How does one distinguish a 'belief' from a delusion?

[SteveB28]

No, I don't take the concept of God as 100% as accused, instead, as I said, I assume that if God is, then every claim He makes is 100% right 100% of the time...now sure how to be more clear or how you all don't understand the difference between saying "I believe 100% that God exists" and what I really did say, that "IF God exists I would expect His claims to be 100% right 100% of the time"

Do you really not understand the difference between the two? Do you really not see the giant IF in my statement and the difference between an expectation and an assertion of claim? That you all don't see the difference is incredibly disturbing....

Your major problem is the assertion that the Bible contains statements from your God. You cannot provide any evidence for that assertion and so it fails from the outset. All you can claim with any certainty is that the Bible contains claims from other men just like you.

 

[Goatee]

How do you know what you "feel" isn't a delusion?

Faith buddy. Deep faith in God. If you had any you would know instantly!

 

[devolved]

Faith buddy. Deep faith in God. If you had any you would know instantly!

You understand that faith is not a synonym to knowledge, right? Faith is claiming to know based on some promise.

So, he is asking "HOW do you know?" . Saying "faith" is same as saying

"Well... I don't really know, but I have this strong gut feeling that it's right... so I'm going with my gut"

That's essentially what you seem to be saying, or at least what you sound like in this instance.

 

[Goatee]

Please present evidence whete God said himself that he wrote all of the Bible. Until then... stop making this unsubstantiated claim.

Bible is inspired by God. That should answer that question for you.

 

[Goatee]

You understand that faith is not a synonym to knowledge, right? Faith is claiming to know based on some promise.

So, he is asking "HOW do you know?" . Saying "faith" is same as saying

"Well... I don't really know, but I have this strong gut feeling that it's right... so I'm going with my gut"

That's essentially what you seem to be saying, or at least what you sound like in this instance.

Does anyone really know God? Has anyone really seen God?

Knowing God, as a Christian is more than 'seeing'. Its more than 'knowledge'. Its more than 'thoughts'.

Knowing God as a Christian is deep rooted in ones Soul. It is embedded within ones being! It is not a gut feeling knowing God. It is so deep! Your whole being knows and loves God! So hard to explain to someone who does not believe.

Remember, it is only those that dont believe in God that look for proof of God.

 

[devolved]

Knowing God, as a Christian is more than 'seeing'. Its more than 'knowledge'. Its more than 'thoughts'.

Knowing God as a Christian is deep rooted in ones Soul. It is embedded within ones being! It is not a gut feeling knowing God. It is so deep! Your whole being knows and loves God! So hard to explain to someone who does not believe.

Then what you are describing has nothing to do with knowledge. It has a lot to do with your gut feeling .

Remember, it is only those that dont believe in God that look for proof of God.

Of course . If I believed, I obviously wouldn't be asking this questions. I think that the point of this thread is to ask as to how do you know that your "gut feeling" isn't a result of an emotional campaign that banks on linking certain emotional states with "God-feeling"?

 

[Goatee]

Then what you are describing has nothing to do with knowledge. It has a lot to do with your gut feeling .

Of course . If I believed, I obviously wouldn't be asking this questions. I think that the point of this thread is to ask as to how do you know that your "gut feeling" isn't a result of an emotional campaign that banks on linking certain emotional states with "God-feeling"?

God provides the 'Knowledge'. God provides a 'link'. We cannot do nothing on our own. It is with Gods grace that we know him.

It would be awesome if you truly believed. God wants you to believe. Look, you have come on here 'seeking'. This is from God. God is asking you to search for him. He wants you to find him. He wants 'YOU' to believe in him.

You will know instantly when you have found God.

 

[devolved]

God provides the 'Knowledge'. God provides a 'link'. We cannot do nothing on our own. It is with Gods grace that we know him.

How does God provide knowledge? You understand that when Bible was written, 3 out 5 children wouldn't survive past the age of 5 because people didn't understand that something as simple as boiling water and milk to feed their kids could reduce child mortality substantially.

So, what knowledge are you talking about? Were these millions of children not important enough to God to mention that "Oh, yeah... almost forgot... don't forget to boil the water and milk you give to kids, because there are tiny bugs in it that may kill them."

Thus, it simply doesn't seem like whatever God revealed to these people was beyond what people actually thought. Thus, why would anyone think that it was God and not the very same people making stuff up, and playing on people's emotions, including yours?

