do people actually believe in god?

We know that God is real because He has revealed Himself to us in three ways: in creation, in His Word, and in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The most basic proof of God’s existence is simply what He has made. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1).

If I found a wristwatch in the middle of a field, I would not assume that it just “appeared” out of nowhere or that it had always existed. Based on the watch’s design, I would assume it had a designer. But there is far greater design and precision in the world around us. Our measurement of time is not based on wristwatches, but on God’s handiwork—the regular rotation of the earth (and the radioactive properties of the cesium-133 atom). The universe displays great design, and this argues for a Great Designer.

If I found an encoded message, I would seek out a cryptographer to help break the code. My assumption would be that there is an intelligent sender of the message, someone who created the code. How complex is the DNA “code” that we carry in every cell of our bodies? Does not the complexity and purpose of DNA argue for an Intelligent Writer of the code?

Not only has God made an intricate and finely tuned physical world; He has also instilled a sense of eternity in the heart of every person (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Mankind has an innate perception that there is more to life than meets the eye, that there is an existence higher than this earthly routine. Our sense of eternity manifests itself in at least two ways: law-making and worship.

Every civilization throughout history has valued certain moral laws, which are surprisingly similar from culture to culture. For example, the ideal of love is universally esteemed, while the act of lying is universally condemned. This common morality—this global understanding of right and wrong—points to a Supreme Moral Being who gave us such scruples.

In the same way, people all over the world, regardless of culture, have always cultivated a system of worship. The object of worship may vary, but the sense of a “higher power” is an undeniable part of being human. Our propensity to worship accords with the fact that God created us “in His own image” (Genesis 1:27).

God has also revealed Himself to us through His Word, the Bible. Throughout Scripture, the existence of God is treated as a self-evident fact (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14). When Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography, he did not waste time trying to prove his own existence. Likewise, God does not spend much time proving His existence in His book. The life-changing nature of the Bible, its integrity, and the miracles which accompanied its writing should be enough to warrant a closer look.

The third way in which God revealed Himself is through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:6-11). “In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1,14; see also Colossians 2:9).

In Jesus’ amazing life, He kept the entire Old Testament law perfectly and fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah (Matthew 5:17). He performed countless acts of compassion and public miracles to authenticate His message and bear witness to His deity (John 21:24-25). Then, three days after His crucifixion, He rose from the dead, a fact affirmed by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6). The historical record abounds with “proof” of who Jesus is. As the Apostle Paul said, this thing “was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26).

We realize that there will always be skeptics who have their own ideas concerning God and will read the evidence accordingly. And there will be some whom no amount of proof will convince (Psalm 14:1). It all comes down to faith (Hebrews 11:6).

MIMI

Humans start wars. We are solely to blame for them. If humans invoke God as a reason for a conflict, it's simply in order to dupe the uneducated into supporting a bankrupt cause.

Him - there is the problem right there. If there is a god, there's no way it would be as anthropomorphic as we have made it out to be, such as being a definable gender: why would God have sexual organs?

You would be a fool not to believe in God, if you experienced some of things we have come to experience:

http://www.iamsecond.com/films/

I'm Muslim, not Christian.

I believe in both God and evolution. I believe the big bang with the help from an all-powerful, all-knowing being.

I think our wars and tragedies came from freewill. If we didn't have freewill, we'd be like robots and that wouldn't be fun for anyone and there would be no point to life.

You don't have to believe in God, that is your choice, but I think it is in poor taste to insult someone who has faith. Many people do not believe in AIDS or the Holocaust, I think I'd be more worried about those people than the religious because if someone doesn't believe in AIDS, s/he could be infected and spreading it around.

Yes, people believe in God (except atheists) The universe and earth is too perfect to be just a coincident. Us, christians, live by FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT. There are some actual real proofs that the things that are written in the bible are true. Like what happened in the red sea (chariots in the red sea) and the discovery of noah's ark. You can search it on google. God did not create war, humans did. Hun, do you know the story of adam and eve? They DISOBEYED GOD, therefore the human started to know the good and the evil. We have life spans, because greedy humans disobeyed God.

If you think that there is no God because you experience pain, people are the one who is giving you the pain, not God.

WE LIVE NOT FOR OURSELVES BUT FOR GOD. Afterlife, we are suppose to be with God in his paradise to be with him eternally and to be with him, you have to be born again and believe and love him.

