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Why? ( list of questions for Christians)

Tpt

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Why do you believe? Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why?

How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?

Why are you right and everyone else wrong? Because by saying that you believe in God with all your heart and stuff you imply that you are in some way more correct than any other religion including me (being an athiest). How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods? Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??

What happened before God? Or before the earth, Because the bible suggests that God was around before Earth. Than who created God? And If you suggest that God was there since the beginning of everything than why did he wait? Or how could he wait for so long? It was eternity. Anyone who knows a bit about statistics could tell you that.

Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?


Please respond.
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shprdslamb7

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Let me see if I can try to tell you why I believe.

I was kind of raised in church but I never really believed any of it. I turned away for years because of all the hypocrites. I figured if Christianity was that way, I didn't want any part.

Then, something that is hard to explain happened to me. Not like in a weird sense...it just happened. My eyes opened to what is going on around me in the world. I started studying prophecy. I could see how prophecy is lining up just as God (through the prophets) said it would. I thought that if the prophecies are coming to pass then everything else must be true as well. I accepted Christ as my Saviour.

I was not searching...I really didn't care. I bought into the whole "there are many paths to God and if you are a good person you are going to Heaven" theme. God just decided it was time for me to REALLY see the Truth.

Ok...now, I'll try to answer your questions the best that I can.

Why do you believe? Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why? How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?
I think I answered those above.

How do you KNOW that your God is the real one?
Because it doesn't make sense to have different religions paving a way to the same God. Why would He be so confusing? You have to do "this" in a certain religion and you have to do "that" in the other religion. Do you raise your kids (if you have any) differently or do you lay down the same rules?

What happened before God?
I take some things on faith...where God came from is one of them. I do believe that God has always been there. I cannot fathom a Being that has never been born or will never die, either....but, my 4 year old cannot understand the workings of a tv. That doesn't mean the tv is not going to work. There are some things as humans that we cannot understand because our thinking is limited. I believe this is one of them.

I'm not sure what you mean about why did He wait? Wait on what? To make us? What makes you think that He didn't make another earth and people like us before? I don't know. But, I do know this...why do people have children? Because they get pleasure from it. God did the same thing. He had "children" to give Him pleasure.

Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
God inspired men to write the Bible. Could not a Supreme Creator inspire men to write scripture without it being incorrect? If a Being could create a living, breathing creature....I find no difficulty for Him inspiring men to write what He wants. He knew us...He knew that we would need something in front of us to help keep us focused. Even after seeing the cloud and pillar of fire...the Hebrews were quick to turn from God.

The Bible flows together...if you understand it through the Holy Spirit. It does not contradict itself. It might seem that it does to an unbeliever and even to believers but the more that you study it...the more it comes together.

I ask that you unbiasedly think about what I have said....and do not just discount any of it.
 
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MinDach

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Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction

Here is some writing I ran across, thought it applied to your question.





Who Wrote the Bible?


There are two answers to that question. The short answer, and the easiest to defend, is also the most obvious. God did. The Bible says so.

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2nd Peter 1:21)

I say that is the easiest to defend because Christians don't need much more evidence than that. The Bible is a living Book to those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

To a Christian, the mere fact that there are people who devote their lives to arguing its Authorship is evidence of its Divine inspiration. It makes perfect sense to a Christian -- it makes no sense at all to an unbeliever.

While it is a totally unsatisfactory answer to the skeptic, 1st Corinthians 1:18 proves itself to the believer every time he picks up the Book and ponders its truths:

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

Frankly, I don't think it is possible to convince a skeptic by debating the truth of the Scriptures vs. their chosen 'truths' -- it would be like debating whether something was red or mauve with a person blind from birth.

It takes a spiritual 'operation' to remove that blindness, but we can only point a person in the direction of the Surgeon. After that, they have to request the 'operation' for themselves.

But the Bible's Authorship is proved by its very existence. There is the testimony of the forty different individuals chosen by God to record His Word. There are the acts of the Apostles;

2nd Peter 1:16 explains; "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty."

The Apostle Luke begins his testimony to Theodophilus; "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word." (Luke 1:1-2)

To deny the historical truth of the eyewitness testimony of the Apostles is tantamount to denying the historical accuracy of the eyewitness testimony of the witnesses to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Each of the Apostles was an apostate Jew in the eyes of their friends and families. They were ostracized, insulted, beaten, run out of town, arrested, imprisoned, and generally hounded everywhere they went. Each of them was given an opportunity to save his own life by renouncing his testimony of Jesus.

And with the exception of the Apostle John, every single one of them chose a brutal, torturous death, instead. (The Apostle John was tortured by being boiled alive, but somehow survived and was exiled to the Island of Patmos. He was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.)

The skeptic denies their eyewitness testimony, but fails to give any reasonable explanation for why. Why would they all accept a life of misery and deprivation, culminating in a torturous death, just to spread a myth?

