Does anyone believe in god

Superficial beliefs are easy to flip with argument and evidence. Deeper beliefs have a protective coil of emotion encircling them like a devouring serpent. Our core convictions will not go down easily, simply because the light of reason is shone upon them.

Wednesday, November 29, -- PM. The question should be "How can smart people believe in a single religion?

Belief in a religion requires suspension of all doubts and questions that challange a religion's writings and belief systems. Saturday, December 2, -- PM. This is in response to David Chilstrom's comment above. While it is true that absolute belief in the non-existence of all gods appears to lack convincing rational support, this does not contradict Ken's point that the unbeliever relies mostly on reason.

In fact the typical unbeliever may simply not believe in either the existence or the non-existence of a god. Having been unconvinced by any argument pro or con myself, I have a lot of sympathy with that position.

The question at hand at the start of this discussion was "How can smart people still believe in god? I don't think Philip Clayton answered that question for me because I did not find his argument compelling, but I do think that if the god concept is sufficiently abstract then it can be believed in without too much offense to reason. Perhaps the more challenging question is that raised by Jody - "How can smart people believe in a single religion?

Saturday, December 30, -- PM. If God is just a product of human imagination because of hope for life after death, every belief could be easily be dismissed. I'm no keen for the evolution of the human brain to become such as emotional as it is right now but yet it is clear that as the human body learns to adapt itself in every climate the brain does too. I am not a scientist to elaborate a very complicated point of view, nor did I studied theology but there is one clear fact for me.

Ninety five percent of the human populace are not smart enough. He called himself the most "reluctant believer in England, dragged kicking and screaming into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The movie "Shadowlands," was about him and, of course, "The Chronicles of Narnia," are nothing more than Christian allegory. Lewis's contention was that the Jews, our No. God, the Jews said, interjected himself into their lives and insisted on being listened to, like a jilted lover. God came looking for man, not the other way around. In the same way Christianity's uniqueness is not taken from great philosophical debate and argument. Christians simply said that God, who created the whole darn shabang we see at night in the sky, chose to enter our history through the birth canal, the only way in, and exit through the grave, the only way out.

While here he showed us what God is really like. The Creator took the form of a lowly Jew in Roman times. As Lewis pointed out, he was who he said he was or he was a raving maniac. There is no middle ground. You must decide. You must believe or not believe. It is an act of the will, not based on reason. Reason will carry you so far, but we all must stop at the cliff, and yes, leap into Jesus Christ's arms, for safety.

Is it a leap of faith out into darkness with no supporting evidence. That is exactly what it is and why God has made it so, no one will ever know until they go to him and he tells them after they have exited through the grave.

The debate will never be solved to anyone's satisfaction. To the true believer, God, or Jesus Christ, as the Christians would say, is reality. The physical universe is only a stage of arranged and ordered particals or building blocks that makes the stage on which human history is acted out. That is why drama grips us so deep down in our minds, because we see something on the silver screen that we have oursleves experienced.

Reality is not out there or in here, it is us, we; we ourselves are true reality and the world was made for us to inhabit, to grow and to mature in, until the time for our processing into the next universe comes. And Christ, our only reality and anchor, showed us how it is done. When the Jews and Romans attacked his positions and statements, he did not answer them. I wonder why? Friday, January 5, -- PM. Tuesday, January 23, -- PM.

Tuesday, March 20, -- PM. In the absence of a scientific explanation for the beginning of the universe, whether by 'Big Bang' or not, there is no other option but to believe in a Creator who is outside of the need to have been created Himself - i. God - an eternal being without beginning or end - is the only reasonable conclusion, however difficult it might be for some people to accept, for whatever personal reason they might have for not wanting to accept it. But even Stephen Hawking an atheist admits that science cannot explain the beginning of the universe and he himself says: "for that, you would have to appeal to God.

I believe that this is one of the reasons why God says in the Bible: "Only the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Which God is the true God is another matter, which I don't have the space to go into here. Wednesday, May 9, -- PM. I am amazingly smart. Just ask me. I have wrestled with this question for over a decade, and have often remarked, "I would be an atheist if it weren't for this whole belief in a god thing I can't shake.

I would non-believe if I could non-believe. There is no earthly way to controvert this and so submission to the 'belief' assures your continued acceptance in society and eternity. The fact is, all religions, monotheistic or not ask you to do one thing: accept the overtly unprovable. The only variable is the degree to which you are required to 'act like you accept' it.

It is impossible to gauge what one believes save for watching their actions, and religion has built in 'actions' that 'prove' you believe, but not that 'prove' your belief is justified. And so it goes. I think this is the main hesitation smart people have with religion: the way in which you are required to subjugate your rationalizations about the world in order to accept the religion.

