Why do you believe???

by truthseeker1 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  truthseeker1

  I have a question for everybody. It has probably been asked before, but i'll ask it again in case anyone changed their minds...

  Why do/don't you believe in god/God. What give you faith in things not beheld/makes you not believe?

  I asked my wife this question and she said its the only thing that helps people change their lives for the better. She said thats why she thinks the WT is the right one. Not to start an arguement, i neglected to inform her that countless other religions have people in it who changed their lives for the better (stop abusing drugs, stealing, ect.)

  I have trouble with faith because I don't see any reason to believe. I havent experienced anything that helps me have faith in a god (excluding the we're here, arn't we argument) so I have trouble believing.
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  JanH

  Truthseeker,

  I don't believe in gods or other mythological beings. There simply is no evidence supporting belief in gods, and I do follow the evidence.

  There is also no evidence that belief in gods makes better people. The recent child abuse scandals in a number of Christian churches should be a case in point. It is an interesting fact that atheists make up a proportionally smaller part of inmates in US prisons than Christians of any denomination, including JWs. Of course the reasons for these facts are many, and cannot be reduced to arguing that religions make people less moral, but they certainly do nothing to support the opposite claim.

  Some Christians try to make you believe you will be unhappy and immoral if you abandon their dogmas. Neither is true. Facing facts does not make you a worse person.

  - Jan

  Edited by - JanH on 5 July 2002 14:38:14
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  truthseeker1

  I agree

  I'm a person who needs to see proof of things to believe them. If I saw a demon, saw someone resurrected, saw a bush burning that wasn't consumed, saw a pillar of flame or a sea being parted, I might believe in something supernatural. Why is it, according to the bible, the Israelites had lots of visible evidence from god to believe in him, but nowadays, we have to believe because it was written in a book. Why can't god prove himself to us today?
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  hannibal

  JanH,

  I do agree with you it is absurd to say religious poeple are better

  people than athiest, whos to say.But it is easier to point a finger

  at a religion or group ,such as the scandals that have become

  national news in christian churches.The fact of the matter is

  about 30% of the world go to church in the first place, that leaves

  70% that dont.Some if not most still claim some sort of affiliation

  with a particular religion. It is impossible to count stats of unorginized

  groups such as athiests.As far as the stats of prisoners and there

  beliefs, theses are impossible to count on, how many find 'GOD'

  after being put in prison?Many prisoners had no conscience or

  god played know part of there lives for the most part, all of a

  sudden in jail they have a change in heart, whatever.Like the saying goes,

  "there are no athiests in fox holes."

  Maybe a better stat would be how many were regular attenders to a

  particular church when incrarcerated.
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  IslandWoman

  Hi Truthseeker,

  Why do/don't you believe in god/God

  I believe in God for various reasons.

  One of them is because I am a parent. I know the great pleasure there was in giving my children something pleasurable when they were little. I didn't have to set up a little play house or give them other things which gave them pleasure but I did because I loved them and it gave me pleasure also.

  I have a vegetable garden. It feels so good to go out and pick tomatoes and green peppers that I myself have planted but even more when they are put side by side on my table the contrast in the reds and greens is visually astounding. It gives great pleasure, a pleasure quite similar to the ones I gave my children when they were young.

  This earth gives great pleasure; the diversity, the beauty, the ingenuity, the colors, the humor, the vastness of pleasurable things around us in my view could not come about without intelligent planning. The problem though is the why of things: "If there is a God why does he tolerate such misery on the earth." is the question frequently asked. I believe the lack of a concrete answer to that question is what in part may fuel the no god belief. Ironically, the Bible has done more to fuel atheism than anything else because it gives such a black and white picture of God.

  If we do not believe in the Bible, why should we then accept the Bible's description of God?

  Is God really all powerful? No, in the sense that he will not cause man to go where man does want to go.

  Is God really all knowing? No, if he could have seen what man was to become, man would never have been.

  IMO, God wants man to take his own steps. In other words to find his own way and to become his own man. To stand up and be counted as an intelligent being who will prove that his brain is not a hinderance to maturity, that man can exist alongside each other in peace as grown men.

  Mankind has been in school. IMO.

  IW
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  Crazy151drinker

  Why do I believe?

