Why do Humans believe in the Existence of God?

[marc_101]

Enjoy the ride....

Exactly

My cells and the I they make are all enjoying our random walk through life

 

[Outdated]

My best guess is uncertainty: we're meaning-making machines so everything needs a why. Believing that we are here for no reason, only a series of coincidences that created life is not satisfactory. The concept of a god reduces that uncertainty, even if it's a fiction.

I think another aspect of it is that a lot of people need to be able to blame someone else for all their problems. It's not my fault, it was God's will.

Ahem... Not all humans believe in a god or gods, not now and not before. Some cultures worshiped the sun and the stars, not a god like the one we think of now in most common religions.

I live in a country where there's a lot of people that still follow similar old belief systems.

 

[Tom]

I know why I do but I can't speak for humans.

 

[marc_101]

I think another aspect of it is that a lot of people need to be able to blame someone else for all their problems. It's not my fault, it was God's will.

It's a comforting belief too. Sometimes I wish I could do that. If something bad happens, then you say that is God's will and it has purpose, like make you stronger and better. It's a challenge from God. Faith is important. I try to get it in some other ways.

 

[Outdated]

It's a comforting belief too. Sometimes I wish I could do that. If something bad happens, then you say that is God's will and it has purpose, like make you stronger and better. It's a challenge from God. Faith is important. I try to get it in some other ways.

Australian Aboriginal belief systems are the oldest still in practice in the world, 65,000 years. They believe that they are responsible for the world around them, their environment. Even disasters like floods and fires - their own fault.

It stems from a simple belief that we are living on the skin of a very large creature, like parasites. If we're beneficial parasites then The Mother (earth) will create good environments to encourage our proliferation. If we're detrimental and we make Her itchy she'll do her best to scratch us off like a dog scratching flees.

The Mother is not a god or anything related to a god. You can't pray to Her and beg Her forgiveness, She can't hear you. Just don't make her itchy.

 

[Fino]

And rejecting the existance of God, at least nowadays, is primarily for the appearance of intellectual superiority. "People used to believe this dumb thing, but now we know better. Aren't we so advanced?"

 

[Chris12345]

And rejecting the existance of God, at least nowadays, is primarily for the appearance of intellectual superiority. "People used to believe this dumb thing, but now we know better. Aren't we so advanced?"

It does become a bit of a verbal dispute at times, a sort of game of cleverness.

I just think the concept of god is outmoded. It used to have some definite meaning for people, but now it's a vague idea that doesn't really hold together as a concept.

The idea of some kind of entity that isn't physical, but rather 'spirit', and that exists outside the universe in some fashion and that created everything. It doesn't hold water for me. Of course, that's not everyone's idea of god. Different people mean different things by the word. But that's the only meaning I can get a handle on and it does seem, at least to me, for what it's worth, outmoded.

But I think as an atheist you don't need to be forced into a nihilistic view, a negative view of life. There's surely some way to look at things more optimistically.

 

[marc_101]

Australian Aboriginal belief systems are the oldest still in practice in the world, 65,000 years. They believe that they are responsible for the world around them, their environment. Even disasters like floods and fires - their own fault.

It stems from a simple belief that we are living on the skin of a very large creature, like parasites. If we're beneficial parasites then The Mother (earth) will create good environments to encourage our proliferation. If we're detrimental and we make Her itchy she'll do her best to scratch us off like a dog scratching flees.

The Mother is not a god or anything related to a god. You can't pray to Her and beg Her forgiveness, She can't hear you. Just don't make her itchy.

Interesting.

So many cultures did not leave any written records. Humans have been around for so many thousands of years that there must have been a large collection of previous belief systems. The single god system of many cultures now is a very recent invention.