 

[Goatee]

Up to you what you choose to believe

 

[Archaeopteryx]

so, you can't be specific, okay, let's give you the benefit of the doubt and break it down.

Do you think that the Bible making a claim that X will happen if Y is present is magic? Cause I know a lot of people and texts that make claims and I have yet to see someone claim that making a claim is magic somehow

Okay, next part of the equation...do you think that there is something that is magical about offering measurable things as evidence that X will happen if Y is involved? Cause last time I checked, the majority of people do not think that there is something magical about offering a measurable outcome in a theory or hypothesis.

The only thing left that you could think sounded magical is that if we have a claim and a measurable outcome we can test to see if the source of the claim is the actual source of the claim. Is that the part that you think sounds like magic, that we can test for something if we are given something we can measure to test for?

That was the three things I offered that you are arguing sounds magical...so specifically what part is sounding magical to you...I beginning to wonder how far the delusional thoughts on this thread are becoming when the scientific method sounds "magical" to you.

No, what sounds magical is proposing that there is a supernatural entity that one is able to form a "personal relationship" with by means that are either unexplained or poorly understood. The process of making and evaluating claims isn't what's magical; rather, it's the entity that we are discussing and its mode of interaction that seems entirely magical. If I recall correctly, devolved has alluded to this in his exchange with you.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

as per the book or books that claim to be the authority on that deity, we talked about that ages ago, where were you?

Many books make such claims. I see no reason to privilege the Bible in this regard. So what indicates that the Bible is "the authority on that deity"? (emphasis added)

 

[devolved]

Up to you what you choose to believe

Not up to me. Up to the evidence.

 

[Goatee]

Not up to me. Up to the evidence.

Lol

 

[Kenny'sID]

Happy to. Christians have a belief in "one true God". Muslims have a similar belief, but ascribe very different characteristics to him. Hindus have a cavalcade of gods, each with differing attributes. And so on.

Maybe the best way to get to an answer to your question would be to ask...How do you know your belief that there is no God at all is not a delusion concocted in your own mind?

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Maybe the best way to get to an answer to your question would be to ask...How do you know your belief that there is no God at all is not a delusion concocted in your own mind?

I don't think he has such a belief.

 

[Kenny'sID]

I don't think he has such a belief.

Thanks, maybe he will define the term Atheist for me as it relates to him so I can rephrase.

 

[devolved]

Thanks, maybe he will define the term Atheist for me as it relates to him so I can rephrase.

Atheist is someone who doesn't accept the claims for belief in got as viable or justifiable for belief due to insufficient reason behind evidence provided.

It doesn't mean that atheist is someone who believes the opposite - that God doesn't exist.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Atheist is someone who doesn't accept the claims for belief in got as viable or justifiable for belief due to insufficient reason behind evidence provided.

It doesn't mean that atheist is someone who believes the opposite - that God doesn't exist.

Yeah tough to know all the details on everyone, so probably best to just ask. Or the OP can just consider the question rephrased....easy to see what I will change.

 

[razzelflabben]

Atheist is someone who doesn't accept the claims for belief in got as viable or justifiable for belief due to insufficient reason behind evidence provided.

It doesn't mean that atheist is someone who believes the opposite - that God doesn't exist.

okay, I can't make sense out of this, asked people here to help me understand your point and no one here gets it either, in fact, everyone has a different understanding of your words...please clarify

 

[razzelflabben]

Your major problem is the assertion that the Bible contains statements from your God. You cannot provide any evidence for that assertion and so it fails from the outset. All you can claim with any certainty is that the Bible contains claims from other men just like you.

Your major problem is that you are trying to change the OP question in order to maintain your beliefs..The OP question is how do we know that out belief is reality and not delusion...the answer is to test. Nothing in that suggests 100% absolute about anything but rather it suggests that we can be more sure by testing than by what many call blind faith.

As to my actual claim...I claimed that the Bible is the authoritative word on God, just like each deity has their own claimed authority. Based on that authority, we can test claims that are made to the existence of God. So, the claim is that the bible is the authoritative word on God, a claim that the bible says is made by God through Paul and Peter, but none the less, the claim as to who God is and what He says. Based on that, we can take those claims and test just like we would for any deity and the authority that claims to tell us about that deity. Now, since the question is about how we would know one belief is real and another is delusion, the only way to decide is to test the claims made by each and go from there...it is really disturbing you are trying so hard to dismiss what I am saying when I am staying true to the OP question.