Does it seem reasonable that twelve guys would sit around a campfire and make up a story that ruined their lives (in the natural) just so they could be known by their first names 2000 years later?

Nobody denies the accuracy of Plato's writings. Or Tacitus. Or Homer. Or Suetonius. Or Flavius Josephus (except the part where he refers to Jesus as an actual historical figure).

Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls our earliest Hebrew copy of the Old Testament was the Masoretic text dating around 800 A.D. The Dead Sea Scrolls date around the time of Jesus copied by the Qumran community, a Jewish sect living around the Dead Sea.

We also have the Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament dating in the second century B.C. The oldest existing original manuscript of a New Testament book dates to 125 A.D. and was found in Egypt, some distance from where the New Testament was originally composed Asia Minor). In all, there are more than 24,000 ancient manuscripts against which to compare our modern Bible.

The number of manuscripts is astonishing, when compared to other universally-accepted ancient historical writings, such as Caesar's "Gallic Wars" (10 Greek manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), the "Annals" of Tacitus (2 manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), Livy (20 manuscripts, the earliest 350 years after the original), and Plato (7 manuscripts).

New Testament manuscripts agree in 99.5% of the text (compared to only 95% for the Iliad). Most of the discrepancies are in spelling and word order.

A few words have been changed or added. There are two passages that are disputed but no discrepancy is of any doctrinal significance. Most Bibles include the options as footnotes when there are discrepancies. How could there be such accuracy over 1,400 years of copying?

Two reasons: The scribes that did the copying had meticulous methods for checking their copies for errors. 2) The Holy Spirit made sure we would have an accurate copy of God's word so we would not be deceived.

Skeptics, liberals, and cults and false religions such as Islam that claim the Bible has been tampered with are completely proven false by the extensive, historical manuscript evidence.

But it doesn't matter. The skeptics continue to assault the Bible on any and all fronts, applying the most unreasonable standards for accuracy imaginable.

They hate it, and they can't even explain why. That is also, to the Christian, evidence of its Divine Origin.

That hatred is so blind, so unreasoning, and so irrational that it cannot be explained in any other way.

"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake." (Luke 6:22)

"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you." (1 John 3:13)

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2nd Peter 3:3-4)
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Yebo

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:wave: Greetings from a sunny South Africa. :cool:

Firstly welcome to CF. I am really glad that you joined and hope that your time here will be fruitful as well as that a number of your questions will be answered.

You surely asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer them as short as possible but also as thoroughly as I can. Well, here goes …
tpt said:
Why do you believe?
The human being is created to believe. You also believe. You believe that God does not exist hence you are an atheist. I believe God including that Jesus died for all my sins and that the Holy Spirit was given to us to lead and assist us in our daily activities. I believe simply because He loved me first and I am in love with Him.
tpt said:
Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why?
No He did not suddenly come down. I grew up on a farm in the heartland of the South African bush. It is pretty easy to see and experience that there must be SOMEONE with much higher authority than mankind. My family surely played a roll but the decision was mine. I had to take it simply because nobody can make that decision on my behalf. I accepted Jesus as Lord at a very young age but then walked away from Him. My life was falling apart and only 6 years back I only realized that Jesus is really the answer to everything. Since then, the GODLY PEACE far above all understanding is with me irrespective of circumstances.
tpt said:
How do you know? I don't want any because the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and actually cares about you?
If I may answer you with a question. How can He not be? I talk to Him daily and He talks back. He performs wonderful miracles everyday in my life, healing people everyday and taking care of me and my family on a daily basis. He is such a reality that I sometimes struggle to understand why people choose not to be associated with Him.
tpt said:
Why are you right and everyone else wrong?
I’m not necessarily right and everyone wrong. It is not about what I think, know or believe. It’s all about HIM. He is the proof that He is “right” and everything else is “wrong”. As the saying goes: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. He healed so many people including me. He is taking care of me and so many other people, and more importantly He loves everyone so much that He died for us all so that we can live. He’s been proven over time and NEVER failed.
tpt said:
How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods?
Please refer to the answer given above. Unless proven otherwise by the Bible (Gods written word), I can not accept that any other god, including those of the Hindus, Romans or Mayan have been around longer.
tpt said:
Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??
God says it and I take everything God is saying quite seriously.
tpt said:
What happened before God? Or before the earth, Because the bible suggests that God was around before Earth.
You are correct the Bible do state that God was around before earth. However the Bible is silent in telling us when happened in the period before the creation. Many bible scholars will tell you that there is quite a long time lapse between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Personally it is not important to know what had happened then. It is important to know that He loves me and cares for me.
tpt said:
Than who created God?
He is almighty God capable of doing anything including “creating Himself”, but then as shprdslamb7 indicated "I cannot fathom a Being that has never been born or will never die, either....but, my 4 year old cannot understand the workings of a TV. That doesn't mean the TV is not going to work. There are some things as humans that we cannot understand because our thinking is limited.”
tpt said:
Why Is the Bible correct? It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
God is an intelligent and sensitive God who, more than anything else wants to have a personal, intimate relationship with us all including yourself. The Bible is His trustworthy and straightforward account of how He has worked to establish and nourish relationships throughout all of history with people, compiled over a period more than 1500 years. It’s not a chronological history of all humanity, it’s the story of God building relationship with specific people.
 