Some people are able to strike an internal balance between the un-explained good and the unbelievable bad. It seems to me that BOTH ways of doing it are acts of Thursday, May 17, -- PM. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things? Sunday, May 27, -- PM. I am 12 years old and I don't belive in god. Now I know I am only a child and I have no word but I am very smart for my age.

The subject of god has been brought up my man for thousands of years. No one can give the right answer. This is why I think why believing in god is good, bad and why people belive in god.

Beliving in god is good because it gives a good balance in your life. Imagine if no one belived in god. People would be killing, slaughtering and. Im Gian, im 16 years old and i do believe in God. No true believer should see science as something tha limits faith, knowing the meaning of faith i know that Science and God are the same. Science is just the study of God's creation ,ne? Tuesday, June 19, -- PM. I suppose that there is nothing new to talk about, these days. Just how much sense does it make to attempt to apprehend the infinite?

It is, by definition, a futile exercise. The current argument against "God" seems to be, "since I'm not smart enough to comprehend the Divine, or you're not smart enough to explain it to me, then it must not exist" How reflective of our time, when everything is seen through the lens of the "self". That Dawkins, et al use only the common Judeo-Christian concept of God as the basis of their argument, simply shows their limited knowledge or ability to conceive the Divine. I recognize the Divine in all things, and just because humans aren't happy with events, simply means that that humans are not the center of creation.

Maybe this energy would be better spent educating people that they are not the focus of creation. Once this is achieved if it can be, then maybe we can move forward. Friday, June 22, -- PM. They can't! If one was to look at the complete reality, the complete truth, then one would have to then step back over and look off to the side to be able to look at a belief, since a belief is an attachment to less than complete truths, hence it is a belief.

Now if the complete truth was reveled by someone such as Jesus Christ at some time, mankind would immediately reject such a presentation, since the complete truth lies outside of the limitations and confinement of a belief system. The consequences of this is that the complete truth would then be classified by the believers, as a lie. The Jesus Christ would then basically have been crucified, once again!

Now, the smart people on the other hand, realize that the practice of belief, inhibits the mind from being able to face truth directly. The smart people do not believe in God, but instead can make direct contact with God by being in direct touch with truth. And so as long as belief is still practiced, complete truths can not be seen, and hence complete truths are not believed!

You don't believe this do you? To Smart Guy, The subject of the discussion was the existence of "God", not the validity of "belief". Sure, there is a difference between believing and knowing, but the current crop of "smart people" are not allowing for this, either. Religion is totally seperate from the existence of Divinity. Until "smart people" are educated to the point that they can seperate themselves from this limited perspective, there is no hope for any growth or realization.

Yep, I have had my experience as well. Mind expanded to point of absolute. Met the opposition. Came back to defend mankind. Wrote a web site. Did some Bible code decoding to remind myself of my other self on the other side.

Then ran into a bit of a problem when I discovered that complete truths were aways rejected by mankind. When truth is presented to man, it is assumed to have been spoken by a mad man. Click on Smart Guy for a peek at the Bible Codes such that you too can shoot the truth in the head!

Tuesday, June 26, -- PM. Saturday, August 11, -- PM. Friday, August 17, -- PM. The Sadness but Truth of it all, If any of those things interfere with ones belief, then they are not a believer in love, but a follower of what destroys it. Friday, September 14, -- PM. You don't have to believe in hell; you will still go there. Many people do not believe in gravity but it still holds them on earth. The truth is all knowledge begins with the fear of God; without it all men are fools and lost.

It does not matter how smart you think you are or how much money you make if you will spend eternity burning and being tortured for your disbelief. How dumb that is. It is funny that the more education people get the dumber they are. When I was getting my Masters Degree I felt many of the professors were complete idiots. I could not believe what a bunch of odd balls are teaching our universities; and they push their atheistic view on the students.

Misery does love company. Wake up before it is too late. Thursday, December 27, -- PM. I graduated from Harvard with a 4. I believe in God. Are you saying that I'm "not smart"? Monday, January 28, -- PM. Saturday, September 27, -- PM. Monday, September 29, -- PM. We live in a dangerous world, in an unsure world where death is just around the cornor.

Try to remember your own anxiety as an infant or notice the fearful stages of growth in your children, especially when they realize how dependent they are on the adults. Humanity was also in this state of anxiety in our early history.

Tigers were big and all we had were spears. Part of us feels this all time. We feel vulnerable in our animal natures and limited. We strive for growth, mastery and propagation just like every living thing that has ever existed.

