I have been thinking about this topic of reasons to believe for a long time (as have probably most people on this site) and wrote down a list this past week. I could not find a thread that was reasonably like this, so I wanted to post my list and see what thoughts people might have. This is a list of major reasons that people might believe in a Creator and/or in Jesus part of the triune Creator. The list is broken down into three groups - (1) Intellectual reasons to believe that there is a Creator/God (2) Intellectual reasons to believe in the Bible as telling the true story of creation and (3) Heart or Soul reasons to believe in Jesus and the Bible. I will try to make it brief, but I also want to be fairly clear in the explanations.
Intellectual reasons to believe in a Creator/God
1. The Big Bang - that within the first few moments of creation ex nihilo that a foundation was laid for the next 13.7 billion years until now, including it seems the laws of nature and of space and time itself.
2. The transcendent non-materialism of the laws of nature - this is something that I came up with myself and have not seen elsewhere, but it never made sense to me that materialists often fall back on the laws of nature as being absolute and yet the laws of nature are abstract. We can't hear, see, taste, touch, or smell E=mc^2 or any of the host of other laws. And so how does the material world "know" to obey the laws. There must be something deeper.
3. The Anthropic principle - how so many myriads of highly improbable "coincidences" led us to this beautiful planet and universe where life, love, and consciousness can grow and thrive.
4. Consciousness - something that is so difficult to define and yet nearly impossible to deny. It is what gives us the ability to ponder, feel, see, hear, relate to others, and worship. Humans seem to have more of this than other creatures on this earth and probably the physical universe as well.
5. The low probability of life from evolution - this can be seen as an aspect of the anthropic principle, but it could be pointed out that even non-believers like Francis Crick were hard pressed to explain life within the evolutionary time scales that we now know things had to use for life to evolve (at least this is what I have read).
Intellectual reasons to believe in the Bible as telling the true story of creation
6. Strong correlation between Genesis 1 and science - this is what Hugh Ross and the scholars at https://reasons.org are documenting and what I tried to express at my site https://big.bible. Most readers of this forum seem to be familiar with these correlations so I won't re-iterate them here.
7. The witness of history - the fact that science arose in a sustainable way most strongly within the Abrahamic faiths and that sometimes through miraculous means the Judeo-Christian civilization was preserved (although not without many injustices and deep mistakes along the way). But even the fact that we as a Judeo-Christian based civilization have the will and desire to still make things right with appropriate amends demonstrates the survivability and truth of this faith.
8. The shroud of Turin - the posts on this site and recent evidence makes a strong case for this Christian relic and in doing so, for the case for the Christian faith.
Heart of Soul Reasons to Believe in Jesus and the Bible
I want to preface these reasons by saying our experiences and reasons can be so personal and unique that these reasons can be only highlights that will necessarily miss much nuance.
9. The charm of Jesus - the most lovable person who ever walked this earth for many people, following John 12:32 "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”.
10. The hope and promise of more functional relationships, families, and communities - when the Christian faith works well then many people become drawn to the unique love, commitment, selflessness, and hope that they see in other Christians or even in reading about it in the Bible or in history.
11. The power and continuity of godly values and traditions - this may be the case for many who were brought up in functional, godly homes where faith is the only reasonable choice. This also fulfills the promises of the LORD to bless generations of those who believe.
12. To keep us from sin and/or destruction - Many people come to faith as they are delivered from addictions, sickness, violence, abuse, or other difficult situations.
13. Hopes for the future, including heaven and eternal life - realizing their mortality and the coming to believe of a possibility of something good beyond the grave can be influential for some.
I was interested in your feedback about what has been most influential in your coming to faith or in remaining in your faith. I have been focused lately on the intellectual reasons, perhaps because those are the ones that are easiest to discuss in a calm, rational manner, and the easiest to not get made fun of in many cases. But in my personal life, I think it is the heart and soul reasons that have kept me from straying from my faith in my adult life. If you have time, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Your thoughts about reasons for believing
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Philip
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Re: Your thoughts about reasons for believing
Good stuff, BK!
