How does one convince themselves of the existence of God in the world of today?

How does one convince themselves of the existence of God in the world of today?
I really wish I was Christian. I lack motivation and I'm clinically depressed. I have no real meaning in life other than a mission of self improvement that I've started recently.
I wish the entire world was Christian, it seems to be the religion I relate to the most on a moral and philosophical level, but how does anybody believe in God nowadays with ZERO evidence? I'd give anything just to have some divine revelation that God is real, or for God to speak to me personally, etc., just so I could believe, but there is so much shit in the bible that simply isn't true (Earth resting on pillars and shit like that).
How do I do it, Sup Forums? How do I start believing?

PS please excuse the image, found it on Jewgle

Other urls found in this thread:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=YjL7huEzeBY
bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

>but how does anybody believe in God nowadays with ZERO evidence?
there is plenty of evidence, it's just evidence that you don't like or accept because muh naturalism

watch some atheist vs theist debate recordings on youtube, the theist doesn't say "lol i dont have any evidence, just believe dude"

>I'd give anything just to have some divine revelation that God is real, or for God to speak to me personally, etc.
wouldn't you just chalk it up to hallucination or ayy lmaos?

I have evidence the holocaust happened.

>there is plenty of evidence
LIKE?
>muh naturalism
What the fuck is "naturalism"?
>watch some atheist vs theist debate recordings on youtube, the theist doesn't say "lol i dont have any evidence, just believe dude"
I've watched a ton of them and never seen anything that proved the existence of God.
>wouldn't you just chalk it up to hallucination or ayy lmaos?
Uh, no? Why are you acting so hostile? I said I want to believe in God, dude, chill out. This isn't meant to be a heated debate, I just want advice or links to convincing material.
Post it here and I'll post some evidence that it didn't.

Two things. The first is that religion is important for a society to function, beyond that it is required. Without the unifying force of a religion society will collapse. You don't need to believe in god to understand this.

Second the more intelligent the person the more investment will be required when it comes to your beliefs. When people talk of faith people will often say they practice, in other words faith is a process. I can only speak about myself but my relationship with faith, god, and religion is on ongoing one. I read, think, and write about it nearly every day. Do I question the existence of God, naturally, but that does not mean I abandon my relationship. I keep working at it and try to better myself in the process.

Please put down whatever garbage you have read and don't treat religion as what people who believe in science like a region want you to think, that religion is just a prescience and stupid way of explaining natural phenomena. It is something far more complex and beautiful but you will only get out of it what you are willing to put in.

>I am an atheist.

FTFY - 'atheist' is a descriptor, not a name. It isn't capitalized.

Yeah you're totally right. I agree with you 100%. Just I don't get how to make the leap of faith, you know? There are lots of religions, so even if I came to the conclusion that there is a god out there, what evidence is there that points towards the God of Christianity? I know it sounds like I'm being difficult, but believe me, I'm trying. I've tried for a while now to see it but I just don't.
I didn't make the stupid image, I just Jewgled "christianity vs atheism" and picked this one for shits

Why are you so sure God doesn't exist?

>How does one convince themselves of the existence of God in the world of today?
Just don't think about it too much. That's the answer to any religious question, just stop thinking so hard. It's why "theologians" look like such dumbasses.
>What the fuck is "naturalism"?
Not believing in magic. "Materialism" is amother word these retards like that means the same thing.
>watch some atheist vs theist debate recordings on youtube, the theist doesn't say "lol i dont have any evidence, just believe dude
Link one, I'm pretty sure that is what they do. Because they have no evidence. Prohint: talking a lot of shit and making nonsense "arguments" isn't evidence of anything.

When did I say I was sure God doesn't exist? Why don't you actually read my post before resorting to macro responses?

Only you can convince yourself. God only opens the door, but you have to be the one to walk through it.

Get psychiatric drugs - they can be temporary - and make moves in a direction you want. Run. Sort yourself out.

5-HTP improves mood, too.

