What is the average christian's motivation for true belief?

I am Christian because when times are hard I have somebody to support me, and when times are good I have somebody to thank. I don't conform to all the laws in the Bible, I don't take religion too seriously. Because there is so much disagreement I don't know who to side with. I just go with what I feel God wants.

I know that there is a lot of evidence against their being a God, but there is also evidence for a God. So I tend to ignore that argument, and just go with what helps me, what gives me comfort and peace.

If you feel you don't need a God, then I definitely respect you. I believe there is a God, but by no means do you have to.

First, thank you so much for asking an honest question without insulting Christians. That is very refreshing. :) I will try to answer the best I can.

You know how in the Bible Jesus talked about "knowing" the Father, and "knowing" the Son? When you know someone you don't just know about them from reading a book. You know them because you've spoken with them, you spend time together, and there's a connection there of some kind. That's how it is between a born again Christian and God. The Father can be known through the Son, who is known through the Holy Spirit. Christians are able to communicate with God and God communicates back. The nature of the communication is different but no less real than the correspondence we are having right now. That's why they can say with 100% conviction that the God of the Bible is real. At that point, any arguments against Christianity can be explored, but will not easily refute it because a relationship has already been established. The relationship is too real to be denied.

I'm not expecting you to believe that, I'm just answering the question. Thanks again and I hope you have a great day!

Great question. As a Christian I can tell you I feel it in my heart and soul. I have not seen proof {that I would consider reasonable} of the Bible not being fact. I had no family or other influence as a child or an adult. I came to these conclusions with an open mind and an open heart. I have had skepticism but in my research my faith has been reasserted. I feel I can defend this position as I believe it to be absolute truth and nothing less. I do acknowledge science and I find it also helps prove my faith. Just one example is the fine tuning in the universe. Thanks for a great question, it is seldom that I feel my opinion will be taken into account on this forum.

True Christian belief has to be based on God's word, the Bible. That means you have to engage your intellect and actually study it - a lot.

The Christian understands that it is God who draws us to him and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to a place where we acknowledge our sinful condition and we seek repentance. At the moment of belief (that Christ Jesus is Lord and Saviour) comes the free and undeserved gift of salvation - not by anything the believer has done, but just because they came to a point of faith.

Faith is a gift from God. And although a Christian may struggle and sometimes question their belief and their faith, the Holy Spirit and the word of God are still there to encourage and help. The believer has come to realise that God is real, that what Christ Jesus did at Calvary is real and that the Holy Spirit is real. That is what sustains the believer. It is the love of God that motivates us.

I don't know what you mean by your question, at what point does the average Christian acknowledge science. There are many scientists from all sorts of scientific disciplines who are also Christians. What makes you think that Christians don't acknowledge science? They may disagree with the view that this universe, this planet and all life on it got here by accident, but I can assure you the 'average Christian' acknowledges the vital role science (and medicine) play in our modern lives.

Depends on the Christian....

Some are motivated simply because they have been taught. Some are motiviated by personal experiences. I've heard Christians of various faiths speak of a "burning in their hearts" when they read the Scriptures (have never experienced that personally when I was a Christian). Many Pentecostal Christians I've known hold fast to their experience of "receiving the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking with other tongues." as evidence. In the historical past, some were even motivated by force or by threat against their lives to convert.

During the 18 years that I was a Christian, I based my belief on a few personal experiences that I realize now can be interpreted completely outside of the context of Christianity. And many (and perhaps even all) of them can be explained in other ways besides "the works of God."

I don't know that we can know or are even supposed to know many of the mysteries of the universe and of life. Personally I am partial to "gnostic" beliefs, but I also recognize that I could possibly be completely wrong (and in all honesty probably am).

I believe in god because it explains the origin of matter and energy. I know in my heart god is real because of the beauty of the universe around me. It's comforting to believe, it gives me meaning because disregarding his existence, I can never think of anything significant enough to serve as a personal reason for existence.

I must point out that I don't solely interpret the bible literally. I don't think anyone should ever do that. I accept science, micro and macroevolution, I have nothing wrong with homosexuality, I believe abortion should be legal as well.

The motivation is God himself. As christians we stand behind what we believe in just like many would stand behind their family or friends no matter what. There is no way to "know" for CERTAIN that's why Christians r carried by faith alone. Faith is to believe in what u do not yet see. The reward for faith is to see what you believe. For many, like myself, before i converted to christianty.. We tend to question his exsitence, and for many he just does Not exsit. But Only when we r committed to God will he show us his exsientce. He has no desire to help those who do not want the help, tho he hopes you Will chose Him. There have times, personally, where i look up and think... "theres no way i made it thru this.... There's IS a God!" standing there in almost shock.

I myself was one who was Not raised in religion I picked up the bible myself and although I have lots of pages to go I have found it very comforting to kno my God has given my a spirit of power, love, and self-control. That's God given! And he gave it to everyone. That alone means we can conquer anything. Even the devil himself. with God of course!)

Science is great but overall irrelevant . ...actually last night my buddy told me a story..

Have u heard that a long time ago the earth stopped moving? And no scientist could explain why. Try looking it up u may find some things on it... But neways... For "absolutely no reason" the earth stopped. And guess what? Nothing happened. Earth stood perfectly still and then continued as nothing. Scientists are so bewildered on this.

But for some christians this is just silly and really quite funny! In the bible it says that (i can't remember who or what their names were) but they were in battle with the enemy , their enemy. And they asked God to please somehow someway extend their day bcuz by night they would not be able to conquer or defeat them in time.

It says it right there in the bible , God stopped the earth. And he did that so his people who pray and serve him could defeat their enemy.

Another science fact... They can not explain what holds molecules together. Yes we burn or fuel or weld the particles together but they can not explain What keeps them a hold. Together.

In the bible God says "i hold all things together."

With all due respect -kourt

Death.

The desire for life after death is the prime motivator for all religious beliefs. All of them offer one form or another of reward for following the religious rules or dogma.

If you can convince yourself that this hope (faith) is a sure thing, why wouldn't you be a true believer?

Paradise, heaven, reincarnation, immortality, all the basic reason for believing. Praise and honor of their chosen god, gods, is predicated on what that chosen deity promises as a reward for worship.

first off i am in a way and im also not in a way the average christian i believe in god but my god is a bit different from most christians and i dont pray to my god btw my motivation to believe in god is because im a science type of guy i believe in logic reason and explanation quick lecture the devil is clearly the bad guy right...yes....god is clearly the good guy right....yes so the universe is ever expanding billions of planets like ours it would be feeble minded to assume were the smartest life form in the universe ..think about it humans traveling to the moon with only having electric for 200 yrs and the universe is billions of yrs old other life forms must be more advanced somewhere so.. our technologically primitive (not advanced) ancestors but not stupd ancestors might i add had a dramatic first hand encounter with extraterestrials they didnt know what a space ship or advanced weapon was ,guns or what have you so they thought they were devine creatures one of a kind or a god one might call it ..they also did not know how these beings could fly they had never seen such technology nor have even imagined it so they described it the best they could by putting wings on pictures of humans "angels" so future generations would understand that they flew and they flew to "heaven" lol .....space duh an 8 yr old knows what and where space is its the same place where "heaven" is because heaven is space fyi so if theres other life forms they would be similar to humans one would assume so there would be good guys and bad guys or good E.Ts and bad E.Ts in other words god and the devil sorry i went on and on but do you get the jist of it

I'd say cultural conditioning. Friends and family and the values that they support can be a huge factor in determining belief especially at an early age.