I simply cannot wrap my head around there being a supernatural being

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2007 I had been deluded into thinking the stock market always goes up.
Just about everybody was saying that at the time. Pretty sure I'm not mentally ill.

Being deluded is not the same as being delusional.

[Anonymous]

Try studying science. It’s impossible to study science without realizing that there is some intelligence behind it.

The more I study science, the more I believe in God."
-- Albert Einstein

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 2007 I had been deluded into thinking the stock market always goes up.
Just about everybody was saying that at the time. Pretty sure I'm not mentally ill.

Being deluded is not the same as being delusional.

the latter is more a permanent condition? Like awaiting for the second coming of Christ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try studying science. It’s impossible to study science without realizing that there is some intelligence behind it.

The more I study science, the more I believe in God."
-- Albert Einstein

That's Einstein's god, similarly there's the god of Spinoza, but that's quite different from the topic of a supernatural being, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try studying science. It’s impossible to study science without realizing that there is some intelligence behind it.

The more I study science, the more I believe in God."
-- Albert Einstein

Not only is your first paragraph completely incorrect, your quote is meant to misinform as it is attributed to a man who did not believe in the supernatural or a personal god.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 2007 I had been deluded into thinking the stock market always goes up.
Just about everybody was saying that at the time. Pretty sure I'm not mentally ill.

Being deluded is not the same as being delusional.

the latter is more a permanent condition? Like awaiting for the second coming of Christ?

No. It isn’t about time.
The latter is psychotic. Like believing that Christ is leaving you special messages in the billboards you pass on the way to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Yeah, I'd love examples of how someone becomes specifically a Christian. Honestly curious.

I have had experiences where I strongly felt the presence of someone deceased -- that has helped solidify my belief in the existence of souls that continue to exist, even after our bodies die.

I had an experience when I was meditating under the guidance of a monk where I think I achieved some version of third eye awakening. That helped solidify my belief in our ability to access sensations that go beyond we can normally sense.

None of that has led me to decide I'm officially a member of any particular religion. Like I posted earlier, I like a lot of what Buddhism has to say, but Buddhists don't believe in permanent souls. I also like what Hinduism has to say about souls, but I don't know that I believe in all of the gods. I'm probably closest to some combination of the two, so I'd be interested in knowing how someone becomes a Christian solely by asking for a sign of God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Sure. I heard this story from a friend a while back. So this woman was doubting about God’s existence, and one day she was standing on the sidewalk and just decided to say to herself, “God if you’re real I need a sign.” Right after she said that a car slowly drove by (cuz there was traffic) and its radio was turned up loud, and the woman heard the person on the radio say “God wants you to know that he’s know he’s real and that He loves and cares for you.” So some people would write that off as a coincidence or whatever, but to that woman it was compelling to her.

Another story I heard was this guy was telling me about how when he was a teen, he was raised in a Christian family but he was kinda rebellious and not really religious like his parents were. Anyways once he was driving in his car to school one morning with his radio on some station that he knew his parents and church wouldn’t approve of. He said he felt kinda guilty and said out loud “God if you are real and you really don’t want me to be listening to this kind of music I need an answer from you” and right after he said that his radio turned off and he was surprised. Later he checked on it with his parents and they found out it was broken. Today that guy is a pastor.

[Anonymous]

Have you ever experienced severe airplane turbulence? If you have, you probably started praying to God. I know I did. (And I'm not even religious at all).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Sure. I heard this story from a friend a while back. So this woman was doubting about God’s existence, and one day she was standing on the sidewalk and just decided to say to herself, “God if you’re real I need a sign.” Right after she said that a car slowly drove by (cuz there was traffic) and its radio was turned up loud, and the woman heard the person on the radio say “God wants you to know that he’s know he’s real and that He loves and cares for you.” So some people would write that off as a coincidence or whatever, but to that woman it was compelling to her.