If you became an atheist because you thought that God created evil, that God does not exist because us, humans, experience pain, well I recommend you to read the bible or hear God's teachings. You will know everything. It is all written in the holy book. Have a nice day and may God forgive and bless you!

That's fine that you choose to not believe in God. However I know that He is real, I believe that He is real, and even more, without empirical facts, I have faith that He is real.

War, pain, and hardships- those are brought about by man himself. God did not cause them, man did. God has issued us guidelines, rules on which to base our lives and our behaviors. We follow them, everything is great. We don't, there will be problems. Throughout the Od Testament we see a pattern repeated... man obeys, God protects, man loses faith, man does not obey God punishes, man repents, repeat. Then, with Christ, He took all of the punishment from us. However, we still have to live with the consequences of exerting our free will or of someone else exerting theirs. And that even applies to health issues. We may not have done anything to cause a disease, but it goes back to Adam and Eve, who with that bite caused our bodies to no longer function perfectly as God intended. So, we get sick and we suffer, and we die.

But, even in our pain, in our hardship, we can still find God, His peace, His presence, His love.

Just because you can string words together to make a what seems to be a coherent paragraph, does not mean that sentence actually makes sense.

You say "...god is obviously not real" Then you go on to say "he [God] has created so many wars, and pain for many people..."

If god is not real, then god could not have done all the things you say god has done.

If god as done the things you say he has done then he must exist.

In short you are being absurd.. If you are so confused that your thinking represents an absurdity then why should anybody accept your assessment of what is obvious? Obvious to somebody who's thought patterns represent an absurdity perhaps, but not so obvious for those who have more rational thought patterns.

St. Thomas Aquinas:

The Existence of God can be proved in five ways.

The First Way: Argument from Motion

1.Our senses prove that some things are in motion.

2.Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion.

3.Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion.

4.Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and potential in another).

5.Therefore nothing can move itself.

6.Therefore each thing in motion is moved by something else.

7.The sequence of motion cannot extend ad infinitum.

8.Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

The Second Way: Argument from Efficient Causes

1.We perceive a series of efficient causes of things in the world.

2.Nothing exists prior to itself.

3.Therefore nothing is the efficient cause of itself.

4.If a previous efficient cause does not exist, neither does the thing that results.

5.Therefore if the first thing in a series does not exist, nothing in the series exists.

6.The series of efficient causes cannot extend ad infinitum into the past, for then there would be no things existing now.

7.Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

The Third Way: Argument from Possibility and Necessity (Reductio argument)

1.We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come into being and go out of being i.e., contingent beings.

2.Assume that every being is a contingent being.

3.For each contingent being, there is a time it does not exist.

4.Therefore it is impossible for these always to exist.

5.Therefore there could have been a time when no things existed.

6.Therefore at that time there would have been nothing to bring the currently existing contingent beings into existence.

7.Therefore, nothing would be in existence now.

8.We have reached an absurd result from assuming that every being is a contingent being.

9.Therefore not every being is a contingent being.

10.Therefore some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its existence from another being, but rather causes them. This all men speak of as God.

The Fourth Way: Argument from Gradation of Being

1.There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better or worse than others.

2.Predications of degree require reference to the “uttermost” case (e.g., a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest).

3.The maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus.

4.Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

The Fifth Way: Argument from Design

1.We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by chance.

2.Most natural things lack knowledge.

3.But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligence.

4.Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publis...

According to the Encyclopedia of Wars (Phillips and Axelrod), of the 1,763 major conflicts in recorded history, only 123 of them can be classified as having been fought over religious differences. That’s less than 7 percent.

The encyclopedia also explains that the number of people killed in these conflicts amounts to only two percent. This means that even when wars have been fought over religious disputes, they tend to be less bloody than when they are fought for other reasons.

Think of the modern wars you learned about in school. The American Revolution, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea; none of these wars was fought for religious reasons. In fact, the bloodiest and most deadly wars of recent history were demonstrably motivated by something other than religion: out of whack nationalism (WWI), antireligious fascism (WWII), and atheistic Communism (Korea, Vietnam, the atrocities of Stalin and Mao).

God cant be real because the big explosion produced an ordered universe from nothing

or an egg come from nowhere and ''expanded'' into a vast and ordered universe

molecules self-assembled and became living cells

errors in complex genetic code produce more complexity

a very lazy person would complain about a book without doing at least a little research