DOES GOD EXIST?????

[stevenr1953]

What may be a contraversial topic that some do not like - I am not asking for your views so that I can condone or condemn them I just want to hear what you think.

Arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, scientists, and others for thousands of years. In philosophical terms, such arguments involve primarily the disciplines of epistemology (the nature and scope of knowledge) and ontology (study of the nature of being, existence, or reality) and also the theory of value, since concepts of perfection are connected to notions of God. A wide variety of arguments exist which can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. The existence of God is subject to lively debate in philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and popular culture.

The Western tradition of philosophical discussion of the existence of God began with Plato and Aristotle, who made arguments that would now be categorized as cosmological. Other arguments for the existence of God have been proposed by St. Anselm, who formulated the first ontological argument; Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Aquinas, who presented their own versions of the cosmological argument (the kalam argument and the first way, respectively); Descartes, who said that the existence of a benevolent God was logically necessary for the evidence of the senses to be meaningful; and Immanuel Kant, who argued that the existence of God can be deduced from the existence of good. Thinkers who have provided arguments against the existence of God include David Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell. In modern culture, the question of God's existence has been discussed by scientists such as Stephen Hawking, Francis Collins, Richard Dawkins, and John Lennox, as well as philosophers including Richard Swinburne, Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, Daniel Dennett, Edward Feser, and David Bentley Hart.

Atheists generally maintain that arguments for the existence of God provide insufficient reason to believe. Additionally, some contend that it is possible to affirmatively disprove the existence of God, or of certain characteristics traditionally attributed to God such as perfection.

Fideists acknowledge that belief in the existence of God may not be amenable to demonstration or refutation, but rests on faith alone. The Catholic Church maintains that knowledge of the existence of God is available in the "natural light of human reason". Other religions, such as Buddhism, do not concern themselves with the existence of gods at all.

[nena]

God really exist there is no doubt of that.

[canadianboy]

yes he exists, in all around us and inside us, we may call him by different names but he does, one person once said "if god didn't exist we would have to create one" you can talk about evolution but to this day no one has shown the link that is suppose to exist

[fracker]

Wow. Hard question. I personally consider myself agnostic... meaning I think there may well be a higher power, but not sure what that might be. I'm not an atheist.

What I do believe is this. Whenever we find ourselves in dire straits, it is comforting to believe there is someone... something... out there that you can pray to and hope for assistance. As I get older, and the end of the line approaches, I think more about this. But still remain undecided. I've read most of the major religious texts... the bible, the koran, the tao te cheng, the torah, teachings of buddha, and the agnostic scriptures. So I don't consider myself ignorant from a background perspective. What I see is that they have many common beliefs... and in the case of the bible, agnostic scriptures, torah and koran... many of the same people and events; but described in different manners and with different interpretations. Not unlike if you had six witnesses describe an event today... each would describe it, but infuse the details with nuances of interpretation based on each person's unique background and life experiences.

What I prefer to believe is that most of what we read is based upon real events, but put forward as a set of stories. Each of which to present a lesson in morality. Do I believe we need houses of worship to accomplish that? No. I actually have a problem with the concept as it creates a hierarchy of those who are deemed more worthy than others and that in itself is wrong. You don't need to slaughter a lamb, or put a dollar on a collection plate to commune with your personal choice of deity. Perhaps you gain comfort from ritual and being surrounded by others of similar beliefs, and that's fine if accepted for what it is.

I also don't see evolution and the existence of a god to be mutually exclusive of each other. Why could a higher entity not direct the evolution of species and the world as we know it? I do challenge the concept that everything was created in six days, and that M lived a thousand years. To me that sounds like someone got the details of the story wrong when they attempted to put ink to papyrus, or chisel to stone.

So I've rambled on and said what I believe. Others may agree or disagree... it's merely my personal interpretation.

In short... does god exist? I honestly don't know, and as it stands today I have no evidence that he (or she) does or does not exist. I hope god exists, but await a sign of existence... not someone elses beliefs or stories, but a personal experience that gives me a definitive answer.