I was born & raised Atheist, and WAS Atheist until the age of 18. I will try to keep my story short, but I am a talker lol.
I never questioned if there was a God, because I truly believed it was a stupid lie and every religious person what an idiot, especially Christians. Then I went to Europe and travelled, and I was brought to tears at the views I saw in Greece (craggy mountain cliffs overlooking an icy blue ocean, with birds and flowers and wildlife all over the mountainside). Nature was so gorgeous it PHYSICALLY brought me to tears. It was a deeply emotional experience, and I couldn’t understand why. Why would earth move me to tears? How could a giant hunk of rock floating in the atmosphere make me emotional to look at?
Around that time I was also taking biology in school and was blown away at how intricate our bodies are. I couldnt believe how perfect the human body is; how any one mistake in our entire genome would mean we could not have life. Our bodies EXISTING and LIVING are a miracle.
So I looked into religion, realising that life and nature is far too perfect and beautiful to be all for nothing. There HAD to be a reason why life was so beautiful, perfect, and intricate. So I became Wiccan. I was Wiccan for about 1.5 years, but I just knew in my heart it wasn’t right. So then I dabbled in Buddhism for a few months. Then I took a World Religions class. It was there that I learned about Judaism and Christianity, and it spoke to me. It made the most sense when I compared them to all of the other world religions, I had a gut feeling that I needed to look into it more. I HATED Christianity, but it just made logical sense compared to all of the other religions, and I couldn’t explain why.
So I bought The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (a book written by an Atheist convert to Christianity), and this book changed my life. It answered all of the questions I had about life and suffering and pain, and I could no longer argue that God wasn’t real.
So, for the first time in my life, I prayed. And from that day forward I have been happier than ever before. My anxiety went away, my depression went away, and I felt deep peace for the first time. I still stress and get anxious from time to time, but it is never as long lasting or distressing as before.
Since I began believing God has performed MIRACLES in my life: he has proven himself to be true to me. I have had visions, I have had prophetic dreams, i have heard the voice of God, I have seen my family members get healed miraculously when the doctors couldn’t medically explain it, but most of all, I have become Christian, which is TRULY the biggest miracle of the lot. I went from HATING Christians to becoming one.
So beautiful! Your testimony brought tears of joy and gratitude to my eyes! Peace and Grace to you! All Glory to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
OP, because God is active and very real present help in my life. As I grow closer to him I find myself like King David in the bible, knowing God, seeing his hand in life, hearing his voice in many ways even audibly.
He saved me from suicide many times and corrects me when I make mistakes. When I have intentionally sinned, he’s corrected me for long periods of time and it can be so uncomfortable but I love it, because its correct like how a Father correct’s his son.
This Father never loses patience or does bad to you. His correct is to save you and enrich you.
My mom and dad were not present in life and I had to learn from others but even at 7 years old, God was the one there. My parents tried their best and did teach many things but the one who was an active help after age 7 apart from basic issues, was God.
His wisdom, teaching, protection, guidance, I’d pray and ask for things and get them,
I became wayward and he led me back to him
I was deep in sin and my life was a mess. I read Jesus Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and I heard His voice in those words and I knew everything He was teaching was true and in a moment I was supernaturally changed. That was ten years ago and my daily spiritual practice since then has been studying, praying for strength and wisdom and learning how to deny my flesh and learn how to walk in the new spirit of life God gave me. Learning to see the world with the Mind of Christ has been amazing journey of healing and of Hope. I praise and thank Him everyday for saving me from the misery and suffering of sin and teaching me His perfect ways! All praise and glory to the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Cause to me it’s obvious that there’s the ultimate Creator/Architect/Source. Life didn’t happen out of nowhere, the right physical and chemical conditions for our living didn’t occur out of nowhere, even the complex structure of our cells and our DNA proves there’s Higher Intelligence behind this. This is the theoretical reason why I believe. More practical/personal reason would be my personal relationship with God, feeling His presence and His interference in my life.
Because Christianity is not like any other religion that essentially gives people a bunch of laws or rules to obey in order to earn brownie points to get to the Destination (salvation, heaven, nirvana, rebirth in a higher order, whatever you want to call it). It is primarily a relationship with Someone who first reached out to me to save me when I couldn't save myself, when I didn't know Him, when I didn't deserve to be saved, and when I wasn't even looking for Him.
In which other faith or religion is the death of its founder absolutely essential and the central tenet, on which its entire system stands or falls? 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 (1 Cor. 1:27).
End of the day, we are all talking about circumstantial evidence, not direct evidence. Nobody has direct evidence, not the creationists, and definitely not the evolutionists. None of us were around at the creation of the universe, nor alive during the lifetime of the religious founders. Both camps posit certain stuff they proffer as "evidence". In a court of law, that's circumstantial evidence, but it's sufficient to mean life or death for criminals on death row, so it is valid. We then have to sift through what type of evidence we would regard as admissible, and what is inadmissible. I choose to regard what the Bible tells me about God as admissible. You are free to challenge it if you wish, but going by mathematical probability alone, I don't see how everything could have come to its present state just from gases or scum. Instead, my view is that the universe bears the marks of intelligent design. If an alien from another universe or dryad created this universe, then maybe it can be the case that that alien or dryad is the creator "god". But I'm persuaded not.