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Glory Defined

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Hi and welcome to the forum! :)

That is a wonderful question. Let me first tell you a little about myself, so you will understand why this question strikes home with me. I have been born and raised in Las Vegas, in a family that never went to church, and would be somewhere between agnostic and athiest. I became a Christian in my late teens because of an experiencial conversion, but quickly fell away over the next few years as I had no training, and no other real "reason" to believe. See I, like you can't long believe in my heart what my mind rejects.

Other things didn't add up for me either. The lack of abiogenesis disturbed me, and the time line for evolution seemed all messed up. It bothered me that we saw much evidence for microevolution, but nothing in the way of macroevolution. I began to question things all over again, and then, only then did I start to look at the Bible as a real possibility.

See I had looked at God as possible, but in my own mind, I believed it was intellectually impossible to believe that the Bible was inspired. Then, I tested it, and what I have found has brought me right to the cross of Jesus.

Here are some areas where you can look to see why I believe what I believe. (See I figure if you are being intellectually honest, you will check it out, otherwise, I am not going to waste your time reading it!)

Textual transmission is the study of exactly how we came in possession of the Bible texts that we have. You may find info under the word search for Lower Criticisim of the Bible. they are the same thing.

Propehcies fullfilled. If you are a history buff you will enjoy this. The Old Testiment is filled with detailed prophecies about wars, rulers, nations, and of course Jesus himself. They are in fact so accurate, that until recently many people asserted that they were written after the events happened. Check these out along with the determined dates of the books and the historical events themselves.

Unity of the Bible. There are about 40 authors of the different books of the Bible. Now I believe that the Bible is inspired by God. Let me define what I mean by that, that is not like people writing automatically in a trance or anything, but that God using the words of the men who wrote the Bible and sometimes using thier own research and personalities, ect still managed to get these guys to write exactly what he wanted them to. The technical term is concursive operation. This of course to an all powerful God using men who are submitted to his will would be no limitation to his power to speak through them. Now these 40 authors speak on many controversial topics over a time span of about 2,000 years. Many geographical locations, and many from different walks of life. Still you find an overall unity to the work with an overall plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. I would love to see 40 people have that much in common when writing today!

It makes sense of the Big Questions. I think the biggest one for me is what on earth is man anyway. Seems that we are special, as we don't gas people generally but we do gas termites, but it also seems we are pretty messed up! Man is cruel, and often just evil and selfish. The Bible takes these questions seriously, and helps us to understand the uniqueness of man, as well as the source of his cruelty and the answer for the problem.

The Bible gets it's history right. For this, I tend to pass over the miracles, and look at historical and geographical evidence that supports the Bible. Did you know in fact that National Geographic often uses the Bible to determine the locations of certain ancient cities?

It is certainly difficult to ignore the evidence of people who's lives have been changed by what they claim they found in the Bible. This is certainly not a solid case, but it lends credibility to the Bible.

Also the Bible has had staying power, as many have tried to all together distroy it, but it has survived over years of persecution.

Finally, I find that the early success of the church in converting people in Jeruselem is a strong evidence that Christianity is true. The people there would have been eye witness to the events which occured. There was a strong and large number of people who believed in Jesus as messiah there just after the crucificiton. There were also many people there opposing the church and persecuting the church. If Jesus were in the tomb, wouldn't the Sanhedren gladly have produced his body? Would the decisples willingly have been put to death for something they knew to be false? logic clearly dictates that there must have been at least something to these claims.

Okay this is getting like waaaaaayyyyy long winded, so I will leave you with that, and address some other questions later!

God Bless!
Phelicia
 
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Glory Defined

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Oh by the way one last point. It is not that Christians are trying to be mean or belittle people when they say Christianity is the only way. That was Jesus' claim. In other words, I couldn't change that even if I wanted to. Point is that if anything is actually true then by contrast everything else is neccissarily false.

