I used it to direct parts of my life, mostly those that involved service in church.
It would give me a reason beyond faith to believe. Without evidence that any gods exist, I have no reason to believe since I no longer have faith.
Um, what? I can look at a hammer or hold it. In other words, evidence exists that would show I possess a hammer.
I have no evidence of any gods. They all seem to evade all of my human senses.
What is the reason for behaving as you do?
My parents who also did not believe in god. But that being said may be those who taught them believed in God. But I don’t think that’s the point you are trying to make
However, my point is that if one is not going to ever use a hammer, why have one? If you had evidence, how would that change you, how would it change your life?
My point is, are we taught to aim for love and perfection is our life? Do we believe love and perfection are worthy philosophies?
Perfection? That’s a overloaded and overly simplistic word for what we are taught to do.
No you see we arent allowed to use evidence in this thread. What is a good reason to believe hammers exist without evidence they exist?
Many people are taught many different things at various degrees of focus, depending on their culture and upbringing
This makes no sense. You cant use a hammer that you have no evidence of its existence. OR You’re essentially just telling us to believe in God and use him as evidence that God exists. So we are back to square one which will be questioning whether or not it is “God” or your imagination.
It depends on what the evidence shows.
If there was evidence only that a higher power exists but we do not know the details of this entity, it would only allow me to believe that a higher power exists. If more evidence was shown that gave the details of such an entity, I would have to reflect on what that would mean for me.
But no such evidence exists. None that I have ever seen.
Therefore, your thread removes any reason to believe in a god for me, as I require evidence. Nothing less will do, and I would wager the same holds true for most non-believers.
Perhaps not when it boils down to becoming the best version of yourself that is possible to be; that in everything, you choose to aim for the ideal. Is that a good philosophy to live by, or is it better to teach and live by mediocrity and good portion of selfishness?
Let’s not make it too complicated. By faith we believe we can come to know God through love, prayer, worship, and obedience to His love. If evidence provided you with that same information, what would you do with it?
Living to try to be perfect is a terrible philosophy to live by.
What is the “same information”?
The god you “know” is not the same god others “know”. Some of the same basic beliefs perhaps, but all gods i have ever heard about are described in the viewpoint of those who “know” them.
I was a Southern Baptist. The God of the Southern Baptists is not the same God of the Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Catholic, or Pentecostal.
Same God, many different perceptions. My mom had eight children and a husband, which means there were nine different perceptions of her–not nine of her. Should any of us declined to know her because everyone else had different perceptions of her?
However, the question I am raising is if everyone had the evidence of God they desire, how would that change you, how would it change your life? Or, would it?
How do you propose “science” prove or disprove the existence of metaphysical realities? “Science” is not omniscient and relies on a number of “unprovable” presuppositions such as laws of logic, truth, reliability of the mind and senses.
If you had conclusive evidence that God didnt exist how would it change you? Why only focus on what you believe?
Except god doesn’t want that.
Most (if not all) people who believe in God or in some form of a metaphysical ultimate reality do so with a conviction of a higher pupose in life that will survive the grave. The notion of an afterlife is unavoidably a huge component of belief.
Maybe the same God, or just different stories the different religions/denominations made up for themselves.
Absent some objective way to know, we can’t just assume your interpretation that it is different impressions of the same deity.
My question for you in this thread is…what does it matter if people believe in God or not?