Fake it, just go to church for the company. If they're so easily fooled by a limited book then it shouldn't be too hard to just act like you believe.

> Earth resting on pillars

Where do you read that? Sounds more like Islam. But having said that, I won't defend a literal interpretation of the Bible.

>LIKE?
next post
>What the fuck is "naturalism"?
a philosophical viewpoint according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.
if evidence points toward a 'miracle' actually having taken place, it's discounted because and filed under "event with as of yet undetermined totally natural cause"
pic related
>I've watched a ton of them and never seen anything that proved the existence of God.
understand that "proof" isn't some objective term.
it's subjective, an opinion, it's the type of or amount of evidence you personally feel you need in order to say there is sufficient warrant for belief in a proposition.
atheists are typically VERY unreasonable and inconsistent with the skepticism they apply to Christianity.
a skeptic can fall back on "eh, i don't buy it" for anything.
if you'd like a demonstration on what i mean, prove to me you exist.
>Uh, no? Why are you acting so hostile?
to say there is "ZERO evidence" is disingenuous, like all Christians are just believing on a lark or whim.
there may be evidence that you personally feel is bad or don't like, but it's still evidence

No need for hostility, I was wondering if your basis for disbelief is scientific. If so I highly reccomend watching the first 36 minutes of this video and listen to this pastor speak. m.youtube.com/watch?v=YjL7huEzeBY

christians are statistically dumber than atheists

christians are sheeple. atheists are more red pilled

deep down, in secret, christians know they are dumb sheeple who lie to themselves, but most of them never admit it

The christian religion was the religion of my fathers, the religion whose symbols surround me. Is that the correct choice, i don't know, but it seemed to me that if I don't understand the religion that I was raised in how could I hope to understand the religion of other people. My advise would be to start with the religion of your people.

I would also suggest you stop worrying so much about evidence, about being correct. Religion will never produce evidence that satisfies the conditions science, nor should it. They are different domains of knowledge. Regardless that proof is ultimately unnecessary. The benefits of faith and religion are in the here and now. There are material as well as physiological benefits you will enjoy. Although if your only interest in God is for reward I would think that you have a rather shallow relationship.

Do you deny the evolution?

lurk moar leaf or kys

Yeah I've been working out quite a bit recently and run every other day. Take vitamin D and zinc, too. Already starting to feel better.
>God only opens the door, but you have to be the one to walk through it.
Meaning I have to make a leap of faith, right? I just don't know how to approach that. Like if somebody makes an extraordinary claim, you'd ask for proof of it being true, right? Why doesn't the same thing apply here? I feel like shit every day. If something awesome happened to me I might be inclined to think there's some merciful higher power but I'm just not feeling that right now.
This is exactly what I mean, I respect Christianity as a philosophy, but when it comes to believing in a literal God, that's where I get lost.
Yeah I guess. I kind of do this by hanging around on Sup Forums, hoping eventually my brain will just click with everyone else on here. Might have to try the church thing.
>No need for hostility, I was wondering if your basis for disbelief is scientific
I'm an agnostic atheist. I think being "100% sure" either way is retarded. I just haven't seen any proof extraordinary enough to make me believe in God. I'll check that link out.
Good point, Ivan.

We are atheists cuz we know that sandnigger religion does not belong neither here or in us. We had gods, then we got cucked beyond recognision.

I think there is a misconception in society about what it means to be a believer. To those who don't believe, and even to some who say they believe, believing doesn't appear to be anything more than blindly accepting things that raise so many questions.

In truth, you do not become a believer in the sense that you are a genuine, born-again Christian unless you find God. Finding God isn't some term that means simply deciding that God is a plausible or reasonable concept; finding God means actively encountering Him and interacting with Him in the same sense as you do with any other person. When you find God, it's impossible to not believe (though it is possible to reject), because you have actually seen that God does, in fact, exist.