 

[Neri]

I like Hermetic wisdom. Reading the Kybalion at the moment. It's based on the wisdom of the Hermetica, which is very old. I'm not keen on reductionist explanations of things. I like things that make sense. To believe all of creation happened randomly and for no reason, makes absolutely zero sense to me. I mean what are the odds? Miraculous is what it is; existence that is. Existence is a miracle. Everything is made of conscious energy. Matter isn't matter, it's energy and that energy is imbued with consciousness. In fact Hermetic wisdom states that All is Mind. So nothing "random" about it. Consciousness comes first and that First Consciousness we call "God" which is also known as "Love" and "Love" must be given freely in order to be real love and so free will is a given, which is where we get "choice" from. So no "controlling" diety, where is any evidence for a controlling deity? Whoever said that just made that up.

 

[MNAus]

To believe all of creation happened randomly and for no reason, makes absolutely zero sense to me.

Have you ever read the press releases of lottery winners? To be fair if it didn't happen we wouldn't be here to marvel at the odds. Never existing men tell no tales, to paraphrase

 

[Fino]

Have you ever read the press releases of lottery winners? To be fair if it didn't happen we wouldn't be here to marvel at the odds. Never existing men tell no tales, to paraphrase

The chances of winning the lottery are not at all comparable to the chances of life.

 

[Neri]

Have you ever read the press releases of lottery winners? To be fair if it didn't happen we wouldn't be here to marvel at the odds. Never existing men tell no tales, to paraphrase

I appreciate the humor in your post, but fail to validate lottery as a comparable scenario. The creation of life, as we know it, is more like a tornado tearing through a junkyard and reassembling an aircraft from scrap, than a person picking the right numbers for a windfall, in a competition designed just for that.

 

[MNAus]

I appreciate the humor in your post, but fail to validate lottery as a comparable scenario. The creation of life, as we know it, is more like a tornado tearing through a junkyard and reassembling an aircraft from scrap, than a person picking the right numbers for a windfall, in a competition designed just for that.

The chances of winning the lottery are not at all comparable to the chances of life.

But the chances of an interviewed lottery winner having won the lottery are 100%.

 

[NB79]

Not only God exists, he can actually be with you in a personal manner, as real as anything else, biblical experiences too, the things the bible mentions, you can have it, things like 'living waters' inside you etc, are real, he demands everyone to repent, and unlike 'popular belief' he is not bad, and criticize him that he is bad not only a big lie, is lack of respect for the creator of the whole universe.

'Cry out to me and i will show you things that you don't know, and even they have not shown up in anyones mind'

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Because everything in all of nature points to intelligent design. It's just too perfect. For instance, the eclipse yesterday.

Although the sun and moon are 93 million miles apart, and the sun's size dwarfs that of the earth and moon, the sun and moon appear to be the exact same size in the sky. The moon can completely cover the sun during an eclipse.

Every blessing in life points to a creator, and a loving force that protects and guides us, that wants the best for us.

It's just too much of a coincidence if there was nothing but lucky accidents that caused things like space time, matter, the van Allen belts, and sentient life.

And I do not believe in coincidences. Everything seems to have a reason.

 

[AprilR]

For me? It is because i see God the source of everything beautiful and eternal that we can only perceive in fleeting moments and time. Like when people fall in love or have a baby.

Love for people is not eternal, but the sense of eternity that is the source of it is.

Another thing is, the world, people and nature are all limited beings. The fact that we can perceive something not limited and eternal is proof that this world is not all that there is.

I have experienced miracles that i have not been able to imagine when i was young thanks to praying and asking help from God. Believing in God and asking help from Him, God gave me strength to love and accept myself as i am.

Basically it is all my subjective worldview and experience. I dont expect anyone else to understand

 

[marc_101]

Basically it is all my subjective worldview and experience. I dont expect anyone else to understand

I think that's the main summary. They are all beliefs. We can't prove the randomness of our existence or our intentional creation. We just don't know. And not knowing is frustrating.

The harm is when people insist that their view is the correct one and the rest all are wrong -- or worse, evil sinners.

 

[Misty Avich]

I don't.

