Where does belief in God come from?

[TooBusyByHalf]

I want to believe in God but I just don't. Can't make it make sense. Am vaguely thinking of returning to the church anyway, without faith, cos I like the singing and smells and all that but I think that would be dishonest.
Atheists, I know, ok? No need to explain why not to believe. Thank you.
Believers, why? Where does your faith come from?

Read in context: what does the surrounding text of the passage in question say, where is it, what kind of text is it, what does the Bible as a whole say on this issue, how has the passage been interpreted by the Christian tradition, what do Biblical scholars and theologians say about it...

There may never be a definitive answer and there probably won't be a simple one. And there will be different views. We have to make decisions about which interpretation carries the most weight and is the most convincing.

I'm happy to argue the case for equal marriage with Christians who interpret the biblical text differently. But I don't have any truck with trying to have only the nice bits of the Bible.

By the same token I also find a bit irritating to be accused of cherry-picking by people who are themselves quoting (and often misquoting) out of context.

That's understandable, I can be very irritating.

I have tried to answer questions put to me on this thread and I'm not sure where I've quoted you out of context.

Sorry, Vivacia, I didn't mean you in particular - I was speaking more generally about internet atheists.

Also I didn't mean quoting me out of context, but quoting the Bible out of context.

Ah, I see.

Yes, I agree. I think that a lot of that goes on. You (me, one etc) can get too keen to "win" a point than sensibly "make" a point.

You're right. I've certainly been guilty of that in the past myself.

Could we please return to the original point of the op. I personally have found the topic and initial responses really interesting. I also think some posters have been incredibly disrespectful to the op after she politely requested that ardent atheists kept their views to themselves as she already knew their views. Big Dorrit why don't you start another thread if you want to nitpick over bible verses.
Regarding my own faith, I have always believed in God but for the early part of my life it was there in the background and o thought that was enough. Gradually over the years my faith has become increasingly stronger and I have found myself increasingly drawn to the Catholic Church. My daughters have all chosen of their own volition to be baptised and received into the Catholic faith and shortly I will be too. When I was younger I thought this would be the last place I would be having been raised C of E but I feel that this is very much where my family are meant to be. I am sorry if that makes some people here uncomfortable but with the greatest respect that is their problem not mine.

Why did you choose that god buffyp and not one of the others?

I'm really sorry, Vivacia (and buffyp I hope I am not taking words out of your mouth), but this is one of the silly questions that internet atheists often pose that I get most irritated with.

God is God. He's not one of a pantheon of deities. He's the only God, the God of everything and everyone. If I'd grown up in a predominantly Muslim country perhaps I would call God Allah; and if I'd grown up in India, I might call him Shiva.

But it's not like a consumer choice. I didn't go to the god supermarket and choose the one I liked best. There's only one, and He chose me.

No, I've had plenty of Muslims tell me the only god is Allah, and the trinity version is an abomination. There have been dozens and dozens of religions and myths and gods and goddesses throughout history.

Excuse the wikipedia reference,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religions_and_spiritual_traditions

And this is fascinating,

www.audioyoga.com/Images-Blog/FacesOfReligion/ReligionFamilyTree-tumblr_n76rl9Bjzf1tbyaobo1_1280.jpg

I didn't go to the god supermarket and choose the one I liked best.

No, a god is chosen for you by culture and time. Think of all the indigenous populations, millions of people who never heard of an abrahamic religion.

Thanks Buffy do you know why your faith has got stronger over the years ?

viv that tree thing is great! In fact what it shows is how many peoples from how many cultures and over many millennia have had a belief in a spiritual dimension - I'm not sure it matters whether they believed in gods or a god or a trinity etc - they could all be different (human) ways of explaining a higher force (or whatever you might call it). The fact they have different ways of explaining the spiritual needn't necessarily make them all wrong - maybe they are all talking about the same thing in different ways...

Some time ago I came across this old sanskrit verse which agrees with your sentiments TooBusyByHalf:

As the different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.

Also from Hinduism:

Truth is One, sages describe it variously.

This attitude is typical of Hinduism and leads to a tolerance of other viewpoints. It also means that Hindus don't proselytise - a feature of the religion I find admirable.

(As an atheist, I've got nothing to contribute to your initial question but I am - and have always been - fascinated by the religious mindset as it is so different from the way I think about things.)

"But it's not like a consumer choice. I didn't go to the god supermarket and choose the one I liked best. There's only one, and He chose me."

So would you still be worshipping the same God if you had been born in a differeent country or culture or time? Our "choice" of Gods is cultural- that's why it's such a big deal if someone converts to a religion which is not the one they are culturally associated with.

Unfortunately Viv, this is what happens when you bring up any "awkward" passages in the bible. People start going on about context and various other things...

Do you think that context is unimportant when studying historical documents and literature Big?

Allah is the same God, though, isn't It? The God of Abraham?

Viv I pray for guidance and then do what I feel is right. That's how I "choose" which bits to believe.

Do you think that context is unimportant when studying historical documents and literature Big?

But you're not saying that the bible is just a historical document/work of literature. You surmise that an all knowing all powerful deity had his hand in it as a means to convey a very important message. And the context issues show how using such an ambiguous mode for such a potentially life or death message reveals that the deity behind it suffers from shocking short sightedness.

Allah is the same God, though, isn't It? The God of Abraham?

Now wouldn't it have been sensible for God to make that clear what with all the killing that has gone on between the two religions. For him to allow the misinterpretation that has fuelled so much bloodshed is inexcusable.

Viv I pray for guidance and then do what I feel is right. That's how I "choose" which bits to believe.

But other people doing the same are coming to the opposite conclusion with as much conviction and reasoning as you. And using your model of determining what bits we need to follow you have no ground to challenge anyone who comes to a polar opposite opinion on what God still cares about.

he chose me

The list of gods you mention are distinct. The OT and NT are clear that other gods are not real/evil (which one is it?) and the OT God gets really upset about people following other gods, to the point of ordering their deaths. Why would he get so upset? Why would he incite hatred of the people who just called him a different name. That's messed up.

Hi TooBusy, sorry for the late reply.

Some good reads ... John Lennox's books are OK, "Finding Darwin's God", "Who moved the stone?", "The God I don't understand" and also "Atheism: The Christian Revolution and its fashionable enemies" (if you ever wanted an intellectual putdown of New Atheism, this is it).

I also like reading the Bible in parallel with a study guide (not a literalist one; you can find apps that do this for free). You cannot really understand the Bible without the help of 2000 years of Christian thought, history, archeology, etc.

Oh, and also have a look at Premier Christian Radio for the Unbelievable podcasts. There are some great debates on there, often a Christian against an atheist. Justin Brierly is a very good moderator.