Does God exist? (1 Viewer)

[WWJD_2005]

Many people will ask does God exist? Well tell me something if God didnt exist then who created the world? how did we get here? why are we here? Is there life after death? Why do we die?

- God did it is NOT a good answer, it is on par with "a wizard did it".
- We don't know, we may never know... this doesn't make the "God did it" answer any better.

Honestly just think about it, God seems to be an explanation for the questions most people have about the meaning of life

Not really. I honestly don't buy the whole "god gives my life meaning" crap, I think they make meaning in their lives just as much as I do with a splash of religious rhetoric. But even if believing in God did give some wonderous meaning to their life, it goes no way to showing God exists.

we may not see God, and there may not be proof that there is a God, that is why most traditions especially Christianity rely on faith.

That's fine really. I just have a problem with people that apply different standards to different things to create a reality that they like. For instance I find a lot of double think where religious will accept that you must believe in their god through faith and with no evidence yet still refuse to believe in other things which have the same level of evidence backing them.

However think of this, the whole conscience thing, why do we have one? the answer is that our conscience is God speaking to us.

We understand our brains better every day, but it's true we will probably never completely understand how they work... Conscience could be God speaking to you if you really want, but then again how do you know it's not Satan/some other god/the tooth fairy/your insanity?

Ok well God is energy, and as we all know energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

There's nothing essentially magical about energy... if you want to call god the 'energy' in the universe my only problem would be that it seems a far stretch from any God you could ever talk to.

 

[WWJD_2005]

I'm just curious that you could do it, and I couldn't.

It works like this, I'm afraid: http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3274/xxxxag7.gif

I don't really think it works though. It reminds me of this girl who told me she'd gotten so into harry potter that she "expected" magic to work etc as she was so immersed, but in reality I think her expectation was more of an 'extreme' hope than any real belief such as "the sun will rise tomorrow".

 

[TheQueenOfLeon]

I'm, I think, in a fairly unusual situation in that I've had an entirely Catholic education (primary and high school) but my parents are Anglican, though non-practicing, and I am atheist. I think I was really turned off god when my year 4 teacher told me I was going to hell cos I wasn't baptised. Awesome way to convince a 10 year old the Catholicism is the fun alternative!
Even so, I'm almost envious of people who manage blind, unquestioning faith. It must be reassuring to think you're important to somebody (thing?) other than your mum. I however, am perfectly happy to be unimportant, die, fertilise a bit of ground then have nothing more to do with the world. No heaven, no reincarnation thanks.

I think my point is that I understand why people like gods but understand better why they don’t.

 

[lengy]

I'm, I think, in a fairly unusual situation in that I've had an entirely Catholic education (primary and high school) but my parents are Anglican, though non-practicing, and I am atheist. I think I was really turned off god when my year 4 teacher told me I was going to hell cos I wasn't baptised. Awesome way to convince a 10 year old the Catholicism is the fun alternative!
Even so, I'm almost envious of people who manage blind, unquestioning faith. It must be reassuring to think you're important to somebody (thing?) other than your mum. I however, am perfectly happy to be unimportant, die, fertilise a bit of ground then have nothing more to do with the world. No heaven, no reincarnation thanks.

I think my point is that I understand why people like gods but understand better why they don’t.

It is. You don't need an imaginary friend / 'God' to have that feeling though. They should envy your Atheism, because you're right and they are wrong.

 

[dagwoman]

Even so, I'm almost envious of people who manage blind, unquestioning faith. It must be reassuring to think you're important to somebody (thing?) other than your mum. I however, am perfectly happy to be unimportant, die, fertilise a bit of ground then have nothing more to do with the world. No heaven, no reincarnation thanks.

Well said.

 

[Odette1990]

I dont know to be honest, I guess it makes sense to me more than the Catholic teachings do, its not a matter of whether im right or wrong, its what makes sense to me. Bare in mind the spiritual world or whatever you may call it is perceived differently by many people, theres no right or wrong answer, its what you yourself believe, religion itself is a personal thing, no one can force you into believing in something, you just go along with what seems right to you.

 

[KFunk]

Just think about some of the questions i asked and try to find an answer for them without using God...

I will attempt a couple of them.

(1) Honestly just think about it, God seems to be an explanation for the questions most people have about the meaning of life...

(2) However think of this, the whole conscience thing, why do we have one? the answer is that our conscience is God speaking to us.

(1) What is the meaning of life? - The answer I would propose is 'Mu', using the Robert Pirsig interpretation of 'mu' as 'unask the question'. What I mean by this is that I don't think that the question itself is necessarily a sensical one. It presumes that there is, in fact, a meaning of life out there, waiting for us to stumble upon it.

