Do you believe in God?

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Do you believe in god?

  • Of course, without him nothing would exist!

    Votes: 624 30.6%
  • Maybe.

    Votes: 368 18.0%
  • No way!

    Votes: 1,050 51.4%

  • Total voters
    2,041
I can be sure that I along with everyone else will die one day.
I just showed you that it may be less than a 100% certainty. It seems like you're just repeating what you want to be true, rather than trying to find what it is actually true. It's nothing new for religious belief.
I think someday there will be a human that is the last human to die. Not because all of the humans a dead, but because the humans stopped dying. I have wondered if I was born within the last few hundred years of immortality. Literally one of the last generations that won't live forever.
I'm curious myself to see when it will happen. We seem to be on the brink of many technological breakthroughs (immortality, full gene editing, nuclear fusion, etc) but you can never be sure when we'll actually achieve them. While immortality is probably not happening in any of our current projected times, I wonder if life extension will come soon enough and develop quickly enough to let some people alive today live for enough time to see it happen.
 
It seems like you're just repeating what you want to be true, rather than trying to find what it is actually true. It's nothing new for religious belief.
I'm just pointing out an obvious fact that we're all going to die one day.
 
It is interesting to consider what a belief is. I have hope, and therefore faith, that there is more beyond my personal understanding. However, that hope is built on knowledge that I have gained from personal experience.

I have felt the hand of God, and I have heard His voice.

If you choose to accept that that is my personal reality, then you can accept that I believe. You don't have to accept WHAT I believe to accept that I do.

If you don't choose to accept that reality, then you might not ever accept my personal believe. And, honestly, that is okay. It doesn't hurt me, and it doesn't hurt you.

What is the difference that I believe and you might not?

It is my personal life. And I am happy to live it.

You don't have to. And that is your life, and personal choice.

Try to live with less hate. Try to care for others. Don't be concerned that no one is perfect.

And you will be amazed at how much better everyone and everything can be. After all, it doesn't matter what or how you believe. What matters is how you treat others.

Little else ever really makes a difference.
 
So... even basic questions about "we lived with god as spirit children" are too challenging to consider answering then.

Amazing how often the mildest scrutiny results in "well it's just my belief" and evasion.


I have felt the hand of God, and I have heard His voice.
Which one?
 
After all, it doesn't matter what or how you believe. What matters is how you treat others.

Little else ever really makes a difference.
Given peoples religious beliefs can inform how they treat others, and religion doesn't really bring anything positive to the table in the respect - I'd say disregarding religion was one of the keys to us all getting along much better.
 
It is interesting to consider what a belief is. I have hope, and therefore faith, that there is more beyond my personal understanding. However, that hope is built on knowledge that I have gained from personal experience.

I have felt the hand of God, and I have heard His voice.
Can you expand on this?

I've had very supernatural/un-natural experiences but haven't jumped straight to "God" as a default.

And I still want to know why @Ghost Lap was questioning the reality of their life.
 
So... even basic questions about "we lived with god as spirit children" are too challenging to consider answering then.

Amazing how often the mildest scrutiny results in "well it's just my belief" and evasion.


Which one?
I was trying to not get into conflict. That is why I didn't directly answer your questions.

However, yes, God created our spirits. We lived with Him and His wife (wives?) as children who learned what we needed to to prepare for the next step in our progression.

I believe in God the Father, or Elohim, and His son Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old and New Testaments.

Anything else? I'll try to stick to things I feel decent about explaining.
Can you expand on this?

I've had very supernatural/un-natural experiences but haven't jumped straight to "God" as a default.

And I still want to know why @Ghost Lap was questioning the reality of their life.
It was a very personal experience, as all true knowledge of God ends up being. Very (extremely?) rarely does a spiritual learning experience come as a group event. Your personal experience, even if you are in a group, is going to be yours.

I had a moment where I felt a touch, then heard a confirmation of what I was hearing. And it happened to be in a group event.

But I have had other times when I have heard the voice of God. Just none quite so specific to my path of learning and knowledge.
 
Oh My God Wow GIF
 
However, yes, God created our spirits. We lived with Him and His wife (wives?) as children who learned what we needed to to prepare for the next step in our progression.
The question was "on what basis?". Furthermore, as noted earlier, miscarriages must be a challenge to explain; what did "spirit children" need to learn to prepare to (for the want of a better word) die in the womb, never to become a human life?

Do other animals live with this deity as "spirit children" - spirit puppies, spirit kittens, spirit whatever a baby salamander is called?


Also god has a wife? So many questions...

I believe that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old and New Testaments.
Huh. Which old and new testaments?
God created our spirits
I believe in God the Father, or Elohim
It was a very personal experience, as all true knowledge of God ends up being.
I have heard the voice of God
At the third time of asking... which one?
 