God bless,
Phelicia
 
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visionary

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All these questions are really between you and God. The very fact that you are asking is a good sign. It means that God is talking to you and you hear His voice. You are not sure, and that is ok. Through the Word of God, as you read you will experience convictions, keep reading. Follow your convictions, they will lead to repentance, which will bring you a little closer to God. Keep reading and talk to God, ask Him the questions you have placed on the forum. All our answers will not place the convictions on your heart like hearing it from God Himself. God is real and is everything the people in the Word of God describe to the best of their ability. These encounters that the people of the Bible had with God, you can too experience. Pray that God will come visit with you personnally, one on one. Start by opeing up your heart to let God in. You are the Temple of God, and that is where the Holy Spirit is to dwell. Ask God to open up your mind to understand the sins of your life that separate you from Him, that you may have Him clean up this rubbish that is getting in the way of knowing Him in a mighty and personal way. You will not regret it. Give GOd a chance, He can not meet with you in your sinful state, but with the forgiveness of your sins, through the blood of Jesus, He can and will. Ask Him to forgive specific sins that come to your mind. Keep asking as they come to your mind, until you can no longer think of any more sins, then ask God to show you sins that you have not yet thought of, that are separating you from Him. He will bring to mind sins, that you didnt think were important. If you have any difficulty understanding the evilness of anything brought to mind, ask for it to be explained that you may see the evilness of it and repent with abhorance for such an wicked "little" sin. Keep praying, and studying the Word of God, going slowly thoroughly through the Word gleaning for the way that God understands things which is not the way the world preaches. God will convict you on those things that are His and those things that do not ring quite true. Trust the Bible, for guidance as to what is the difference, it speaks for itself and GOd has already anointed the Words found there in with His Blessing.

Did I answer your questions? No...I pointed you to the author and finisher of the faith, and He is truly the only one that vouch for everything that is of God. May you blessed on your spiritual journey with answers from God. May you experience your own personal experience with God that leads you on a new life in Him.

God Bless You
Visionary
 
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LondonsBurning

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This won't be long, but I wanted to point out to those of you planning to use the Bible to refute these questions.

If an atheist goes into an argument questioning the validity of the Bible,you can't use the Bible to prove the Bible's validity, because in mathmatical terms, if you don't start with the postulate that the Bible is inerrant, then you can't use the Bible as absolute truth.
 
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The_White

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Tpt said:
Why do you believe? Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why?
Not Christian family. Water sports camp I was at. I meat some truly remarkable Christians and I'm not fully sure exactly what heppened there.

How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?
I have experiences, but unfortunately most of the times I say them I get told that I am wrong or have a faulty memory or that it was luck or something :( If you wanna know them tell me.

Why are you right and everyone else wrong? Because by saying that you believe in God with all your heart and stuff you imply that you are in some way more correct than any other religion including me (being an athiest). How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods? Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??
Major difference with Christianity. It's the only one that realises that people cannot work hard enough and be good enough to match a perfect being and thus need help to get there. Every other religion that I know about which believes ina heaven concept has what you do in life as what determines your entry.

What happened before God? Or before the earth, Because the bible suggests that God was around before Earth. Than who created God? And If you suggest that God was there since the beginning of everything than why did he wait? Or how could he wait for so long? It was eternity. Anyone who knows a bit about statistics could tell you that.
Well before God created time there was no time, thus no eternity and umm... thats a hard concept to work your mid through. If someone or something created God, who created them? And who created them? and them? etc etc etc. It's turtles all the way down.

Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
People were inspired by God to write. The fact that it was written by people garuntees that there are mistakes (sorry to all the innerancy peole out there). How do we know this and that it isnt fiction? Faith, trust and personal experience.


Please respond.
Thanks
You're welcome
 
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visionary

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Same as with any disertation, thesis, or book that is revolutionary, the author will have to address the issues and the validity of His claim. In this case, God will have to personnally address these issues with you. So that means you have to ask Him. Let's go with the premise that you do not believe or question His existence. So now you have a challenge of not only the claim in the book but the author also. The book gives instructions on how to meet the author. If you follow the instructions, you will either find Him or not. So far, those that have followed the path that leads to God have found Him.

Start with this verse.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

There are two requirements listed here.

One - to learn and understand the kingdom of God.....that means learn how God's country is run. Is it a democracy, what are the laws of God's land, how does this kingdom operate, and for what purpose, what are the citizens like (not that we have any great examples today, for those who are applying for citizenship)etc.

Two - what is God's righteousness...in other words what gives Him the right, how does he justify, and what is the process that that brought Him to His conclusion as this is the best way to handle things.

Not saying that you will become the master of the God's understandings and wisdom for they are infathomable but if you get the drift, you will understand enough to accept and trust God for everything.

I use the concordance to study what God means. I pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to teach me what the kingdom of God is like and how am I to relate this all to my life. I have provided a internet link below that will help you research any word or subject in the Word of God.

There have been many studies that have been done, and you will find as you study other people's material that it probably has religious organizational leanings. If you understand that, and look for the gems that God inspired, which takes prayer to see, you can grow faster. God must be in every spiritual step you take because there is every wind of doctrine blowing out there, that if it were possible, the elect would be deceived. God promised those who are faithful to His Word, faithful in prayer, will be enlightened, living in the light, and darkness will not deceive them. Pray that the Lord opens your eyes. Pray that you are given the gift of discernment that you may be able to tell the difference between that which is Gods and that which is of the world.

God bless you on your spiritual journey and may we meet at the Wedding Supper.

http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/...earchpage=0&search=seek+first+kingdom&x=9&y=9
 
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Reformationist

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Tpt said:
Why do you believe?
Because God gave me faith.

Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian?
No.

Or was it your family?
My family are nominal Christians at best.

How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?
Knowing such things is the product of divine enlightenment and intervention. If God gives someone the gift of faith then they believe.

Why are you right and everyone else wrong?
Right about what? The existence of God? Doctrine?

Because by saying that you believe in God with all your heart and stuff you imply that you are in some way more correct than any other religion including me (being an athiest).
How do you know that you are alive? Is it because someone told you? Is it because you're family acts towards you as if you are alive? Why?

How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods? Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??
The Bible says that all those gods are false idols. If we have been given the gift of faith we believe the Word of God to be true so we believe those gods are false.

What happened before God?
God is eternal. There is no "before God."

Or before the earth, Because the bible suggests that God was around before Earth.
We do not know. Any answers to this are nothing more than speculation.

Than who created God?
God is not created. He is self existent.

And If you suggest that God was there since the beginning of everything than why did he wait?
Don't know. That's not something He revealed to us.

Why Is the Bible correct.
Because it is God breathed and God is infallible.

It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
The Bible was not penned by God but its content is the direct revelation of His divine being.

We know it is not fiction in the same way that you know you exist.

God bless
 
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Rafael

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Thanks for asking us to give a reason for our faith. I've really enjoyed reading the responses to your query and impressed with the warmth and love some are written in. I hope that you are very serious about seeking and finding the reason why you have a conscious life and have being. If you seek with an honesty, being true to self, you may indeed encounter the Truth. From personal experience, though, I know that some, including myself for an extended period of time, just don't want any extra responsibility attached to their life and are more than happy to support anything, even hear-say that will give them what their egos desire - no God or responsibility in life to give of themselves.

Why do you believe? Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why?
Maybe. From a little boy I asked why was I alive and had a sense of wonder about my even having consciouness and being. I see, as I've grown older and as then, great design and beauty in what surrounds me that must be created by God. The explanations of man to do away with God have always come up short and were flawed for me, so I could never be atheistic when I was young, but did go through a stage of agnosticism before I read the word of truth in the Bible. In life, I have observed and experienced the pride of man and his greed; his egotism to hate other men and compete for power, only wanting to heap upon themselves more and more without ever being satisfied. I see death, yet deep inside of myself I deny the gravity of it as if I was never meant to know it. So I believe by what I see around me and by how the Bible identifies the truth about mankind's condition on enslavement to sin and death. When I read the Bible it confirmed what I have seen and experienced, that all men have seen the things created by God and have no excuse for trading the truth for a lie, but do so because of pride and evil selfish desires to have that are as strong as murder.
How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?
Again, I know by seeing the design of God around me that is something man cannot give - not one single cell of life. I see beauty and complexity in that design that could never be accidental and have no reason to prove that a Creator of such wonder and complexity could not communicate to us through any means He wanted, such as the prophets of the people He chose as His messengers to mankind - the Jews whose history alone is quite remarkable. Proving otherwise would be more of a task, IMO. The preponderance of the evidence I've found, historically, archeologically, and even scientifically is difficult to dispute if truely examined without bias, but I fear and know hear-say is enough to convince most people that don't want to believe. It is too much work to really prove or disprove something they don't really care about. The easy road with quick satisfaction and no responsibility to the poor and weak is preferred to the hard work and care the Bible says we have as a responsibility towards the world in love. I know that when I was young, believing was not attractive because it meant responsibility to others and rules. I wanted none of it and never spoke in defense of God when I would hear others deny His existence.
Why are you right and everyone else wrong? Because by saying that you believe in God with all your heart and stuff you imply that you are in some way more correct than any other religion including me (being an athiest). How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods? Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??
I know what is right for me. Others make their own choices based upon what they have been given in knowledge of God and will be judged according to the One who knows what was given to them in life and sees the heart - whether evil or good. I cannot judge them or for them. For the records sake, it is Jesus that has said that all others are false gods and wrong, but only He knows if He has revealed Himself and been denied by any individual. Study the other religions and compare them to the Bible and see which rings truth.
What happened before God? Or before the earth, Because the bible suggests that God was around before Earth. Than who created God? And If you suggest that God was there since the beginning of everything than why did he wait? Or how could he wait for so long? It was eternity. Anyone who knows a bit about statistics could tell you that.
I don't know and neither do you, I would conjecture, as we weren't there to witness the begining, nor do I see us or any men building universes so that we can criticize the way God has done in His creation. However, I trust in the Word of God and it says that He has always been and is the Alpha and Omega of all things. Science now points to a begining, and before that we don't know.
Or how could he wait for so long?
For those that bother to read and seek, He reveals His plan in the Bible from beginning to end about waiting for His family to be revealed in mankind after its fall into death and slavery to sin, as we were created in His image for fellowship as family.
Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
It strikes a chord of truth deep within me when I read it like no other book. It is historically and archeoloically accurate and being proven that way with each new day. A big evidence IMO is Israel which has again appeared in history, just as the prophets foretold that it would in the Bible, and I see Jerusalem and the Jews, God's chosen people, are very much a center of attention in the world again, where the Bible says the last war of Armageddon will be over. The pieces are in place, and who would have ever believed that the Jews would return to their homeland over 2500 years after they were dispersed into the world and persecuted for so many years? They are back as a sign, again, for those that have eyes to see.
The Bible is correct only to those that find in it the words of life. If it is not read in a seeking believing manner, the truths may remain hidden, as God resists the proud and arrogant but gives His grace to the humble who truly seek the truth and not an excuse. The scripture has Jesus saying that "they have eyes but can not see and ears but can not hear." There have been those that have set out to read the Bible to disprove it and ended up converted like Strobel and his book "a case for Christ", but generally, truth and faith comes only to those that seek it, believing that God is and is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.
I've rested from my proving that God exists. I know my Redeemer lives, but it is left up to others to prove that He does not while they stand in the middle of a creation they have no part in making and with a consciousness and life they have not given themselves. This burden is for them to prove to themselves in their short lives, as to how important it is or not, just as any man must resolve their lives and find purpose. The Bible says that we are all of great worth and uniquely designed with great potential and purpose. Before I was a Christian, I was agnostic and never believed I would ever submit myself to the unseen, but I now I see that all things are made of the unseen, the atoms and the stuff of stars and light, and now gladly bow my knee to their Creator and am glad I have found the grace to do so. I hope as much for you - that you will find the unmerited favor of God and have your eyes open to the light that is God.
 
