Atheists Aside: Does Anyone Still Really Believe in God?
Of course, since you think I don't exist, you must be creating me, as well as this article, from your own imagination. I guess I'll leave all the psychological implications of that for you to discover on your own.
At any rate, as Hannah clearly overlooked, atheists are not the only ones who don't believe in God, in terms of the worship she used as proof of belief. God is a Christian concept. Followers of all non-Christian religions don't believe in God. Agnostics don't believe in God. The atheists seem to be in good company; it seems that there are an awful lot of people on this planet who don't exist, at least according to Hannah and the Palm Heights Baptist Church.
Of course, if God really does exist, and really does support all of life and create things, perhaps we should wonder why he has created so many people who don't exist? Are we here to test you? If you can figure out who doesn't exist, will they go away?
The main question I had after reading Hannah's article is very simple: does anyone believe in God? I am not being facetious or sarcastic; I fully admit that I don't completely understand the situation and I would love input from anyone who is interested in answering the question seriously.
What does it mean to believe in God? Does it mean to believe that God exists? I believe that God exists. I believe that God exists as an idea, and a representation of the faith of His followers. I just don't believe that God exists as Christians do. I don't believe that there is one singular, omnipotent being who created and rules the universe, and that that being happens to be the Christian God.
Logically, it is improbable. In thousands of years, with millions of people populating the planet, Christians are not the over-all majority. If the Christian God is the one true and accurate incarnation of deity, it seems unlikely that so few people would get it right. In fact, it seems highly unlikely that there would be only one true and logical incarnation of deity in any form, for the same reason. Christianity is simply an example. That, of course, would be a whole different article, though, so I'll get back on track.
Does believing in God mean more than just believing that God exists? If belief in God is contingent upon believing in His omnipotence and status as creator and ruler of the universe, then how many people, Christians included, really believe in God?
In centuries past, people believed in God so firmly that they were willing to sacrifice mortal pleasures, avoid mortal temptations, and live up to God's expectations, all on the promise of eternal rewards in the afterlife. Now, there are as many Christian commandment breakers as non-Christian commandment breakers.
Does believing in God, at least in the sense that Hannah referenced, not also mean believing in the word of God, as she suggested? If people say that they believe in God and behave the way that many people do today, they are really saying one of two things.
The first is that they don't believe that their behavior (breaking commandments, not living as God decreed) will lead them to Hell. My understanding is that God said that that sort of behavior would lead them to Hell. Therefore, they would be disbelieving either God's word or God's ability to keep His word.
The second option for what their behavior says is that they don't mind going to Hell. Well, that's fine with me if they want to go there, but it sounds like they're doubting God's word again. Okay, maybe not all of them. I know some people are into the whole torture bit. The people who aren't though, who still break commandments and such, what do they believe? Do they not believe that God exists, do they not believe that Hell exists, or do they just not believe that Hell is as bad as God says?
I apologize, though I probably shouldn't need to, to anyone who feels that I am attacking Christianity. These are simply questions that I had after reading Hannah's article; I have no disrespect for Christianity or Christians. I am only honestly curious about what it means to believe in God. Of course, if you don't like this article, please remember that I apparently don't exist - therefore I couldn't have written this, so it must not exist, and there is nothing to offend you.
Published by S. M. Bendock
Ah, *stretch*, a life of ease elludes me. I love people, music, reading, writing, football, and nature. I love to debate and can usually see both sides of any topic. View profile
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43 Comments
Post a CommentMark me down as a believer.
I don't think you can define God in terms of what he looks like unless you have seen him.
Please consider these things:
Gold in itself is not bad. It is the love of gold.
Christianity was around prior to Jesus, the whole Old Testament was before Jesus.
There are references to "the heavens" in the Bible, as well as stars.
Everyone has a choice to follow God and the Bible or not. Christians have done many bad things in the past but that doesn't exclude the existence of a loving God.
I believe God does not want any injustice or destruction I am confident it grieves him greatly, but the issue is CHOICE. God does not control us like robots.
The Bible shows the way to a satisfying life no matter what happens to us. I know of Christians who have been through huge things, those in 3rd world countries who have nothing, those who have been abused etc etc. yet they have a joy that they are not just a bunch of molecules that crawled out of a swamp millions of years ago. There is life afte
I think the more you try to define God, the less likely you want to believe in him. Is he a white male, with a beard, literally sitting on a throne of judgment? Are there streets all around him literally PAVED in GOLD? Why golf? It's a material thing, sort of the opposite of a spiritual thing.
The more questions you ask, the more the bullshit unravels the story.
I agree with you. I think people often confuse the bible and god as the same thing.
The earth is supposed to be billions of years old. Chritianity only started around 2,000+ years ago. There different religions that exist on earth. Some are much older than chritianity such as paganism which had a place in ancient Egypt and Hinduism. I do have many questions I would ask. is Why hasn't the bible ever mentioned the other planets in the universe if it is the word of God. Why are there so many unanswered questions about life? Why did christianity, in it's missionary stage have to be forced on people, in very murderous and cruel ways only to tell people that it's a religion of love. I do believe that God exist but not the way the christian religion says he/or she does. The creations of life Do indicate a design that serves purposes as created by a designer from the fruits and vegetables that we eat to our very bodies. However I wonder why this or these designers have allowed so much destruction of it's creation and have allowed so much injustice to be done. Futhermore I bel
Personally I think this is a great article that was carried out with far more objectivity than I can often muster so kudos for that!
Very interesting, David, but where is your proof? You say that God does exist, and that Hell does exisit, but you have not said anything to back up your beliefs.
5 stars and a Digg as well.
QE: Myself, I don't believe in the Heaven/Hell, good/bad, black and white mindset. It seems to me that these approaches are narrow and very limiting on human potential. I believe, if we are really alive and growing, we are exploring and must also be open and able to see the gray. Thank you for writing this and opening discussion. Eventually, I will wrote on the topic as well. Well done! Again, I might add. ;)
God's law, but Jesus became that curse and took our place. It takes more faith not to believe in God than it does to believe in God. If you study the evidence, you will find that God does exist. Your conscience tells you God exists. I wish you could see how good God is. I encourage you to check out the websites I posted earlier. Look forward to hearing from you and your readers.