  Well, for one I grew up in the Church. My Moms side of the Family is very religious. As I grew older I found it easier and easier to get distracted and blow church off. But then it hit me, when I go to church I have a better week. I cant really describe how, its just that things go my way more. I have been in some crappy situations and at the last minute they tend to work out. I honestly feel the Lord has blessed me (and forgiven me many times over!). Then there are the little miracles of life that the Lord throws in, just to say 'Hey, here's a little gift." My dad lives about 3 hours away from me so when I go visit it takes a half a tank of gas to get there. A couple of years ago I was driving a full size 4x4 (GAS HOG!) and I had to go see my dad. I was really stressed out and afraid to go see my dad becuase I was really low on money and couldnt afford to buy gas for the return trip. I had a full tank of gas so I figured, if I luck out, ill make it there and back (I couldnt bear to ask my dad for $$$$ as we were at odds with each other). So anyways I drove to my dads, and the great thing was that it only took a 1/4 tank of Gas to get there and I had enough to get back!! (IN my big ol 4x4!) . The Lord was looking out for me and helped me out when I was in a severe financial bind. That was the only time it took a 1/4 tank to get there (my gas mileage doubled!!!). I went there 2 weeks ago and sure enough, 1/2 tank each way. So even though it wasnt some huge vision or cryptic message, I knew that the Lord had helped me and that felt really good.
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  Mary

  Why do I believe in God? I heard one explanation that summed it up:

  If you believe in God, it only takes one miracle for everything else to follow;

  If you don't believe in God, every single thing that happens would require a miracle for anything else to follow;
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  onacruse

  I believe in God because I have IMO reasons to believe in God. That, by definition, is faith. Those who have no such reasons have, by definition, no such faith. Hebrew amen (w/derivatives), Greek pistos, Latin fidem, German glaube, and (to my knowledge) almost all other languages include this concept of faith/belief. This common linguistic thread suggests that faith is a natural (genetic? deformed?) dimension of our existence (words=concepts=reality [tricyclic permutation expected]). In any case, this does not demand that faith=reality.

  I'm an unabashed Christian, and (barring some overwhelming future experience) will remain so till the day I die (transform? disintegrate? phaser'd out of existence?). Can I prove my faith? By definition, NO. Should I expect anyone in this universe (incl a mathematically incomprehensible infinite God) to agree w/me? NO, NO, NO.

  Like IW said : We're all in school.

  I'm ready for a recess, but School will be in session for very long time :-)

  Christian love,

  Craig
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  truthseeker1

  I suppose by definition I have faith. I have never seen a molecule, but I have faith they exist. I have never seen Mt. Everest, bit I have faith it exists. I have never seen the other side of the moon, but again I have faith its there. Why do I believe these exist? Evidence around me point to no other explination. I haven't found anything in my life that gives me faith in god/angles/demons/ect. Thats why I asked the question, wondering what other people saw/experienced that helped them believe.
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  Sangdigger

  Good post. I think this question really gets some good thought flow. I personally believe in God. For one reason, because i've seen too many things happen in life that i just cant say was luck, or chance. Although i realize, the human mind seems to always question things like what crazydrinker said. Was it divine intervention, or was the gas guage sticking on his truck?

  I was on my way home last winter from a job with my brother, and we had 8 hours to travel to get home. It was about 25 degrees that day, and the wind chill was colder than that. We were about 2 hours into the trip when his truck broke down. We were on a main highway, but miles from any town. Of course after twenty minutes, we ran out of heat, and i discovered the idler/tension pulley was completely broke off. We didnt have tools, and didnt know anyone in the area. I told my brother i wanted to say a prayer, at wich he agreed it couldnt hurt. (we were both raised JW's, but now i attend a local church, and he was never baptized, and had quit going for years) So i said a short prayer, left the matter in Gods hands, and covered up with a blanket. Within twenty minutes or so, a truck of the same make and model, pulled up in front of us. An elderly man walked up and asked what was wrong. I explained to him the problem, and he said he would be glad to help us, as he had fixed the same problem on his truck before, and had all his tools with him. He gave us a ride into the nearest town, we bought the part, and he fixed the problem.

  I realize, it takes faith to believe this was an act of God. I couldve rationalized that it would have happened whether i had prayed or not. And maybe it would have. But i have lived on both sides of life. With God in my life, and without God in my life. And there is no way i ever want to go back to the former way of things, without him. No, im not saying that everything is peaches and cream now. I still have to wrangle with this flesh of mine and all the regular problems of life. But a GIANT weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, now that i realize i can do nothing of my self to earn salvation, and that i will never please him by some good act, or living a certain way. All i have to do is have faith in him, knowing that as Romans 8:28 says "ALL THINGS work together for GOOD to them that love God".....

  I think many people see religion as just a way of "cleaning up" your life, and its no wonder. Look at the JW's, and countless of other religions that teach salvation is earned by how you live, how much good work, ect..... These things by themselves are fine and good, but dont produce saving faith. Instead, they really produce the opposite. Faith in yourself and what you do. And from what i see in scripture, its what Gods son did that matters. Everything we need to be in front of a Holy God was accomplished by his dear Son.

  If i didnt believe in God, then what would i have to look forward too? Maybe a few short years on this planet filled with all kinds of problems, but NO HOPE for the future. Just like when Jesus asked the twelve apostles, will you go away also? Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life." (Jn 6:68)

  Cheers