Serious question (some of y'all may block me and that's cool):
Why do you not believe in Christ? What keeps you from believing that God may actually exist?
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ArishMell · 70-79, M
I could equally ask why you believe in God.
Religious belief - note, "religious", covering all faiths and denominations - and agnostiscism and atheism - should only ever be purely personal choices, not driven by anyone else. What one person strongly believes may not suit, or indeed be denied, by another.
For me:
1) I can neither prove nor disprove any existence or non-existence of any deity or deities.
2) I have seen neither proof nor disproof of any such deity / deities. Religious scriptures record only their authors' mystic beliefs.
3) I accept but can neither prove nor disprove that there may have been a man called Jesus.
4) I have seen neither proof nor disproof that if he existed, he had any divine characteristics. (The only accounts are by a few men who believed he had those. Islam holds that he existed and was a wise preacher, but purely human. I do not know the Judaic take on Jesus,but of course he and his disciples were of that faith, the only religion extant in their region at the time, though surrounded by peoples of other beliefs - the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Persians and of course the Romans. Christianity's Hebrew foundations' own origins included the ancient, Persian, Zorastrianism.)
6) There are many widely different religions and denominations in the world; all with their more fervent followers rather arrogantly claiming only theirs right and all others wrong. That variety shows the claim is vain and spurious. Any given faith is "true" only to its own followers - but importantly, that does not mean those of one faith cannot accept the fact, and be friends with those of other faiths and none.
7) I, from a mildly Anglican background and who have friends in the Church, have no personal reason to believe in any deity or deities.
Religious belief - note, "religious", covering all faiths and denominations - and agnostiscism and atheism - should only ever be purely personal choices, not driven by anyone else. What one person strongly believes may not suit, or indeed be denied, by another.
For me:
1) I can neither prove nor disprove any existence or non-existence of any deity or deities.
2) I have seen neither proof nor disproof of any such deity / deities. Religious scriptures record only their authors' mystic beliefs.
3) I accept but can neither prove nor disprove that there may have been a man called Jesus.
4) I have seen neither proof nor disproof that if he existed, he had any divine characteristics. (The only accounts are by a few men who believed he had those. Islam holds that he existed and was a wise preacher, but purely human. I do not know the Judaic take on Jesus,but of course he and his disciples were of that faith, the only religion extant in their region at the time, though surrounded by peoples of other beliefs - the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Persians and of course the Romans. Christianity's Hebrew foundations' own origins included the ancient, Persian, Zorastrianism.)
6) There are many widely different religions and denominations in the world; all with their more fervent followers rather arrogantly claiming only theirs right and all others wrong. That variety shows the claim is vain and spurious. Any given faith is "true" only to its own followers - but importantly, that does not mean those of one faith cannot accept the fact, and be friends with those of other faiths and none.
7) I, from a mildly Anglican background and who have friends in the Church, have no personal reason to believe in any deity or deities.