Orthodoxy: Does God really exist?

[Anna Scott]

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!

You can read, study, question, ask others for help (all good); but it really comes down to faith.

The good news is that we can ask for help in our unbelief.

Cry out to Christ for help in your "unbelief," as a father did for his son's sake, according to the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 9
24 Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

And. . . . .know that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith. . . . .

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We walk by faith, not by sight. . . . .

2 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord 7 (for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8 we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

Let your requests be made known to God. . . . .

Philippians 4:6-8
6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Seek and you will find. . . .

Matthew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

We work out our salvation in fear and trembling. . . . .

Philippians 2:1-13
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven and [things] on earth and [things] under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

 

[Andreea2017]

Unless you can provide a natural explanation for the origin of matter, energy, time and space where none of them had previously existed, a supernatural source is the only rational explanation.

Something we can't understand ≠ supernatural

 

[Radagast]

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

Kind of. I thought that accepting the Creed was fundamental to being Orthodox?

 

[frater_domus]

It seems that no matter what people say, you will find a counter argument. The truth of the matter is that noone here can make you believe. It is beyond human power. Faith itself is a gift from God. I used to think similarly in my early days since I came to Christianity and no amount of asking or research solved the problem. What made it happen is me praying God to increase my faith.

It seems that you want to believe, yet you struggle with doubt. However, that is a good thing. Doubt is not the enemy if faith, but its guardian. With doubt, we do not become complacent or arrogant in our knowledge. It causes us to dig deeper and test our faith. Face and challenge your doubt.

I know the struggle and inner barrier you may be experiencing. All I can suggest is to close your eyes and take that inner step. Let go of self and pray for faith. If God wills it, He will answer in due time

 

[JoeP222w]

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!

Romans 1:18-25 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (19) For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. (20) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (21) For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (24) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, (25) because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

 

[grasping the after wind]

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.

You are no more talking to anyone now here on this forum than Jesus is speaking through the quotations of his in the Bible. None of us here have ever seen you, your ID card or anything but a few lines printed on the screen. How then can you claim that our skepticism of whether an Adreea2017 actually exists is mentally unstable? It seems to me that we have no convincing evidence to suggest that an actual Andreea 2017 does exist. We must take it on faith alone that an Andreea 2017 does in fact exist and that we are in reality conversing with that being.

 

[OzSpen]

You can read, study, question, ask others for help (all good); but it really comes down to faith.

Anna,

Is it faith founded on fact or a leap of faith?

Oz

 

[Andreea2017]

You are no more talking to anyone now here on this forum than Jesus is speaking through the quotations of his in the Bible. None of us here have ever seen you, your ID card or anything but a few lines printed on the screen. How then can you claim that our skepticism of whether an Adreea2017 actually exists is mentally unstable? It seems to me that we have no convincing evidence to suggest that an actual Andreea 2017 does exist. We must take it on faith alone that an Andreea 2017 does in fact exist and that we are in reality conversing with that being.

Yeah. that doesn't work on me when it comes to God.

 

[archer75]

The discovery of the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule opened the floodgates for scientists to examine the code embedded within it. Now, more than half a century after the initial discovery, the DNA code has been deciphered—although many of its elements are still not well understood.

The double-helix structure of the DNA molecule holds billions apon billions of real code.

Real written code that is written in the cells.

Nothing writes its self.

There is no Computer program with out a programmer.

Its impossible.

The double-helix structure of the DNA is responsible for ALL LIFE ,Not just humans.

In the bible it says the life is in the blood.

We have scientifically proven the life is in the blood.

As all life is created and formed by the double-helix structure of the DNA.

God is our very designer and programmer.

Isn't DNA found in all our cells, not just the blood?

 

[HatGuy]

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.

Woah! Ole WLC rockin' a sweet beard!

 

[Danielwright2311]

Isn't DNA found in all our cells, not just the blood?

Well yes, but only because there is blood in all cells.

 

[☦Marius☦]

If you study world history, you will find similar stories across the globe.

Every culture has a flood story.

Archeology points that there was once a global, technologically advanced civilization in line with the pre flood people's.

