Is god real?

I was wondering is there really a god out there.

Who knows? Judging by the number of orgainsed religions over the centuries in various countries, seemingly there exists a belief that there is. Perhaps Man feels an intangible presence that connects to something outside of our material world. Goodness knows at what point in our evolutionary history we took a spiritual path into something outside of ourselves, but it would seem that we had an idea of good and evil, right and wrong, and seemingly wanted to justify and box that into a construct, or it could have been for Man a period of some kind of enlightenment that felt real in the sense of a new experience not of our earthly state. Anyway, in our more recent religious history, around the time BC and AD, there was a need to contract societal laws and it was religion Man turned to in order to enable some form of constructive living. And we had Bibles, Koran, Tora etc. Various books that laid down the Word of God in it's various forms which enforced the idea of punishments if we dared to challenge any existence of a God. And so we remain it would seem in that place today along with all the rituals and superstitions that Man created to worship through various religious constructs. If there is a God out there, I would expect it is nothing like we imagine but there is nothing better than blaming a God for things that go wrong when it is ourselves that create our own malaise and problems. Take God out of that mix and that leaves us hanging in the winds of having to take personal responsibilities for various and how awful would that be?

Yes, there is a God. Years ago, I went through a period of research, because I didn't believe that everything happened by accident. But, on the other hand, if God did exist, he would deserve more than just casual acknowledgement. If I was going to invest that kind of time/energy, I wanted to KNOW that it was real. I agree with KickTheCan on the natural desire to "worship", and the desire to acknowledge something outside one's self. Where I disagree, (I'm sure there is more, but to focus on the comment above) is that a "lack of God" encourages accountability. If we are only blind chance, why would accountability matter? IF there is a God, that WOULD hold us accountable. I would love to debate this topic at some point soon.

JKing: If there is a supernatural god who will hold us accountable and he does not show the standards he is looking for, then he is an immoral God and I would reject his judgements out of hand.

If the great teacher, god, does not teach us and fails the class, it is because he is incompetent.

Regards
DL

Lebowski: I take it you mean a supernatural god.
I, like all Gnostic Christians, hold no supernatural beliefs.

If you are talking about a man god or a god describes as the best rules and laws to live by, then there are many.

Have a look at the intelligence of the ancients.

I hope you can see how intelligent the ancients were as compared to the mental trash that modern preachers and theists are using with the literal reading of myths.

https://bigthink.com/videos/what-is-god-2-2

Further.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03132009/watch.html

Rabbi Hillel, the older contemporary of Jesus, said that when asked to sum up the whole of Jewish teaching, while he stood on one leg, said, "The Golden Rule. That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the Torah. And everything else is only commentary. Now, go and study it."

Please listen as to what is said about the literal reading of myths.

"Origen, the great second or third century Greek commentator on the Bible said that it is absolutely impossible to take these texts literally. You simply cannot do so. And he said, "God has put these sort of conundrums and paradoxes in so that we are forced to seek a deeper meaning."

Matt 7;12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This is how early Gnostic Christians view the transition from reading myths properly to destructive literal reading and idol worship.





Regards
DL


Regards
DL

Lebowski: The SIMPLE answer is: "I don't know!" ... in fact, nobody REALLY knows if God is real or not! As the French philosopher, Voltair, once said: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him or Her!" This statement was made because it appears evident that many humans believe that the Universe, Stars, Earth and all the creatures that inhabit Earth, could not exist without a Superior Being having created it. Of course, there has been no definitive proof although religious people will say that the VERY things that God created are the PROOF of His/Her existence - I am not sure if I agree with this point of view. Nobody has ever (really) come back from the dead to let us know if an Afterlife really exists. My mother (who was a devout Catholic) once told me that if it was at all possible for her to return (after death) to let me know of God and the Afterlife, she would. Sadly, my mother passed away in 2004 and has never made an appearance to me and, knowing how determined my mother was about many things, it leaves me to wonder about the reality of an Afterlife at all. What gives humans the arrogance and presumptuousness to believe that WE - of all the creatures in the Universe - are the ONLY ones who will be selected to be re-born in an Afterlife with a God that created a Universe that is still beyond our comprehension?

KatieBoots: Hi @KatieBoots.
It is interesting for me to hear your view on the existence of God.
I would like to ask you a few questions: 1. What do you mean by saying "I don't know" and that nobody knows -- Do you mean that we can never have a sense of certainty of the existence of God-- or you mean that God is so hidden that we can never have certainty of His existence?
2. What led you to the conclusion that we cannot have certainty in existence of God?


I would be thrilled if you would follow up, even if not on this platform, I'd be happy to communicate via email or phone.

Blessings on your day.