Orthodoxy: Does God really exist?

[Andreea2017]

I have always been skeptical about it. I just want to believe, I am trying, but can't!
Can anyone just give me real proofs that God exists? Not something personal because I won't believe it. How do I know that the Bible isn't only a fairytale? Are there any scientific proofs that Jesus really came to us? I am open to anything! Please!

 

[Plmokn9821]

There are eywitness acounts of him outside of the bible

 

[Andreea2017]

There are eywitness acounts of him outside of the bible

Yes, many people say that! But can you prove He is real?

 

[redleghunter]

Can anyone just give me real proofs that God exists?

YHWH claimed He was. He witnessed to Moses that He is "I am Who Am." In the Hebrew it would be:

Elohim answered Moses, “Ehyeh Who Ehyeh. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14 Names of God Bible)

Not something personal because I won't believe it.

YHWH God reaches us and calls us on a personal level.
See Ezekiel 36:25-28 and John 3:1-21)

How do I know that the Bible isn't only a fairytale?

Why would you think it so? It is not written as a fairytale it is written as real history where God is directly involved with His people.

Are there any scientific proofs that Jesus really came to us?

There is historical evidence and also supernatural attestation of God becoming a man in Jesus Christ.

 

[Anguspure]

I have always been skeptical about it. I just want to believe, I am trying, but can't!
Can anyone just give me real proofs that God exists? Not something personal because I won't believe it. How do I know that the Bible isn't only a fairytale? Are there any scientific proofs that Jesus really came to us? I am open to anything! Please!

Evidence for the existence of God is cumulative and shows that it is more reasonable to consider that God exists than not.
Proof belongs in the field of mathematics and the degree of certainty available to Mathmeticians is not something that is available to a Philosopher, Theologian or general Scientist for that matter.
So if you are prepared to accept a reasonable argument for the existence of God then there are 5 main lines of evidence that show that God exists.
They are:
The Kalam cosmological argument;
Leibnez' cosmological argument;
The Cosmic fine tuning argument;
The argument from objective morality;
and, The argument from the personal experience of people who claim to have experienced God.

 

[Andreea2017]

YHWH claimed He was. He witnessed to Moses that He is "I am Who Am." In the Hebrew it would be:

Elohim answered Moses, “Ehyeh Who Ehyeh. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14 Names of God Bible)



YHWH God reaches us and calls us on a personal level.
See Ezekiel 36:25-28 and John 3:1-21)


Why would you think it so? It is not written as a fairytale it is written as real history where God is directly involved with His people.


There is historical evidence and also supernatural attestation of God becoming a man in Jesus Christ.

Why would I think Bible is a fairytale? Because I find everything it says hard to believe. Where do I find historical evidence that Jesus became a man and He was real?

 

[FenderTL5]

Historicity of Jesus; wikipedia

 

[Sanoy]

Simply stated, knowledge is justified true belief ( without false premises). So if we can justify our beliefs then we can claim to have knowledge of God's existence. That Justification can even be internal reasons, like the Holy Spirit. In fact all of our experiences are things we apprehend, so the Holy Spirit is no less position than the material world that we apprehend in our consciousness.

So here are 5 arguments for the existence of God. It is a long page, but I think it is important for you to get through it. Did you know the resurrection is regularly debated successfully? Here is an outline for the reliability of the resurrection.

None of these arguments are scientific proofs. Science is included as a premise, such as the cosmological argument, but we shouldn't expect to find Scientific proofs for God as the supernatural is not a possible hypothesis in science. Science, or methodological naturalism, presupposes that only the natural world exists. So even if the stars spell out "I am God and I made this!" scientists will look for a natural explanation because that is simply what they are paid to do.

If the paper is too long you might like this debate which includes those same arguments.

 

[redleghunter]

Why would I think Bible is a fairytale? Because I find everything it says hard to believe. Where do I find historical evidence that Jesus became a man and He was real?

