Why do you believe in God, Jesus, or an afterlife?

[Nowty V]

I see no separation between the two. For me, God Is. That would encompass Quantum Mechanics, so Quantum Mechanics are God....for me.

 

Hear Hear

 

They who have eyes to see, let them see.

[BC1980]

I've seen the question asked, 'Can God be in two places at once?'

 

God can do anything, as is his will.

 

Are there any entities in the known World whereby a single entity can be in two places at the same time?

 

Well, yes there is.

 

It has been proved that a single Photon can be in two places at the same time.

 

A Photon is a Quanta, or elementary particle, of Light, an enclosed packet of electromagnetic waveform.

 

They say God is Light.

 

I am not saying that God exists as elementary particles, I'm saying things in the known Universe can and do behave in ways that are attributable to God.

 

Why elementary particles behave the way they do is completely unknown and unknowable.

 

Is Quantum Mechanics God?

 

No, God is God and Quantum Mechanics is Quantum Mechanics

 

Isn't that called the theory of many worlds? I've read a bit about that, and that kind of stuff actually makes me believe in God.

[Nowty V]

Isn't that called the theory of many worlds?

 

No, it is the recorded behaviour of Photons in a double slit experiment.

 

Many Worlds theory is mind blowing, as is String Theory.

 

I try and get my head around them but I'm an amateur.

[BC1980]

No, it is the recorded behaviour of Photons in a double slit experiment.

 

Many Worlds theory is mind blowing, as is String Theory.

 

I try and get my head around them but I'm an amateur.

 

I've read about String Theory too. Just stuff on the internet. It is mind blowing. I get lost at some point and can't wrap my mind around it either.

[pureinheart]

I've always questioned God's existence, but, until recently, the answer never really mattered. I've dipped in and out of church. I've had periods where I didn't believe in God/Jesus, and I've had periods where I believed 100%. I've come to a point where I need something to hold onto, something to believe in, and I naturally looked to my faith to fill that hole. The only problem is that I have a difficult time believing in God and Christianity. It seems like faith matters a lot right now, but I'm coming up short on it. I've read books on apologetics, and those just don't work. I don't feel belief in my heart.

 

So I'd love to hear why you believe in God, Jesus, and/or an after life. Life seems pretty grim without at least one of those things. At least to me.

 

I'm not sure how to respond except to give my testimony.

 

I was raised in the Catholic Church, yet I wasn't completely sold out. I knew God and had a relationship with Him, although on a much lower level than I do today.

 

I was seeking and very much in the world. Then after receiving a not so good diagnosis requiring a hysterectomy I had a 'nervous breakdown'... in other words I completely freaked out at work. All of the management came to my aid, asking what could they do, what did I need or want. I requested to be moved to a different area as the current stress was overwhelming. They moved me next to probably one of the strongest Christians of that era/day lol.

 

She is/was a beautiful lady and loved by all... just the sweetest person, you know? She ministered every chance she got and never missed an opportunity. One day, shortly after being placed next to her, she looked at me right in the eyes and said, 'you have had an abortion' (or something like that, this was 29 years ago) ... I flipped out in my mind, it's like WTH??? How did she know???

 

FF to surgery. I was terrified and as they were shooting me up with the 'milk', laying on the operating table, a nurse came in and said, ' (insert name of the lady I worked next to) called and said Jesus loves you'. I literally got saved in less than 4 seconds. Woke up from the surgery with little pain and was definitely different/changed.

 

I could not get enough of God's Word and was more than ready to deal with my past and to get onto the healing which has been a life-long process, as there was a lot of stuff (and still is).

 

Not to be arrogant, although I've seen the radical miracles and am living them. They aren't radical to some, but whatever:D

[BC1980]

I'm not sure how to respond except to give my testimony.

 

I was raised in the Catholic Church, yet I wasn't completely sold out. I knew God and had a relationship with Him, although on a much lower level than I do today.