We crave and greed for anything that represents more abundant and secure biological life - even when it is actually taken care of in our advanced civilization. In the following essay remember we are animals. Thinking animals but animals nevertheless. We need each other and the group to compete against other animals and nature.

But we also compete with our fellow humans for mastery and status. Knowing our place allows us take on specific jobs in the group and to feel purpose and meaning. We test and gauge our status wihin the group.

We constantly compare ourselves and judge others by cultural standards of mastery. Early in history and our physical skills were the important measure but that soon turned to social skills.

The function of out direct perceptual senses is guage our level of security, protection and worth within the group. Getting our fellow humans approval and esteem enhances this protection because somebody is literally watching your back. In a sufficiently advanced civlization, when the food supply, healthcare, shelter and education are taken care of the impulse to grow - to have more abundant life - does not go away. That is because the emotional part of us knows we are still limited and vulnerable without our cultural and group protections.

So we unconsciously compare worth, significance and power in our society - to find our place in it and to gather as many protectve affliations around us as possible. Our situation was so perilous in the wild we tended to make false correlations in nature, thus creating "magic" to allow us to feel more in control.

Eventually, our egos created complex systems of symbols representing physical skills. We created institualized ritual to control the environment and its ceremonies to control each other. Magic turned into religion. Religion turned into divine states. Divine states turned into secular society and political philosophies.

Thus, magical ritual, religion and its decendent instutions allowed for defined heirarchy, castes, classes and organizational efficiencies. So we seek ways of removing our guilt and feelings of vulnerability by latching on to anything or anybody who can make us feel secure, safe and confident that all will be well, and in their care that we will prosper, grow, be significant and live a much fuller life.

This is the "heroic impulse". It is pervasive within all cultures except the most simple and egalitarian. We value and acknowledge those symbols not reality that which will make us feel safe or make us feel like winners. Of course, this had loads of survival value in the forest because some did have real heroic skills - as hunter gatherers - but the impulse to affliate with the "heroic" has been distorted to an absurd point.

Acquisition of possesions, titles, status, large families, and attachment to symbols far and long divorced from actual survival needs is what drives our culture and politics. The impuluse for more, more, more drives our economic systems. Unbridled and un-reflective thinking in service of the fear of death is what makes the human animal insane in comparison to other species. The fundamental confusion is taking mere words or concepts to be reality. The symbolic processors of the left brain take fear arising from the amygdala and rationalizes an insulating symbolic defense - many of which are words or concepts.

The left hemisphere also tends to mask perceptual realities of the right hemisphere since this holistic part does not harbor linguistic processors. The right hemisphere cannot argue for itself even though it harbors many intelligences! This effectively removes feelings of vulnerability and fear from our thinking selves but it also veils broader realities and perceptions that could have survival value.

This is a necessary condition for mental health and negotiation in a highly symbolic environments which most people live in. Cultures are systems of symbols that reinforce a consensual strategy against this fear of death. Or, at least, a "social symbolic death" with insignificance or loss of approval among our fellows. Cultural values change as the demands of survival from the environment change. We create complex symbolic absolutist views and cultural sanctioned rituals, rules and behaviors that institutionalize the strategy against death because total faith brings the most confidence.

That is why suicide bombers say they love death as much as we love life - they are assured at place in paradise. These emotional displacements provide order and sense of meaning to our world and provide confidence.

The value of the concept of immortality, gods and single great hero, God, has provided the greatest sense of relief for many cultures. Thus, individuals will constantly compare who's up and who's down, one street gang will fight another over graffiti, how clothing is worn, territoral encroachment; soceer games will erupt in violence over a game, republicans and democrats will demean and "symbolically" fight each to other's social death the inability to influence others.

Our egos constantly strive to strengthen its stature compared to others. Our egos are willing to defend, belittle or even fight to the death any symbol or person who threatens our unconscious immortality symbols because our ego's imaginary life is at stake. The impulse to prove oneself right and the other wrong is simply the defense of the ego against imaginary death.

Cultures, religions and all absolutist philosophies exist to provide approval-seeking humans ways of organizing, encouraging, coping, prospering, staving off fear of death and moving civilzation forward toward some imagined good life - even at the expense of present happiness. We are social beings that create our own environments whose need for a sense-of-belonging and self esteem is universal so convienently adopt the prevailing notions that imply worth.

The need for human-connection and approval is primary and real, cultural values are secondary and imaginery. This is a very important point! We all, quite naturally, give our loyalty and our lives to those who best can communicate to our emotions the symbols that promise security and strength but most importantly - a sense of belonging.