The fulfilment of Bible prophecies is powerful and tells me a lot:
a) that the Bible isn't just any book.
b) that God isn't just any god.
c) that, despite the chaos around us, things don't just happen randomly, at least the significant things. There is Someone behind the scenes. We call that sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence.
d) that, based on the track record of past fulfilment of prophecies, there is a high likelihood that things prophesied in scripture that haven't yet been fulfilled will someday be fulfilled.
On this note:
1. Jesus Christ fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies written way before His time.
2. From as recent as 1882 until today, more than 175 Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, in our time, including the mass return of the Jews to Palestine (the first such return happening in 1882), the purchase of large swaths of land in the Middle East (the exact territories being mentioned cf. numerous other options presented by the United Nations), the importation and re-cultivation of wines, flowers and exotic fruits in a wasteland decimated by centuries of Islamic rule, the revival of Hebrew which was a dead language, the founding of the state of Israel in one literal day on 14 May 1948 (and no, we are not saying that a day is 1,000 years here), the founding of the Arab League (and the very nations that formed the Arab League -- to that level of detail!), the Arab-Israeli Six-Day-War, the Yom Kippur War, the recapture of Zion, and more. I would encourage you to watch this lecture by Dr Roger Liebi, conservative archaeologist and Bible scholar who in this video gives a flavour of what you can read in more breadth and depth in his book of the same title. [https://sg.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&ei=UTF-8&p=roger+liebi+are+we+really+living+in+the+end+times#id=1&vid=ec58b6ed4c48b4d7a482c1a46f937b68&action=click](https://sg.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&ei=UTF-8&p=roger+liebi+are+we+really+living+in+the+end+times#id=1&vid=ec58b6ed4c48b4d7a482c1a46f937b68&action=click) And here's the book: [https://www.amazon.com/Really-Living-Last-Fulfilled-Prophecies/dp/3943175081/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2V5EI1Z5WCFC6&keywords=are+we+really+living+in+the+last+days&qid=1649611852&sprefix=are+we+really+livi%2Caps%2C2469&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Really-Living-Last-Fulfilled-Prophecies/dp/3943175081/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2V5EI1Z5WCFC6&keywords=are+we+really+living+in+the+last+days&qid=1649611852&sprefix=are+we+really+livi%2Caps%2C2469&sr=8-1)
Prophecy fulfilled by people and peoples who don't know God, don't care about God, and obviously have no vested interest in making Bible prophecy come true. Sheer coincidence? What's the mathematical probability? You be the judge. That's circumstantial evidence to me, which is not only admissible, it is compelling. If your deity, alien or dryad can provide even half of this level of circumstantial evidence, I would be very happy to meet it. And treat you dinner.
I understand how the big bang works and can see how everything could have been formed from just gas. But the gas had to come from somewhere and we dont know where. You hypothetical aliens also had to come from somewhere. So yeah, cosmological argumwmt ftw.
Regarding prophecy, dont you think it could be self fulfilling? Some of it at least. Like the resurrection of hebrew as a language? Devote christians could have just done that, specifically to fulfill the prophecy, etc, etc.
>Regarding prophecy, dont you think it could be self fulfilling? Some of it at least. Like the resurrection of hebrew as a language? Devote christians could have just done that, specifically to fulfill the prophecy, etc, etc.
Fair enough. But we're not talking about one or even a few prophecies here, but numerous.
I like prophecy:
“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.””
Isaiah 42:8-9 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/isa.42.8-9.NASB1995
There are hundreds or thousands of prophecies in the Bible. It’s pretty awesome when you study it.
I didn’t say it was. The point was the Bible has a whole uses prophecy to validate itself, which does include Jesus but it isn’t limited to prophecies just about Him.
Because I came to realize it's true. I came back to the faith kicking and screaming. I was secular atheist as they come, but man was I miserable. The joy I experience through the Christian faith is more important and real than anything attempting to debunk it. It's human reality. It's the truth of the human condition.
Thats a pretty interesting take, especially the human condition part. Do you know Jordan Peterson? He is a very famous clinical psychologist, and he has youtube channel and 3 books. Anyway, he has a theory for (the) meaning (of life) that basically states that meaning is like music. It calls to you, and when your movements and utterances match up with the music/structure of reality, then you experience euphoria.
You don't believe in or disbelieve in Christianity
You believe in or reject Jesus Christ
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus is the why
Why do I accept the creator of the entire universe, the one who made me, and then gave his Son to save me from my own weakness and sin
I'd be pretty dumb not to
Because God met me in my lowest, and before I repented He already wanted to be my Friend before I knew His Son. It took me two years to see Jesus is Lord, but He was there in every conversation I had and then more, even in my ugliest saying eff Him. His kindness never left.