I was trying to not get into conflict. That is why I didn't directly answer your questions.

However, yes, God created our spirits. We lived with Him and His wife (wives?) as children who learned what we needed to to prepare for the next step in our progression.

I believe in God the Father, or Elohim, and His son Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old and New Testaments.

Anything else? I'll try to stick to things I feel decent about explaining.

It was a very personal experience, as all true knowledge of God ends up being. Very (extremely?) rarely does a spiritual learning experience come as a group event. Your personal experience, even if you are in a group, is going to be yours.

I had a moment where I felt a touch, then heard a confirmation of what I was hearing. And it happened to be in a group event.

But I have had other times when I have heard the voice of God. Just none quite so specific to my path of learning and knowledge.
How can you be sure these weren't hallucinations?
 
I believe that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old and New Testaments.
Would that be the same Testaments that say that Jehovah is God and Jesus is the son of God? Or are we sticking with the trinity thing?

Source: Former Jehovah's Witness.
 
The question was "on what basis?". Furthermore, as noted earlier, miscarriages must be a challenge to explain; what did "spirit children" need to learn to prepare to (for the want of a better word) die in the womb, never to become a human life?

Do other animals live with this deity as "spirit children" - spirit puppies, spirit kittens, spirit whatever a baby salamander is called?


Also god has a wife? So many questions...

Huh. Which old and new testaments?




At the third time of asking... which one?
Miscarriages are actually very, very simple. Along with Abortions. During the Millennium, they will have the chance to grow to adulthood. No problem in my book.

As far as animals and bugs, etc (wonder what THAT will be like! ;) ), they live in the kingdom of God. If you want to consider it, there MAY be other gods that cover them, but that isn't my concern.

I don't get your complete atheism of God. I have stated that I believe in God the Father, or Elohim. On the basis of my personal belief, I guess. (shrug)

At the third time of saying: Which one do you NOT believe? ;)

In my personal understanding and belief, God has a physical body. As such, there are men AND women in the Kingdom of God. So, of course, there are families. And husbands and wives.

The King James Version of the Bible is the one that I consider to be the most correct. According to whether or not it is translated correctly. And each person can translate the Bible differently.

Enjoy.
 
Miscarriages are actually very, very simple. Along with Abortions. During the Millennium, they will have the chance to grow to adulthood. No problem in my book.
So... just to get this straight... all beings live with a deity as a "spirit child", then are sent to occupy human form but die in the womb and then go... where? Most sects of Christianity believe you are born a sinner and must accept their deity to be admitted into heaven, but the unborn cannot do that so can't ascend back again - which leaves only descent.

Seems... a bit weird to send a spirit child to eternal damnation without them ever having a chance to exist in human form. Almost cruel.

What does "during the Millennium" mean?

I don't get your complete atheism of God. I have stated that I believe in God the Father, or Elohim.
Yes, but which one? There are thousands, all described differently.
On the basis of my personal belief, I guess. (shrug)
You have chosen to believe we all exist as your chosen deity's "spirit children" before our conception on the basis of having chosen to believe that?

There's... no scripture or teaching behind it? You're just "this is what I believe because I believe it"?

At the third time of saying: Which one do you NOT believe? ;)
You haven't asked me that even once, and if you had my answer would have been straightforward without the need to repeat it: I do not believe in any of them.
In my personal understanding and belief, God has a physical body. As such, there are men AND women in the Kingdom of God. So, of course, there are families. And husbands and wives.
Are we not all "God"'s children according to most sects of Christianity? Does that not mean God has married one (or many) of his own children? Seems a bit... weird; not only marrying your own child, but holding a position of power over your wife. Takes grooming to a whole new level.

What would the purpose of such a union even be? Why would God need one (or many) female companions over and above any of the other women?

Also you need to, in a Christian marriage, have the ceremony performed by a representative of God, with God witnessing it, and you make your vows to each other and to God. Super-odd dynamic if God is one of the people being married...

The King James Version of the Bible is the one that I consider to be the most correct.
Why? What's your reference point for that?
According to whether or not it is translated correctly. And each person can translate the Bible differently.
Thus giving rise to the tens of thousands of sects of Christianity who each believe slightly different things - all based on their preferred translation of an anthology assembled and approved by men based on the translation of one man of hundreds of candidate scriptures (many of which were rejected) from dozens of languages into Latin.

And you all think your preferred English version of that is the perfect, immutable word of a deity - and all the others are not.
 