 

I was seeking and very much in the world. Then after receiving a not so good diagnosis requiring a hysterectomy I had a 'nervous breakdown'... in other words I completely freaked out at work. All of the management came to my aid, asking what could they do, what did I need or want. I requested to be moved to a different area as the current stress was overwhelming. They moved me next to probably one of the strongest Christians of that era/day lol.

 

She is/was a beautiful lady and loved by all... just the sweetest person, you know? She ministered every chance she got and never missed an opportunity. One day, shortly after being placed next to her, she looked at me right in the eyes and said, 'you have had an abortion' (or something like that, this was 29 years ago) ... I flipped out in my mind, it's like WTH??? How did she know???

 

FF to surgery. I was terrified and as they were shooting me up with the 'milk', laying on the operating table, a nurse came in and said, ' (insert name of the lady I worked next to) called and said Jesus loves you'. I literally got saved in less than 4 seconds. Woke up from the surgery with little pain and was definitely different/changed.

 

I could not get enough of God's Word and was more than ready to deal with my past and to get onto the healing which has been a life-long process, as there was a lot of stuff (and still is).

 

Not to be arrogant, although I've seen the radical miracles and am living them. They aren't radical to some, but whatever:D

 

I haven't seen you post in awhile but glad to see you are back. Thank you for sharing your story. I've noticed that a lot of people believe in God because they have experienced something intangible like what you experienced.

 

Save

[Satu]

The dangers of blind belief:

 

 

“If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.”

 

― Bertrand Russell

[planning4later]

The dangers of blind belief:

 

 

“If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.”

 

― Bertrand Russell

 

Who is promoting blind belief?

 

I believe Scripture because it's the ONLY worldview that explains the complexities of life. It fully tackles the reality that human beings can be desperately wicked and selfish; yet it optimistically shows that there is a path to life. It acknowledges that evil happens to good people, and that good happens to bad people. All other worldviews fail in this regard and oversimplify. The bible says this happens because God is sovereign and even our own actions don't fully dictate the course of our lives. How many other worldviews accept this fact? Just look around you. You don't need to read the bible to know that ALL this is true. This is how life works. And ONLY the Bible acknowledges this AND explains why this is the case. So...blind faith? Nope. The opposite. You need to be blind to NOT accept it.

[Satu]

You need to be blind to NOT accept it.

 

*Some would say you'd need to be blind not to believe everything thats written in the Koran, or the Bhagavad Gita, Mao Zhedong's Little Red Book, or Das Kapital.

 

You are no different from any of them.

 

You've done a good job of convincing yourself that you're different from them, but you're not.

 

You're exactly the same.

[planning4later]

*Some would say you'd need to be blind not to believe everything thats written in the Koran, or the Bhagavad Gita, Mao Zhedong's Little Red Book, or Das Kapital.

 

You are no different from any of them.

 

You've done a good job of convincing yourself that you're different from them, but you're not.

 

You're exactly the same.

 

People can say whatever they want. No other book has 100% track record in prophecy. For 1900 years the nation of Israel didn't exist. They were a nothing more than a memory. But the bible prophecied their return. People laughed. People joked about it. For 1900 years. Too bad you didn't get a chance to live through all those centuries and hear it. Then in 1948 it happened. Now...people like yourself will just roll onto the next criticism of the Bible. It's too bad humans only live 70 years. We are too stupid to see history as it really is. We are here, then gone. Then the next generation comes along with its silly ideas about how smart it is and how only THEY know about the world. I'm not claiming to be smarter. I'm saying the source of this info has been around for 2500 years and counting. And it doesn't matter that there are other books when the other books are demonstrably wrong.

Edited September 27, 2016 by planning4later

[BC1980]

People can say whatever they want. No other book has 100% track record in prophecy. For 1900 years the nation of Israel didn't exist. They were a nothing more than a memory. But the bible prophecied their return. People laughed. People joked about it. For 1900 years. Too bad you didn't get a chance to live through all those centuries and hear it. Then in 1948 it happened.

