How do I know God exists or not?

[ludano17]

IF you have seen the things that you have said you have seen, then, you should believe in the works. Does god exist? I have found out quite a long time ago, that question is meaningless. God is not something that exists, rather, god is existence itself. You might as well ask, "what is the meaning of meaning?" Is there some magical logical proof that somehow proves god's existence? No, but that is because god is existence. You, as a part of existence, exist. You as something that exists are one with existence, like a finger is one with a hand. Really though, at the age of 16 you should be living life and making mistakes, you will learn from those mistakes and they will become a part of your life that you will be unwilling to take back because of the lessons you learn from them.

Yes God does exist. you only have to look around you at the beauty and design of the world .. and he's much more real than you or me.....we were blessed with free will - and so we have the power to chose whether we want to do right or wrong ... i don't think people should be blaming God for all the evil when we are the ones who create the suffering ?
do not succumb to the devil and his deceptive ways... God knows how much he (satan) hates humanity because of the privileges God bestowed on us ...

[francisco]

First off a "Christian" isn't really christian if they are feeling holier than somebody else or shuning gays or w.e thats not christian at all. Yes, God does exist despite the world we live in today. Although in the bible God killed many people through the flood & through the israelites have you ever looked behind that and seen why he did it? Cultures like Sodom & Gomorrah people who defiled the land, fonicated..other cultures who threw their newborn into fires..God exterminated them because they were infecting the land with their traditions. The enemy is using your mind & popping these thoughts wether God exists or not because he wants you to believe that. As for poverty it's not that God is letting it happen is that we live in a fallen world filled with sin, & corruption. Trust me man God is real he is living he is truth. That voice is God saying that he is because you at some point decided to giv your life to him & once you did with all your flesh and body your his child forever. Omg if you only came to my church which is called Calvary they can answer so many questions for you. People who know more than ido people who have been to bible college can help you any questions il post the website. God bless you & il keep you in prayer because we are all ONE IN CHRIST..no matter what race, culture, or background. You can also connect to their facebook page :)

[devdutta58]

Did you try going to church on Saturday?

[hackett]

You sound like you are in a very difficult situation.

You have asked many questions and they are very deep and big questions.

Let me start off with saying a fundamental thing. Don't ignore your inner voice, never.

I have seen it so many times where people start questioning what they were told and in stead of working through things step by step they give up one package of beliefs that doesn't resonate for another package of beliefs that don't resonate with themselves.

Remember you don't have to get all the answers in one go. Take your time. And there are some question that you will never have answers to.

But your on a journey so let me help with a few things.

1. Religion and belief in god are two separate things. and although there are hundreds of religions the idea of a creator god is almost universal. You can Google arguments for god. Most of it is philosophical in nature and not religious.

2. The problem of there being evil in the world can be as I'm sure you are aware more emotional then philosophical. Although many people are driven by there dreams, there are many people who are driven to do positive change by the evil that they see in the world.

Ultimately you are probably looking for guidance. and in such dark times looking inwards will probably your best source.

I suggest get good friends that you can discover and grow together with. Don't try and answer everything before you get involved in life.

You are already going on a trip to help people. Don't focus on all the things that you cant do. look for the things that you can.

And always search and keep your eyes open for the truth.

Happy journey.

Nosson

[bronsin]

You don't know. You can't know. Knowledge is by definition demonstrable. If I know something then I can show you how I know it, then you'll know it too. It has an epistemological background, I can show you the steps involved in how I reached a certain conclusion. Religion has none of that.
Religion demands that you believe on faith. That is a bankrupt position it has no epistemological basis. You cannot demonstrate how, or even if, you know it to be true. Faith is simply an assumed conclusion with no evidential basis, by definition. If you're believing on faith, then you are just believing (not knowing) and for absolutely no reason. If you had a reason then you'd have evidence and it wouldn't be faith it would be science.
There is no evidence for a god, and faith is not something worth having. What is the virtue in believing an assumed conclusion with no supporting evidence? Add to that the fact that most theists claim their god is immaterial, then there never can be evidence for it because it does not manifest in physical reality. In which case, whether it exists or not is irrelevant because for all practical purposes it makes absolutely no difference in our universe.

