Question for theists; Following the guidelines below; Why do you believe in God?

I believe in God because sometimes the way things work out in my life seem as if it were more than a coincidence & more as if there were someone trying to help me & make me a better person, even if there is suffering. Also, sometimes there isn't anyone you can really talk to, due to certain circumstances, & I always felt that there was someone else out there that I could talk to about this world and my role in it. Maybe I really am just sitting in my room all alone talking to someone that doesn't exist, and ultimately venting my concerns and problems to myself, but Im choosing to have faith in God. I was also raised to be a Christian & I've gone to Catholic schools my whole life so far, so I guess that has something to do with it, but there have been days when I've doubted there being any God, gods, & etc. I also think that the universe is so complex and some things are beyond our philosophy that there must've been some Creator. Believing in God has also made me more understanding of others, myself & accepting, like a peace of mind kind of. I really enjoy church sermons because they just make sense to me & help me re-evaluate things. I also took a world religions class, and I really liked learning different points of views & I think that my belief in God helped me to open-minded & accept a lot of the other religions' teaching points & respect their religious leaders. I sort of don't know how to describe it all. But I also stand by that quote from the Buddha,

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

I know you didn't want any reference to religious people or scriptures, but I just thought this was a really good quote that stands alone and is helpful. I guess because it's not so forcing and it gives you freedom. So, basically, I have freely chosen to believe in God. I don't believe in Him because I am afraid of eternal damnation, or anything like that, because He would know exactly why you believe in Him, so it's not like I can try to trick Him into giving me eternal life.

A good question, one that will no doubt cause a lot of consternation among religious/spiritual people. I could see that simply by reading the opening sentence of the first post. I'll read the rest when I'm done here.

Simply put: There is too much evidence of someone greater than myself having created the universe. There is an inherent wisdom in the way the earth was created... it's place within the solar system, how it is the only planet we currently know of that has life-sustaining water, the very thing that is necessary for life, and that this planet is perfectly placed in its distance to our sun... not to near, not too far, just right.

When you drive by an empty lot with a bunch of lumber and pipes stacked in it, and then return a month later to find a house, do you assume that the house "magically" created itself? Or would you admit that the building you're looking at had a designer, an architect and a builder?

Same thing with the earth. Just because I didn't see it being built doesn't mean it didn't have a designer, architect and builder. That's simply common sense. EVERYTHING has those three things in common... cars, computers, clothing... yet no one ever doubts the existence of their creator. In fact, they spend billions of dollars to support these "creators."

The term "God" has gotten a lot of bad press because of 99% of organized religion. Doesn't mean that he doesn't exist, though.

My own Near Death Experience.

Before and after that: two miracles that could not be explained, one of which happened simultaneously to another witness who was Jewish.

Sorry, but religious experience still happens in the Twenty-First Century.

If you don't have an open mind, it will never happen to you.

The evidence for big bang and evolution doesn't hold up under scrutiny. I have seen evidence of a young earth that science neglects to point out during its explanation of how things came to be. Age of comets expansion of the sun depth of dust on the moon lack of transitional fossils and much more all point to a young earth.

Now without using science books or any of your atheist web sites or the internet in general explain what came first.

Which evolved first (how, and how long, did it work without the others)?

a) The digestive system, the food to be digested, the appetite, the ability to find and eat the food, the digestive juices, or the body’s resistance to its own digestive juice (stomach, intestines, etc.)?

b) The drive to reproduce or the ability to reproduce?

c) The lungs, the mucus lining to protect them, the throat, or the perfect mixture of gases to be breathed into the lungs?

d) DNA or RNA to carry the DNA message to cell parts?

e) The termite or the flagella in its intestines that actually digest the cellulose?

f) The plants or the insects that live on and pollinate the plants?

g) The bones, ligaments, tendons, blood supply, or muscles to move the bones?

h) The nervous system, repair system, or hormone system?

i) The immune system or the need for it?

Hilarious... according to Matthew 5:22, "Look at What You've Done" has just sent himself to hell. Look at his answer...

