/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17827126]

Honest question, but how do people find god? If you don't believe in god, how can you be converted? How do you find faith in something you don't believe in? Even if I want to become religious, I can't, because I just can't convince myself that god is or could be real.

[Anonymous No.17827129]

Which god?

[Anonymous No.17827133]

>>17827129
does it matter? the idea of an omnipotent being is something I can't reconcile with what I understand of the world.

[Anonymous No.17827134]

>>17827126
>If you don't believe in god, how can you be converted
Arguments for contingency or emotional reasons

[Anonymous No.17827139]

>>17827134
>Arguments for contingency or emotional reasons
so you have to be easily lead or desperate to convince yourself?

[Anonymous No.17827142]

>>17827133
I don’t think all gods are omnipotent so yes

[Anonymous No.17827144]

>>17827142
Are you polytheist, or are you just being passive-aggressive towards other religions right now?

[Anonymous No.17827147]

>>17827139
I guess. There’s also the transcendental argument by Dyer, haven’t really heard a response to it.

[Anonymous No.17827152]

>>17827126

I don't think you can convince yourself actively, it might also be counter-productive. You should rather ask yourself why would you want to believe in the first place and go from there.

[Anonymous No.17827153]

>>17827126
>why is there something rather than nothing?
>why is the universe so finely tuned for the existence of life?
>why are we conscious?
>why does the world seem more beautiful than necessary?
>is it possible we have no free will?
>is existence really completely meaningless?
Yeah I’m thinking God exists

[Anonymous No.17827159]

reverence for gods and spirits
while keeping your distance from them
that can be called wisdom

[Anonymous No.17827163]

>>17827126
There's proof in the problem of consciousness. By what mechanism does the brain convert electric signals into sensory experiences like Eyesight, Sound and so on. Secondly there are prophecies in the Bible dealing with religion, such as the destruction of the temple after the appearance of the Messiah

[Anonymous No.17827170]

>>17827147
>the transcendental argument by Dyer
"The complexities of life are too complex to be random, so outside intelligence had to have designed it".
That's an argument for the matrix and the "ash is in a coma" pokemon theory. It's a favorite go-to for theists, but it's not actually a refutation, it's just a denial.

[Anonymous No.17827183]

>>17827153
If your reasons to belive are answers to questions about universe, then there's more than just "because God"

My faith was based on this answer and it crumbled when I found more.

[Anonymous No.17827185]

god to humans is like the internet to cats, unknowable, inconceivable. the more we say about it, the more we misguide ourselves and others

[Anonymous No.17827194]

>>17827185
"When my bird was looking at my computer monitor... that bird has no idea what he's looking at. And yet what does the bird do, does he panic? No, he can't really panic. He just does the best he can." - Terry A. Davis

[Anonymous No.17827195]

Try CS Lewis for starters

[Anonymous No.17827204]

>>17827194
Beautiful. RIP.

[Anonymous No.17827221]

>>17827183
My belief rests upon a solid foundation: a critique of physicalism, which leads me to idealism. If ontological idealism is true, then it isn’t such a stretch to ascribe divine properties to the cosmic mind.

[Anonymous No.17827324]

>>17827170
Nope

[Anonymous No.17827529]

>>17827126
Which is better, Truth or lies?
Which is better, love or hate?
There are two paths to God and both converge.
If you’ve seen the sun rise or a flower in bloom
If you’ve enjoyed any real love at all ever in your life
You’re closer to God than you think

[Anonymous No.17827815]

omnipootent

[Anonymous No.17827838]

>>17827153
the last two are stupid but the rest arent answered by god. god only raises more questions

[Anonymous No.17827856]

I'd be interested in books on this matter.
You can't just choose to believe in something because you happen to like the idea of it. There has to be something more.

[Anonymous No.17827868]

>>17827147
here's a response:
who made god?

[Anonymous No.17827882]

All it took was to realize materialism is false. The philosophers make a lot more sense then.

