Why do you believe in a God?

[Confused Ape]

If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

Which God are you talking about? Umpteen millions of Hindus have and still do believe in Brahman -

Contrary to popular understanding, Hindus recognise one God, Brahman, the eternal origin who is the cause and foundation of all existence.

The gods of the Hindu faith represent different expressions of Brahman.

Two more examples.

Indiginous African Religion

The Himba people of Namibia are monotheistic[citation needed] and worship the god Mukuru.[77]

The Igbo people are monotheistic[78] and worship the god Chukwu.

[Ravenshire]

No. The supernatural is outside of the natural realm. How do you know that there is nothing outside of the natural realm?You don't even know everything that is within the natural realm. Does the universe go on infinitely?

Complete, total lack of evidence that anything is not within the "natural realm."

Maybe you can provide some? See below for what might work.

You don't even know everything that is within the natural realm. Does the universe go on infinitely?

Doesn't matter if the universe is infinite or not. There is absolutely no evidence for an "outside" to the universe. It doesn't even make logical sense.


Even if there was some kind of outside to the universe and your gawd lived there, you claim that it does works within the universe, within the "natural order." Where is the testable, verifiable evidence of these works? No evidence for the efficacy of prayer. No evidence for "miracles." No evidence of any of the things that you and all the other christers claim it does.

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That doesn't make it worthless. I believe many things other people tell me because I have confidence in the person telling me.

So, you believe what anyone tells you or just the people you have confidence in. You do know that the "con" in "con-man" or "con-game" is short for confidence, right?

I see this as testimony that they recognized God's existence.

Confirmation bias.

[GrandizerII]

I think that we should be open to scientific discovery as well as the testimonies of the experience of people since the beginning of recorded history. If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

Look up Bartlett, Loftus, DNA exonerations, weapon focus, change blindness, etc. etc. etc.

Still trust eyewitness testimony?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

This is a question that has been bouncing around these forums for a loooooong time, and so far, the only "answers" we get are things like "Well, why do you believe that the sun will rise?".
Because of this, I think three basic parameters need to be set for this question.

1. No answering it with another question. That doesn't add anything to the conversation

2. No tautologies. Tautological statements get the argument nowhere.

3. Don't go to the Bible, Torah, Qur'an, or any scripture of any sort as your reason. All that does is throw you in a circular argument and make you look like an idiot.

Let the games begin.

**EDIT**

4. Don't say silly things like "I feel god's presence". Say things that can act as proof to other people that don't "feel god". It wouldn't make sense that God would select some people to "feel him", because that just makes it unfair.

Americans believe in God because of our cultural and ancestral ties to the English. After all, the Englishman John Wycliffe wrote the Bible which made the fairy tale accessible to all. It also helps to explain England's involvement in the Middle East.

[Tonus]

If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

If the overwhelming majority of people throughout human history had believed in the exact same god, I would put a lot of weight on that. If their experiences with the supernatural were remarkably similar, so that a pattern could be easily seen across the testimony of many people, even when they had never met one another, that would make me sit up and take notice. If the prayers of one group of believers came true every time under the same circumstances, and those of everyone else never did, that would be compelling evidence.

People have worshiped literally thousands (and possibly millions) of gods, and even most religions that worship the same god do so in different ways; in some cases they regard one another as apostates. People from those religions report miracles and answered prayers that they insist prove the veracity of their god, while usually dismissing the reported miracles and answered prayers of other religions (sometimes as being the work of evil forces!). Either god has allowed people to experience him in a manner so random and scattered that he wanted it to seem as if he didn't exist... or he doesn't exist.

[Bob Kelso]

I think that we should be open to scientific discovery as well as the testimonies of the experience of people since the beginning of recorded history. If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

This is called argumentum ad populum, as Kitanetos pointed out, and here is a link for your convenience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Seriously Lek, you've got to stop resorting to ad. pop.

[Lek]

Americans believe in God because of our cultural and ancestral ties to the English. After all, the Englishman John Wycliffe wrote the Bible which made the fairy tale accessible to all. It also helps to explain England's involvement in the Middle East.

Are you telling me John Wycliffe wrote the bible?

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This is called argumentum ad populum, as Kitanetos pointed out, and here is a link for your convenience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Seriously Lek, you've got to stop resorting to ad. pop.

Call it what you want, but if 9 out of 10 people throughout history believed in God, especially accomplished scientists, I'm going to give that a lot of weight - added to the fact that I experience God. If some reputable person told you he had a stomach ache, would you believe it or you try to make him prove it?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

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Americans believe in God because of our cultural and ancestral ties to the English. After all, the Englishman John Wycliffe wrote the Bible which made the fairy tale accessible to all. It also helps to explain England's involvement in the Middle East.

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Are you telling me John Wycliffe wrote the bible?

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This is called argumentum ad populum, as Kitanetos pointed out, and here is a link for your convenience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Seriously Lek, you've got to stop resorting to ad. pop.

Call it what you want, but if 9 out of 10 people throughout history believed in God, especially accomplished scientists, I'm going to give that a lot of weight - added to the fact that I experience God. If some reputable person told you he had a stomach ache, would you believe it or you try to make him prove it?

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[Lek]

Of course John Wycliffe wrote the Bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe

The Catholics supposedly had one but they never showed it to any outsiders. John came along and wrote it and now billions of people believe it. Later on King James' committee wrote their version, with committee members writing specific books. They tossed the secular books and pruned it down to 66. Almost everyone has a copy of some version but hardly anyone ever reads it, except for maybe atheists.

Once Wycliffe put it out there for public consumption the Catholics had to go along or be exposed as liars. That's not to say that there were no written stories before Wycliffe.

He didn't write the bible. He translated it into English.

[Bob Kelso]

This is called argumentum ad populum, as Kitanetos pointed out, and here is a link for your convenience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Seriously Lek, you've got to stop resorting to ad. pop.

Call it what you want, but if 9 out of 10 people throughout history believed in God, especially accomplished scientists, I'm going to give that a lot of weight

Your willing, and blatant, use of ad. pop is noted. What I outlined in bold is called an argument from authority, and when it is misused it is a fallacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority

- added to the fact that I experience God.

And what of those who say they experience Allah, or the Goddess, or Aphrodite, or Zues, or Odin? You see where I'm going with this right?

If some reputable person told you he had a stomach ache, would you believe it or you try to make him prove it?

You do know that this is like comparing apples with supernatural oranges right? I mean honestly Lek, I expected better even from you.