Not know why I believe

[Introverted1293]

Double post

 

[Introverted1293]

If we could prove it, no one would have faith! God bless you, Jesse!

God bless you too. Thank you

 

[ananda]

I don't know. I just think that I am stumped when non-believers challenge me.

IMO, at best, all we can do is to live out the kind of lives that give a tangible example of what others might want for themselves.

For example, as a Buddhist, my highest goal is the nibbana/nirvana - the complete cessation of suffering. If I can show in my own life how I am becoming more peaceful over time as I practice the Buddhist Path, that is a far more powerful witness to others than preaching to them.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

I don't know. I just think that I am stumped when non-believers challenge me.

I think you should know.
When you believe something, you should have good reasons to believe what you believe.

Even the bible agrees with that in Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I think you should know.
When you believe something, you should have good reasons to believe what you believe.

Even the bible agrees with that in Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Is that 1 Peter or 2 Peter?

 

[Uber Genius]

Two things going on here:
A relationship with Jesus which like a relationship with a grandparent who has passed away, is a hard thing to prove.

Secondly, your ability to convey knowledge about why the claim, "Jesus is God, and therefore worthy to be followed and commit one's life to," is true and not false.

1 Peter 3:15 says:
"But always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

No one starts off being able to give reasons for most of their beliefs let alone your set of exclusive religious claims in a pluralistic culture.

But you should start to work on presenting your argument.

The relational aspect will serve as a narrative explanation of how your life was transformed through your relationship with Jesus. This is proof in the sense that any witness's testimony in a courtroom is proof.

I prefer the term "evidence" since we are not doing a math problem here. Further we can't prove that we ate lunch yesterday, or that our dead relative existed in some cases.

After writing out testimony, then go to a site like
reasonablefaith.org and look at various arguments for theism and then Christianity.

I don't recommend doing any evangelism initially until you are very comfortable with both of the presentations above. Infidels, seekers, skeptics, agnostics, Christians in our culture are poorly trained in critical thinking generally and will use formal and informal fallacious reasoning that to the untrained mind will appear compelling despite it being self-refuting and false.

Good luck.

 

[Uber Genius]

I think you should know.
When you believe something, you should have good reasons to believe what you believe.

Even the bible agrees with that in Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

This is why I often encourage my atheist friends and colleagues to develop sound reasons for their claims. I help many find the cogent arguments and the proponents who make sound claims like Graham Oppy, Kei Neisen, J.H. Sobel, J.l Mackie, J. L. Schellenberg, Antony Flew, and avoid bad arguments such as come from the so-called New Atheists.

Some good atheistic arguments include:
Probabilistic version of the problem of evil
Hiddenness of God
Problem of Hell