Another story I heard was this guy was telling me about how when he was a teen, he was raised in a Christian family but he was kinda rebellious and not really religious like his parents were. Anyways once he was driving in his car to school one morning with his radio on some station that he knew his parents and church wouldn’t approve of. He said he felt kinda guilty and said out loud “God if you are real and you really don’t want me to be listening to this kind of music I need an answer from you” and right after he said that his radio turned off and he was surprised. Later he checked on it with his parents and they found out it was broken. Today that guy is a pastor.

Honestly, those seem like complete coincidences to me. I'm sorry to be such a doubter, but I was expecting something a little more profound. Also, even if they weren't coincidences, why would that lead those people to become Christians specifically? All that *could* point to is a higher power with the ability to break your radio or ensure you hear a particular song at a particular time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Sure. I heard this story from a friend a while back. So this woman was doubting about God’s existence, and one day she was standing on the sidewalk and just decided to say to herself, “God if you’re real I need a sign.” Right after she said that a car slowly drove by (cuz there was traffic) and its radio was turned up loud, and the woman heard the person on the radio say “God wants you to know that he’s know he’s real and that He loves and cares for you.” So some people would write that off as a coincidence or whatever, but to that woman it was compelling to her.

Another story I heard was this guy was telling me about how when he was a teen, he was raised in a Christian family but he was kinda rebellious and not really religious like his parents were. Anyways once he was driving in his car to school one morning with his radio on some station that he knew his parents and church wouldn’t approve of. He said he felt kinda guilty and said out loud “God if you are real and you really don’t want me to be listening to this kind of music I need an answer from you” and right after he said that his radio turned off and he was surprised. Later he checked on it with his parents and they found out it was broken. Today that guy is a pastor.

Honestly, those seem like complete coincidences to me. I'm sorry to be such a doubter, but I was expecting something a little more profound. Also, even if they weren't coincidences, why would that lead those people to become Christians specifically? All that *could* point to is a higher power with the ability to break your radio or ensure you hear a particular song at a particular time.

Well they were specifically looking to see if God exists and not just some higher power. Whatever you think of these stories is your opinion. Because we weren’t there it’s hard to completely understand what those people were feeling and what caused a change of heart for them. It’s something that, I think, everyone has to experience for themselves. That’s why Christians believe that choosing to become a Christian is something only you can decide for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have trouble wrapping my head around the theory of relativity, the immense vastness of the universe, and subatomic particles that exist in ten different dimensions, but I know they exist.
Just because something is impossible to understand, or that it is understood by most people only in occasional, fleeting moments, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Also, I agree with some of the reading mentioned here. I think a lot of people learn about God as children, then never bother to learn more as they grow up. So the language many people have for God is the language used to teach children about difficult subjects. Like if you never learned anything more about string theory past middle school or poetry beyond Shel Silverstein. As an adult, these things would seem silly. So God sounds like a loveable spaghetti monster in the sky. Nice, but kind of irrelevant to real, adult life.

Hey, don't rag on Shel Silverstein

Lol... I’m not! But I think it’s a pretty good analogy. If all you really read of poetry was Shel Silverstein, then you would think of it as something nice that you have enjoyed since childhood with some good moral lessons. And someone telling you that they find poetry difficult to understand, but nevertheless important and meaningful to their lives would sound like an idiot or completely insane.

Wait, I am happy we are bringing up Shel Silverstein

Man that guy's poetry sucks! I seriously hate it! I can't believe he got famous

I was going to start my own thread about it before I even saw this post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Sure. I heard this story from a friend a while back. So this woman was doubting about God’s existence, and one day she was standing on the sidewalk and just decided to say to herself, “God if you’re real I need a sign.” Right after she said that a car slowly drove by (cuz there was traffic) and its radio was turned up loud, and the woman heard the person on the radio say “God wants you to know that he’s know he’s real and that He loves and cares for you.” So some people would write that off as a coincidence or whatever, but to that woman it was compelling to her.