There is a story in Mayan culture about the sun not coming up for an entire day, right around the time of the Exodus, and moses holding up his staff to stop the sun from setting.

Background radiation studies point to an order within the explosive energy of the "big bang", which scientists are coming more and more open to being evidence of a creator.

Drilling in polar Ice caps is giving increasing evidence for a global flood by ice layer analysis.

Beyond that look at the overwhelming amount of visions, miracles and other such things recorded in history.

Do you really think the aposles would have died for a lie, when they had nothing to gain?


I used to be agnostic. But meditating on these things led me to the church.

 

[Vicomte13]

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!

Yes.
Proof - this does require to examine the science of these things, not simply read Internet skeptic pages:

(1) The image on the Shroud of Turin - not just who it is, but WHAT it is, how the image is composed.
(2) The Lanciano Eucharistic miracle (same blood as on the shroud, btw).
(3) The incorrupt bodies of saints, in particular Bernadette Sourbirous, unrotted after all these years.
(4) The documented healing miracles at Lourdes (the same place where said Bernadette Soubirous saw the Virgin Mary in the 1830s).
(5) The sighted Near-Death Experiences of the congenitally blind.
(6) The NDEs of people who have undergone "stopping" operations to repair brain aneurysm.

Those are 6 concrete physical proofs or data sets that demonstrate the existence of an intelligent, willful God.

Absent that, natural law simply IS God, albeit unconscious. God can be reduced to a definition of that which is causes everything, and that's natural law. The only interesting question is whether God has a MIND. Gravity and Electricity and their principles as God is true, in the way they work, but it's not very interesting. But the six sets of miracles above demonstrate an intelligent and willful God commanding the laws of nature and bending them to his will.

Oh, and the ABSENCE of any comparable non-Christian miracles means that the real God is more properly approached through Christianity than otherwise.

There's your proofs. Do with them what you will.

 

[All4Christ]

Kind of. I thought that accepting the Creed was fundamental to being Orthodox?

The Nicene Creed absolutely is fundamental to Orthodoxy.

 

[Vicomte13]

Isn't DNA found in all our cells, not just the blood?

Of course.

 

[archer75]

Of course.

So, taking the fact of DNA in blood cells as some kind of "proof" of "the blood is the life" seems a little generous to me.

 

[Monk Brendan]

I have always been skeptical about it. I just want to believe, I am trying, but can't!

Read Mark 9:24
“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

You can also pray for the gift of faith. Even if you don't believe in Him, He believes in you.

 

[Vicomte13]

So, taking the fact of DNA in blood cells as some kind of "proof" of "the blood is the life" seems a little generous to me.

Me too, so thank goodness I didn't say anything like that. I merely provided a short factual answer to a short factual question about the presence of DNA in cells.

The Proofs I presented was a list of 6, and didn't refer to DNA but to physical things that broke the laws of nature to come into existence. These miracles are not simply physical (though they are that), they also convey information.

The OP asked for non-idiosyncratic, external proof. My list of 6, above, was my answer to that. My answer, that every cell contains DNA, of course, was merely a short answer to a science quiz question.

 

[fat wee robin]

,

Therefore, everything is subjective.

No not everything is subjective as there is very real proof of God's existence and you are doing the right thing by asking .You are also right to be sceptical of those who get irritated by your doubts and questions .
You are very young ,and knowing God, and that He really exists is a journey and again, it is good that you are asking questions . However knowing God is more like hearing and understanding classical music , it cannot quite be described in a purely material sense, just as you cannot hear classical music by reading the black and white notes written on paper .
As you search for God and ask Him to teach and inspire you, you will come to 'hear ' Him and .

 

[fat wee robin]

No one should pay any attention to the *gospel according to Dawkins*.
He is "puzzled by how belief in God could remain among individuals who are sophisticated in science". As though science itself (natural laws) does not prove the existence of God. Even the genius Einstein did not go that far.

Einstein said he was searching for God ,and that was why he studied maths and physics . God therefore gave him the job of bringing us into the modern world, which He had promised .
Dawkins has made no breakthroughs , but those who do, are at least Deists and many are Christians of different dénominations .