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TheMainException

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It was mostly my family. I grew up in a Christian family...but none of them really acted Christian, in fact, I had my parents screaming because my dad was drunk at least once a week...so I think that because I did not have an earthly father, I was driven to seek shelter in my heavenly father. He has comforted me...but as of lately...I haven't really known it until now...and now I see just how much he was really with me. But while at my 2nd church, I didn't grow (this was around 10-14) and so I never really knew Christ. But when I began going back to my original church, I refound God. And now I'm growing, I'm storming towards the heavenly home that is waiting for me.

How am I so sure God cares about me....I've felt Him. I've had my down moments, but there is just this immense feeling of love. Deep down I know that He's there, that he loves me. And if not...I've just gone through this life living in love and loving those around me. But it is so true to me...so real because I've been to the depths of my heart, I've been down to the bottom of my soul, I've felt pain way down and I've also felt the love, forgiveness, and mercy revealed to me. When I hated myself, he loved me...when I cut myself, he forave me, when I wanted to give up, he had mercy on me. This is not just a God...this is a man. And this man loves me more than his own life that he came down to earth and became a pauper so that he could be beaten, wipped and scourged to save my soul so that I wouldn't have to worry about my life after death. What kind of God is this? He is my abba (daddy) and he loves me.

My dear friend...I don't know...I have found no falseities in the Word as of yet...and even the ones that I have found, I've found to be wrong and untrue and have therefore overturned them in my readings.

I don't know why God really does anything...his ways are above me...who am I, a mere mortal to judge God and his way? I am a fleck of dirt compared to his majesty.

It is written by God...it is God breathed and therefore written by him...that's what I believe. I let you into my heart...I pray that I get into yours with what I've said. May the Lord keep you and love you and may you understand why I believe what I believe. Amen.
 
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LilRitt04

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Why do you believe? Did god suddenly come down and tell you to be Christian? Or was it your family? Why?
Well, my testimony isnt as great as some people but I have grown up in the Pentecostal church and really become acustom to it. But in my teenage years I started drinking, doing the "nasty" and things I knew werent right, but thats what I did. It took basically God to throw brick at me and really convict me of what I was doing and turn me around. So I think I believe because I have faith...Faith without works is nothing. So, you have to have faith in God and believe that he died on the cross for you, believe that he rose again...believe that he is God!

How do you know? I don't want any becasue the bible says so answers) how are you so sure that God exists and accually cares about you?
I know without a shadow of a doubt that God cares for me because I was healed of arthritus in my knees. I know that without God I would still have that pain in my knees...WE ARE HIS CHILDREN...He died on the cross for us so that we can live. If he didnt die on that cross we would be a lost and dying nation. Once you get saved and feel his power and what he can do you believe...Everything so far that you are asking boils down to faith. YOU HAVE TO HAVE FAITH!!

Why are you right and everyone else wrong? Because by saying that you believe in God with all your heart and stuff you imply that you are in some way more correct than any other religion including me (being an athiest). How do you KNOW that your God is the real one, not the Hindu Gods (Who have been around longer) Or the Roman ones or even the Mayan Gods? Who's to say that one of them or even all of them or none of them are correct??
Good Lord I cant believe this question! READ GENESIS! It says "God created the Heavens and the Earth!" I am not saying by any means that your religon is wrong or whatever (and I am not here to put you down!) but what I am saying is that if it says in Genesis that God created the Heavens and the earth what other answer are you looking for?

