On a individual level, why do you believe?
Discussion
Because I had a personal experience of God, and because I believe based on the arguments of evidence and logic.
I was once a very ardent atheist. I am very much unrecognizable from the man I was 12 years ago. I also walked a very self destructive path in my life. I’m not saying the two are related one to another, but that they were in my case.
It took someone patient enough to answer a lot of hard questions I had used for a long time to justify my disbelief, and humble enough to admit they did not know, and dedicated enough to find answers to bring me, before my heart started to soften.
The effect was very immediate on me. The way I thought and acted, and the way I treated those around me radically began to change. Hurts and issues I had carried my entire life began to wash away. It was a life changing thing to say the least. I reconciled relationships that had been broken for a decade.
I try really hard to not push what I’ve experienced or believe on other people out of respect, but also because I know that would certainly not have helped me. But I would be a coward to deny Christ publicly, so I opted for a simple public profession of my faith.
Much respected.
You have been good to me since we met friend. Well met.
❤️❤️❤️
You are a wise and respectable cat my friend 🫂🫂. Beliefs to me only matter in so far as they manifest towards a fulfilled way of living. I'd like to think we're all approaching some form of truth, even if it can not be fully grasped.
I don't have any such certainty in my beliefs or experiences, but to me thats okay because I relish shades of gray and not knowing. I swim in the sea of uncertainty and skydive with vertiginous thoughts - sometimes to my own detriment and anxiety. Climbing up the gradient of relative truth all I can ask of myself even if I see that others have found their source. It used to be the case where I strived to find a grounding of beliefs, but all I can truly believe in is that I change - hoping that it's continuously towards the better.
I always love to ask people why they believe. The epistemology of first person experiences with God is very interesting to me. Thank you for sharing some of the details. And yeah, it’s like meditation.. people who have never experienced some of these things for themselves have a hard time believing they would think differently if they had. Maybe radically differently. Such a self is so hard to imagine that people just assume it doesn’t exist.
I wish they could consider though the impact of finding good reasons to believe they have been seen by (and now maybe I’m assuming details of your experience you didn’t share but..) and are important to a divine and divinely-loving being.
I deeply appreciate good natured questions, whatever their purpose brother. You certainly have the credibility with me to deserve a good answer.
It is something very easy to discard if you haven’t had the experience, so I try to not be offended by it. I was once them. Nor do I find any superiority in it - I just consider myself extremely lucky. I wish a similar experience for everybody because of the good and the value it has had for me.
I think the disregard can go both ways. Those who have had that experience, or even worse those who by pride assume themselves the possessor of some obvious truth that only a blockhead would miss, are equally hurtful as the individual who has not and believes it must all be hallucination, or made up.
That’s one of the things that draws me here. We start by saying “stay humble.” It’s hard to truly do, but I think it’s one of the best pursuits.