These hypocrites are amazingly ignorant of their own core beliefs. You know as well as I do that they worship a book and nothing else.

"No. i've got not got self assurance in different religions, goblins, vampires, werewolves, cyclops, dryads or the different fictional factor because of the fact we've reliable evidence against their existence!" evidence against something's existence, what? i might extremely % to work out this "evidence".

So, your question is:

I want to know why you believe in God - but if you believe in God because of, say, the Bible, then I don't want to know the real reason why you believe in God.

- Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/

First of all one has to mention Jesus because HE alone is God

I Know Him and better yet HE knows me

He speaks to me , shows me things and tells me things both past , present ,and future

He gives wisdom and knowledge beyond simple human ability

I have seen Him, spoke with Him and He with me....so I can not and will not deny Him

Can you deny the air your breathe ? That's what God (Jesus Christ) has been and is to me.......

forget about your mindless guidelines...Jesus Christ is Lord and the only TRUE God of Heaven

The laws of thermal dynamics prove there is a higher being.

Jesus is God, fool. The evidence for His existence is a killer for atheism. Also, one must refer to the Bible, it's God's word. The prophetic timetable proves His existence.

THE CREATION REQUIRES THE CREATOR

The universe is 14 billion years old, which means it is NOT ETERNAL.

Since it is not eternal it began to exist, which means there must be a CAUSE for its existence.

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence.

2.The universe began to exist.

2.1 Argument based on the impossibility of an actual infinite:

2.11 An actual infinite cannot exist.

2.12 An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite.

2.13 Therefore, an infinite temporal regress of events cannot exist.

2.2 Argument based on the impossibility of the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition:

2.21 A collection formed by successive addition cannot be actually infinite.

2.22 The temporal series of past events is a collection formed by successive addition.

2.23 Therefore, the temporal series of past events cannot be actually infinite.

2.3 Confirmation based on the expansion of the universe.

2.4 Confirmation based on the thermodynamic properties of the universe.

3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.

4. If the universe has a cause of its existence, then an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans creation is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, and enormously powerful and intelligent.

4.1 Argument that the cause of the universe is a personal Creator:

4.11 The universe was brought into being either by a mechanically operating set of necessary and sufficient conditions or by a personal, free agent.

4.12 The universe could not have been brought into being by a mechanically operating set of necessary and sufficient conditions.

4.13 Therefore, the universe was brought into being by a personal, free agent.

4.2 Argument that the Creator sans creation is uncaused, beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, and enormously powerful and intelligent:

4.21 The Creator is uncaused.

4.211 An infinite temporal regress of causes cannot exist. (2.13, 2.23)

4.22 The Creator is beginningless.

4.221 Whatever is uncaused does not begin to exist. (1)

4.23 The Creator is changeless.

4.231 An infinite temporal regress of changes cannot exist. (2.13, 2.23)

4.24 The Creator is immaterial.

4.241 Whatever is material involves change on the atomic and molecular levels, but the Creator is changeless. (4.23)

4.25 The Creator is timeless.

4.251 In the complete absence of change, time does not exist, and the Creator is changeless. (4.23)

4.26 The Creator is spaceless.

4.261 Whatever is immaterial and timeless cannot be spatial, and the Creator is immaterial and timeless (4.24, 4.25)

4.27 The Creator is enormously powerful.

4.271 He brought the universe into being out of nothing. (3)

4.28 The Creator is enormously intelligent.

4.281 The initial conditions of the universe involve incomprehensible fine-tuning that points to intelligent design.

5. Therefore, an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans creation is "beginningless," changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, and enormously powerful and intelligent.

You see, something eternal (God) must exist to account for the universe's cause. Nothing in the zoo of naturalism can account for the cause of the universe because we are dealing with the origin of NATURE.

Also, if you're one of those new age religionists who believe in quantum fluctuations, virtual particle pairs, m-theory, oscillating universes, etc... as oppose to the standard model, you might want to watch this which debunks all that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd8cH7vto14