Hi all,
The reason I joined this forum is because I have some questions about Christianity, and faith in general.
I hope I'm not banned or seen as a troll here for asking this.
I'll start by asking, why should I believe in god?
Hey there PerplexedAthiest o/
I know you posted this a few days back so hope I'm not too late to respond. I am still trying to find a way I feel is accurate and truthful to answer this question, without waxing lyrical about a thousand and one things, because to me whenever someone asks this, it always brings to mind so many things and I just never feel that individually any of them are enough to warrant a belief or acceptance, yet together they all form what is (for me anyhow) a fairly well substantiated truth.
I came to belief in God because I felt that if this idea and notion which Christianity is based on is true, then it must be well substantiated. I mean, you don't just believe things to be true based on a whim. You either accept your own research, experiences and tests or you accept those of others who you hold in a position of trust and reliability. I mean, I'm not a scientist, and even if I was I would very likely only be one of one or two main fields. However methods of inquiry are open to everyone, and as such I whipped open a Bible that I had been given for a birthday by my girlfriend (who is now my wife) and just looked at something in it, and then went to the internet to see what I could find. At this stage I was an atheist through and through having no time for any notion of God or gods, not even willing to listen to my family on them and dismissing any encouragement to learn more from essentially anyone. I think it was only because I was prompted by someone I cared about profoundly and respected, that I even did this.
So anyhow, I started out with my skeptical skills and just began looking things up and reading. The actual specifics of my views and beliefs have changed a fair bit as I refined and learned more. However something that occurred to me from the outset, was that irrespective of the identity of the designer of the universe, I was struck with a real impression that there was
a designer. For a summary of the evidence I feel forms a substantially believable and solid basis for belief in God, I would suggest you check out
this site, and listen to some of the podcasts or watch some of the debate videos - at least that way your current world-view is well represented and you can hear some of the arguments and criticisms you currently hold against theism both put forward and discussed.
One thing I would like to say is that it was only after I went on my research spree, that I came across a passage in the Bible which basically was a command from God to do precisely what I had done:
1 Thessalonions 5:21
"Test everything. Hold on to the good."
This was quite encouraging to me, as it felt relevant and practical, and time-agnostic. I mean, it was basically saying "You should search for the truth." which is why to me your initial question sort of carried a mental subtitle of "Why should I believe in the truth?" which I feel is what other posters have echoed when they have said, "Because He (God) is real." and so forth. They are all saying, you should believe what is true, and your methods for finding out what is true, are the very same that everyone else has and I think God specifically made it this way, and then gave us that command, to test all that we encounter, and to hold on to that which we find to be good (truthful).
It has been quite common since my conversion to Christianity some years ago, to keep stumbling upon things that I find are echoed in the Bible, and that is a great reassurance to me.