 

Out of curiosity, can you give me those verses. I know the second temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., but where does the NT prophecy the return of the nation of Israel after the second temple was destroyed?

[planning4later]

Out of curiosity, can you give me those verses. I know the second temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., but where does the NT prophecy the return of the nation of Israel after the second temple was destroyed?

 

It prophecies in Jeremiah that the Israelites would be gathered from all across the earth before the messiah returns, before they get attacked by the antichrist.

 

You have to understand that even Old Testament books make reference to end time events. Especially Daniel.

[BetheButterfly]

People can say whatever they want. No other book has 100% track record in prophecy. For 1900 years the nation of Israel didn't exist. They were a nothing more than a memory. But the bible prophecied their return. People laughed. People joked about it. For 1900 years.

 

Aye. The Replacement Theology was formulated by men who thought that God had replaced Israel with the church, but that's not true. While God has punished Israel many times for sin, there is a cycle of return that is quite miraculous. And it's a fulfillment of prophecy in the Tanakh.

 

While some Jewish people who are religious disagree with the current existence of the secular nation of Israel, they do believe that the Mashiach (Christ/Messiah/Anointed One) will come and establish Israel under G-d's laws. Christians (including Jewish people who accept Jesus as the Maschiah), believe this will happen when Jesus returns. Jesus' returning to establish his kingdom on earth is a key element to Christian beliefs, because Jesus Christ has not yet fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies.

 

It is just to note that many Jewish people who believe in the coming of the Mashiach believe that Jesus (Yeshua) is not the Mashiach (Christ), one reason being because he did not fulfill many Messianic prophecies. However, Christians believe he will when he returns.

 

Regardless, it is horrible and evil how many Christians have persecuted and tortured and force converted Jewish people and other people around the world. This is in disobedience to Jesus Christ, who loves Israel and who promised to return after the "trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles" is complete: (I boldened some.)

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” - Luke 21:25-28 (NIV)

 

 

Many people don't understand the importance of Jesus being the Jewish Messiah... while he saves Gentiles too: his primary nation is Israel. This is perhaps 1 reason he stated that he was sent only "to the lost sheep of Israel."

 

The Bible is first God-centric, thenIsrael-centric. While the regeneration of Israel definitely surprised many Christians, it shouldn't have because the prophecies of God does so are in both the Tanakh and the New Testament.

[planning4later]

Butterfly, I'm talking merely about geographical Israel. True Israelites have continued until this very day, although they've been scattered. Many of them are in Ethiopia as we speak.

[BC1980]

It prophecies in Jeremiah that the Israelites would be gathered from all across the earth before the messiah returns, before they get attacked by the antichrist.

 

You have to understand that even Old Testament books make reference to end time events. Especially Daniel.

 

So the Israelites are gathered now in Israel, but the messiah has not returned? Am I seeing this correctly?

[planning4later]

Have you heard of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? They are a group which claims ancestry from King Solomon and Sheeba. They follow every single law of Moses and Levitical ritual to this day. Plus they accept Christ as their messiah. I believe these are the "faithful remnant" of prophecy which will reestablish the ancient kingdom. What's amazing is they CLAIM to have the ark of the covenant in their possession. I've done extensive research on this. While it can't be proven until it's seen, I do believe it's likely (greater than 50%) that they do. They claim its beneath their central temple. For generations they have had one man devote his entire life to guarding the ark. He never leaves the property...ever. He was interviewed through the fence and asked what it looks like. Now it's always possible that he's lying, but his alleged description is exact. If this was the only evidence, I wouldn't believe it. But there's much more. There are direct ties into biblical history with them as far as where the ark travelled last. Very fascinating.

[Satu]

 

Regardless, it is horrible and evil how many Christians have persecuted and tortured and force converted Jewish people and other people around the world. This is in disobedience to Jesus Christ, who loves Israel and who promised to return after the "trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles" is complete: (I boldened some.)

 

There has more evil been done in the name of 'Christ,' than in the name of any other ideology or dogma. With that said, it's not unreasonable to conclude that Christianity is, in and of itself, evil.

