Believing in God

T.mouse wrote (see)

Bruce C wrote (see)

miles 23, 24 and 25 !!!

 

A friend once said the only difference between a 250cc motorcycle (learner legal back then) and a 500cc motorcycle was that you prayed a lot less on the 500.

(If you don't understand you've never riden a bike.)

Try overtaking on the motorway on a NSR125 (Honda)

Hello all lol

I was an Atheist up until a few years ago. I am not lonely, I am well educated, I wasn't bought up in a family where religion was forced upon me, I am a normal well rounded person. I believe in God because I believe he is real. I made that decision on what I knew what I felt.

Reading again some of the comments from people makes me think that you have preconceived ideas that have no real understanding backing them up. The Bible was not written by some agricultural idiots 2000 years ago. Whether the Bible was religious or not these people wrote some of the most amazing stories that the world has ever seen. These were not stupid people, far from it. Whether they believed God was lightening bolts or earth quakes- I do not believe he was, because now we know the truth. But their is still a lot to hold onto as a Christian in a modern world and clearly a majority of the planet believes this too as numbers are growing. We are a very small fish in a big pond here in the UK but even so numbers are rising in Church contrary to popular belief

yeah - good luck with that one vicar. 

Stupidity is very different from education or understanding.  My comments come from a place of understanding and of being involved with the evangelical movement for many years.  The growth in adherents to any one religion (I do believe Islam is the fastest growing religion at the minute) doesn't necessarily mean it is true - just that it offers something tangible to the population or soceity it serves.

Quite frankly a lot of the old testament is down right awful, the awful bits outweight the 'amazing' stories by a large amount - and a lot of the new testament is blatantly misogynistic and 'of it's time'. The best message you can take out of most of it are parts of the gospels where Jesus is reported to have preached tolerance, humility, love and kindness.  These things are not exclusive to religion and in fact at the minute I think you will find they are in somewhat short supply from some high profile 'christians'.

Vicar, I think a lot of religious people mistakenly assume that most atheists have 'no real understanding', whereas a lot of us have spent a lot of time coming to our conclusions and many are probably more familiar with the Bible than a lot of Christians, who seem to only cherry-pick the nicer bits that are acceptable to modern-day thinking. I was brought up religiously and went to church until I was a teenager so my opinions do come from a position of understanding. I have read the Bible including, as GymAddict says, it's more gruesome elements, and have come to the conclusion that it is cannot conceivably be true, and nor would I want it to be if the god it suggests following is as barbaric as the one it describes.

Also Vicar, you say you believe in god because you know that he's real, but why the Christian god? What was particularly more convincing to you about Christianity than Islam for instance? They make similar claims, have similar stories etc. I would suggest your devotion to this particular god is purely due to your geographical / cultural situation, unless you can convince me otherwise.

Daren. I think in many cases this is the truth. But I had open to me all the religions under the sun to choose from. Of course many were not accessible to me IE I cannot be a Jew. But the reason my 'conversion' come about was because of a chap called Jesus. Jesus appears in all monotheistic religions in some form or another but more obviously in Christianity. I knew about many religions and where I live I have many on offer, I could quite easily turned to bahai or Buddism, even Islam. I live 5 minutes from the local Mosque. But due to the way it came about and what happened to me and where it happened it pointed towards Christianity. That could be for any matter of reasons but I have seem to find my way through it and got to where I did, so I presume it was the right path for me to take. I could be wrong, but if their is a God and he is omnipotent then why wouldn't he let others worship who they wish? I believe I worship the same God as Muslims and Jews we just do it in a way and understanding that suits all involved

TheVicar wrote (see)

 I believe I worship the same God as Muslims and Jews we just do it in a way and understanding that suits all involved

Wow!  If only that was the case...

Undoubtedly there are millions (billions?) of believers of varying faiths who do so peacefully and with a respectful tolerance of other people's beliefs.  I'd argue that this is because of their innate humanity rather than any more theological explanation, but that's beside the point...  But what about those religious people who kill people of other religions (and none), in the very name of their God, because they've got the right one and the other folk have the wrong one?  If there really was a God and if "He" was omnipotent, why wouldn't He endow his subjects with the ability to understand that you're all supposed to be singing from the same hymn sheet?

Nurse Ratched wrote (see)

For me it was a habit.  It was what I'd been brought up to believe.  I didn't really question it until (I'm slightly embarrased to admit) my late 30s.

I'm now a confirmed and happy atheist.

I was brought up in a family which went to church, and made me go even though I didn't want to. 