The first step towards finding God and obtaining belief is to approach. You need to approach God, and this is as simple (or difficult) as earnestly seeking Him. I personally began to seek God while I was exploring other religions and teachings, ultimately finding myself encountering God in a way that I can not deny short of blindly closing my eyes. Now that I've found God, I'm constantly encountering Him.

It's different for all believers, but one way I see and interact with God regularly is through my work. I'm a theoretical computer scientist and cryptographer by training; God guides me in my work, and my work reveals more about Him. For example, I was recently given insight into an answer to a long-open problem in the area of artificial intelligence (which I am currently working on writing up formally). The precise words escape me, but it is as though God revealed a part of his own story to me, showing me through his eyes what it was like creating us. Every day, I know that I am walking with God; despite my faults and my mistakes, these lessons show me that He is there and that He desires to know me.

Your story of course won't be the same as mine, but I do hope that God guides your steps. God bless you!

probably the most compelling evidence for the truth of Christianity, the death burial and resurrection of Christ.

1: Christ is a historical figure. he died via Roman crucifixion. This is a historical fact. (see 1 in pic related)
no one walks away from roman crucifixion, it's a 3 step process.
if you survive the scourging and crucifixion, the third step is the deathblow.
they need to pry someone off a cross, so they would smash their head in or stab them through the heart with a sword or spear, or set them on fire, or let wild animals rip them apart.

2: We have firsthand and secondhand eyewitness testimony claiming he visited them in person after his death.
it's written in Paul's epistle to the corinthians.
(pay attention to the next line, avoid making a knee-jerk response)
it's written in this epistle, but it originated much earlier, secular scholarship corroborates this (see 2 in pic related)
>3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
>4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,
>5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
>6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
>7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
>8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
notice that He's appearing to groups, that rules out the 'hallucination hypothesis,' because hallucinations are subjective to the individual.
this creed is also dated to around the month year of Christ's crucifixion by secular scholarship as well, so that rules out the 'legend hypothesis.'

3: These people suffered severe persecution, torture, and death for holding this view.
which is not something someone who is unsure or knows that what they are professing is a lie is going to do.
[1/2]

so,
options ruled out as irrational:
A) the eyewitnesses were all lying
B) the eyewitnesses were all hallucinating the same thing at each occurence
C) the myth of this event evolved over time (legend hypothesis)
D) Christ survived the crucifixion

options left:
E) the event actually occured
F) ? ? ?

the only reason to deny E would be a dogmatic devotion to naturalism, which as i showed earlier would be circular reasoning
[2/2]

Thanks man I appreciate that a lot. I'll study it more and see what happens. Cheers!

But do you deny evolution?

lol that doesnt prove shit

do you ACTUALLY believe in a "heaven" and a "god" and "jesus" who died in the cross & all that?
and a talking snake? and adam and eve, etc?
if so, then youre a fucking retard lol

You're welcome! Always remember, though, that such matters are more than words on a page. You eventually have to try to participate if you hope to find.

You will begin to find God when you look for him. Watch the video, research Desmond Doss and what he did through God. You have to find the evidence yourself. If there was undeniable proof I could show you in a minute, there wouldn't be free choice and the balance of good and evil. Our God is a god of balance.

>I really wish I was Christian.

Declare out loud that Jesus is Lord.

Believe in your heart God raised him from the dead.

That is how you become a Christian (Rom. 10:9)

Do you really want THE answer or are you just trolling? I'd hate to type out all my Wisdom just to have it trampled upon...

You dont have to believe in god to be a christian. I dont believe in god since im a realtively intelligent person capable of rational thought, but i go to church and am a part of that community since i feel it is my responsibility to preserve that part of my culture. The teachings of jesus christ are a good set of morals to live by no matter what

>Do you really want THE answer or are you just trolling?
I swear I am not trolling. I fucking hate being an atheist, I just haven't been able to make the leap of faith.
>You dont have to believe in god to be a christian.
What do your Christian friends think of this? Because if this is true, I'm golden

If you are the political type make the connection of how the satanistic elite wish to eradicate and have eradicated Christianity from our schools, country and world. Jesus told us we would be persecuted for his name. Remember, satan is the great deciever and thrives on men with no spirit or belief.