 

 

“That is the idea -- that we should all be wicked if we did not hold to the Christian religion. It seems to me that the people who have held to it have been for the most part extremely wicked. You find this curious fact, that the more intense has been the religion of any period and the more profound has been the dogmatic belief, the greater has been the cruelty and the worse has been the state of affairs. In the so-called ages of faith, when men really did believe the Christian religion in all its completeness, there was the Inquisition, with all its tortures; there were millions of unfortunate women burned as witches; and there was every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion.

 

You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

 

You may think that I am going too far when I say that that is still so. I do not think that I am. Take one fact. You will bear with me if I mention it. It is not a pleasant fact, but the churches compel one to mention facts that are not pleasant. Supposing that in this world that we live in today an inexperienced girl is married to a syphilitic man; in that case the Catholic Church says, 'This is an indissoluble sacrament. You must endure celibacy or stay together. And if you stay together, you must not use birth control to prevent the birth of syphilitic children.' Nobody whose natural sympathies have not been warped by dogma, or whose moral nature was not absolutely dead to all sense of suffering, could maintain that it is right and proper that that state of things should continue.

 

That is only an example. There are a great many ways in which, at the present moment, the church, by its insistence upon what it chooses to call morality, inflicts upon all sorts of people undeserved and unnecessary suffering. And of course, as we know, it is in its major part an opponent still of progress and improvement in all the ways that diminish suffering in the world, because it has chosen to label as morality a certain narrow set of rules of conduct which have nothing to do with human happiness; and when you say that this or that ought to be done because it would make for human happiness, they think that has nothing to do with the matter at all. 'What has human happiness to do with morals? The object of morals is not to make people happy.”

 

― Bertrand Russell

[planning4later]

So the Israelites are gathered now in Israel, but the messiah has not returned? Am I seeing this correctly?

 

I don't believe the true Israelites are in Israel. I think they are still mostly a scattered. But they appear to be starting their migration, especially from Ethiopia--as I've mentioned. I believe that the current population in Israel, at large, are not the faithful remnant, though.

[Satu]

So the Israelites are gathered now in Israel, but the messiah has not returned? Am I seeing this correctly?

 

He has never 'returned' because he's never been here before.

[Satu]

I don't believe the true Israelites are in Israel. I think they are still mostly a scattered. But they appear to be starting their migration, especially from Ethiopia--as I've mentioned. *I believe that the current population in Israel, at large, are not the faithful remnant, though.

 

*One can only be glad that you are no kind of authority on this topic.

[BetheButterfly]

So the Israelites are gathered now in Israel, but the messiah has not returned? Am I seeing this correctly?

 

It's a confusing issue. Israel has been regenerated, but it's a secular state. It's not under the Law of Moses (which many Jewish people appreciate), and it allows freedom of religion, which the Law of Moses did not allow.

 

The Messiah has different definitions to different people. Some Jewish people see the Mashiach as more a spiritual figure, not a physical king of a physical nation. Others do seem him as a physical king... like King David.

 

The Mashiach was promised to King David as being one of his descendants. King Solomon could be called a Mashiach because he was anointed to be the 3rd king of Israel. King David was the 2nd king of Israel... an anointed leader. Mashiach basically means the anointed one.

 

The Mashiach promised to King David has to come from the ancestry of King David... part of the prophecy. The Jewish people who believe in G-d and in the coming of the Mashiach (who many disagree with the idea of the Mashiach being God incarnate) have done a remarkable job of keeping the hope for the fulfillment of this prophecy alive for thousands of years.

 

One of the Jewish Orthodox friends finds it ironic that Christians have "taken over" that prophecy and given it to Jesus. She doesn't believe Jesus is truly the Mashiach, but she's fine with me believing so... as long as I don't force her to believe so, which is perfectly understandable!