Why Is the Bible correct. It's not written by God you know, how do you know its not just a very elaborate piece of fiction?
DEAR LORD WE HAVE TO PRAY FOR YOU! :bow: God had 12 Disciples that wrote the Bible...Just to name a few Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John! God worked through them to write it!!!! If you go and by a Bible that has red writing.. THAT IS JESUS SPEAKING THE BIBLE!!!

I am going to pray for you! If you are asking these questions you are obviously willing to a relationship with God! I am going to pray for you that Gods opens some doors for you!
 
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thejesusfish90

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Pretty much everything that has been said here has been great!!

But I'll just add a little story...I dont normally post on this forum but I caught sight of your thread and that got me intersted...

There was a guy Called Lee Strobel who was a journalist who was in a similar position to you...i dont think he believed in God, He most certainly didn't believe in Chrisitianity...and he had pretty much the same objection as you...(gospel Authenticy, christianity rightness vs other religions, etc)...He however had a problem-his wife became a christian this disagreed with everything he believed in...He was turned upside down...so he set about trying to see how truly authentic this bible really was, and if this jesus was indeed who christians say he is and if he indeed existed at all....amoung other questions...He encountered a few intersting things he wasn't expecting along the way...you see by the end of his studies there was a change in him...he initially set out to investigate the 'truth' of christianity and ended up becoming a christian himself though the investigation of the evidences...Now there are two books written by him (the case for christ & the case for faith) which both investigate what he found that changed him from an agnostic to a Christian...You should definately read these books...they can be found at pretty much any and every christian bookshop...Lee Strobels objections are very similar to yours...

Blessings and Prayers

TJF
 
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Tpt

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First of all Thank you all for responding. For the most part you have all been nice and not doing the whole preachy thing. But Before I add my opinions and stuff I'd just like to tell you a bit about me.

I am 16 years old, and Just recently become Athiest due to a long list of things that I don't really wanna talk about, mainly because I'm too lazy to type them and most of them I don't really know what they are/were. I was kinda Catolic, I went to church and the whole sunday school thing. But I never really liked it or understood it. I still go to church, mainly to avoid confrontation with my parents and my grandparents (who would flip)

The reason I asked these questions is because I asked my self very simalar questions when I was unsure about my faith, and came up with different answers than you, being secure in your faith. So that was just curiosity on my part. I REALLY didn't want the preachy God is good, and your going to hell stuff, because I could talk to my parents or the priest at the church that my family goes to if I wanted that.

Now Im going to respond to what you said, Most of which is my personal follow up questions so please don't take this as an attack or anything. Just as a simple responce maybe with some follow up questions.



Good Lord I cant believe this question! READ GENESIS! It says "God created the Heavens and the Earth!" I am not saying by any means that your religon is wrong or whatever (and I am not here to put you down!) but what I am saying is that if it says in Genesis that God created the Heavens and the earth what other answer are you looking for?
DEAR LORD WE HAVE TO PRAY FOR YOU! :bow: God had 12 Disciples that wrote the Bible...Just to name a few Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John! God worked through them to write it!!!! If you go and by a Bible that has red writing.. THAT IS JESUS SPEAKING THE BIBLE!!!
This is exactly what I didn't want. Thankfully most of you didn't respond this way.
But in responce, I read genisis, AND I read my AP Bio textbook, and I prefer the Textbook, because it offer proof for the beginning of the univers, The whole matter, anti-matter thing. (I could explain this more but im lazy)

Jesus speaking through the Bible huh? But if I don't believe Jesus existed, and all archeological evidence says he didn't, your argument falls apart...




Maybe. From a little boy I asked why was I alive and had a sense of wonder about my even having consciouness and being. I see, as I've grown older and as then, great design and beauty in what surrounds me that must be created by God. The explanations of man to do away with God have always come up short and were flawed for me, so I could never be atheistic when I was young, but did go through a stage of agnosticism before I read the word of truth in the Bible. In life, I have observed and experienced the pride of man and his greed; his egotism to hate other men and compete for power, only wanting to heap upon themselves more and more without ever being satisfied. I see death, yet deep inside of myself I deny the gravity of it as if I was never meant to know it. So I believe by what I see around me and by how the Bible identifies the truth about mankind's condition on enslavement to sin and death. When I read the Bible it confirmed what I have seen and experienced, that all men have seen the things created by God and have no excuse for trading the truth for a lie, but do so because of pride and evil selfish desires to have that are as strong as murder.
Good for you, you ask questions! Thats good, I'n not goona try an convert you to Athiesm or anything, but Im glad that you don't accept anything blindly.

Again, I know by seeing the design of God around me that is something man cannot give - not one single cell of life. I see beauty and complexity in that design that could never be accidental and have no reason to prove that a Creator of such wonder and complexity could not communicate to us through any means He wanted, such as the prophets of the people He chose as His messengers to mankind - the Jews whose history alone is quite remarkable.
I choose evolution but that is a debate for another time.

