[Mel.Bell]

*spin off* from One For The Atheists -It's getting a bit too long for me to keep up


So why do you NOT believe? What makes you believe in what you do believe in?


All I want to say is, how do we know that Juilius Caesar existed? It's been documented. What do people think the Bible is?



*Let's try & keep this civil -I am in NO MEANS trying to convince others of my belief ... I am just curious as to WHY



ETA: I've changed the title as I was always referring to the Christian God, The God meantioned in the Bible, Jesus' father in Heaven where He ascended after He rose from the dead, being crucified for our sins ... Just to clarify which God

This post has been edited by Mel.Bell: 10/08/2012, 05:19 PM

[lizardqueen]

In short, there is no evidence. The bible is a collection of myths and stories.

To quote Robert Heinlien, "Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help."

LQ

[**Xena**]

It just didn't make sense to me that there could be this God whoo created the World and yet needed people to believe in his existence for him to save them, and doesn't do anything about innocent people suffering etc. I tried to believe but I just couldn't. There was no proof to me that the bible was anything more than a story.

I am a non-theist Pagan. I believe in the Earth and my spiritual connection to it but I only believe in the Gods and Goddesses as human personification of elements/nature.

This post has been edited by **Xena**: 09/08/2012, 09:02 AM

[Sassy Girl]

I haven't believed in 'god' since my 13 year old sister died from medical negligence. I don't think I really believed before then either but her death put a nail in the coffin (bad unintended pun) of me ever possibly believing in god.

It just didn't make sense to me that this supposed 'god' would let my good, kind, caring sister that was only a child die in such a tragic way.

I think the bible is a work of fiction. It is written hundreds of years after the events occurred where as there would be documents written during Caesar's reign so that is like comparing apples with oranges.

This post has been edited by Sassy Girl: 09/08/2012, 09:05 AM

[BadCat]

Evidence exists for the life of Julius Caesar. There is no evidence for God.

Reasonable evidence exists to suggests that Jesus may have existed. There is no evidence that he was the son of God.

I believe the Bible to be a book written by people trying to impose order on a world of which they had little understanding.


As for what I do believe in, mostly the same stuff as anyone else. Just not deity in any form.

[Fanny McPhail]

You can't compare Julius Caesar to God. Julius Caesar to Jesus yes but not God.

Julius Caesar was a mortal man who ran the Roman Empire. His image is recorded on currency and contemporary (from the same time) stories have been recorded by people who met him. If you debunk these stories you are saying all history is made up. Often stories written by different people cross over and that's how facts are formalised centuries after.

The bible was written years after the death of Jesus and none of the authors had physically met God. They believe in him as a spiritual entity not as a physical being.

I believe this thread might prove very interesting.

[Hattie]

What do people think the Bible is?

Basically, I think it's a story book. May well be some historical fact about some real people that may have existed, but also an awful lot of fantasy.

I don't believe in God because I have no need. I believe I will live my life as best I can, and then I will die and be gone.

That's it for me in a nutshell.

Oh, and as for what you or anyone else believes, I really don't care, feel free to believe whatever you want. Just don't try and force your beliefs on me, and we'll all get along just fine.

Cheers,
Julie

[redkris]

You can easily believe Julius Caesar existed, while at the same time NOT believing that he is the descendant of gods (which is what quite a few ancient civilizations believed of their rulers)
By the same token, quite easy to believe that Jesus Christ existed as a person 2000 years ago, without believing that he was god's son. All that is documented is that he was a real person. Everything else is hearsay. FTR I do believe in God and I do believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but can quite easily see why people don't. Until someone can prove that God doesn't exist, I will just go on happily believing in him/her.
Just like the same book says that we are all descended from 2 people (so therefore must be catastrophically inbred) and somehow something that happened untold years ago has been reported by someone who probably was just putting it together from myths passed down within his culture. Same book says the world is only around 10000 years old, while all evidence found points to the earth being billions of years old, and we are descended from small ape-like creatures. In this case, I believe in science, as do many many Christians that I know.
It's possible to believe and not believe in things all at the same time. Freaky.

ETA

Can we also ask here why people DO believe in god? That subject fascinates me

Because for me, something as miraculous as our universe, the big bang, and evolution are too wonderful to be random. I see God in things all the time. Yesterday I saw God in the storm coming in over the Adelaide Hills, and in the kookaburras sitting outside shaking their wings in the rain.

ETA

To quote Robert Heinlien, "Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help."

Family is a crutch.
Friends are a crutch.
Therapists are a crutch.
Alcohol/drugs/food are a crutch.
I think very few of us could actually stand without crutches, no matter what they are.

This post has been edited by redkris: 09/08/2012, 09:12 AM

[HollyOllyOxenfre...]

For me it's never really been about proof or lack of it, I just don't believe. I imagine in the same way as those with faith just "know" there is a God, I just "know" there isn't.

There are any number of events in my life I could use to back up my belief, but most of those events have also seen friends and relatives turning to God to help them through, so it's really about perception and interpretation. Many, many times I've wished I believed in a higher power and someone to pray to when things go to crap, but it's just not in me

This post has been edited by Holly 84: 09/08/2012, 09:08 AM

[Lyra]

In short, there is no evidence. The bible is a collection of myths and stories.

To quote Robert Heinlien, "Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help."

LQ

I like that Heinlein quote, I'd not read it before

Evidence exists for the life of Julius Caesar. There is no evidence for God.

Reasonable evidence exists to suggests that Jesus may have existed. There is no evidence that he was the son of God.

I believe the Bible to be a book written by people trying to impose order on a world of which they had little understanding.

To continue with the quotes: David Attenborough said something along the lines of 'The Aboriginal People of Australia believe a snake created the Earth, the Jews believe something else and the Vikings believed in Valhalla. They can't all be right'