Even at age six I questioned it, but was made to go to Sunday school (bad enough) then 'youth group' (absolutely mind numbing). 

Evenually, I was leaving the house at the right time, coming back at the right time, but not going.  I would spend the time reading the paperbacks in the newsagents.  Mum caught on, and gave up on trying to make me go!

So why did she believe, but I didn't?  I have no idea.

On the issues of creation, evolution, what was there before... I have no idea, but actually I don't feel any need to know.  Whatever it was, it was. 

TheVicar wrote (see)

Hello all lol

I was an Atheist up until a few years ago. I am not lonely, I am well educated, I wasn't bought up in a family where religion was forced upon me, I am a normal well rounded person. I believe in God because I believe he is real. I made that decision on what I knew what I felt.

Reading again some of the comments from people makes me think that you have preconceived ideas that have no real understanding backing them up. The Bible was not written by some agricultural idiots 2000 years ago. Whether the Bible was religious or not these people wrote some of the most amazing stories that the world has ever seen. These were not stupid people, far from it. Whether they believed God was lightening bolts or earth quakes- I do not believe he was, because now we know the truth. But their is still a lot to hold onto as a Christian in a modern world and clearly a majority of the planet believes this too as numbers are growing. We are a very small fish in a big pond here in the UK but even so numbers are rising in Church contrary to popular belief

. Amazing stories! what about an episode of Dr. Who? These people might not have been idiots but they were totally ignorant. It's a shame so much of the modern world is happier that way.

LOL - harsh but oh so true.

Isn't Dr Who real?!

Ignorant towards what? They lived 2000 years ago. They were also ignorant towards, for instance, space travel. Were ignorant towards things that will happen 2000 years in the future. Doesn't mean they were not sure of their feelings and thoughts. Yes OT theology is a bit messy it was influenced by God not written by him. These people perceived what they thought was God. Looking back now we can clearly see most of this wasn't the case. The NT is made up of the Gospels, the writings of Paul and Revelations. A Lot of what is said in these books and letters are extremely relevant to living today. It has stood the test of time. As a Christian I believe what he said, I believe all the other historians who agreed he lived and died, although they have nothing to gain from saying this - which is a bit bizarre. Their are many solid facts that Jesus existed but it's up to the individual as to whether they take the final leap of faith.

The Doctor is real. I saw him in Stratford upon Avon pretending to be Hamlet *nods wisely*

Vicar, I am quite open to the idea that a man called Jesus existed around 2,000 years ago. I also believe David Icke exists as well as the numerous other people since who have claimed to be deities or prophets, some of whom have also managed to gather committed groups of followers. Historical proof of the existence of Jesus would not prove he was the son of god, or that god exists.

As I get older I find myself more leaning towards the agnostic rather than athiest view - more comforting that way.

Science can explain a lot - but it can't explain everything.

Science can and does explain everything, we're just not currently capable of understanding it fully

Intermanaut wrote (see)

@15west - if science could explain everything then science would stop!

Only if evolution stopped?

EKGO wrote (see)

Science can and does explain everything, we're just not currently capable of understanding it fully

That doesn't make sense.  What we don't understand is the ultimate nature of reality and big questions like whether there's any meaning to it all.  ''Science'' is just the methodology for coming up with theories to explore those questions.

Going back to the original question I'm agnostic, because I don't believe - as in, ''best guess'' rather than a matter of faith - that science can explain everything either. I just can't see any way of penetrating that metaphysical realm that lies beyond rational thinking... what happened before the Big Bang?  What's outside the universe?  Are we the only creatures in the universe capable of asking such questions? If not, is there any feasible way of finding out?  Or if so, why us? etc...

At the same time for practical purposes I can say I'm an atheist, and I don't think that's a contradiction.  I just don't believe in the God that most people mean when they say they believe in God.

Vicar, it is clear that there are social benefits from religion and that communities that had religion turned out to be more successful. It's also a fact that most of our civilised modes of behavior are based on some sort of religious teachings, but the reality is, that in none of this is it necessary to have a God. Not needed. We have explanations for what were once miracles. If you believe in God you believe in magic and fairies at the bottom of the garden.

kittenkat wrote (see)

Intermanaut wrote (see)

@15west - if science could explain everything then science would stop!

Only if evolution stopped?

No.  There's more to it that just evolution.  For example, the more we learn about physics, especially small things, the more we find that needs more investigation.

EKGO wrote (see)

Science can and does explain everything, we're just not currently capable of understanding it fully

Absurd.  There's a metric fuck-tonne of science that we don't know about, such as what was there before the big bang.