What I believe
I believe:
- God exists, and is the creater of the universe and the human race.
- What has been established by science and human discovery is consistent with belief in God.
- God is best known through Jesus, and I try to follow him in my life.
- God reveals truth to all people, but we are all more complete and closer to the truth if we follow the way of Jesus.
Reasons to believe God exists
- Where did the universe come from? If there was no God, why would the universe exist? How could it appear out of nothing? The best explanation is that God started it off.
- Scientists have discovered that about a dozen factors had to be "just right" at the beginning for us to be here now. The probability of this occurring by chance is so small as to be negligible. It looks like it was designed, by God.
- We think logically and make moral judgments. If there is no God, and the physical world is all there is, our actions would be determined by the laws of Physics, and right and wrong would be determined by what works best. But no-one thinks that. The only way out of the dilemma is if God made us to be rational moral creatures.
- People all over the world report experiences of God - miraculous interventions, healings, guidance, a sense of God's presence. Some of these stories don't seem to be true but it seems more likely that some people really have experienced God, than to think every last one is mistaken.
So there are good reasons to believe that God probably exists. And not just any god, but a god who is powerful enough to create the universe, clever enough to design such a "fine-tuned" universe, personal enough to want to create a universe where rational and ethical people can live and know him.
Why believe in Jesus?
- There is good historical evidence that Jesus lived, and that he did and said many of things recorded about him.
- The gospel writers had no reason to lie and would have had more comfortable lives if they didn't believe, so we can believe they are substantially trustworthy.
- Jesus talked and acted as if he was God in human form - he healed people, forgave sins and gave teachings that have lasted to this day. When they killed him, God raised him to life. No other religion makes such claims about their founder, and few others provide as much historical evidence.
- Jesus inspires faith. We can believe he told the truth, and that he was who he said he was.
Personally ....
I have lived with this belief for almost half a century. Sometimes I doubt, sometimes I don't find it easy. But most times I find it rings true and gives my life meaning. I feel like I know God and he guides me.
Read more .....
Everything in this statement of faith is discussed in more detail on the various pages of Is there a God?. You can check out both sides of the questions: