How to Ask Yourself Questions About the Existence of God

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Ask yourself the question

   Science struggles to answer this without going into strange theories that sound more like science fantasy than concrete facts.
   
   And just because someone gives you any answer, and they have a degree behind their name, does not mean its an answer worth accepting.
   
   So if science can’t answer this question, why can’t religion? What is so bad about religion that it cannot be used to answer the hard questions to life?
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   Step 2: "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

   Everything comes from something equal or greater than itself.
   
   For example:
   A vehicle came from a factory, the factory came from a mind of a person and a person came from… Well, can you think of anything greater than man? GOD! You wouldn’t think a house appeared there from nowhere would you? Nor would you say it created itself.
   
   Those are the only two options you have when you eliminate God.
   
   Either we created ourselves or we came from nothing.
   
   Neither are logical or reasonable in any way.
   
   So that leaves an intelligent designer.
   
   But many will say, “Where did the intelligent designer come from?" Well, we can use these 4 options. (These are the only options anyone can come up with).
   
   Either God created himself, came from nothing, was created by something equal or greater than himself, or God always existed.
   
   Even though putting an all powerful God by our own limited mind is illogical on its own, I believe the obvious answer and most logical would be that God always existed.
   
   Why? We know nothing can create itself because it would have to exist in order to create itself, and if it already exists, than it doesn’t need to create itself.
   
   So option 1 would be a paradox and fails logic.
   
   Option 2 is basically the same thing, but just saying “nothing” created God.
   
   So where did “nothing” come from if it doesn’t exist? Option two fails logic.
   
   So option 3 and 4 are most logical.
   
   But since God has said in His word the Bible (which I will get to later on why the Biblical God is the most logical God that exists) that He is the alpha and the omega (Revelation 22:13) the beginning and the end, this means that God always existed or at the least, existed for a very very very long time.
   
   But infinite time does not mean an uncountable amount of time, it actually means “no” time.
   
   Which fits just fine with the fact that God always existed.
   
   God transcends time.
   
   Also, God cannot die, which means He doesn’t rely on anything to support His “life”, further proving God is the perfect creator to create everything. , Its simple, if you take God out of the equation, everything collapses about the concept of life.
   
   You are left with a subjective definition of life.
   
   Since subjective truth is not actually truth, you are left with nothing but empty theories that will never hit a satisfactory point where you say “that’s it! that's what life is all about.” As long as there is death, poverty and sickness, any theory removing God out of they equation will leave any reasonable explanation out for our existence too.
   
   Atheists often say “if God existed, there would be no poverty, sickness, etc.” That is just like saying that if you give a poor person a million dollars, he will never be poor again.
   
   Having money does not make one “secure” from poverty because he can do what he pleases with the money, including not use it at all and stay poor.
   
   The same is true with God, the condition of the world has no baring with his existence.
   
   If God is powerful and created everything, that means he can do what he pleases with his creation.
   
   Nor does he have to explain what he does with his creation.
   
   At best, you could say that God is a poor manager of the world. (But God is not like that, God is very good.
   
   The Bible says that God is merciful and allows a level of free will because he does not want to control people and make them do good.
   
   Also, this life is not all there is, but heaven is the place where everything is perfect and good.) , No scientist can explain why these things exist.
   
   Many animals lack some of these and have no problem surviving.
   
   No one can deny the enjoyment of these things yet atheists and scientists give “nothing” credit for these things, carefully making sure they don’t say the word “created” or “designed” when talking about these subjects. , As addressed above, if God were considered bad for allowing evil in the world (which he is not), that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist.
   
   Also, what is keeping the planet spinning? What is causing rain to fall, the sun to shine, plants to grow, babies to be born, gravity to hold things down, etc.? Why wouldn’t there be an ultimate governing force keeping all these things together? Why does the concept of “nothing” getting credit as cause seem so much better than the concept of an intelligent designer? , If all this (planets, stars, animals, plants, colors, etc.) came from nothing, what would the world be like if there were a God? If a God can’t create all this, he’s not much of a god.
   
   And besides, no one seems to have a solution or reason for death.
   
   Why must we die? If your definition of God is just a cosmic “manager” who would supply all your needs, what difference is that from a Genie? So if your version of God is not all powerful, all knowing, creator of the universe, and having higher requirements for morals and spirituality, you don’t have much of an imagination. , Realize that God would speak either directly to us or through someone to us, or through a book.
   
   Fortunately we have all three available.
   
   Unfortunately we have many versions.
   
   So this brings us to the question: "Are all gods the same, and if not, which one is the true god?" Consider "Pascal's Wager" (argument in apologetic philosophy) states it well when he says, "It makes more sense to believe in God than to not believe.
   