Consider the notion of a god-less universe - is there any compelling reason to think that there should be a 'universal meaning' in such a universe? No, personally I don't think that there is such a reason (I realise that this is a somewhat contentious view, so feel free to pull me up on it). This then makes me think that when we ask 'What is the meaning of life?' we are naturally pushed towards the idea of a god-created universe because it is only in such a universe that the question makes sense. Hence I would suggest that by assuming that the question makes sense, i.e. by assuming that such meaning exists, we carry with us the nested assumption of a god-created universe. This 'question begging' nature of the question of meaning makes me think that it provides poor grounds from which to argue for god's existence.

(2) There are evolutionary explanations for our possession of a conscience stemming from evolutionary psychology, anthropology, and other related fields. Sure, our conscience seems mystical, but there are some very reasonable scientific theories explaning how we could have developed such a faculty. An objection I would put forth to a god-guided conscience is that the 'commands' of people's consciences seem to vary from culture to culture (in the case of god-guidance I would expect more uniformity).

 

[2ndbest]

Watch a video on ninemsn, its this guy showing how a banana proves that God exists. Really is quite interesting/funny.

 

[lengy]

It's called: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

 

[robbie1]

I guess it makes sense to me more than the Catholic teachings do

Which teachings in particular bother you?

I have often found that people have their own perceptions as to what the Catholic Church teaches and believes, and that these perceptions are misguided or simply false.

Hopefully I can clear up any misconceptions you may have....although you are an athiest so this will be more difficult than it would be with a Protestant, for example.

 

[Odette1990]

Well Im not completely atheist because I do believe in a God, may not be similar to the one Catholics believe in but I do believe in one. Anyway the belief such as Jesus is both God and His Son, like how does that work? Also what is our purpose in life? it cant be just to develop a good relationship with God and build his reign here on earth or something... there has to be more than just that. Ive studied Catholicism for the past 9-10 years and I agree with some things but not others. Hope this makes sense.

 

[marthastuart]

This is not an exact quote by any means, but i'll reference Dawkins.

Basically, our conscience and our ideals of Good and Evil stem from necessity when we were migrational tribes or packs. 'Good' is nice, the preservation of life and sharing and distribution of wealth (food in this case). By being 'nice' you are benefiting another individual, in turn that individual will benefit you. That was how it started, mutual productivity. It transposed to a higher plane once religion came in to the mix, but basically it stems from a base necessity that was required in order to survive in an environment of constant perils.

Also:
As for 'the meaning of life?' you are assuming there is one. If there is one then it is subjective, not objective, if it is subjective then there can never be only one answer, making it a purely philosophical question and therefore renders itself as completely infertile as 'Why?'

 

[robbie1]

Well Im not completely atheist because I do believe in a God, may not be similar to the one Catholics believe in but I do believe in one. Anyway the belief such as Jesus is both God and His Son, like how does that work? Also what is our purpose in life? it cant be just to develop a good relationship with God and build his reign here on earth or something... there has to be more than just that. Ive studied Catholicism for the past 9-10 years and I agree with some things but not others. Hope this makes sense.

Well believing that Jesus Christ and God the Father are One (together with the Holy Spirit) is not strictly a Catholic belief, it is the belief of all Christians (well most...I think some groups that call themselves "Christian" like the Mormons don't agree....I could be wrong though)

As for the meaning (purpose) of life, from a Christian perspective it is to love & serve God (thats oversimplyfing it)

If you actually have any specific questions regarding Catholicism, feel free to PM me.

 

[Odette1990]

Ok thanks Ill pm you once I think of a question

 

[fatz000]

heyy ..
does god really exist??? yes i believe so
but every1 beleives sumthing different ... for eg: i dont beleive god exists coz of the bible
he exists coz it has it written in the koran... us muslims totally believe god exists... n that is the real answer.... the koran will give you all the answers coz it was sent down from him.... thats it

 

[robbie1]

Ok thanks Ill pm you once I think of a question

No worries - happy to help.

 

[lengy]

Just go church hopping until you find the sermon which best suits you. Just call yourself Christian until you find the right denomination.

 

[TheQueenOfLeon]

the koran will give you all the answers coz it was sent down from him.... thats it

how do you know? Why are you so sure?
(That's more out of interest that a criticism)

 

[TheQueenOfLeon]

Question: is anyone here Jewish? I find it fascinating.

 

[fatz000]

im sure coz i hav read it myself n thats wat i beleive.