[Anonymous No.17827892]

>>17827126
Maybe by fear? then you can expand your views?
Fear of what you might ask, well eternal suffering?
No one can really prove whether God exists or not, that's why one of the requirements to be religious is to believe in God blindly.
Now consider the two options that everyone got to have, believing and not believing, and the two outcomes of each of those options.
If you believed and after death it turns out that there's actually an afterlife, good for you.
If no afterlife then just a second of disappointment and that's the end of it (at least you did good in your life).
Now let's say that you lived not believing that there was an afterlife, and it turns out that there's one, well..., am sure you know the rest...

[Anonymous No.17827893]

>>17827133
>omnipotent being
Who said God is a omnipotent being? If you can't even realize that you're influenced by Christianism in your conception of God, you should just read more.

[Anonymous No.17827929]

>>17827856
Everyone, you and me included, is prone to just rationalizing things they started believing in through non-rational means.

Spirituality in particular is just an emotional experience for most. Hell, for me it started that way, basically with a nascent aesthetic aversion to the scientistic world view. Then I later found it materialistism isn't as coherent as the moderns believe.

[Anonymous No.17827999]

>>17827126
Reason can get you to the point where you're at now, but there isn't some magic formula of proofs and propositions which will combine to form perfect knowledge of God. These same propositions can be valuable and part of a foundation of faith once you've committed, but can't do the work for you. These things only make sense from an interior perspective, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, can only be attained by one who believes.

Belief isn't assent, belief isn't a statement of agreement, belief isn't reducible to anything.

>Even if I want to become religious, I can't, because I just can't convince myself that god is or could be real.
Why would your understanding be the final arbiter of what can or can't be real? Instead of looking for God based on your categorical understanding, the best practical advice I can give you is to let God be God. Don't prejudice your search with stipulations and expectations before you've even begun.

[Anonymous No.17828155]

>>17827126
You don't "find" God anon you simply realise His existence.

In Shree Bhagawad Geeta many ways to realise God and his nature are prescribed. These are:

1. Karma Yoga- Karma(Action/ doing something) is the base of all existence. No living creature can claim it is without Karma. As such Krishna claims that you should embrace your Karma and find enjoyment in it. Through action(Karma) you'll get closer to God and realise his nature better. Some examples would be to help your fellow man, work for others, fulfilling your duty diligently both to God and yourself.

2.Gyan Yoga- Gyan(Knowledge/Wisdom) is ever present. It is our ignorance that makes us unable to perceive what lies in front of us. Thus Krishna argues that diligent pursuance of true knowledge is infact the same as pursuance of God. Once you know the intricacies of the world you'll appreciate its beauty and see God in his full Glory.

3. Bhakti yoga- Bhakti(Devotion/surrender) is a hard path anon. It's easy to take action or analyse this world. What's truly hard is to be devoted. Think about a nurse treating a terminally ill patient. Even though the patient shows no sign of getting better the nurse still treats him with devotion.
Religions like Islam also have this central message of realising God through submission/devotion.

Ask if you want to know more

[Anonymous No.17828668]

>>17827133
How not? Because an all good, all knowing, omnipotent being wouldn't allow things to be the way they are according to your puny human understanding and morals? (and quickly, what is even a lifetime of suffering compared to an eternity of paradise?) If you're gonna accept that existence, you'll also accept it's an existence that you cannot comprehend, but you will let guide you in the ways you can understand. It's like a good child observing their good father. You don't know why he leaves to go to a job, why he doesn't let you eat nothing but candy for every meal (even though it would make you happy), why he won't explain everything to you (like why it's really so bad to talk to strangers), or why he makes you do things you don't want to. But you'll still listen, because he knows better.

[Anonymous No.17829606]

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."
Seek God and ask for His help to have faith on Him. Modern man is too unreasonable to be able to reach him through reason. And become catholic.

[Anonymous No.17829709]

>>17827126
Romans 10:17
>So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.