   If you believe, and God exists, you will be rewarded in the afterlife.
   
   If you do not believe, and He exists, you will be punished for your disbelief.
   
   If He does not exist, you have lost nothing either way."Expect Atheists to try to discredit the Word strongly with mostly incomplete Bible references, and saying God punishes wrongly (not knowing the plan of salvation), and that life should be lived to the fullest (not addressing that if it ends, what's the point of living life to its fullest, and what do poor, blind, and handicapped people do about this).
   
   A person should "wager" as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose.
   
   Why risk an eternity of pain to live a short life of meaningless pleasure? The value of believing is always greater or equal to the value of not believing regardless of the likelihood that God exists.
   
   See Pascal's Wager above for his logical conclusion as to believe God exists.
   
   Since not believing in anything and believing in something that is not, comes to the same conclusion.
   
   So believing in something that could be true gives you better odds.
   
   Since no other religions promise can contend with the infinite bliss offered by Jesus Christ, you can drop all other religions out of consideration.
   
   Therefore, following the God of the Bible is a win-win situation.
   
   The Bible is the book that best represents what God would say to mankind. , Eliminate the choices of religion with reason/logic: atheists get hung up on the "dilemma of the wrong hell" and "which religion/god is actually worthy of following".
   
   Using deductive reasoning (not personal opinion), one can come to the conclusion that Christianity is the best religion.
   
   Whichever religion (when compared to each other) has the best answers for life's questions, has the most evidence for its validity, and can stand up to scientific scrutiny the best (specifically compared to other religions) and doesn't irrefutably and fully collapse under this scrutiny, then that is the best religion to follow (assuming for this argument that one would follow a religion for the sake of Pascal's Wager).
   
   Compare religions that teach a personal God, while others teach an impersonal one.
   
   They cannot all be true.
   
   If they cannot all be true, it cannot be true that all religions lead to God.
   
   This also means that some religions are, at the very least, false in their claims to reveal the true God (or gods).
   
   Remember, truth does not contradict itself.
   
   If God exists, He will not institute mutually exclusive and contradictory belief systems in an attempt to get people to believe in Him.
   
   God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
   
   Follow-up on the idea, that if there is only one God (if monotheism is true), then all religions that teach polytheism and pantheism would then of necessity be false.
   
   And if it is true that God is a personal God, then all religions that teach an impersonal God must be false.
   
   There can only be one reality.
   
   Another criteria to choose a religion is in its historical, archaeological and logical significance.
   
   Whichever religion's claims in its doctrine is the least verifiable by this criteria, it can be ruled out as well.
   
   Also, the inability to prove or say that God absolutely does not exist allows the question to be valid enough to ask.
   
   All facts must be weighed before making a claim. , Eastern religions say those who die will be reincarnated.
   
   Now a person could go to heaven or hell, or be reincarnated, but he cannot go to heaven or hell and be reincarnated at the same time.
   
   Both views cannot be right.
   
   One must be wrong.
   
   We could say the same about each of the doctrines of the various religions.
   
   So it follows that either A) all of the major world religions are false, or B) only one religion is true.
   
   For the necessity of understanding fully the argument, I will briefly go over the core beliefs of some major religions compared to Christianity.
   
   Hinduism, the highest of all truths is believed to be the truth of all religions.
   
   With the law of non-contradiction, this teaching cannot possibly be true.
   
   Hinduism teaches that our individual identities are part of a large, divine illusion called Maya.
   
   In other words, we do not really exist as individuals.
   
   Islam, let's compare Jesus and His teachings to that of Muhammad.
   
   Jesus birth was foretold in hundreds of prophecies.
   
   Muhammad has no prophecies foretelling his birth or mission.
   
   Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin.
   
   Muhammad, however, was born of the natural union of a human father and mother.
   
   Jesus lived a sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21) and is considered sinless by the Qur’an (called an all-Righteous one).
   
   Muhammad, however was someone who needed forgiveness for his faults (surah 40:55, 41:19).
   
   Jesus performed many miracles to substantiate His claims (Luke 7:22), but nowhere in the Qur’an does it state that Muhammad performed any miracles.
   
   None of Jesus enemies could find any fault with Him, but even the Qur’an states that Muhammad took his son Zayd's wife from him (sura 33:36-38).
   
   Finally, Muhammad is dead today.
   
   His grave is in Medina.
   
   Jesus is alive forever.
   
   There is no body, fulfilling his prophecy (Jesus' life can be verified by secular records).
   
   Buddhism, Buddha also fulfilled no prophecies.
   