Ok. Stay tuned for the religious redpill. Brace yourself, user...

>How does one convince themselves of the existence of God
drop your IQ by 30+ points, forget everything youve learned about the world, and just believe everything you read in a 2000yo book written by low-IQ sand niggers. that should do the trick. and remember, if you believe in something without any proof, youre a textbook definition of a fucking retard. cheers

>but how does anybody believe in God nowadays with ZERO evidence?

you dont believe in God by EVIDENCE. God OPENS your eyes when you hear the Gospel and you BELIVE.

>your basis for disbelief
kek typical retarded comment. burden of proof is on you. and you havent provided any proof.

>God OPENS your eyes when you hear the Gospel and you BELIVE.
This hasn't happened to me, though. Not yet, anyway.
I'm ready, friend.

>drop your IQ by 30+ points
highest recorded IQ's in the world are mostly theists though

1: Andrew Magdy Kamal - 231.734 IQ - Christian
2: Abdessellam Jelloul - 198 IQ - Theist
3: Christopher Michael Langan - 195 IQ - Theist
4: Teraence Tao - 220 IQ - no idea
5: Christopher Hirata - 225 IQ - Christian
6: Evangelos Katsioulis - 198 IQ - Christian
7: Rick Rosner - 192 IQ - theist i guess [suspects "there's an infinity of gods" though]
8: Mislav Predavec - 192 IQ - Christian
9: Gary Kasparov - 190 IQ - Christian(?) [calls himself 'self appointed christian']
10: Kenneth Ferrell - 190 IQ - Christian

cheers

Lol this

Funny how the smartest theoretical physicists in the world such as Steven Hawking have changed their positions and believe there is no other answer but God the more they research.

So ask God for help, since you need God's help in order to become a Christian. Seek, knock, ask. Find, opened, given to you.

CATHOLIC GENERAL

> Get a proper education in STEM and discover just how hard it is to create something.

> Study Biology
> Study Chemistry
> Study Physics
> Understand Evolution
> Study the great scientists and discoverers
> Study the latest findings in astronomy

> Come to the realization that a system of this order, magnitude, and complexity doesn't come by chance or randomness.
> Come to a conclusion that many others before you did
> Go in search of frameworks that lasted the test of time that frame it

> Understand that atheism is for lazy faggots who tend not to pursue understanding in their lifetimes.
They will however sit around waiting for you to give them evidence for which they'll twist in their small brain to support evidence of 'nothing'.

> Realize and know that many of the great scientists were religious
> Realize atheists are often uneducated and lazy or just crackpot academics who've gone off the deep end.

Realize life is more than just riding the rides and fucking around.... Naturally begin to journey to understand it. Naturally grow in your understanding and belief therein.

We're trying to save souls, not damn them to hell with you papists.

not interested

When did Hawking become a Christian? Source?
You mean pray? I've tried that already. I've opened up as much as I could and nothing happened.

>believe
and has anyone been able to prove it? no, of course not. because its all bullshit

Obviously i dont tell anyone at church that i dont believe in god lol. I just keep it to myslef for the most part always. No reason to let people know you are part of any minority group

Look up Christogenea and read it OP. Only proof you will get in this thread

No, I mean say out loud that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead.

In other words, declare and believe the truth, that Jesus is who he says he is.

God Himself.

I am asking you to do something supernatural that you cannot do without God's help.

So ask God for help. Ask him to help you say Jesus is Lord, and ask him to help you believe that he raised Jesus from the dead.

Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. Ask and you will be answered.

