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

I have always found in life that when things are really bad that God has put something in place to help. As for the Old Testament telling of creation. It was written by men of faith and not scientists. It was their way of explaining it.
It is difficult to explain or understand God and faith can waver when terrible things happen. I always pray to a Father and I have always felt that although I no longer go to Church.

I agree with you absthame that it is intolerant to attack the religious views and beliefs of others when they do not accord with our own.

My only concern would be when some extreme views incite violence, but I think we should all have the freedom to follow the religion we choose.

Sadly this freedom is not available in several countries, we are lucky in this country (UK).

I was also moved by your post TwiceAsNice. What a devastating thing to happen. Life can be so tough, and we all need support to get through, whichever way feels right and sustains us.

pikquartz what you call "a higher power" or "higher intelligence" is what many of us refer to as God.

I happen to be a christian who finds it difficult to find a church that is not corrupted by norrow minded clerics and/or priests. However that does not impact upon my christian beliefs.

I am very disturbed when I hear from a pulpit that Muslims are the anti-christ. It is such views that damage societies and flies in the face of Christ's teachings, whether one views him as a good moral teacher or as the Son of God. He taught tolerance such as in the parable of the good samaritan, in which a person that could have been described as a heathen was far closer to God than the many "good jews" who walked by but displayed their "virtuousness" for all to see.

I think that it is stupid and thoughtless to attack the religious views and beliefs of others even when I may find their beliefs conflict with mine.

Thank you Annie and Smileless2012. It is just how I feel. It is hard to describe faith to others but I am glad I have it

I believe that there is a higher power or higher intelligence. I do not call that god because I do not belong to a religion but I do believe that there are mystical realms and I can see why people want to believe in god.

That was a very moving post TwiceAsNice.

In the 1930s my mother remarked to the minister of her church some people go to church to show off their new hats . The minister replied laughingly he'd put that into a sermon.

I try to live my life by a moral compass, with care, respect and compassion for others ie to "to treat others as I would like to be treated". I am frequently moved emotionally for example by music, sunsets, babies, and in spiritual spaces such as grand cathedrals.

In fact I feel much affinity with those who have a religious faith, but I do not believe in a supernatural God, benevolent and judgmental, watching over me.

I am a Humanist. I believe that this is the only life we have and therefore it is important to live it in the best way I can.

I believe that evolution, and increasingly science and neuroscience can provide rational explanations, for our world, and us.

TwiceAsNice same for me.

I believe in God and that Jesus Christ is his son and my saviour. God gave people free will and it is people who do much of the evil in the world helped by Satan who was Gods Fallen Angel.

Bad things do happen to good people. It is not planned it is random . God sent his only son to suffer and die for us so he knows our suffering and out faith helps us to manage what happens to us. Do not say why me but why not me . What is so special about you that it should only happen to someone else?

When my son died at 4 years old I knew Jesus was in be room with us and he had come to take my son to be with him and he would look after him until I died and would see him again. I grieved terribly and still do but I know absolutely that I will see
my son again and would not have survived without my faith which I still have. It is a big part of me and my life but I do not force it down people’s throats.

When I go to church (most Sunday’s not all) I feel a deep sense of peace and do not care whether people know I go or not, I go for me. I try to lead a good life and help others and I am not afraid of dying , it is just a part of living. I will miss my daughters when I die but I will see my son again.

I thought this thread was about the belief in a God, not about religion.

You can believe in a God without belonging to any religion, and not believe in God and not be an Atheist. Atheism is in itself an organised group based on its belief that there is no God. You can simply be non-theist, and have no further interest in the subject than that.

Why worry about it? Just feel what you feel and enjoy what you enjoy - even if you're not entirely sure what you believe.

Attempting to made comparisons between who has a better life is just silly. People find comfort and strength (amongst many other things) through all sorts of activities - choices that are meaningful and important to them, and all are equal in their worth.

Doodle Yes, life is still difficult for those of us who believe but it must be so much worse for those who do not.

They cannot feel the comfort and strength which always comes eventually through faith and prayer. This is my personal experience, anyway.

hettymaud the answer to your question is yes as far as I’m concerned but life is still difficult. Many of us struggle with our belief day to day but something keeps us holding on.

The bible as we know it is a translation of a translation of a translation( probably) . There are other gospels left out and quite probably other religious works omitted too. So apart from whether it is believable there is also the issue of the fact that someone decided what to include, in all likelihood because it proved their own point of view.

One issue about the bible is that it is translated and so the truth or veracity of some parts are down to whoever did the translating.
eg the Virgin.....I have no axe to grind as I am not a christian but who really knows if it meant an unmarried woman or not?
there is no way to prove it.

They haven’t made it public at all - an anonymous person on a forum has shared an anonymous story about anonymous people somewhere in the world.

It’s his perception of some of his parishioners - he is entitled to that view, and let’s not say ‘sod that’ to free speech in private (when no crime has been committed), that takes us down a dangerous path. If he had said to paddyann ‘Mrs X told me in confidence that the only reason she comes to church is Y’ then that would be a betrayal of a confidence.

It’s like a doctor saying to her friend that the reason people are overweight is because they eat too much of the wrong stuff and I’m fed up telling them to cut back v the reason that Mr X is in my clinic is because of Y.

And the friend has made his betrayal public

What’s between a minister/ priest and those in their church is confidential, how can
anyone approve of breaking this confidence claiming ‘it’s free
speech’. I could never betray a confidence, sod free speech.

It was betrayal of trust.

For me God definitely exists. I find it totally illogical to believe that our whole universe just happened by chance and that nothing in life has any real purpose or meaning.

I don't think anyone can tell you that God exists. You have to have a feeling that you think is God to be able to believe in him.

If going to church or singing hymns gives you a good feeling, then go on doing it. None of us believe everything that is in a hymn book or even in the Bible. People wrote both, after all, and were trying to express the unexplainable, so they may well have got a lot of it w ong.

I agree with Annie, it was disrespectful for him to talk about his parishioners in that way to another person. If he does know and understand their motivations, presumably that's because of conversations he has had with them as individuals, and any opinion he may have formed of them as a result, should have been kept to himself.

Questioned/stated it/expressed an opinion/whatever - he has the right to free speech in a private conversation.

He didn’t question he stated it as fact, if he had a need to question then question his congregation not condemn them
behind their backs.