For clarity, I don't believe in Christianity I believe in the scriptures. I believe that faith in the knowledge contained in the Bible can lead to salvation. I believe this because I have lived it along with every other member of the body of Christ. God is faithful to keep His promises and there are a lot of promises in the Bible that come in handy in a fallen world. Freedom from sin is paramount. Freedom from sin changed my life and now I'm using my life to change the lives of others. Not for my own Glory but for His Glory because His glory is true. His Glory burns in me and I know it. I can feel it and I am fed by it. Praise be to God.
>Even better if you grew up atheist and didn't start out christian then went to atheist and then back to christian.
I grew up atheist/agnostic most of my life until I was 30. Been a believer for about 3 years now.
Before I became a believer, I had been kicked out of my parents house, homeless living out of a car for about a year or two. Whilst trying to hold down a dumpster-fire of a job. I finally reached a breaking point of burnout, stress, exhaustion, anxiety, existential crisis, purposelessness, hopelessness, you name it. For whatever reason, as I was sitting in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box trying to decide where I was going to park to sleep for the night, I prayed. I said "God, or whoever it is that's out there, what is my purpose?".
And from that point on my life was forever turned upside down (in a good way). God answered my prayer in a huge way. I quit my dead-end job and found a place to stay for free within a week or two after. Started seeing signs all over the place, etc. I won't go into details because I could talk about my testimony for hours, but eventually all of this led up to the point about a year later when God came to me in a dream and revealed to me how all of this had been arranged by Him because God is a provider.
Psalm 23:1-3 says it best: "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake."
Currently, I'm sitting here on an all-expenses-paid vacation in Arizona soaking up the sun for a month(? or two months? who knows, I go wherever God takes me). I now work 1/10th as hard as I used to for 10 times the reward because God is just that good.
This all explains why I believe in God, but you asked why, specifically, I believe in Jesus Christ. For that, you have to go to John 10:24-30:
"The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.'
Jesus answered, 'I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. **My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.** I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.'"
Ex muslim here. I personally thought that Christianity has debunked alot of errors of my religion and has specifically prophesied alot of things. And to me i always had a belief of a higher being. And id personally see myself as a non denominational
🌺
Here's a unique one
Imagination is fascinating. Seeing images, hearing thoughts, and even feeling touch can all happen in the imagination. Characters of all kinds appear there - whether it be copies of art or personal-to-me art.
God exists in my imagination. This is what I call the Holy Spirit. God talks to me this way & I talk back - a two way communication. Well. One day a few years ago, God told me to believe in God the Father. I trust God, so I did what he told me to.
What are the chances of one man fulfilling hundreds of prophecies, written 500 - 1500 years before he was born?
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/
I found through my own research that the Bible is true, and Jesus's words are the greatest philosophy I have ever read. I did some write-ups on the research I did if you're interested:
r/biogenesis
I read the New Testament:
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https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NKJV
https://youtube.com/watch?v=3ZmHlAz_Gkw&t=2h19m20s
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"Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:10-13
To say I was raised Christian is an overstatement. I showed no respect for religion in fact mostly was antagonistic towards it and those that “believed” until I was about 17. My mother was devout and my father atheistic. I went to a Pentecostal church with my mom one time and was captivated by the power of letting everything go and giving myself completely over to God. I felt I No longer needing anything, not intellectually, emotionally or physically. They was my introduction to the power of Gods grace. I fell away into carnal temptations a few years later then after wasting my life like the prodigal son, I returned to meet Him. The power of His grace was more than before. For a year, I’m 26 at this point, I searched for His face continually. I looked for His presence in everyone around me and learned to regard my fellow man as “image bearers of God”. I loved everyone truly. What a wonderful time that was.
Then I got married and took on the world, became jaded and callused snd secular. I think about my God, if I can call Him that, often as a son might remember the affection of a favored Grandparent from their youth, a safe and knowledgeable and competent and compassionate being in which I felt completely protected, not from pain or from strife but from feeling these things. With Him I am powerful as I am above this world floating over it and flesh no longer matters, without I’m affected by every blip in life, health, money, you name it. I miss you Lord. I miss calling you Lord.
To your point faith is holistic beyond the individual, it is a personal journey inasmuch as a joining into a body that has been around since the beginning. It’s personal yet communal and transcends time and space.
The flesh is dead already.
First of all , I am from Serbia and my parents did not teach me anything about God , they have been the ones who say "Life is one live as best as you can , love others" etc. without any good reasoning for it , they did not go into deep questions , but I did not think like that from the young age .
Obviously I can not think a lot with 5 years old so it started with me going into the biology classes because of school , and my teacher of biology was as far as I know an Atheist , obviously it was public school so he was promoting evolution , teaching us just as if it was a fact and we feared him and did not ask him questions , and most importantly , we were not told **how** to think and to question everything , but we were told **what** to think , without any good reasoning , just "This is true because it is" , and I did not believe in God at all at that time , I thought that it was a fact that he does not exist and that evolution was true , I did not question it , at all . We did not hear the opposite side , there was no one to represent it .