I don't get your complete atheism of God. I have stated that I believe in God the Father, or Elohim.
I hope that you understand how arrogantly this comes across. "God the Father" and "Elohim" (meaning "God"), is just such an inadequate way to refer to a specific god (in this case, it seems to be Yahweh) - it pretends that there aren't a thousand gods you might be referring to. To a Christian (which it seems is your faith, although I'm honestly still not 100% sure), that might seem perfectly acceptable or normal. But to someone who is not a Christian it's mind bogglingly arrogant that we all should just know what faith you're talking about when you say, essentially, "I believe in the real god", which is also what is claimed by Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Pastafarians, and followers of any other monotheistic religion or even a polytheistic religion with a particularly strong central god figure.

There are thousands of "gods" and many of them are "father" figures. You don't believe in 99.99999% of them. I don't believe in those either, I just take it one god further than you.
 
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So... just to get this straight... all beings live with a deity as a "spirit child", then are sent to occupy human form but die in the womb and then go... where? Most sects of Christianity believe you are born a sinner and must accept their deity to be admitted into heaven, but the unborn cannot do that so can't ascend back again - which leaves only descent.

Seems... a bit weird to send a spirit child to eternal damnation without them ever having a chance to exist in human form. Almost cruel.

What does "during the Millennium" mean?
According to this:


Any child under the age of accountability (8 is what we accept that to be, but may be different if mental capacity is limited) is given grace by the atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they will return to live with God with no need for baptism. Any other necessary ordinances will be taken care of during the millennium.

As far as what the millennium is, it will be a period of 1000 years of total peace with Jesus as the supreme leader of the world. This will begin after the coming war, and will end before the final battle of this earth.
Yes, but which one? There are thousands, all described differently.

You have chosen to believe we all exist as your chosen deity's "spirit children" before our conception on the basis of having chosen to believe that?

There's... no scripture or teaching behind it? You're just "this is what I believe because I believe it"?
There are an infinite number of gods. However, what you (and most) refer to is the idea that people on this planet tend to think that "their" god is the one to believe in.

Yes, there is teaching and scripture, but I'm not able to look that up at this moment.

You haven't asked me that even once, and if you had my answer would have been straightforward without the need to repeat it: I do not believe in any of them.
Okay, fair, that was a bit out of the blue. I realized that after I sent it. So you refuse to believe in a god. No problem, not worried about it.
Are we not all "God"'s children according to most sects of Christianity? Does that not mean God has married one (or many) of his own children? Seems a bit... weird; not only marrying your own child, but holding a position of power over your wife. Takes grooming to a whole new level.

What would the purpose of such a union even be? Why would God need one (or many) female companions over and above any of the other women?

Also you need to, in a Christian marriage, have the ceremony performed by a representative of God, with God witnessing it, and you make your vows to each other and to God. Super-odd dynamic if God is one of the people being married...
This is an interesting question. It really echoes back to the question of where God came from. That is a deep and long argument that really has no answer. But....

God married his wife (s?) before our world was created, so I'm certain that he didn't create a woman just to sleep with her. ;)

We are in a pattern of creation, growth, and learning that has happened many, many times. We just don't remember what we had before so that we can be tested to see if we really want to return to be with God.

Why? What's your reference point for that?
That's a long answer, but it boils down to the fact that I believe that God set in place the right and best people to prepare that specific compilation and give us the best version from what is there to work with.
Thus giving rise to the tens of thousands of sects of Christianity who each believe slightly different things - all based on their preferred translation of an anthology assembled and approved by men based on the translation of one man of hundreds of candidate scriptures (many of which were rejected) from dozens of languages into Latin.

And you all think your preferred English version of that is the perfect, immutable word of a deity - and all the others are not.
I agree that the Bible is a difficult question to begin with. What is right, what is needed, what is wrong, how many things are missing, how many things are added, etc.

I believe that we have the best version of the worst set of "maybe" we can have. ;)

I feel that there is an element of truth in everything. Therefore, each religion (or off-shoot) has an element of the truth. However, I also believe that current, ongoing, and proper revelation is necessary for a church to be considered true. And I believe that my church has that.

But there is an interesting thing about the word translation. It can mean to change from one language to another, and it can mean the way that we understand something.

Take the statement, "Many people drive cars."

Well...

Which car?
Where?
When?
How?
In a game, or in real life?

I could write a TOME on all of the possibilities! ;)

In the same way, each person can read a book or hear a statement and get a different understanding (or translation) for themselves.

This is why personal experience and knowledge from, with, and of God is important when receiving information that has any level of spiritual understanding. This really gets back to the fact that if you don't want to know, then you won't.
 
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Take the statement, "Many people drive cars."

Well...

Which car?
Where?
When?
How?
In a game, or in real life?

I could write a TOME on all of the possibilities! ;)
O wow what now? This has nothing to do with 'multiple interpretations'.

It must be quite annoying that an almighty God is somehow able to communicate with its followers, but deliberately makes it super vague so we mortals don't understand it.
 