Another story I heard was this guy was telling me about how when he was a teen, he was raised in a Christian family but he was kinda rebellious and not really religious like his parents were. Anyways once he was driving in his car to school one morning with his radio on some station that he knew his parents and church wouldn’t approve of. He said he felt kinda guilty and said out loud “God if you are real and you really don’t want me to be listening to this kind of music I need an answer from you” and right after he said that his radio turned off and he was surprised. Later he checked on it with his parents and they found out it was broken. Today that guy is a pastor.

Honestly, those seem like complete coincidences to me. I'm sorry to be such a doubter, but I was expecting something a little more profound. Also, even if they weren't coincidences, why would that lead those people to become Christians specifically? All that *could* point to is a higher power with the ability to break your radio or ensure you hear a particular song at a particular time.

Well they were specifically looking to see if God exists and not just some higher power. Whatever you think of these stories is your opinion. Because we weren’t there it’s hard to completely understand what those people were feeling and what caused a change of heart for them. It’s something that, I think, everyone has to experience for themselves. That’s why Christians believe that choosing to become a Christian is something only you can decide for yourself.

Even supposed confirmation of a God with the power to do things like break your radio isn't evidence of the existence of a Christian God -- only of a unified supernatural entity with a set of powers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try studying science. It’s impossible to study science without realizing that there is some intelligence behind it.

The more I study science, the more I believe in God."
-- Albert Einstein

Not only is your first paragraph completely incorrect, your quote is meant to misinform as it is attributed to a man who did not believe in the supernatural or a personal god.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein

If you don't agree with the first paragraph you probably aren't as smart as you think you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know if God exists, just ask Him to prove it. Like just genuinely ask “If you are real can you show me” with an open mind. If you genuinely desire to find God or some sign from him I’ll believe he’ll help you. Just try and see what happens.

I’ve heard stories of people who weren’t sure about God’s existence and they literally just asked for a sign or something because they genuinely wanted to know, and they’ve ended up being Christians. It just takes an initially leap of faith.

Can you be specific with an example?

Sure. I heard this story from a friend a while back. So this woman was doubting about God’s existence, and one day she was standing on the sidewalk and just decided to say to herself, “God if you’re real I need a sign.” Right after she said that a car slowly drove by (cuz there was traffic) and its radio was turned up loud, and the woman heard the person on the radio say “God wants you to know that he’s know he’s real and that He loves and cares for you.” So some people would write that off as a coincidence or whatever, but to that woman it was compelling to her.

Another story I heard was this guy was telling me about how when he was a teen, he was raised in a Christian family but he was kinda rebellious and not really religious like his parents were. Anyways once he was driving in his car to school one morning with his radio on some station that he knew his parents and church wouldn’t approve of. He said he felt kinda guilty and said out loud “God if you are real and you really don’t want me to be listening to this kind of music I need an answer from you” and right after he said that his radio turned off and he was surprised. Later he checked on it with his parents and they found out it was broken. Today that guy is a pastor.

Honestly, those seem like complete coincidences to me. I'm sorry to be such a doubter, but I was expecting something a little more profound. Also, even if they weren't coincidences, why would that lead those people to become Christians specifically? All that *could* point to is a higher power with the ability to break your radio or ensure you hear a particular song at a particular time.

Well they were specifically looking to see if God exists and not just some higher power. Whatever you think of these stories is your opinion. Because we weren’t there it’s hard to completely understand what those people were feeling and what caused a change of heart for them. It’s something that, I think, everyone has to experience for themselves. That’s why Christians believe that choosing to become a Christian is something only you can decide for yourself.

Even supposed confirmation of a God with the power to do things like break your radio isn't evidence of the existence of a Christian God -- only of a unified supernatural entity with a set of powers.

And why is god communicating through the car radio?? Couldn't he at least jump in the car and speak directly? I've heard another very unconvincing radio story. A teenager wanted confirmation that his recently deceased grandma was in heaven, when he suddenly heard Grandma's favorite song come on the car radio! To him, this was proof, to me it was laughable.

Also, It can work the other way. I've heard of people asking for a sign from god, not getting one, and becoming atheist. They were already leaning that way and just wanted confirmation -- a lot like the radio people