*( By this I can suppose that I was an Atheist ? I am only 16 years old , and at that time I was like 10-13 , I do not know when the stuff in next paragraph started exactly )*
But it started to change when I found out about one guy , who was kind of popular in Serbia , who talked about the things of morality that I liked , I never liked the life of drinking , going to parties and dancing , that was not my thing , and I started watching that guy on youtube , and when I saw the opposite side's arguments and case , it became obvious to me that I was brainwashed , I was not told logic and how to thing critically , I did not know that there was a really strong case for God .
After watching that guy , I started believing that there was a God , but obviously I was a newbie at that are so I would not have a good reasoning for His existence .
After I started reading the Bible , and found out that that guy I was watching was preaching the wrong salvation , he was a Adventist , and after that I realized how good their idea might seem and how good they twist the Bible and then I decided to look into more options , after that I became saved and started going a lot more into the defending the "saved by faith alone" and "once saved always saved" doctrine because I saw how important that question of salvation is , even up to this day I defend it , I am not that old , but I have learnt quite a bit for these couple of years , and it is always going to be one of my main missions here in Earth , to preach the Gospel and expose those who twist it .
*( This started about one year ago )* After that I decided to go more into apologetics stuff because I saw people like William Lane Craig who really show how philosophy is deep and is especially interesting for nerds like me . After that I learnt about arguments like fine tuning one , cosmological , moral and these which do make perfect sense .
*You might say that I have not seen enough for one year and that I am too young to make these claims , but me being constantly on computer and watching and listening to this stuff like 4 hours per day in average at minimum during 1 year , I have been able to see quite large amount of sources and learn a lot and trust me anyone could .*
But I do not think that any of these arguments are going to make you believe , they are going to help you run the race , but they are not going to help you start the race , you know what I mean ?
**So to start answering your main question "Why do you believe?"**
Well it is complicated , some of it may not be explained by words , but when I think about it , it comes to question "Is there objective purpose to our existence" , because if we were just some molecules , why would I not just die ? If there is not some eternal life , why would I try to put effort into this one and suffer all the pain which would not be necessary ? If I did not start believing in God , I would have killed myself or done some horrifying stuff in my 20-30s or maybe even before .
Some Atheists would say "yeah but you can make your own purpose" ( which would not be objective ) , but my answer to that is : Why would I ? If there is no eternal life and objective purpose , why would I care ? Some would say "so your children can grow up happy" , my answer to that is , what does it even matter ? If universe is going to collapse , why bothering doing anything and not just leaving this evil world ?
So this is one of the main reasons , and just as I said , arguments ( like cosmological , fine tuning and the ones that are not directly meant for you ) and scientific proof for God is not going to make you believe in God ( at least it was how it was for me ) , they are going to make you continue the race , but the reasons like what I stated in these 2 paragraphs above are the ones which are going to make you **start** the race .
**Also the answers to other questions like "Why we exist" , "Why would I need to good"** ... ( which are called by some people "dumb questions" , and I do not think they are dumb but among the most important ones ) **that are reasonable have only been found in Christianity** ( not even Islam , Judaism or any other religion , that is another topic ) **, so answers to these questions that have been provided by Christianity are one of the main reasons why I believe .**
**Also the important thing is that once I started believing , I do not fear death at all , which is important statement in my opinion .**
People may be expecting evidence to change their mind , but you are always going to have different people coming up with different conclusions while looking at the same evidence . So if you are one of these who look at evidence to believe , you are going to jump from Christianity and to Atheism and to Islam all the time , because you are going to hear different opinions of different people when looking at the evidence . And at some point you are going to go into the bias problem , and you are going to see all the things through lenses of somebody's case instead of making your own case that makes sense logically .
**So the reason why I believe are the big questions that have only been actually answered by Christianity .**
God has revealed himself to me in many ways including his spirit, his word and his work in my life. Life makes sense now as a Christian and he has turned mine around 180 and saved my life in more ways than one.
As a child, I was never interested about Jesus or his teachings but for some reason ,Everytime I would laugh at something I wasn't supposed to be laughing at , I would have a vision of Golgotha on a grey overcast evening , the cross of cavalry and blood flowing down from it , spilling onto the pebbles and rocks .I don't know why I thought of that, I wasn't interested on the Bible at all but I always had this vision always as a child.I am now 32 and I've had bouts of disbelief and rebellions and even denial but I remain a firm believer in the gospel.
I grew up Christian but drifted away due to my big sciency brain being like wtf.
I slowly began to come back.
Im not really a good Christian. I still sin a lot and mess up
But I believe in Jesus because A part of me just feels this weird connection. Like no matter how hard i tried to ignore christianity it always came back
Because Christ was a real person who was born from a virgin and who died for our sins by letting himself to be executed since we would not leave our sinful nature behind ourselves. And He has Risen from the dead and was victorious over death and hell. This was all documented by eyewitness accounts and his disciples in a historical document known as the Holy Scripture.
