For what its worth, I keep saying God created everything because of all the evidence around and in me. For me its a solid truth that can't be side stepped. the evidence is all around us. Being in the 21st century equips us with more tools to see how vast His creation is..from the tiny atom to the universe, and planets that we are still discovering, and probably will continue to discover until the end. I will try not to quote the Bible here. Just evidence in and around us tells us that we were carefully thought-out. we are linked up...its simply an incredibly-mind-blowing invention/creation if you really stop to think about it. EVERYTHING is intelligently made- not accidentally.
I feel you are mixing up the way people practicing religion with the existence of God. I did not say that we can not do good at all. we can do good but without God's guidance we can not be ever sure of what is truly good. We can do good in the way we know it, but since you mention cultures, there are cultures that mean to do good but are not considered good from other culture's perspectives or the Bible's. Good will be all relative.
Try to see from the What if God exists lens: He would be supremely perfect, the perfect standard of goodness, cleanliness, love, Justice, and Truth etc....all these qualities go hand in hand. He can not be one and not the other. He can not be a loving God and not a Just God. He can not leave bad unpunished because of His Just nature etc. The stories of Job, the floods etc. fit into these characters of His. I am sure I can not fully satisfy your questions for these because He needs to answer for these Himself and I believe He does so to everyone who chooses to really listen. In talking about whether God exists or not, we are talking about a real Person. The way i do it- not intending to be corny here- is to ask him straight out..and He has answers me every time not out-loud, personally but through ways I can understand.
Holy wars may fit with Islam but not with the profile of Christianity as we know it today (New Testament Christianity at least) but have you ever stopped to ask...why with so feeble evidence (according to atheists) that Jesus continues to be worshiped and His believers are growing...since over 2000 years ago. what makes Him so different than any other man that lived on earth (it is proven historically that He was actually here on earth). so why is He sooo special? Why despite all attempts of education He continues to grow on people and is revered? I've read of so many people converting to Christinity just after hearing of Him- though they did not understand the entire Bible or the stories in it. It is because He is God and man and His nature and what He did explains all the rough patches we see in the Bible. I always say to myself...after the coming of Jesus, this has stopped, this has become better etc. He is the answer to everything. I also happen to believe the Bible is the truth however hard some of it is to swallow and so I believe that there will be an end time, but was not told to worry about it but to live life like the end will arrive suddenly- all the more reason to live life doing good for all others, so we will not be caught living a messy life. Jesus He'd ask something like this when He returns "I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was in prison and you did not visit me etc." He said to look for Him in every person that we see....sad how these teachings of His don't come up in conversations like these.
I feel you are mixing up the way people practicing religion with the existence of God. I did not say that we can not do good at all. we can do good but without God's guidance we can not be ever sure of what is truly good. We can do good in the way we know it, but since you mention cultures, there are cultures that mean to do good but are not considered good from other culture's perspectives or the Bible's. Good will be all relative.
Try to see from the What if God exists lens: He would be supremely perfect, the perfect standard of goodness, cleanliness, love, Justice, and Truth etc....all these qualities go hand in hand. He can not be one and not the other. He can not be a loving God and not a Just God. He can not leave bad unpunished because of His Just nature etc. The stories of Job, the floods etc. fit into these characters of His. I am sure I can not fully satisfy your questions for these because He needs to answer for these Himself and I believe He does so to everyone who chooses to really listen. In talking about whether God exists or not, we are talking about a real Person. The way i do it- not intending to be corny here- is to ask him straight out..and He has answers me every time not out-loud, personally but through ways I can understand.
Holy wars may fit with Islam but not with the profile of Christianity as we know it today (New Testament Christianity at least) but have you ever stopped to ask...why with so feeble evidence (according to atheists) that Jesus continues to be worshiped and His believers are growing...since over 2000 years ago. what makes Him so different than any other man that lived on earth (it is proven historically that He was actually here on earth). so why is He sooo special? Why despite all attempts of education He continues to grow on people and is revered? I've read of so many people converting to Christinity just after hearing of Him- though they did not understand the entire Bible or the stories in it. It is because He is God and man and His nature and what He did explains all the rough patches we see in the Bible. I always say to myself...after the coming of Jesus, this has stopped, this has become better etc. He is the answer to everything. I also happen to believe the Bible is the truth however hard some of it is to swallow and so I believe that there will be an end time, but was not told to worry about it but to live life like the end will arrive suddenly- all the more reason to live life doing good for all others, so we will not be caught living a messy life. Jesus He'd ask something like this when He returns "I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was in prison and you did not visit me etc." He said to look for Him in every person that we see....sad how these teachings of His don't come up in conversations like these.