[newyddilyn60]

Human souls go either to hell or heaven after death. Aborted babies go to hell for 33 years. Use of contraceptives is an early abortion. Suicide, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (rejecting salvation through Christ Jesus), worship of the beast-antichrist (pale gay flying Jew with red eyes, who moves like superman and makes fire come down from the sky), receiving mark of the beast (666 tattoo by lasers), and going into UFO ship to be? healed (aliens=demons=ghosts=angels of light surrounding the beast-antichrist) lead to permanent hell. Those who go to be healed in UFO ships by demons will become spiritual zombies destined for hell. When people stretch hands to receive small grey plastic world passport or similar document, 666 tattoo is given by lasers on wrist area or forehead. Food stores will be set up to laser people. Police will laser people on highways. RFID chips, electronic tattoos, and other electronic documents are used to track people to laser them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYZ49eCro2E Pray "Psalm 27" 40 times a day for 40 straight days http://www.christnotes.org/bible.php?q=Psalm+27 and "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Him flee from before His face. As smoke vanisheth so let them vanish; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the demons perish from the presence of them that love God and who sign themselves with the sign of the Cross and say in gladness: Rejoice, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, for Thou drivest away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was crucified on Thee, Who went down to hades and trampled on the power of the devil, and gave us thee, His precious Cross, for the driving away of every adversary. O most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, help me together with the holy Lady Virgin Theotokos, and with all the saints, unto the ages. Amen." http://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/pr1.html

[colten]

I recommend that you read 'Conversations with God'. It gives a completely different perspective of what 'God' means and allows for the existence of God without having to believe in the packages that God is wrapped in through Christianity or other religions.

Listen to that small voice within...it is yours and it will guide you. At the same time, never give up your critical thinking...examine everything as you are doing now. Leave room for all possibilities while knowing that our beliefs and interpretations can be incorrect. Keep an open mind and an open heart while acknowledging with humility that absolute certainty is unattainable.

Good luck with your search!

[curadhan74]

How about using Astrophysics and Mathematics?

Science which discovers and explains the natural universe can neither prove nor disprove the supernatural like existence of God beyond all certainty. But we can use Science and Reason to prove the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt.

For example, modern Astrophysics has proven the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt.

Newton's Third Law of Motion states "For every action there is equal and opposite reaction." Every action in the universe was caused by a prior equal and opposite reaction.

If we logically follow each and every action and reaction back to the beginning then logically there has to be a first action without a prior equal and opposite reaction. Modern astrophysicists call this event the Big Bang.

This first action was completely independent of outside forces. This action was God, the un-caused cause, creating the universe. This proof also fulfills the principle of Occam's Razor.

By the way, it was Georges Lemaître (1894–1966), a Belgian Catholic priest and professor of physics and astronomy, who proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre

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Another proof:

A universe in which life has a chance to exist can only happen in where a couple of dozen universal constants coincide, including:
+ Minimum interval of space
+ Minimum unit of time
+ Planck's Constant
+ Maximum velocity
+ Gravitational Attraction Constant
+ Weak Force Coupling Constant
+ Strong Nuclear Force Coupling Constant
+ Rest Mass of a Proton
+ Rest Mass of an Electron
+ Electron or Proton Unit Charge
+ Minimum Mass of the Universe
+ Total Visible Rest Mass
+ Boltzmann's Constant
+ Hubble Constant
+ Cosmological Constant
+ Cosmic Proton/Photon Ratio
+ Permittivity of Free Space
+ Electromagnetic Fine-Structure Constant
+ Weak Fine-Structure Constant
+ Gravitational Fine-Structure Constant

A couple of percent difference in any one of these constants would make the universe completely uninhabitable. Roger Penrose, a peer of Hawking, calculated that the chance of a universe capable of supporting life as we know it as one part in 10 raised to the power of 10 raised to the power of 123.

This fine tuning of the universe, while not an absolute proof of God, can be used to help prove the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt (which is my claim).

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I also suggest you read Robert Spitzer's book "New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy"

Magis God Wiki: "Why Believe in God?" http://magisgodwiki.org/index.php/Why_Believe_in_God%3F

With love in Christ.

[condan]

Nick,

I'd like to share something with you. I do hope it helps somewhat.

"I have discovered that I don't need to agree with a person on theology, doctrine or even politics to hear God in their voice. If I were to dismiss things based on the fact that the person speaking had different opinions than mine, I would miss so much of what God is saying to me.
I thought I heard someone say... if you truly open your heart - God will fall in.
I used to be so afraid that I unless I was so measured and so strict and so tight that I would go off on the wrong path. But now.. I have discovered that trust brings you much closer to love than fear. So I choose love."
~ Amy Folk

In my many years, I have come to an understanding that we misperceive exactly what is this source of creation we, in the English speaking world, refer to as 'God'. Everything that we know of and about creation can be lead all the way back to one of three originations: Light, Life and Love. Nothing leads back to some godly-looking, benevolent elder father figure. That is the myth side the today's religions still promote and it is misleading.

Think about the idea of 'unconditional Love'. This is the type of Love that is not about affection or even the love of a parent for a child - it's much MORE than that. It is Love with reckless abandon. To Love all and everything no matter what. No restrictions, no limits, no judgments, etc.

When you finally gather the idea of this perfect Love then will begin to feel that this force we call 'God' is so much more than what religion has ever represented.

I wish you eternal blessings of joy, growth and prosperity on your journey of Life, Nick.

Blessings