The eyewitness testimonies of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.

Are you truly Eastern Orthodox?

 

[Andreea2017]

The eyewitness testimonies of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.

Are you truly Eastern Orthodox?

Yes, I am Eastern Orthodox. Does it seem like I'm not?

 

[Strong in Him]

Can anyone just give me real proofs that God exists? Not something personal because I won't believe it.

You want proof that God exists, but you won't believe "anything personal" - testimonies from people on this forum, in the churches and for the last 2000 years who can all say "I KNOW God and Jesus is alive?
What about testimonies from people like John Newton, who was a slave trader, became a Christian and wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace"? Or like Nicky Cruz, who had been a drug dealer, gang member, was mixed up in the occult and became a Christian? Or Doreen Irving who had been a witch and heavily into the occult - and became a Christian?
Or stories of people who became Christians, then missionaries, went overseas and founded churches? Or people who became Christians then later died for their faith?

No one can actually PROVE that God exists, but hundreds and thousands of changed lives is not trivial.

How do I know that the Bible isn't only a fairytale?

There may be bits in it that are difficult to understand and, if someone doesn't have faith in God, there will be bits that are hard to believe.

But it's not a fairy tale.
Luke was a historian, the Roman emperors lived and were real people, as were Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Noah, Isaiah etc etc. Jews and Muslims also believe the OT; there are Jewish historians who recorded things mentioned in the OT. Some of the places mentioned in the Bible still exist today - Israel, Egypt, Spain, Athens, Rome, Jerusalem, Damascus etc. There is archaeological evidence for other places, and buildings.
It is said that there is more historical evidence for Jesus than for Julius Caesar - even non believers and people of other faiths, Hindu, Muslim etc, teach that he lived. The Gospels were written by people who were there and saw him.
The Bible also talks about life, love, money, relationships, suffering, death, work, politics etc - things that we encounter today and all know about.

Are there any scientific proofs that Jesus really came to us?

Probably not, but there's historical evidence.

I am open to anything! Please!

Anything except personal testimony, it seems.
But maybe this has been enough to start with?

 

[Strong in Him]

Yes, many people say that! But can you prove He is real?

Can you prove you are real?

 

[Andreea2017]

You want proof that God exists, but you won't believe "anything personal" - testimonies from people on this forum, in the churches and for the last 2000 years who can all say "I KNOW God and Jesus is alive?
What about testimonies from people like John Newton, who was a slave trader, became a Christian and wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace"? Or like Nicky Cruz, who had been a drug dealer, gang member, was mixed up in the occult and became a Christian? Or Doreen Irving who had been a witch and heavily into the occult - and became a Christian?
Or stories of people who became Christians, then missionaries, went overseas and founded churches? Or people who became Christians then later died for their faith?

No one can actually PROVE that God exists, but hundreds and thousands of changed lives is not trivial.



There may be bits in it that are difficult to understand and, if someone doesn't have faith in God, there will be bits that are hard to believe.

But it's not a fairy tale.
Luke was a historian, the Roman emperors lived and were real people, as were Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Noah, Isaiah etc etc. Jews and Muslims also believe the OT; there are Jewish historians who recorded things mentioned in the OT. Some of the places mentioned in the Bible still exist today - Israel, Egypt, Spain, Athens, Rome, Jerusalem, Damascus etc. There is archaeological evidence for other places, and buildings.
It is said that there is more historical evidence for Jesus than for Julius Caesar - even non believers and people of other faiths, Hindu, Muslim etc, teach that he lived. The Gospels were written by people who were there and saw him.
The Bible also talks about life, love, money, relationships, suffering, death, work, politics etc - things that we encounter today and all know about.



Probably not, but there's historical evidence.



Anything except personal testimony, it seems.
But maybe this has been enough to start with?

Thank you for your answer! I will study everything you told me about! I said I don't believe in personal experiences because there may be/have been people with different mental illnesses who invented everything. If I told you I had just seen God, would you believe me without any proof?