If you Google "first monotheistic religion" the result of course is Judaism. This is common knowledge. Before the Jews, everyone was Pagan or atheist. Right? Wrong. At least 500 years before the Jews stopped worshiping idols made out of clay and wood, an Aryan prophet presented monotheism to his people: the Iranians (Persians). Zoroaster, the first true Aryan prophet, claimed there is only one single God and all other gods are false or not real. He claimed God is:

>All-Loving
>All-Forgiving
>All-Righteous
>All-Knowing and Wise
>Full of justice and mercy

Sound familiar? It should. Zoroaster also taught the existence of an all-evil being, called Ahriman, who is:

>All-Evil
>All-Wrathful
>All-Degenerate
>All-Destruction (hates mankind and tries to destroy reality)

Does the figure of Ahriman sound familiar? It should. You see, after the Jews left Babylonian captivity, they co-opted or stole the monotheism religion of Zoroaster, which was called Zoroastrianism. The Jew adopted the single God for himself, and the Jew made himself the "chosen ones" of God. The Jew took the one God who is Peace and turned him into the God of War (Exodus 15:3). The Jew took the morality of the Aryan religion and perverted it; the Jew claimed the God allows them to do very evil things, like hurt or kill non-Jews, or rape non-Jewish women and children. Judaism is the corruption of Zoroastrianism.

Enter Jesus. He came to fix Judaism and to make it more like Zoroastrianism. Jesus Christ himself was a Zoroastrian priest (yes, there is evidence for this claim in Scripture). Jesus was sent to Israel to reform Judaism; Jesus was sent solely to help the misguided Jews (Matthew 15:24). Jesus, therefore, was a Zoroastrian teacher who attempted to reform Judaism, and when he gained a certain amount of popularity, he was killed by cowardice Jews who refused to give up their wicked ways.

Unless youre a Jew, you don't need Christianity, which is simply Reformed Judaism, to be saved.

There is a problem with protestants, they contradict the early Christians

How do you explain that

We're artificial intelligence inside a simulator programmed by our developer. Aka God. That's why science can't find evidence, how much evidence would pacman have of his developer

hey it's the wm/af malaysian guy

i hae a phD in chemistry and i believe in God. the more you know the more you come to realize the inevitably of God

it's okay if you have autism, your brain is broken and unable to know God

Stop shitting on Christians you stupid fuck, there is no God but the world is better off with Christcucks than with kikes and mudshits

Seeing this thread I realize the humanity is hopeless

t. Scientist

I am not him. But I am convinced by his ability to refer to early Christian sources to support him on the claim that the early christians contradict Protestantism

>Come to the realization that a system of this order, magnitude, and complexity doesn't come by chance or randomness.
therefore god kek. yeah i ask for evidence because im not a fucking moron who thinks an all powerful being has created everything just because ''it feels right''. youre the lazy one here. face it, you have no evidence for the existence of god. all you have is ''belief''.

>>God OPENS your eyes when you hear the Gospel and you BELIVE.
>This hasn't happened to me, though. Not yet, anyway.

In NT that is reffered as "being born again", and in the whole Bible OT and NT you have phrases like "X belived God" or "God blinded him so he couldnt belive" all reffering to the same thing.

Pray and study the Bible, God will open your heart and you will belive on Jesus. I know that happened to me when I was a kid. That is the only way to God.

Jesus doesn't give a fuck if you're white. He'll throw you into hell just as fast as he will an unbelieving Jew.

Science affirms the Bible. Christ is Lord.

I would post images, but my ISP upload has shit the bed.

>How does one convince themselves of the existence of God in the world of today?

just read "Sup Forums is a christian board" threads. if those won't convince you, nothing will.

if your IQ was above 160 you'd realize how laughable that statement is.

But, do you accept that evolution happened?

Evolution and God can exist BUT it also means this God isn't very benevolent

i can smell you 1,000,000 posts away
>[posts screenshot of random catholic book from phone]
>EXPLAIN THIS

Different people practice their faith in different ways. I am an intuitive introvert, my faith like everything else is a very internal thing. From what I remember most people are extroverted sensors, they would have to live their faith in the external world.

Zoroaster received the tanakh as written thus far from the Jews held in captivity in Babylon, which turned into captivity in Medeo-Persia.