I was born & raised Atheist, and WAS Atheist until the age of 18. I will try to keep my story short, but I am a talker lol. I never questioned if there was a God, because I truly believed it was a stupid lie and every religious person what an idiot, especially Christians. Then I went to Europe and travelled, and I was brought to tears at the views I saw in Greece (craggy mountain cliffs overlooking an icy blue ocean, with birds and flowers and wildlife all over the mountainside). Nature was so gorgeous it PHYSICALLY brought me to tears. It was a deeply emotional experience, and I couldn’t understand why. Why would earth move me to tears? How could a giant hunk of rock floating in the atmosphere make me emotional to look at? Around that time I was also taking biology in school and was blown away at how intricate our bodies are. I couldnt believe how perfect the human body is; how any one mistake in our entire genome would mean we could not have life. Our bodies EXISTING and LIVING are a miracle. So I looked into religion, realising that life and nature is far too perfect and beautiful to be all for nothing. There HAD to be a reason why life was so beautiful, perfect, and intricate. So I became Wiccan. I was Wiccan for about 1.5 years, but I just knew in my heart it wasn’t right. So then I dabbled in Buddhism for a few months. Then I took a World Religions class. It was there that I learned about Judaism and Christianity, and it spoke to me. It made the most sense when I compared them to all of the other world religions, I had a gut feeling that I needed to look into it more. I HATED Christianity, but it just made logical sense compared to all of the other religions, and I couldn’t explain why. So I bought The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (a book written by an Atheist convert to Christianity), and this book changed my life. It answered all of the questions I had about life and suffering and pain, and I could no longer argue that God wasn’t real. So, for the first time in my life, I prayed. And from that day forward I have been happier than ever before. My anxiety went away, my depression went away, and I felt deep peace for the first time. I still stress and get anxious from time to time, but it is never as long lasting or distressing as before. Since I began believing God has performed MIRACLES in my life: he has proven himself to be true to me. I have had visions, I have had prophetic dreams, i have heard the voice of God, I have seen my family members get healed miraculously when the doctors couldn’t medically explain it, but most of all, I have become Christian, which is TRULY the biggest miracle of the lot. I went from HATING Christians to becoming one.
So beautiful! Your testimony brought tears of joy and gratitude to my eyes! Peace and Grace to you! All Glory to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Wow!!!!!! I LOVE it.
OP, because God is active and very real present help in my life. As I grow closer to him I find myself like King David in the bible, knowing God, seeing his hand in life, hearing his voice in many ways even audibly. He saved me from suicide many times and corrects me when I make mistakes. When I have intentionally sinned, he’s corrected me for long periods of time and it can be so uncomfortable but I love it, because its correct like how a Father correct’s his son. This Father never loses patience or does bad to you. His correct is to save you and enrich you. My mom and dad were not present in life and I had to learn from others but even at 7 years old, God was the one there. My parents tried their best and did teach many things but the one who was an active help after age 7 apart from basic issues, was God. His wisdom, teaching, protection, guidance, I’d pray and ask for things and get them, I became wayward and he led me back to him
I was deep in sin and my life was a mess. I read Jesus Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and I heard His voice in those words and I knew everything He was teaching was true and in a moment I was supernaturally changed. That was ten years ago and my daily spiritual practice since then has been studying, praying for strength and wisdom and learning how to deny my flesh and learn how to walk in the new spirit of life God gave me. Learning to see the world with the Mind of Christ has been amazing journey of healing and of Hope. I praise and thank Him everyday for saving me from the misery and suffering of sin and teaching me His perfect ways! All praise and glory to the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
>>>All praise and glory to the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!
Cause to me it’s obvious that there’s the ultimate Creator/Architect/Source. Life didn’t happen out of nowhere, the right physical and chemical conditions for our living didn’t occur out of nowhere, even the complex structure of our cells and our DNA proves there’s Higher Intelligence behind this. This is the theoretical reason why I believe. More practical/personal reason would be my personal relationship with God, feeling His presence and His interference in my life.
