Does God exist? I'd like to be clear in my mind

That's really interesting BradfordLass and it sensibly removes some of the 'fairy tale' elements from the story. Like Chinese whispers, legends change, along with interpretation over time.

I don't believe in God - a caring deity COULD show him/herself to the world and stop the horrors we see and hear about every day and a God who created the world would surely want to save it from climate change?
As for the proof of his existence ie the "word of God" in the Bible and other "sacred" books, these were written at a time when only some men had an education, and the rules and regulations within those books were written to frighten and control illiterate populations and also to ensure that women were seen as inferior.

Seems atheists don’t believe in God because he/she doesn’t
do what they want him/her to do

I’m a humanist.

So of course there is no such thing as a higher deity.

It is merely a human construct found in various forms throughout history.

Used in various ways. As a control mechanism, as an answer to fearful events. As an answer to unexplained events.. as a comforter

The uses of religion are wide and varied.

All nonsense of course.

I would say that as long as it’s doing no harm.

But of course I can’t say that.

*Seems atheists don’t believe in God because he/she doesn’t
do what they want him/her to do*

No, not this atheist. I don’t believe in gods because they don’t exist

I wouldn't know what he/she wanted me to do because I dont think he/she exists.Like the poster above I say I'm a humanist .Ilive my life by the same views as SOME christians ...certainly not all .The principles I was raised with,look after the old and the sick and the vulnerable ,the do unto others as you would have them do unto you thing

.The CHRISTIAN principle that appears to be sadly lacking in many nowadays especially WM governments who have made peoples lives a misery for a decade while shoring up the rich.And then trotting into a church on a Sunday for a camera call
.My friend who baptised my babies has been a minister for 50 + years and he will tell you quite honestly that a lot of folk who turn up on a Sunday dont have a humane or christian bone in their body.Its a chance to show off their new hat and walk home with their big family bible tucked under their arm to show where they've been .GOD is the biggest joke ever played on mankind,He was invented to keep the people in their place and it largely worked for a long time .People are eductaed now and not so gullible

An interesting post Bradfordlass which I respectfully disagree with.

It was not acceptable for a woman at that time to be intimate with the man she was betrothed too before they were married. Mary was not referred to as a virgin due to her unmarried state but because she was a virgin, hence the immaculate conception.

If she'd been intimate with Joseph there would have been no way of knowing if Jesus was his son, rather than God's.

A Jewish scholar would in all probability doubt that Jesus was who he claimed to be, as Jews are still waiting for His coming.

I don't believe in gods either SirChenjin because as a Christian I believe in God.

I never took a bible to a chapel or church service, never saw anyone else doing it.

paddyann what an unchristian man your minister friend is ,
.judging people and repeating his judgement to a friend.

Why did your friend become a minister paddyann, if he believes "GOD is the biggest joke ever played on mankind"?

What on earth is he doing perpetuating the 'myth' that God exists? How could he baptise children with that mind set?.

paddyann yes I’ve come across too many Sunday Christians too. I’ve also come across vicars, priests etc who haven’t a Christian bone in their bodies.

In fact, thinking on, those who shout the loudest about their Christian beliefs, be-it clergy or churchgoers, are usually to be avoided.

Does 'God' or any god exist? That is indeed the great existential question that philosophers and theologians have debated and discussed for over 2000 years. If believing in a greater benevolent being comforts you and helps you through life's struggles then perhaps a god does exist for you and is a good part of your life.

No one really knows and no one will ever know if God or a god exists. It remains the great unknowable of life. There is a vast difference between a belief and knowing. My own view is that if your god or higher trusted source is a benevolent being then that is a good and positive belief.

However if your god is source of hate, division and anger then I really struggle to see any benign, positive or helpful element in that sort of belief system. Embrace the uncertainty. It's OK to not know and far, far better to accept uncertainty and not knowing than to embrace a belief system that divides us and is the cause of anger, hate and suffering.

When Hetty Maud referred to God she probably meant, as most people do, a being that has feelings like a person does and who is all-benevolent, all- knowing, all- powerful, and can intervene in Earthly events .

Some people who see that all-benevolent and all-powerful don't mix, believe in God as all-knowing and all-benevolent and omit the all-powerful from their belief in God.

Smileless wrote:
"Why did your friend become a minister paddyann, if he believes "GOD is the biggest joke ever played on mankind"?"

I wish ministers like Paddyann's kept a online blog about a reasonable view of God.

Smileless2012 - of course you believe in your Christian god as a Christian, that goes without saying surely?

I am baffled why the congregation in paddyann’s Minister’s church carry the big family bible to a service with their big family bible tucked under their arm .

I need two hands to lift the family bible and impossible to tuck it under the arm.

Well IMO Paddyann's minister shouldn't be a minister if he believes God is a joke; he's the joke.

How can a minister viewing God in that way have a reasonable view?.

No Minister should condemn members of his congregation to a friend or to anyone. He mocked his parishioners, accused
them of being hypocrites. And declares God a joke

I am shocked and no way would want him as a friend.

I'm shocked too Annie and saddened.

Smileless I am so shocked, and think he is a liar,
my father and grandfather, both coal miners so not physically
weak, had to lift our family bible with two hands , it couldn’t have been tucked under their arm . Family bibles are huge.

I took paddyanne's post to be a paragraph of 2 halves - her friend thinks that a lot of folk who turn up on a Sunday dont have a humane or christian bone in their body and she, ie paddyann, thinks GOD is the biggest joke ever played on mankind etc.

We have a family bible - it's on another branch of the family for obvious reasons, but it's certainly portable (miners as well, funnily enough)

Suppose some have small family bibles

SirChenjin he was the minister of the people he mocked and condemned

Mocked and condemned who?