I don't see how God could plausibly exist (Christian definition of God)

[Sanctus Iacobus]

Good news for all the other religions as well, I guess.

Christianity by definition is not a religion. Religions are perpetuated by man's effort.

[Nicodemus]

Christianity by definition is not a religion. Religions are perpetuated by man's effort.

Is Islam a religion, is Judaism a religion?

[Ginkgo]

Christianity by definition is not a religion. Religions are perpetuated by man's effort.

You sound pretty perpetual bro.

[wildcat]

You sound pretty perpetual bro.

A God in man's image is man.
A man in God´s image is man as well.
There is only one image.

[entropie]

not if you have an image recorder

[Sanctus Iacobus]

You sound pretty perpetual bro.

I am guilty of this, but that does not muddy my point. Only Jesus was totally moved by God. Those who follow Jesus will continually grow and learn to do the same.

[Beorn]

Christianity by definition is not a religion. Religions are perpetuated by man's effort.

Christianity is perpetuated by man's effort. It just isn't perpetuated merely by man's effort.

Therefore, christianity is a religion, but it is not not merely a religion.

I don't know of any group within christianity that believes the practicing of christian beliefs doesn't require some effort on the person's part.

[entropie]

I yesterday figured that most of the german economical terms are basically derived from religios origins. Maybe the english ones as well, lets see:

Erlös (revenue) -> Erlösung (redemption)
Wertschöpfung (Added Value) -> Schöpfungsgeschichte (creationism)
Offenbarungseid (declaration of bankruptcy) -> Offenbarung (Book of Revelation)
Gläubiger (debtee) -> Glaubender (believer)
Schuldner (debtor) -> Schuldiger (culprit)
Kapitalerhebung (increase of capital) -> Erhebung (elevation)

Erlöse uns von unseren Schulden !

Maybe more in german than in english

[ICUP]

I simply don't think there is a God because I cannot prove there is one.
I can't prove there is not one either, but if there were no eggs, would you wonder if there were eggs?
The reasons I can see for people believing there is a God is because 1) they want to believe their lives and choices are in the hands of someone else; 2) they need it to be able to blame someone other than themselves, or they need a reason (there was a reason for it, because God wanted it); 3) they don't want to believe they die and then there is nothing after that.
I also wonder: if there is a God, why would they care if I believe in them or not, truthfully? Why do they need to be worshipped? So even if there is one, I still don't get the need for them to be worshipped by me. What good does it do them or me?
Even if I read the Bible, figure it all out, and prove that JC is false, it still doesn't prove or disprove the existence of God. So why would I care.....honestly.
I suppose I'm more interested in the existence of God than the truths behind any religion.
So does anyone have any reasons why they DO believe in God, that they can provide?

[Sanctus Iacobus]

Faith is actually not some mystical voodoo spiritual feeling. One's faith is the nature of that person's agreement with God. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)" This verse is often misunderstood... with knowledge of God's promise through Jesus Christ, one has an ability to be assured of the hope sought for which produces evidence despite that thing having yet to happen. Let's say you have faith that the Amtrak will arrive on time at 7:05... your faith produces a confidence in that event, and that confidence produces evidence because knowing it will be on time means you'll be sure to be there by 7:05, and sure enough your faith is the reason you'll be riding the train at 7:10. Unlike fallible things we're accustomed to, God is infallible. In fact, God is infallible unto Himself, i.e. we "swear to God", but God swears by Himself, He cannot lie and there is no deception or darkness in Him. This is why Jesus would tell people "your faith has made you well"... He was not saying their mystical voodoo feeling is what cured them, no, God cured them... however, He was informing them that as far as their participation in the matter is concerned, it was their agreement to God's ability which allowed the healing to occur.

Just a short clip which gives a practical, scientific example of how faith works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQe0o..._order&list=UL

Similar to my example of getting on the train, this illustrates how our consciousness operates on faith and how that alters reality. Now this is merely a proof that we are designed for faith and are only able to operate with it, consequently the operant of that faith is an object of desire/worship. It is like a gear, and that gear is the human heart. It is our function, it is our purpose in life.

Also, just a note about the creation of the universe... in order for the Big Bang to happen, the universe/existence would have to function on a finite model of progressive time. However, research suggests this is not how it is made. Somewhere in our consciousness we know this as well, as we never experience the past or future, but only the present. I believe this is because outside of the observable universe, which has an appearance of finiteness, is the "default" existence, and an infinite one where God is. This "present moment" model reflects this as well, in the sense that it is eternally Today.