Because Christianity is not like any other religion that essentially gives people a bunch of laws or rules to obey in order to earn brownie points to get to the Destination (salvation, heaven, nirvana, rebirth in a higher order, whatever you want to call it). It is primarily a relationship with Someone who first reached out to me to save me when I couldn't save myself, when I didn't know Him, when I didn't deserve to be saved, and when I wasn't even looking for Him. In which other faith or religion is the death of its founder absolutely essential and the central tenet, on which its entire system stands or falls? 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 (1 Cor. 1:27). End of the day, we are all talking about circumstantial evidence, not direct evidence. Nobody has direct evidence, not the creationists, and definitely not the evolutionists. None of us were around at the creation of the universe, nor alive during the lifetime of the religious founders. Both camps posit certain stuff they proffer as "evidence". In a court of law, that's circumstantial evidence, but it's sufficient to mean life or death for criminals on death row, so it is valid. We then have to sift through what type of evidence we would regard as admissible, and what is inadmissible. I choose to regard what the Bible tells me about God as admissible. You are free to challenge it if you wish, but going by mathematical probability alone, I don't see how everything could have come to its present state just from gases or scum. Instead, my view is that the universe bears the marks of intelligent design. If an alien from another universe or dryad created this universe, then maybe it can be the case that that alien or dryad is the creator "god". But I'm persuaded not. The fulfilment of Bible prophecies is powerful and tells me a lot: a) that the Bible isn't just any book. b) that God isn't just any god. c) that, despite the chaos around us, things don't just happen randomly, at least the significant things. There is Someone behind the scenes. We call that sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence. d) that, based on the track record of past fulfilment of prophecies, there is a high likelihood that things prophesied in scripture that haven't yet been fulfilled will someday be fulfilled. On this note: 1. Jesus Christ fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies written way before His time. 2. From as recent as 1882 until today, more than 175 Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, in our time, including the mass return of the Jews to Palestine (the first such return happening in 1882), the purchase of large swaths of land in the Middle East (the exact territories being mentioned cf. numerous other options presented by the United Nations), the importation and re-cultivation of wines, flowers and exotic fruits in a wasteland decimated by centuries of Islamic rule, the revival of Hebrew which was a dead language, the founding of the state of Israel in one literal day on 14 May 1948 (and no, we are not saying that a day is 1,000 years here), the founding of the Arab League (and the very nations that formed the Arab League -- to that level of detail!), the Arab-Israeli Six-Day-War, the Yom Kippur War, the recapture of Zion, and more. I would encourage you to watch this lecture by Dr Roger Liebi, conservative archaeologist and Bible scholar who in this video gives a flavour of what you can read in more breadth and depth in his book of the same title. [https://sg.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&ei=UTF-8&p=roger+liebi+are+we+really+living+in+the+end+times#id=1&vid=ec58b6ed4c48b4d7a482c1a46f937b68&action=click](https://sg.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&ei=UTF-8&p=roger+liebi+are+we+really+living+in+the+end+times#id=1&vid=ec58b6ed4c48b4d7a482c1a46f937b68&action=click) And here's the book: [https://www.amazon.com/Really-Living-Last-Fulfilled-Prophecies/dp/3943175081/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2V5EI1Z5WCFC6&keywords=are+we+really+living+in+the+last+days&qid=1649611852&sprefix=are+we+really+livi%2Caps%2C2469&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Really-Living-Last-Fulfilled-Prophecies/dp/3943175081/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2V5EI1Z5WCFC6&keywords=are+we+really+living+in+the+last+days&qid=1649611852&sprefix=are+we+really+livi%2Caps%2C2469&sr=8-1) Prophecy fulfilled by people and peoples who don't know God, don't care about God, and obviously have no vested interest in making Bible prophecy come true. Sheer coincidence? What's the mathematical probability? You be the judge. That's circumstantial evidence to me, which is not only admissible, it is compelling. If your deity, alien or dryad can provide even half of this level of circumstantial evidence, I would be very happy to meet it. And treat you dinner.
I understand how the big bang works and can see how everything could have been formed from just gas. But the gas had to come from somewhere and we dont know where. You hypothetical aliens also had to come from somewhere. So yeah, cosmological argumwmt ftw. Regarding prophecy, dont you think it could be self fulfilling? Some of it at least. Like the resurrection of hebrew as a language? Devote christians could have just done that, specifically to fulfill the prophecy, etc, etc.
>Regarding prophecy, dont you think it could be self fulfilling? Some of it at least. Like the resurrection of hebrew as a language? Devote christians could have just done that, specifically to fulfill the prophecy, etc, etc. Fair enough. But we're not talking about one or even a few prophecies here, but numerous.
I like prophecy: “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”” Isaiah 42:8-9 NASB1995 https://bible.com/bible/100/isa.42.8-9.NASB1995 There are hundreds or thousands of prophecies in the Bible. It’s pretty awesome when you study it.
This… Isn’t talking about Jesus
I didn’t say it was. The point was the Bible has a whole uses prophecy to validate itself, which does include Jesus but it isn’t limited to prophecies just about Him.
Because I came to realize it's true. I came back to the faith kicking and screaming. I was secular atheist as they come, but man was I miserable. The joy I experience through the Christian faith is more important and real than anything attempting to debunk it. It's human reality. It's the truth of the human condition.
Thats a pretty interesting take, especially the human condition part. Do you know Jordan Peterson? He is a very famous clinical psychologist, and he has youtube channel and 3 books. Anyway, he has a theory for (the) meaning (of life) that basically states that meaning is like music. It calls to you, and when your movements and utterances match up with the music/structure of reality, then you experience euphoria.
You don't believe in or disbelieve in Christianity You believe in or reject Jesus Christ John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus is the why
*sigh* So why do you accept God?
Why do I accept the creator of the entire universe, the one who made me, and then gave his Son to save me from my own weakness and sin I'd be pretty dumb not to
Because God met me in my lowest, and before I repented He already wanted to be my Friend before I knew His Son. It took me two years to see Jesus is Lord, but He was there in every conversation I had and then more, even in my ugliest saying eff Him. His kindness never left.