   Although Buddhists believe that his birth was miraculous (his birth mother claimed to have had a vision of a white elephant entering her side) he was conceived naturally by his mother and father who were definitely married, by the time he was conceived.
   
   He became enlightened on his own, and did not rise again from the dead.
   
   Buddhism teaches that the question of God's existence is meaningless.
   
   Buddha believed in reincarnation.
   
   He taught that every evil thing we do ties us more tightly to the cycle of rebirth.
   
   Buddha taught that a person can escape the cycle of reincarnation and enter nirvana only by following the "Noble Eight-fold Path"
   
   a strict ethical system.
   
   Buddhism offers no personal salvation.
   
   It stands against sin and immorality, but it ignores the issue of God's existence and our need for redemption.
   
   At its root, Buddhism is a form of agnosticism or at least practical atheism.
   
   At the most, it is polytheism, because although it doesn't believe a Supreme Creator, it believes in numerous non-creator deities.
   
   It provides no answers (true or imaginary) about the ultimate meaning of existence.
   
   Animism teaches that the world is populated by a myriad of spirit beings that can be appeased and manipulated through ritual and magic.
   
   Animism is a large part of the Wiccan and Voodoo belief system and occurs commonly in occult and spiritual circles.
   
   It is also a large factor in the belief in "luck." The major weakness of animistic religion is that it is basically non-ethical.
   
   Judaism:
   Since I believe that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah of the Old Testament (extensive research is available to prove this), then automatically I must reject Rabbinic/traditional Judaism since they reject Jesus as the Messiah with no valid reasons. (The Bible also predicts that they would reject the true Messiah). , Making a hasty assumption based on limited research about God or the Bible gets you nothing but the wrong truth.
   
   In order to follow something, you must know what it is saying, otherwise you will eventually insert assumption in the place of lack of knowledge and get skewed truth. , , Find out what God wants us to do.
   
   Now the Bible tells us how to live our lives.
   
   There is nothing in the Bible that can be considered, “burdensome” or “unnecessary”.
   
   You know why, because the Bible tells us there are two categories we must focus on when living this life, that is to love God and love one another.
   
   Does that sound hard? Well, in a sense it is hard, but many things in life are hard.
   
   Hard, does not mean its bad or unnecessary.
   
   So if we love God, what does that really mean? We use the 10 commandments to find that out. (Deuteronomy 5:4-21) You shall have no other gods before me This means God wants you to love Him above all things.
   
   A “god” can be a car or anything that makes you focus on out of adoration and admiration.
   
   You shall not make for yourself a carved image.
   
   This means basically the same as #1 except it is saying you should not worship anything but God.
   
   Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
   
   Simple, if you love God, respect God, and see God as your Lord, you won’t use God’s name in a curse word, unseemly joke, or use his name carelessly.
   
   Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
   
   When you get to know God, you will also want to know others who know God too.
   
   So going to a church or regular Christian gathering will be second nature.
   
   If you do just these 4 things above, you love God.
   
   You are now ready to love others in a way that pleases God.
   
   Honor thy father and thy mother (not necessarily do EVERYTHING they say, but to respect them) Thou shalt not kill (also means to not hate anyone either) Thou shalt not commit adultery (this also includes ANY sex out of marriage)
   8.
   
   Thou shalt not steal (this includes pirated DVD’s and even a pen that is not yours) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (don’t lie, PERIOD) Thou shalt not covet (don’t envy what others have but be happy that they have something good) If you love others, you will automatically fulfill the other 6 commandments.
   
   SIMPLE! , The short answer is "Yes".
   
   Why wouldn’t you want to know your creator? He has to be nice because, remember, He is greater than you are, which means He loves you and created you for a purpose (and it has to be a really good purpose because you are one of a kind.) Fortunately, God is knowable.
   
   One way to know him is through the Bible.
   
   People have been changed by the message of Love God shows in His word.
   
   Even though there are parts in the bible that are confusing at times, or some violent things that make you scratch your head, remember, to be loving is to hate evil.
   
   But is God still loving when He punishes someone? Here is an example:
   If someone were to attack your mother, you would want to fight to stop them.
   
   But would that be loving to beat up someone? That is not the issue is it? You want to stop evil from hurting someone that is good, right? God works in a similar way.
   
   God has to eliminate some people because they are evil or showing evil intentions and would start extreme evil to appear everywhere like an infection.
   
   So since God knows all things, He sometimes has to destroy people or entire nations to stop evil from spreading.
   
   God loves babies and children, too.
   
   Any child that dies before the age of accountability (which is 12 years old) goes straight to Heaven.
   