Matthew 22:37 tells us to "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And all of these elements heart, soul and mind work together for those who love and seek Him. Of course, much of Godandscience.org is dedicated to using our minds in learning about God that also touches our hearts and minds. Over many years of talking to unbelievers, trying to understand them, debating many, I've come to realize that many unbelievers hide and mask to others - and often even to themselves - the true reasons for their unbelief. Many would assert they don't have enough intellectual reasons or evidence to believe, whereas, often, their true issues are actually EMOTIONAL in origin. And while some may, at least on some level, truly believe their lack of faith and blockages to God are due to insufficient evidences He exists, the only way ANYONE could have insufficient evidences about God - especially in the modern era - would be because THEY have suppressed such knowledge or diligently avoided the countless related evidences. Many claiming an evidence deficient, in truth, may have been hurt by others, angered or experienced whatever emotional traumas (from family / father / mother or other close but dysfunctional relationships), or perhaps were church hurt - or damaged by Christians not living as Scripture teaches them to. Sometimes, people have confused people merely CALLING themselves "Christians," that have damaged them - which in reality, are not truly Christians at all.
There are many unbelievers who do not believe in God / Christ, due to some of the above mentioned issues, and yet, personally, they sincerely believe their skepticism and unbelief have to do with a lack of evidence God exists. Sometimes, it's a matter of them failing to understand why there are wars, cruelty, and such great suffering, evil, and mayhem across the earth - "IF" a good God exists. And yet, there ARE satisfying answers to these important questions - IF people truly want to hear them, or are willing to listen to and at least seek the answers. In fact, providing such evidences has long been much of the mission of GodandScience! What I've also seen is that many eventually come to faith as they begin to realize there are so many powerful evidences and reasons to conclude God not only exists, that without Him, NOTHING could or would. And this causes their previously stated and SELF-believed reasons for their unbelief to begin to evaporate. And so God uses this knowledge to open their eyes to some of the REAL reasons for their unbelief, while at the same time providing them with satisfying intellectual answers they previously did not think existed.
Sometimes, people need the many powerful evidences God has provided us all, before they can begin to grasp their deeper, emotional / psychological reasons behind their unbelief. Some just need to be made aware of these many powerful evidences while also showing them that it is wrong them to believe the false things they previously had thought about God. But it is precisely HOW Christians explain such things to unbelievers - in tone, kindness, and through the showing of real concern for them, that can be key to whether they will seriously begin to listen. Of course, many deliberately choose to cling to their unbelief merely because they rather like creating and following their own self-serving rules (as opposed to God values), and thus they don't want to hear or know about anything that conflicts with their unbelief - as whether Christianity is true or not doesn't even matter to them.
It really shouldn't be surprising that people tend to confuse the actual reasons WHY they believe the false things they often do. While realizing and being shown irrefutable evidences, they must be willing to seriously consider them and honestly assess how they conflict with their unbelieving mindset. And this can be the catalyst for them beginning to address the true underlying causes and motivations driving their unbelief - which calls for intense self-honesty and reflection. And this process and be slow, messy, and can be pretty scary and uncomfortable - as such things are for us all. As we're all humans and thus prone to deluding ourselves in an effort to avoid looking too deeply at our own spiritual and psychological motivations.
Of course, becoming a Christian and entering God's salvation is NOT merely believing He exists or even that Christ was resurrected. What saves a person is when they ALSO commit their heart and mind to God in direct communication with Him that they desire for Jesus to be their Lord - with a determination to follow Him as best they can and as He gives them the ability to. And that does not take anything other than a terribly flawed human being (as we all are) reaching out to grab God's already outreached hand, as it is His desire ALL persons embrace what He is offering EVERYONE (His salvation, personal peace, and a glorious eternity) - although many, sadly, will refuse to. God saving us does NOT mean we won't continue to sin or mess up - as while human and mortal, we will always make mistakes, and sometimes, very serious ones. But being saved DOES change our hearts to desiring God / Christ and give us a desire to be obedient to His directives and guidance. And God's love will enable us to also desire to love others, and to spread our knowledge about Him to others we encounter.
It's also important to note that God saves sinners right where they are upon the very moment of their salvation, no matter how messed up and hopeless they might seem to be. As it is He who slowly begins to change us from within, and AFTER our salvation. And then God changes us as He begins guiding us through His process of sanctification - a life-long, sometimes difficult, messy, and tedious process, as He lovingly and VERY patiently transforms us - in countless amazing ways we could never do ourselves. And that process will look different and unique for each Christian. And God will love and guide us all along our walk with Him, through good times and hard ones - and He'll NEVER let go of us. So, NO one can be GOOD enough to receive God's salvation - as this is something God will freely and unconditionally do this for ANYONE - but ONLY for one who willingly embraces Jesus in faith and commitment.
Just my "two" cents!