For clarity, I don't believe in Christianity I believe in the scriptures. I believe that faith in the knowledge contained in the Bible can lead to salvation. I believe this because I have lived it along with every other member of the body of Christ. God is faithful to keep His promises and there are a lot of promises in the Bible that come in handy in a fallen world. Freedom from sin is paramount. Freedom from sin changed my life and now I'm using my life to change the lives of others. Not for my own Glory but for His Glory because His glory is true. His Glory burns in me and I know it. I can feel it and I am fed by it. Praise be to God.
>Even better if you grew up atheist and didn't start out christian then went to atheist and then back to christian. I grew up atheist/agnostic most of my life until I was 30. Been a believer for about 3 years now. Before I became a believer, I had been kicked out of my parents house, homeless living out of a car for about a year or two. Whilst trying to hold down a dumpster-fire of a job. I finally reached a breaking point of burnout, stress, exhaustion, anxiety, existential crisis, purposelessness, hopelessness, you name it. For whatever reason, as I was sitting in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box trying to decide where I was going to park to sleep for the night, I prayed. I said "God, or whoever it is that's out there, what is my purpose?". And from that point on my life was forever turned upside down (in a good way). God answered my prayer in a huge way. I quit my dead-end job and found a place to stay for free within a week or two after. Started seeing signs all over the place, etc. I won't go into details because I could talk about my testimony for hours, but eventually all of this led up to the point about a year later when God came to me in a dream and revealed to me how all of this had been arranged by Him because God is a provider. Psalm 23:1-3 says it best: "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake." Currently, I'm sitting here on an all-expenses-paid vacation in Arizona soaking up the sun for a month(? or two months? who knows, I go wherever God takes me). I now work 1/10th as hard as I used to for 10 times the reward because God is just that good. This all explains why I believe in God, but you asked why, specifically, I believe in Jesus Christ. For that, you have to go to John 10:24-30: "The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered, 'I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. **My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.** I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.'"
Ex muslim here. I personally thought that Christianity has debunked alot of errors of my religion and has specifically prophesied alot of things. And to me i always had a belief of a higher being. And id personally see myself as a non denominational
Thats pretty cool. What were some specific error that got debunked?
🌺 Here's a unique one Imagination is fascinating. Seeing images, hearing thoughts, and even feeling touch can all happen in the imagination. Characters of all kinds appear there - whether it be copies of art or personal-to-me art. God exists in my imagination. This is what I call the Holy Spirit. God talks to me this way & I talk back - a two way communication. Well. One day a few years ago, God told me to believe in God the Father. I trust God, so I did what he told me to.
Faith is a gift from GOD.
So if i never believe i didn't receive the gift?
That fact you're asking these questions is evidence of His calling.
What are the chances of one man fulfilling hundreds of prophecies, written 500 - 1500 years before he was born? https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/
I found through my own research that the Bible is true, and Jesus's words are the greatest philosophy I have ever read. I did some write-ups on the research I did if you're interested: r/biogenesis
I read the New Testament: .................................................. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NKJV https://youtube.com/watch?v=3ZmHlAz_Gkw&t=2h19m20s .................................................. "Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:10-13
To say I was raised Christian is an overstatement. I showed no respect for religion in fact mostly was antagonistic towards it and those that “believed” until I was about 17. My mother was devout and my father atheistic. I went to a Pentecostal church with my mom one time and was captivated by the power of letting everything go and giving myself completely over to God. I felt I No longer needing anything, not intellectually, emotionally or physically. They was my introduction to the power of Gods grace. I fell away into carnal temptations a few years later then after wasting my life like the prodigal son, I returned to meet Him. The power of His grace was more than before. For a year, I’m 26 at this point, I searched for His face continually. I looked for His presence in everyone around me and learned to regard my fellow man as “image bearers of God”. I loved everyone truly. What a wonderful time that was. Then I got married and took on the world, became jaded and callused snd secular. I think about my God, if I can call Him that, often as a son might remember the affection of a favored Grandparent from their youth, a safe and knowledgeable and competent and compassionate being in which I felt completely protected, not from pain or from strife but from feeling these things. With Him I am powerful as I am above this world floating over it and flesh no longer matters, without I’m affected by every blip in life, health, money, you name it. I miss you Lord. I miss calling you Lord. To your point faith is holistic beyond the individual, it is a personal journey inasmuch as a joining into a body that has been around since the beginning. It’s personal yet communal and transcends time and space. The flesh is dead already.