[BetheButterfly]

I don't believe the true Israelites are in Israel. I think they are still mostly a scattered. But they appear to be starting their migration, especially from Ethiopia--as I've mentioned. I believe that the current population in Israel, at large, are not the faithful remnant, though.

 

Every group believes differently, which is interesting.

 

I personally believe that someday, there will be an "awakening" of sorts in the Jewish communities around the world to Jesus (Yeshua) being the Mashiach. It is interesting how some Jewish people in the USA are becoming more interested in considering Yeshua as the Mashiach. I personally have 2 Jewish friends who used to think that Jesus was a false mashiach, but now believe he is the true Mashiach. (Not because of me, but because of their own personal studies.... they had accepted Yeshua as the Mashicah years before I met them; they have taught me alot about Reform Judaism.)

 

Anyways, there are Jewish people who have intermarried with other people groups and scattered around the world. Jewish people are very diverse in skin color and ethnic groups, because of being scattered after the Romans conquered Jerusalem around 70 AD. And, some of the Jewish people didn't return to Israel after the Babylonian destruction of Israel... some Jewish people in Persia for example stayed in Persia (present day Iran).

Edited September 27, 2016 by BetheButterfly

[BetheButterfly]

 

There has more evil been done in the name of 'Christ,' than in the name of any other ideology or dogma.

 

Could you please provide proof by comparing the crimes of different leaders based on their ideology or dogma? Thanks.

 

 

With that said, it's not unreasonable to conclude that Christianity is, in and of itself, evil.

If Christians would obey Jesus Christ's commands to love enemies, then they would not do evil. The evil done in the name of Christ or Christianity is due to disobedience to Jesus Christ. :(

 

“That is the idea -- that we should all be wicked if we did not hold to the Christian religion. It seems to me that the people who have held to it have been for the most part extremely wicked. You find this curious fact, that the more intense has been the religion of any period and the more profound has been the dogmatic belief, the greater has been the cruelty and the worse has been the state of affairs. In the so-called ages of faith, when men really did believe the Christian religion in all its completeness, there was the Inquisition, with all its tortures; there were millions of unfortunate women burned as witches; and there was every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion.

 

You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

 

You may think that I am going too far when I say that that is still so. I do not think that I am. Take one fact. You will bear with me if I mention it. It is not a pleasant fact, but the churches compel one to mention facts that are not pleasant. Supposing that in this world that we live in today an inexperienced girl is married to a syphilitic man; in that case the Catholic Church says, 'This is an indissoluble sacrament. You must endure celibacy or stay together. And if you stay together, you must not use birth control to prevent the birth of syphilitic children.' Nobody whose natural sympathies have not been warped by dogma, or whose moral nature was not absolutely dead to all sense of suffering, could maintain that it is right and proper that that state of things should continue.

 

That is only an example. There are a great many ways in which, at the present moment, the church, by its insistence upon what it chooses to call morality, inflicts upon all sorts of people undeserved and unnecessary suffering. And of course, as we know, it is in its major part an opponent still of progress and improvement in all the ways that diminish suffering in the world, because it has chosen to label as morality a certain narrow set of rules of conduct which have nothing to do with human happiness; and when you say that this or that ought to be done because it would make for human happiness, they think that has nothing to do with the matter at all. 'What has human happiness to do with morals? The object of morals is not to make people happy.”

 

― Bertrand Russell

Out of curiosity, has Bertrand Russel ever compared the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ with the Christians who have disobeyed his commands to love neighbors as oneself, love each other, and love enemies?

 

Jesus Christ did not kill anybody. He did not torture anybody. He himself was tortured and killed. While many people don't believe his resurrection from the dead, there is evidence that Jesus truly existed and was truly crucified and killed for "blasphemy".

[Nowty V]

1 John 4:5-6

 

1. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
   
2. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
   

[planning4later]

1 John 4:5-6

 

1. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
   
2. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
   

 

Love this!

 

As I've said before, the Holy Spirit is the highest witness and the highest proof. As Jesus said, it doesn't need the testimony of man. The spirit, himself, is God.