Philip
Matthew 22:37 tells us to "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And all of these elements heart, soul and mind work together for those who love and seek Him. Of course, much of Godandscience.org is dedicated to using our minds in learning about God that also touches our hearts and minds. Over many years of talking to unbelievers, trying to understand them, debating many, I've come to realize that many unbelievers hide and mask to others - and often even to themselves - the true reasons for their unbelief. Many would assert they don't have enough intellectual reasons or evidence to believe, whereas, often, their true issues are actually EMOTIONAL in origin. And while some may, at least on some level, truly believe their lack of faith and blockages to God are due to insufficient evidences He exists, the only way ANYONE could have insufficient evidences about God - especially in the modern era - would be because THEY have suppressed such knowledge or diligently avoided the countless related evidences. Many claiming an evidence deficient, in truth, may have been hurt by others, angered or experienced whatever emotional traumas (from family / father / mother or other close but dysfunctional relationships), or perhaps were church hurt - or damaged by Christians not living as Scripture teaches them to. Sometimes, people have confused people merely CALLING themselves "Christians," that have damaged them - which in reality, are not truly Christians at all.
There are many unbelievers who do not believe in God / Christ, due to some of the above mentioned issues, and yet, personally, they sincerely believe their skepticism and unbelief have to do with a lack of evidence God exists. Sometimes, it's a matter of them failing to understand why there are wars, cruelty, and such great suffering, evil, and mayhem across the earth - "IF" a good God exists. And yet, there ARE satisfying answers to these important questions - IF people truly want to hear them, or are willing to listen to and at least seek the answers. In fact, providing such evidences has long been much of the mission of GodandScience! What I've also seen is that many eventually come to faith as they begin to realize there are so many powerful evidences and reasons to conclude God not only exists, that without Him, NOTHING could or would. And this causes their previously stated and SELF-believed reasons for their unbelief to begin to evaporate. And so God uses this knowledge to open their eyes to some of the REAL reasons for their unbelief, while at the same time providing them with satisfying intellectual answers they previously did not think existed.
Sometimes, people need the many powerful evidences God has provided us all, before they can begin to grasp their deeper, emotional / psychological reasons behind their unbelief. Some just need to be made aware of these many powerful evidences while also showing them that it is wrong them to believe the false things they previously had thought about God. But it is precisely HOW Christians explain such things to unbelievers - in tone, kindness, and through the showing of real concern for them, that can be key to whether they will seriously begin to listen. Of course, many deliberately choose to cling to their unbelief merely because they rather like creating and following their own self-serving rules (as opposed to God values), and thus they don't want to hear or know about anything that conflicts with their unbelief - as whether Christianity is true or not doesn't even matter to them.
It really shouldn't be surprising that people tend to confuse the actual reasons WHY they believe the false things they often do. While realizing and being shown irrefutable evidences, they must be willing to seriously consider them and honestly assess how they conflict with their unbelieving mindset. And this can be the catalyst for them beginning to address the true underlying causes and motivations driving their unbelief - which calls for intense self-honesty and reflection. And this process and be slow, messy, and can be pretty scary and uncomfortable - as such things are for us all. As we're all humans and thus prone to deluding ourselves in an effort to avoid looking too deeply at our own spiritual and psychological motivations.
Of course, becoming a Christian and entering God's salvation is NOT merely believing He exists or even that Christ was resurrected. What saves a person is when they ALSO commit their heart and mind to God in direct communication with Him that they desire for Jesus to be their Lord - with a determination to follow Him as best they can and as He gives them the ability to. And that does not take anything other than a terribly flawed human being (as we all are) reaching out to grab God's already outreached hand, as it is His desire ALL persons embrace what He is offering EVERYONE (His salvation, personal peace, and a glorious eternity) - although many, sadly, will refuse to. God saving us does NOT mean we won't continue to sin or mess up - as while human and mortal, we will always make mistakes, and sometimes, very serious ones. But being saved DOES change our hearts to desiring God / Christ and give us a desire to be obedient to His directives and guidance. And God's love will enable us to also desire to love others, and to spread our knowledge about Him to others we encounter.
It's also important to note that God saves sinners right where they are upon the very moment of their salvation, no matter how messed up and hopeless they might seem to be. As it is He who slowly begins to change us from within, and AFTER our salvation. And then God changes us as He begins guiding us through His process of sanctification - a life-long, sometimes difficult, messy, and tedious process, as He lovingly and VERY patiently transforms us - in countless amazing ways we could never do ourselves. And that process will look different and unique for each Christian. And God will love and guide us all along our walk with Him, through good times and hard ones - and He'll NEVER let go of us. So, NO one can be GOOD enough to receive God's salvation - as this is something God will freely and unconditionally do this for ANYONE - but ONLY for one who willingly embraces Jesus in faith and commitment.
Just my "two" cents!
Philip