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According to this:


Any child under the age of accountability (8 is what we accept that to be, but may be different if mental capacity is limited) is given grace by the atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they will return to live with God with no need for baptism. Any other necessary ordinances will be taken care of during the millennium.

As far as what the millennium is, it will be a period of 1000 years of total peace with Jesus as the supreme leader of the world. This will begin after the coming war, and will end before the final battle of this earth.
You're a Mormon?

It really helps if you take steps to identify your religion so that you don't get questions about original sin and other subjects. It's just much easier to have a conversation about religion if you don't hide the ball.
 
Just had a friend try to convert me back to Christianity because he was too high to understand that his “realization“, would be better shared to an actual theologian, priest or philosopher than me. When I told him what he said did not revitalize my faith, he asked me “Why?“

I left the church primarily because of the people there who failed to realize their constant bickering over who was closer to God in their life was not going to generate any funds for repairing years of damage to the building nor was it going to entice anybody to join the the congregation so it could survive. After the previous pastor had left, the building was mostly left to my father’s care, reason being that we were living in the parsonage while he was getting his life back together during almost 6 years of custody battles. We worked for the church to live there, and I was tired of being relied upon for things I should not have been. At the first opportunity to leave, I ran. A bisexual boy approaching adulthood should not hold onto that dissonance.

This year, I was told that the clergy and congregation essentially disintegrated and the people left could no longer afford the building itself.

I left the religion altogether after going to college, where PHIL101 gives students their first existential crisis and the loneliness breaks you down into the person you truly are. I’d moved to many different dorm rooms with many different types of people at my time there, but this one took the cake:

Halfway through the semester and having barely spoken before, one of my roommates, a devout Christian, revealed to me in our only conversation that he had sexually assaulted his younger brother, but had since turned his life to Christ. His sisters in Christ, who were also in the room at the time, then tried to convince me to do so as well, hinting that I also needed a ’Woman of God’ in my life. All seemed to be obsessed with some cult-leader-like, unknown-credential-having (I really mean Baptist-esque) preacher that I had never heard of before, leaving late at night to do... things. I didn’t respond.

Never saw this man on campus again.

So, to my friend, I sent him this and called it a day.
 
All seemed to be obsessed with some cult-leader-like, unknown-credential-having (I really mean Baptist-esque) preacher that I had never heard of before, leaving late at night to do... things. I didn’t respond.
The difference between a cult and religion? Good publicity.
 
The difference between a cult and religion? Good publicity.
Maybe, but some cults are (even?) cultier than others. Cult 45 (for example) is still a cult despite its excellent publicity. I think this also extends to self professed scams like Scientology.
 
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Miscarriages are actually very, very simple. Along with Abortions. During the Millennium, they will have the chance to grow to adulthood. No problem in my book.
If pre-born 'children' and children under (8?) get a free pass into heaven, who brings them up? A child is shaped as much by their upbringing as they are by their genetics. If a pre-born 'child' is granted an upbringing in heaven whilst their own parents are still shuffling along the mortal coil, i assume they're being brought up by strangers? By the time their parents arrive, if they even do, that child will have grown up a relative stranger, probably with a completely different set of beliefs. May may not even like their natural parents. Its like heavenly adoption or fostering. I can see many potential problems with this concept/scenario.
 
Maybe this should go in the dumb questions thread.

But how does heaven work? (i do not believe in a god myself, but interested to see how people that do believe handle my next question.)

Do children who die, age in heaven. Or do they stay the same age.
If so, at what age do they stop aging?
Same goes for adults who die at a young age.
 
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p78
Maybe this should go in the dumb questions thread.

But how does heaven work? (i do not believe in a god myself, but interested to see how people that do believe handle my next question.)

Do children who die, age in heaven. Or do they stay the same age.
If so, at what age do they stop aging?
Same goes for adults who die at a young age.
Its questions such as this that, and when i say questions i'm really talking about internal monologues, probably start sawing the seeds of doubt in those who were brought up in religious households. It comes down to what degree of mental gymnastics you allow your mind to go through to how you explain - or not 'how heaven works' to yourself.
 
p78
Maybe this should go in the dumb questions thread.

But how does heaven work? (i do not believe in a god myself, but interested to see how people that do believe handle my next question.)

Do children who die, age in heaven. Or do they stay the same age.
If so, at what age do they stop aging?
Same goes for adults who die at a young age.
I'm not a biblical scholar by any means nor am I Christian, but Thomas Acquinis made the argument that we will be 33 years old in heaven because that's the age Jesus was supposedly when he died and then climbed the stairway to heaven. Some also believe that we will get to choose our age when we get to heaven or that we will merely appear how we want to appear.

I remember asking this question when I was in Catholic school and the nun teaching our religion class seemed offended by it.
 
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