 

[jsilver256]

My husband and I both were atheists most of our marriage. Four years ago, we met my pastor on the side and he was highly educated. Had multiple doctorates and knew the original Greek and Hebrew, particularly the Greek.

My pastor is ADHD so he's stubborn and into debating, just like me. We went back and forth for months.

He won, mostly on the principle that he gave irrefutable proof that the New Testament is the best attested event in antiquity. Nothing comes close. I'll let ChatGPT explain it:

The New Testament holds a unique position among historical documents for several reasons, particularly in terms of its manuscript evidence, the time span between the original writings and the earliest copies, and its historical impact. Here are some key points supported by numbers and dates:

1. Manuscript Evidence: The New Testament is unparalleled in ancient literature regarding the sheer number of manuscript copies available. There are more than 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, in whole or in part, with the total number of manuscripts (including Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, and others) exceeding 24,000. This vastly outnumbers the manuscript evidence for other ancient texts. For comparison, Homer's "Iliad", one of the next best-documented ancient texts, has around 1,800 manuscripts.
2. Time Span: The time gap between the original writings of the New Testament and the earliest surviving copies is remarkably short in the context of ancient literature. The New Testament was written between approximately 50 AD and 100 AD. The earliest partial manuscripts (like the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, which contains a fragment of John's Gospel) date back to around 125 AD, roughly 25-75 years after the original compositions. In contrast, the time gap for many other ancient texts, such as those of Plato, Aristotle, or Homer, can span several hundred years between the original and the earliest surviving copies.
3. Textual Variants: While the large number of manuscripts inevitably leads to textual variants (differences in the text among the manuscripts), this extensive manuscript evidence allows scholars to reconstruct the original texts with a high degree of certainty. The vast majority of these variants are minor and do not affect the meaning of the text.
4. Historical Impact: The New Testament has had a profound influence on Western culture, law, philosophy, art, literature, and ethics, arguably more so than any other book or collection of texts. Its teachings and narratives have shaped the course of history, influencing billions of people over the centuries.
5. Early Translations and Quotations: The New Testament was translated into various languages early on, including Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. These translations, some of which date back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries, provide additional layers of manuscript evidence. Furthermore, the writings of the early Church Fathers contain numerous quotations from the New Testament, which are so extensive that nearly the entire New Testament could be reconstructed from their works alone.
6. Archaeological and External Evidence: Archaeological discoveries and non-Christian sources from the 1st and 2nd centuries, such as writings by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and Roman historian Tacitus, provide external corroboration for the historical context and, in some cases, specific events and figures mentioned in the New Testament.

These factors combined—manuscript evidence, the relatively short time span between the originals and the earliest copies, the historical impact, and external corroboration—distinguish the New Testament in the realm of ancient historical documents.

Bert Ehrman who is perhaps the most famous NT scholar and is not a Christian - says the NT is the best attested book in all of antiquity, and there is zero doubt the apostles believed in Jesus' resurrection, and concludes that the apostles had a "vision" which cannot be explained. If the events weren't supernatural, they'd be in the realm of fact. But they're supernatural, ergo, much of the NT academic field is necessarily dedicated to figuring out alternative explanations.

There are (many, many) other reasons why I converted, but this was the "clincher" for me.

Incidentally, my pastor a couple of years later made my conversion a subject of a sermon as a lesson in being patient and not giving up on witnessing. I was that bad.

 

[SusanLR]

Humans want to know why with everything. It is our nature to think and need a meaning for it all. From time of human beginnings, we have looked for answers.
Having none, we created them. We called it God or the Gods.
Accepting we don't know the whys is not comforting.
We needed to feel there was a higher presence than ourselves to look to for hope.
Something to return to or go to after death. God was a need.
It was explained through many cultures in many different writings, verbal continuity and beliefs. These beliefs are usually followed, unquestioned, by those born into whatever culture they are born to.

I can say, "I don't know."
I could state my belief, but it won't fit everyone's box.
But I can say I don't believe as complex the universe is that it is random.