How do you know that you are alive? Is it because someone told you? Is it because you're family acts towards you as if you are alive? Why?
Why do you? God? I can get into philosiphical skeptisism if you want??

I don't know and neither do you, I would conjecture, as we weren't there to witness the begining, nor do I see us or any men building universes so that we can criticize the way God has done in His creation. However, I trust in the Word of God and it says that He has always been and is the Alpha and Omega of all things. Science now points to a begining, and before that we don't know.
Nothingness for an eternity, but then, due to statistics it the universe was created, using energy and creating matter and anti-matter.


Major difference with Christianity. It's the only one that realises that people cannot work hard enough and be good enough to match a perfect being and thus need help to get there. Every other religion that I know about which believes ina heaven concept has what you do in life as what determines your entry.
Islam I believe follows the same lines.


Ok im done responding, I've written too much allready!
 
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CalmLikeABomb

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Hiya Tpt :D

I, like Tpt (who is a friend of mine from another board), am atheist. I was raised in a Catholic family -- we weren't really religious or anything, but we went to church and I went to CCD classes. BUT-I will question anything that is said to me if I have any shred of doubt about it. I started question my religion and the Bible when I was about 10 years old. It drove everyone in my church crazy, but they could never answer my questions to my satisfaction. Everything they said went back to using the Bible to anwering questions. And since it was the bible itself that I was unsure about, this did nothing to reassure my faith -- in fact, it weakened it. Very quickly I realized that I didn't know what to believe in, and for a few years I was agnostic. Then when I was about 13, I finally became fed up with it. No one had been able to satisfy my questions or offer any proof of God's existence without using the bible, and this was about when I became atheist. 5 years later, I'm 18 and still atheist.
 
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shprdslamb7

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But in responce, I read genisis, AND I read my AP Bio textbook, and I prefer the Textbook, because it offer proof for the beginning of the univers, The whole matter, anti-matter thing. (I could explain this more but im lazy)
Ok, explain more about how your textbook offers proof for the beginning of the universe.

Jesus speaking through the Bible huh? But if I don't believe Jesus existed, and all archeological evidence says he didn't, your argument falls apart...
There is some evidence of Jesus' existence. The historian Josephus talks about Him.

Islam I believe follows the same lines.
Islam does not follow the same lines. You must follow the Qur'an (and the commandments they contain) as well as adhere to the 5 pillars of faith.

1. Confession-Confess Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his prophet.
2. Prayer-Pray 5 times a day (sunrise, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and
1 hour after sunset.
3. Fasting-Total fast during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan.
4. Alms giving-Mandatory giving to the poor of 2.5% of annual net profits.
5. Pilgrimmage (Hajj)-Muslims must go to Mecca at least once in their
lifetimes.

Christianity is about faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity is the ONLY religion in which a person is reconciled to God through a Savior. In all other religions, man must get to God through their own actions....that includes Judaism.

If you are honestly seeking, I ask that you obtain a copy of Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" like another poster suggested. Prayerfully ask God if He is real to show you.
 
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CaDan

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CalmLikeABomb said:
Hiya Tpt :D

I, like Tpt (who is a friend of mine from another board), am atheist. I was raised in a Catholic family -- we weren't really religious or anything, but we went to church and I went to CCD classes. BUT-I will question anything that is said to me if I have any shred of doubt about it. I started question my religion and the Bible when I was about 10 years old. It drove everyone in my church crazy, but they could never answer my questions to my satisfaction. Everything they said went back to using the Bible to anwering questions. And since it was the bible itself that I was unsure about, this did nothing to reassure my faith -- in fact, it weakened it. Very quickly I realized that I didn't know what to believe in, and for a few years I was agnostic. Then when I was about 13, I finally became fed up with it. No one had been able to satisfy my questions or offer any proof of God's existence without using the bible, and this was about when I became atheist. 5 years later, I'm 18 and still atheist.

Relatively close to my story, but I'm a little further down the path--perhaps not a path you will take.

If you "question" the Bible, all the apologetics and devotions and Bible Studies in the world will just bounce off you. After all, where you are now, these are just commentary on a book that was handed to you with the command BELIEVE!--and you don't BELIEVE!

If you are at all interested in Christianity--even from just an historical perspective--I strongly recommend you read Helmut Koester's "Introduction to the New Testament". Strangely enough, there are serious and smart people (Koester is Professor of New Testament at Harvard) who "question" the Bible, but were not satisfied with simple apologetics. Learn how the New Testament was ACTUALLY written and then make a decision about its veracity.

I recommend Koester because "Introduction" is relatively easy to read, but still reflects solid scholarship.

It was only after I had an understanding of how and why the Gospels were written (and no, they were not dictated by God!) that I was able to reassemble some faith. You might be able to as well.
 
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