Zoroaster is basically a Jew. and by no means predates Judaism.

Zarathustra, also spelled Zarathushtra, Greek Zoroaster (born traditionally c. 628 bce, possibly Rhages, Iran—died c. 551 bce), Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism.

Yup. The demonic Malaysian Mohammadan that we just can't get rid of.

You assume to understand the mind of God. The first thing you learn as a scientist is that your own opinions, and "Logical" deductions about the natural order are widely stupid. If you don't get it right away think about it for a while, if you still don't get it sadly odds are you're too low on the proverbial bell curve to ever understand, that isn't meant as a slight, just brutal honesty.

I am serious. I am not him. I am just a lurker.

All you are doing is proving him right and my statement. Because he cites directly from the early christian authors themselves

OP here, I have to run out and grab my glasses, but please feel free to post/debate/enlighten in this thread. I'll be back to read it later.
Cheers!

> because you can change my mind with evidence
> I decide what is valid evidence or not through

The best you can do is acknowledge since every religion claims it true, and all others as false, that religion is a false dichotomy. A very useful false dichotomy that mobilizes all classes, low and high. Europe wouldn't have colonized the world if the majority of them weren't illiterate farmers being spoon fed lies from the clergy. Now God is dead and we get our spoon fed lies from the mass media or presidential ideologues

Subjectivity implies metaphysics

And I can smell him from a thousand paces. Nothing but attar and brimstone.

You're wrong, rabbi :^)

Judaism is about 3,000 years old.
Zoroastrianism is about 3,500 years old.

SOURCE: bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/

...

I think Hawking believes in a creator but not necessarily christianity.

>Christianity is Judaism
>what is the Talmud
LARPagans are always ignorant. Like fedoras on crack.

3,500 for Judaism
2,600 for Zoroastrianism

That you rely on copies of Zoroastrianism found in 1953 is laughable.

Last I checked Hawking thinks the universe created itself by virtue of the Law of Gravity.

what is Talmud? what is the evil in Torah?

>Christ god is not real no proof

For some people its not about there being some god up in the sky, they just want to be a part of a community, and have something to believe in. My Uncle was severely depressed until he joined a Church. He became much better and got a dog, that helped a lot too.

Nature is cruel and theists claim that the structure and order of nature posits a Creator. Reasonable but why is the creator benevolent for using violent processes against his nature of goodness?

Ah okay perhaps a changed stance? Or misinformation.

>How does one convince themselves of the existence of God in the world of today?

Obviously you look into the arguments and defenses for it. But there is a lot of baggage surrounding this because there are two different mainstream views of the nature of God and they differ wildly.

>What is called Theistic Personalism, which is a modern mainstream view in which God is a being in an anthropomorphic sense. A kind of God-object either inside or outside of the universe.
>Classical Theism, which is the longstanding pre-modern mainstream view of God as not a person but the willful and non-composite ground of the universe that sustains it constantly.

How attributes of God are discerned - such as how miracles would function in concept, all the omni-stuff, and God's relation to nature differ wildly due to this distinction. It would be a good start to look into people who know this distinction, as they seem the more educated generally. Many people today - laypeople and anti-theists especially but also many Evangelical theologians - have zero grasp of how to define God and what God is. If you can find those that know the distinction you are looking in the right area for people educated on the subject. I can give you introductory books as well.

I accept your defeat.

>Andrew Magdy Kamal
Hes also autisitic

Nice try but still blasphemy

OP make sure you check out that site..

I cited from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

You cited the fucking BBC.

kek

Here you go OP now stop being such a faggot

Christian Identity = hell

You Jew hating fucks are going to get a huge shock when you realize that Jesus is a Jew.

you quoted from the EB didnt backup your claim about the age of Zoroastrianism/Judaism. i again accept your defeat.

Reminder that Westerners, especially pards are only Christian to push their right-wing agendas. Most of them have no understanding of concepts such as 'Love' or 'Acceptance' or 'Tolerance' which Christianity was founded on.