   Sometimes, if children grow up with the teaching of their evil father, they too will grow up evil.
   
   Why make them go through this, just let them go to heaven to be with God forever, is sometimes the best option.
   
   God is the ultimate judge and not every action will have an explanation, nor should you look for one.
   
   God is all powerful, He also says He is good, just and fair.
   
   So we should trust His words. , This is the question that everyone asks.
   
   Well the short answer is that life actually has only one purpose.
   
   And that is to get off this planet and into heaven.
   
   And the way to do that is making Jesus the lord of your life and obeying His commands of love for God and for each other.
   
   Life is actually “boot camp” for heaven where everyone will get their rewards based on how much the loved here on earth.
   
   This life on earth is actually a phase, a testing phase to give you your eternal position in heaven.
   
   If you look at this life any other way, you will be decided into thinking that this life is all there is and we should “enjoy life to the fullest”.
   
   Well, knowing that people die every day and every hour, young and old, rich and poor, we should focus more on what is after this life, than what is in this life.
   
   And that is why God must exist.
   
   Without Jesus and without God, there truly would be no purpose to live, and life would be lived in fear of death.
   
   So “what you see” is not always “what you get”.
   
   It's “what you believe” is “what you receive”.
   
   Will you believe in the lord Jesus today? Will you receive his love, his promise of eternal life, and his promise to save you of your sins? , I believe you exist, that you created everything in the universe and that you are all powerful.
   
   I respect this power and want to worship you.
   
   But I also want to love you like a friend and protector.
   
   I need your love to come inside me and heal me of all my fears, doubts and disappointments in my life.
   
   Jesus, I want you to be a part of my life from this day forward.
   
   I don’t want religion, I want a relationship.
   
   You promised to be a friend that sticks closer than a brother, and there are many who are experiencing that love now.
   
   I want to experience that love, too.
   
   So I pray, Jesus come into my heart and into my life.
   
   Put in me a desperation for you that I have never felt before; be everything that I have been looking for in this life.
   
   Be my purpose, my joy, my peace, my comfort, my provider, and my protector.
   
   Show me your glory, Lord in any way you want to reveal it to me.
   
   I want to be your son/daughter today.
   
   So take me to the next level, forgive me of my wrong doing and help me start new today, with you.
   
   I want to fellowship with other loving Christians, I want to read the Bible and see all the places where you say you love me, and I want to pray and worship with passion and adoration as well.
   
   Thank you Lord for choosing me, to experience this love.
   
   In Jesus name, amen."
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   Step 3: "Where did design come from

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   Step 4: if there were no designer?"

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   Step 5: Consider

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   Step 6: "Why do people search for purpose if atheists say there is no objective purpose to existence?"

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   Step 7: Ponder this thought

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   Step 8: "Where did abstract features to life

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   Step 9: like colors

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    Step 10: dreams

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    Step 11: pleasant smells come from

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    Step 12: if everything can be explained scientifically?"

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    Step 13: Make sense of

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    Step 14: "Why wouldn’t there be God?"

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    Step 15: Analyze

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    Step 16: "If there were God

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    Step 17: what would God be like?"

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    Step 18: Think about communication

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    Step 19: "If God exists

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    Step 20: what would he say to mankind?

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    Step 21: Understand why the God of the Bible is the true God.

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    Step 22: Compare Christianity to other religions: Christianity teaches that when a person dies

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    Step 23: that person will go to Heaven or to Hell.

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    Step 24: Sum it up

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    Step 25: "If you were to pick a religion

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    Step 26: wouldn't you choose the one that makes the most sense

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    Step 27: has the most evidence and facts to back it up

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    Step 28: has the most answers to life's questions

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    Step 29: and produces the best outcome when the guidelines are followed?"

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    Step 30: Ask yourself about believing

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    Step 31: "What are the benefits and disadvantages of believing in God?"

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    Step 32: Conclude whether the God of the Bible is the most logical

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    Step 33: scientific

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    Step 34: historically accurate

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    Step 35: and most beneficial deity

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    Step 36: and if so then what do you do with this information?

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    Step 37: Ask question nine

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    Step 38: "If God was knowable

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    Step 39: would I want to know Him?"

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    Step 40: Ask question ten

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    Step 41: "If death is a fact and life is short

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    Step 42: and many die in wars

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    Step 43: famines

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    Step 44: poverty

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    Step 45: disease

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    Step 46: and often times very young

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    Step 47: then what is the purpose of life?"

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    Step 48: Pray this prayer

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    Step 49: meaning it

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    Step 50: if you want to start to know God today: "Dear Jesus

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    Step 51: I want to know you.

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