The sucess of leadership is proportional to the level of alignment of culturally adopted values to the real demands of the environment. Blind following often leads to disaster. Following, a worldview, hero or personal expression is only useful to the extent that it actually haromonizes with the reality of others, other cultures and the physical environment. Judgment and negativity is the primary diagnostic of absolutism - whether it is ubridled praise or criticism.

Acceptance tolerance , enjoyment and enthusism is the primary diagnostic for awareness of the extreme comparative activity of the ego. Human beings absolutely need to develop some "healthy" anxiety displacements - at certain developmental stages - to develop self esteem and confidence in growing up. Children need to be assured that a "Guardian Angel is protecting them from the "boogey man" in closet. Religion and absolutist belief has its place and function. However, when the displacements become rigidly absolute as the world gets more complex and subtle these psychodynamic strategies become mal-adaptive.

The fact that people will become very aggressive in defending absolutist belief is - in itself - a major self-inflicted insanity in humans. There seems to be a healthy arc of development that involves a increasingly generalized worldview. Then, successful introduction to symbolic social strategie s that provides their own power to influence people and social environment. Choosing heros, beliefs, activities and groups that allow some sense of security, direction, personal expression and sense of worth and significance.

That is, following arbitrary cultural rules or societal expectations - or "world of symbols" representing security and approval 4 Final realization that cultural symbols and expectations go beyond survival needs and begin to become vain, wasteful or even maladaptive to the real environment. We begin to search for security, meaning and a sense of approval, belonginess, direction from many alternative strategies.

We accept no world view is absolute. Finally separating imaginery status symbols from the actual biological requirements of healthy and happy social life. Thursday, December 4, -- PM. God is Fire, Water, Air. God is the Life, Existance of Life , and Death. These have immense power which does not have a shape.

We can see it, We can fell it but we fail to reliase it, We tend to look for answers womewhere else. Friday, June 5, -- PM. I am a tortured agnostic erring on the side of atheism.

I want to believe but I can't. I got here by googling 'how can people believe in God' and found this. The article helped, but the comments didn't.

Too many of the comments hold the existence of God to be self-evident without managing to provide any substantial reason why. They believe it, and therefore it is true. This scares me because it makes me realise why religions have always historically fought each other - they are unable to give substantial reasons why the other is wrong. The universe seems meaningless. There is no Great Protector. There is only us, and our meaningless existences, and there is faith, and belief, which people die defending.

There is war, and horror, and uncertainty. It is the uncertain man who is intelligent and the certain man who is stupid. The difference is that the certain man has no fear. Irrationality is required for civilization to progress. But irrationality is what makes humanity blow itself to pieces. I want to believe, but if God created the universe and has the power to stop evil but chooses not to, surely he is evil?

What sort of God would sit back and watch something like the Holocaust? What sort of God would create harlequin babies? What sort of God would create a Hell to punish the sinners for ever and ever? An insane one, that's what. Friday, October 16, -- PM. What mastermind could put together 66 books by more than 40 authors and have it written over a period of years?

Incredibly, all of these authors point to the same two ultimate destinations: first, an everlasting paradise offered as a free gift to those who believe; and second, a place of eternal torment for those who reject the gift.

What could this many authors possibly gain by coming up with such an extraordinary story on their own and then presenting it as truth? It certainly didn't make their lives any easier. I Still Believe Series. I Can Only Imagine. Not a Fan. Messy Grace. Manhood Journey. The End of Me. View All. Kyle Idleman. Caleb Kaltenbach. Vince Antonucci. Kent Evans. Tony Evans. Dave Stone. Bob Russell. Stories of Grace. Propagating a shared belief in watchful, punitive deities kept people honest — and we successfully upscaled, organised religion burgeoning in tandem with the city state.

Legal and economic systems have evolved also, but have not fully replaced the function of religion as societal glue. For most of my life I have thought religion is all just anthropology, stultifying at best, but I have over the years met some impressive people who apply it more conscientiously than my RE teacher Mr Halton, and I am sometimes almost wistful that I cannot in adulthood acquire belief.

It is indeed a wonder that there is both a colourful sunset and a human mind calibrated to find it beautiful, a pairing so fathomlessly lucky that it suggests design. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

Already subscribed? Log in. His theory is innovative, compelling, and provocative at many points, not least in its conclusion that theism, not atheism, is our natural condition. It's the sort of book that shakes up the field; all philosophers and psychologists of religion will have to take account of it.

Barrett marries exceptional conceptual rigour with an easy, accessible style. This should provide a much-needed guide for students and scholars of religion as well as a roadmap for future developments in the field.

Louis, Author of Religion Explained In a beautifully argued presentation, Justin Barrett brings together diverse material from cognitive psychology to show that belief in God is natural. Belief is intuitively satisfying because it depends on mental tools possessed by all human beings.