 

[Andreea2017]

Can you prove you are real?

Yes, I can! I am talking to you now! Everyone sees it! There is real evidence that I exist (my ID card, for example). No mentally stable man/woman can deny it.

 

[Strong in Him]

Thank you for your answer! I will study everything you told me about! I said I don't believe in personal experiences because there may be/have been people with different mental illnesses who invented everything. If I told you I had just seen God, would you believe me without any proof?

If you were a Christian, knew and loved God and said you had had a vision of God; I'd probably believe you, yes. Because as someone who truly loved God, I don't believe you would make something like that up. Even so, we can test claims of "God told me ......" against Scripture - which is where many cult leaders fail. We are also told to not believe everything we hear but to test the spirits.
Unless you said that God had told you something that affected me, my faith and/or my church, however, it'd probably be nothing to do with me, but a matter between you and him.

 

[redleghunter]

Yes, I am Eastern Orthodox. Does it seem like I'm not?

It's just that the very existence of God is quite central to Orthodoxy not to mention all Christianity.

 

[Andreea2017]

If you were a Christian, knew and loved God and said you had had a vision of God; I'd probably believe you, yes. Because as someone who truly loved God, I don't believe you would make something like that up. Even so, we can test claims of "God told me ......" against Scripture - which is where many cult leaders fail. We are also told to not believe everything we hear but to test the spirits.
Unless you said that God had told you something that affected me, my faith and/or my church, however, it'd probably be nothing to do with me, but a matter between you and him.

How would you know I am a Christian who truly loves and believes in God and not an insane person? There are people who say they have seen Santa Claus, especially kids. They say they truly love and believe in him. Would you believe santa exists?

 

[Barney2.0]

Yes, many people say that! But can you prove He is real?

He is real based on the fact that Christianity wouldn’t be here if he weren’t real, how you say? If Jesus was a fairytale then the early Christians would have to invent a fake story over night and the Jews and Romans would have no doubt saw through them. The Biblical stories are almost perfectly harmonized it’s impossible to believe the stories of Jesus Christ were indeed fabricated.

 

[Philip_B]

Yes, I can! I am talking to you now! Everyone sees it! There is real evidence that I exist (my ID card, for example). No mentally stable man/woman can deny it.

That of course makes you an existentialist, which is the prevailing philosophical position of our age.

The Bible, (Genesis and John in particular) tells us that before anything is God already was. God is that father of existence. Existence is God's creation. So God does not merely exist, God is beyond existence.

It means in the end you can't have faith and proof, for if you have proof, you need no faith. Faith does not take us against reason, but the step beyond where reason can go. In a sense I see the orthodox answer to the question is likely to be the muttered ineffable and the customary orthodox shrug. Ineffable is a word often translated as mystery, but in a very real sense in it the story that is unable to be told.

I understand that this is a less than satisfactory answer, and I can only say that the world makes much better sense with God than without. In a very hard world we hold blessing and hope, and as a preacher of note mentioned the other day, Love.

 

[Strong in Him]

Yes, I can! I am talking to you now! Everyone sees it!

I can see that someone is responding to the things I write; that is not proof that it is YOU.
You might be using a different name, someone might have hacked into your account, you could have several user profiles and use a different one every day.

There is real evidence that I exist (my ID card, for example). No mentally stable man/woman can deny it.

Those things can be faked.
There are people around you who know you and can testify that anything you write, any photos that claim to be you and things on social media really are you. So it is less likely that you are make believe.
But for someone in a different country and can't see these things and who may not want to believe that you exist - it's not proof.

Just as some people - and that might be you, I don't know - have decided they don't want to believe that Jesus was real, or the Gospels were written by eye witnesses.
Paul found this when he was writing about the resurrection. He said that Jesus appeared to 500 people, most of whom are still alive - in other words, go and ask them.