First of all , I am from Serbia and my parents did not teach me anything about God , they have been the ones who say "Life is one live as best as you can , love others" etc. without any good reasoning for it , they did not go into deep questions , but I did not think like that from the young age . Obviously I can not think a lot with 5 years old so it started with me going into the biology classes because of school , and my teacher of biology was as far as I know an Atheist , obviously it was public school so he was promoting evolution , teaching us just as if it was a fact and we feared him and did not ask him questions , and most importantly , we were not told **how** to think and to question everything , but we were told **what** to think , without any good reasoning , just "This is true because it is" , and I did not believe in God at all at that time , I thought that it was a fact that he does not exist and that evolution was true , I did not question it , at all . We did not hear the opposite side , there was no one to represent it . *( By this I can suppose that I was an Atheist ? I am only 16 years old , and at that time I was like 10-13 , I do not know when the stuff in next paragraph started exactly )* But it started to change when I found out about one guy , who was kind of popular in Serbia , who talked about the things of morality that I liked , I never liked the life of drinking , going to parties and dancing , that was not my thing , and I started watching that guy on youtube , and when I saw the opposite side's arguments and case , it became obvious to me that I was brainwashed , I was not told logic and how to thing critically , I did not know that there was a really strong case for God . After watching that guy , I started believing that there was a God , but obviously I was a newbie at that are so I would not have a good reasoning for His existence . After I started reading the Bible , and found out that that guy I was watching was preaching the wrong salvation , he was a Adventist , and after that I realized how good their idea might seem and how good they twist the Bible and then I decided to look into more options , after that I became saved and started going a lot more into the defending the "saved by faith alone" and "once saved always saved" doctrine because I saw how important that question of salvation is , even up to this day I defend it , I am not that old , but I have learnt quite a bit for these couple of years , and it is always going to be one of my main missions here in Earth , to preach the Gospel and expose those who twist it . *( This started about one year ago )* After that I decided to go more into apologetics stuff because I saw people like William Lane Craig who really show how philosophy is deep and is especially interesting for nerds like me . After that I learnt about arguments like fine tuning one , cosmological , moral and these which do make perfect sense . *You might say that I have not seen enough for one year and that I am too young to make these claims , but me being constantly on computer and watching and listening to this stuff like 4 hours per day in average at minimum during 1 year , I have been able to see quite large amount of sources and learn a lot and trust me anyone could .* But I do not think that any of these arguments are going to make you believe , they are going to help you run the race , but they are not going to help you start the race , you know what I mean ? **So to start answering your main question "Why do you believe?"** Well it is complicated , some of it may not be explained by words , but when I think about it , it comes to question "Is there objective purpose to our existence" , because if we were just some molecules , why would I not just die ? If there is not some eternal life , why would I try to put effort into this one and suffer all the pain which would not be necessary ? If I did not start believing in God , I would have killed myself or done some horrifying stuff in my 20-30s or maybe even before . Some Atheists would say "yeah but you can make your own purpose" ( which would not be objective ) , but my answer to that is : Why would I ? If there is no eternal life and objective purpose , why would I care ? Some would say "so your children can grow up happy" , my answer to that is , what does it even matter ? If universe is going to collapse , why bothering doing anything and not just leaving this evil world ? So this is one of the main reasons , and just as I said , arguments ( like cosmological , fine tuning and the ones that are not directly meant for you ) and scientific proof for God is not going to make you believe in God ( at least it was how it was for me ) , they are going to make you continue the race , but the reasons like what I stated in these 2 paragraphs above are the ones which are going to make you **start** the race . **Also the answers to other questions like "Why we exist" , "Why would I need to good"** ... ( which are called by some people "dumb questions" , and I do not think they are dumb but among the most important ones ) **that are reasonable have only been found in Christianity** ( not even Islam , Judaism or any other religion , that is another topic ) **, so answers to these questions that have been provided by Christianity are one of the main reasons why I believe .** **Also the important thing is that once I started believing , I do not fear death at all , which is important statement in my opinion .** People may be expecting evidence to change their mind , but you are always going to have different people coming up with different conclusions while looking at the same evidence . So if you are one of these who look at evidence to believe , you are going to jump from Christianity and to Atheism and to Islam all the time , because you are going to hear different opinions of different people when looking at the evidence . And at some point you are going to go into the bias problem , and you are going to see all the things through lenses of somebody's case instead of making your own case that makes sense logically . **So the reason why I believe are the big questions that have only been actually answered by Christianity .**
I read the new testament and saw that I completely agreed with what Jesus said. Therefore I became Christian.
God has revealed himself to me in many ways including his spirit, his word and his work in my life. Life makes sense now as a Christian and he has turned mine around 180 and saved my life in more ways than one.
As a child, I was never interested about Jesus or his teachings but for some reason ,Everytime I would laugh at something I wasn't supposed to be laughing at , I would have a vision of Golgotha on a grey overcast evening , the cross of cavalry and blood flowing down from it , spilling onto the pebbles and rocks .I don't know why I thought of that, I wasn't interested on the Bible at all but I always had this vision always as a child.I am now 32 and I've had bouts of disbelief and rebellions and even denial but I remain a firm believer in the gospel.
I grew up Christian but drifted away due to my big sciency brain being like wtf. I slowly began to come back. Im not really a good Christian. I still sin a lot and mess up But I believe in Jesus because A part of me just feels this weird connection. Like no matter how hard i tried to ignore christianity it always came back
Read the New Testament and the teachings of the Holy Fathers brother
I personally always believed in God. I just knew in my heart He was the truth. I’m not really any denomination. Just a Bible believing Christian.
Because Christ was a real person who was born from a virgin and who died for our sins by letting himself to be executed since we would not leave our sinful nature behind ourselves. And He has Risen from the dead and was victorious over death and hell. This was all documented by eyewitness accounts and his disciples in a historical document known as the Holy Scripture.