal relationship with God.

We have often heard that, "For God so love the world..." and "Love the Lord your God.....Love your neighbor as yourself." God's love is not some cosmic love or some nice religious term, it is also like the true love we have for a child, for our mother, father, girlfriend, a compassion for a street and homeless people. The only difference is God's love is unconditional. That's why it's a personal relationship. Islam or Buddhism or even some Christian churches dont teach that. Try asking a muslim, buddhist or a catholic. Or better try personally and literally ask God to teach you what it is to have a personal relationship with a true God. Just open your mouth and ask God from the bottom of your heart. Trust me, a miracle can happen anytime.

 

[Havoc]

re·li·gion ( P )
n.

1.a Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.


Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

I'm not sure why we keep having to go through this, other than it's one of the most popular rhetorical slogans in Christianity.

True, personal relationship is not taught by all mentors from all religions, including all Christian Mentors, so that statement is irrelevant. The fact is that almost all relgions that have a Diety or Dieties teach a personal relationship. Most Muslims I know have a closer walk with Allah than most Christians I know. If you've ever had a chance to speak with a fundametalist Hindu you'd see that they too have a personal relationship with their God. I sincerely doubt it is possible to have a more intimate and personal relationship that the one I have with my God and Goddess. The method of "salvation" used by the religion is not a measure of the relationship of it's adhereants with the Divine.

I know Christians need to make their religion "special", to make it different from all the rest. Trouble is that meaningless slogans and rhetoric only add to the problem of your alienation from the people you are trying to reach. Every Religion is unique. If you need to make your religion stand out in a crowd try using it's own merits rather than spouting rhetoric. Rhetoric only impresses people who are already Christian.

You can't change the meaning of a word simply to suit your own religious purpose. As I've said before, If Christianity isn't a religion, will your Churches be giving up their tax exempt status for religious institutions any time soon?

 

[Jeffreyw]

Christianity is a religion to the secular world or even to the mainstream Christianity, but for those who have personally found Christ it isnt. Some things are hard to understand when you dont have a personal relationship with the creator of the heavens and the earth, Lord of lord and the King of kings. I cant even answer all the questions, but you can personally ask God a question or two in your own time and space. I assure you a miracle can happen anytime.

 

[Havoc]

Unfortunatly, that is also more rhetoric. Christianity is a religion by definition. It is not an orange, or a rowboat, or a taxicab, it is a religion.

The depth of your relationship is no different than the depth experienced by other faiths. People who were Christians who converted to other religions, including myself, report the same depth of experience and intimacy. I know you will undoubtedly say that I, and those others, could not have been a real Christians in the first place, but since you cannot know our hearts that would also be meaningless rhetoric.

BTW; I do have a personal relationship with the creator of the Universe. In the form of the God and Goddess. I ask God questions all the time, unless I choose to ask Goddess instead. The nice thing about rhetoric is that, unlike hard fact, it can be used for any religion or Dieties

 

[Jeffreyw]

Rhetoric, it is how you view and experience it. But for those who are in love it isnt, it's how they express their love and relationship with Christ. Love is an emotion it is what keeps a relationship.

The depth of my relationship with Christ is very, very, very different than the depth experience in the other faiths including the fake Christianity.

 

[Havoc]

And just how, exactly do you know that? The fact is you don't. You want to believe it because it makes your religion unique and special for you.

Love is not the sole purview of Christianity. Personal relationships are not unique to Christianity. Your beliefs to the contrary do not change reality.

 

[Jeffreyw]

[Wow, i like the discussion here. I've been into a virtually an all apolegetics forum in some other site. The Christian posters there all could do is just criticize a minister and his teachings.]

Christ's love is unconditional.

 

[abraXas]

The depth of my relationship with Christ is very, very, very different than the depth experience in the other faiths including the fake Christianity.

Would you care to explain how your assertion that your 'relationship with Christ' is anything more than the relationship other theists have with their deity? What sets you apart from everyone else? I contend that you are just as deluded and corrupt of reason as any other believer no matter how many times you say 'very'.

Oh, how it is that your Christianity is real, but others' is fake?

Wow, i like the discussion here. I've been into a virtually an all apolegetics forum in some other site. The Christian posters there all could do is just criticize a minister and his teachings.

You may also enjoy the Atheist vs. Theist forum on the Atheist Network Message Board.

Love is not the sole purview of Christianity. Personal relationships are not unique to Christianity. Your beliefs to the contrary do not change reality.

Of the theists that I've encountered here I find that your statements, pound for pound, are far more intelligent and much wiser than most. Your beliefs seems to be void of the arrogance, presumption, and conceit found in so many others.

While I do not share your theistic beliefs, I certainly do share some of your sentiments. I look forward to reading more of your posts on this and other matters.

 

[Jeffreyw]

Would you care to explain how your assertion that your 'relationship with Christ' is anything more than the relationship other theists have with their deity? What sets you apart from everyone else? I contend that you are just as deluded and corrupt of reason as any other believer no matter how many times you say 'very'.

You said it because you have not experienced it. It's like, "How could this beautiful woman fell in love with that man with a hard to describe face, i think this woman has a deluded and corrupt mind."

Oh, how it is that your Christianity is real, but others' is fake?

Fake Christianity doesnt have God's love, doesnt have power, it doesnt have tangible(can literally be felt) supernatural power and experience.

Are you familiar with POD's "I feel so alive...for the first time...I feel like I could fly...!" Similarly that was how i felt and said when i discovered the true Christianity behind popular Christianity in the year of 1995.

God exist. [To stay on with the topic]

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn--and I would heal them." Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

 

[abraXas]

Would you care to explain how your assertion that your 'relationship with Christ' is anything more than the relationship other theists have with their deity? What sets you apart from everyone else? I contend that you are just as deluded and corrupt of reason as any other believer no matter how many times you say 'very'.

You said it because you have not experienced it. It's like, "How could this beautiful woman fell in love with that man with a hard to describe face, i think this woman has a deluded and corrupt mind."

You've experienced the relationship that other theists have with their deity?

 

[Jeffreyw]

You've experienced the relationship that other theists have with their deity?

Basically, yes. Before 1995.

I was very idealistic like some of the "atheists" here. I was an anti-popular Christianity, i didnt like the christian relgion in an institutional form. I knew God exist, but i just could not find him. But the popular institutional christianity that we all know did not do its job to fill what i was looking for. I just seek God, then I found him in a miraculious way. I literally called out to him, and then bang! A miracle happened.

 

[abraXas]

You simply do not have first hand knowledge of other people's religious experiences and thus have no basis whatsoever for your statement:

The depth of my relationship with Christ is very, very, very different than the depth experience in the other faiths including the fake Christianity.

Your religious experience is no more genuine than that of millions and millions of other people of varying faiths. Your assertion that your experience is somehow different, or more genuine, is an attempt to justify to yourself that your beliefs are valid. I am curious as to what leads you to do this. What is in you that leads you to try and convince yourself of your beliefs?

Think about your answer.