Why some people believe in God and in the bible and others do not.

I have some time this evening so here is another thread concerning why people believe in God and in the bible and others do not. Now there have been numerous threads on this subject but this one will be different. I think I have found a great writer who has put it into simple words for mosr people to understand. Now here is a key word....."understand". God's word and the teachings of the bible is clear to some while confusing for others and this article will show you why.


First lets take a look at the typical believer:

Why People Embrace the Bible:

If you’re a Christian, do you remember when or how you came to believe in the truthfulness of the Bible? I do.

I was an engineering/business student in college. We went to church, but I couldn’t have cared less. I’d never opened the Bible myself one time in my life and read it.

Then, for reasons I still can’t explain, I bought a book on Bible prophecy. Maybe it was because of all the math and statistics I was taking in school – I was amazed at the Bible’s predictions and the impossibility of those prophecies occurring or being faked.

For the first time I also realized that if Jesus really did come back, I was in big trouble. At the end of the book was a prayer on how to receive Christ, which I did.

Everything changed for me then, especially where the Bible was concerned.

I didn’t know what apologetics was and couldn’t make a defense of the Bible to save my life, but when I first started reading the Bible for myself, I knew what I was reading was the truth.

Such is the case for most Christians. Maybe God brought them to Himself through existential circumstances or via a more cerebral route. As C. S. Lewis observed: “Nearly everyone I know who has embraced Christianity in adult life has been influenced by what seemed to him to be at least a probable argument for theism.”

It’s not that we believe for no reason. There is always some instrumental cause God uses to sink His truth into us whether it’s through the heart or head. But make no mistake about it: if you’re a Christian and believe the Bible, it’s not because you’re smarter (or dumber by the skeptic’s way of thinking…), figured things out where other’s haven’t, or are better in some way than any other person.

You believe the Bible because God loved you, saved you, gifted you with the Holy Spirit, and by grace opened your eyes to believe His Word.

One particular verse in Scripture (on which I built my entire 300-page doctoral dissertation) spells this out beautifully: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:4–5).

Why did Paul’s listeners in Thessalonica believe the truth of God that Paul brought them while others rejected the apostle’s preaching? Because God loved them, selected them to be His children, and gifted them with the Spirit so they believed with true conviction.

This is why anyone believes the Bible. Scripture is clear on this point and also exposes why God chooses this method: “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:26–29).

You believe the Bible because God specifically called you out of darkness and in the end He gets all the credit for it.

Do you see it? You have been chosen! Praise God! He has chosen you to understand his word. You are a child of God. It is that simple. No reason to make this complicated when it is not.

To those who do not understand or refuse have NOT yet been chosen. Will they be in the future? I think many will be chosen BUT there will be many that will not be chosen.

As I have said in a previous thread - We are NOT all God's children. LINK

Genesis 3:15 - The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

So who is this seed of Eve that the creator speaks of?

And who is the seed of the serpent that the creator speaks of?

Do you have the spirit of discernment to understand?

CONTINUED......

Now lets take a look at those who refuse to believe.....

Why People Reject the Bible

What about those who don’t accept the Bible? Scripture is equally plain as to why this is the case:

“Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:25–27).
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. . . .This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt. 13:11–15).
“And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this [that Jesus is the Christ] to you, but My Father who is in heaven”” (Matt. 16:17)
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil” (John 8:43–44).
“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God” (John 8:47).
“you do not believe because you are of My sheep” (John 10:26).
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Rom. 8:7).
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14).
“Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 4:3).
“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6).
While non-Christians may provide many explanations as to why they discard the Bible, the actual reason they don’t believe is that God hasn’t spiritually awakened them (yet). The objection of not having enough proof fails to hold water because (1) there is plenty of evidence that attests to the Bible’s validity; (2) people act contrary to evidence all the time, as I point out in my article that discusses evidence and hard core unbelief.

Thou you can see you can not see God, thou you can hear, you can not hear God.

You are not a child of God because you reject him.

Or maybe some of us don't believe God exists and we're right.

We will never know, so instead of trying to fit atheists into the Bible and Christianity, just let everyone believe what they believe.

a reply to: DeathSlayer
There is also the question of willingness to understand, because nothing can get past unwillingness.
Here is an extract from my own account (in the "How an atheist became a Christian" thread).

A more crucial turning point was the realisation that I had not been forced into unbelief by the lack of evidence for Christianity. If there was a lack of evidence in either direction, that just left things evenly balanced.
The real deciding factor had been personal preference; unbelief was a much more comfortable, less demanding, option, and that was my reason for choosing it.
Once again, this was the moment of honesty.
If my unbelief was a personal preference, it took away the defence that I “could not help” not believing.
If I was held accountable for making the wrong choice, there wasn’t any answer I could give.

LoL
People believe the bible because (insert scripture here)

People don't believe the bible because (insert scripture here)

NOW BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR ELSE!

originally posted by: DeathSlayer
...there have been numerous threads on this subject but this one will be different

Fail. Your thread literally couldn't have been less insightful.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: DeathSlayer
There is also the question of willingness to understand, because nothing can get past unwillingness.
Here is an extract from my own account (in the "How an atheist became a Christian" thread).

A more crucial turning point was the realisation that I had not been forced into unbelief by the lack of evidence for Christianity. If there was a lack of evidence in either direction, that just left things evenly balanced.
The real deciding factor had been personal preference; unbelief was a much more comfortable, less demanding, option, and that was my reason for choosing it.
Once again, this was the moment of honesty.
If my unbelief was a personal preference, it took away the defence that I “could not help” not believing.
If I was held accountable for making the wrong choice, there wasn’t any answer I could give.

Brother, I totally agree!

I am against forcing anyone to believe in something. They have to make that decision themself.

God is waiting for all of us to come to him. It is a personal decision and easy to do.

People are Christians because God loves you more?
Am I getting that right?

What a merciful and loving father figure...

The Bible is a supernatural book and can be understood only by supernatural aid.

I like the way these two quotes put it:

originally posted by: Esoterotica
LoL
People believe the bible because (insert scripture here)

People don't believe the bible because (insert scripture here)

NOW BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR ELSE!

originally posted by: DeathSlayer
...there have been numerous threads on this subject but this one will be different

Fail. Your thread literally couldn't have been less insightful.

Sure it has..... But you have it wrong:

NOW BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR ELSE!

It should read: NOW BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR DON'T!

You choose not too because you have NOT been chosen.

originally posted by: NateTheAnimator
People are Christians because God loves you more?
Am I getting that right?

What a merciful and loving father figure...

I do not like labels...... I believe there are children of God and those that are not.

Does God love his son Jesus more than you?

Does God love the apostle Peter more than you?

Does God love those who follow his laws more than those who refuse and reject him?

Does God love the seed of Eve more than the seed of the serpent?

What do you think?

So, I don't believe in god because he hasn't "picked" me to believe in him yet? It seems sorta hypocritical of him to damn me to eternal fire if I die before he gets around to infusing me with the holy spirit.

Perhaps some of us listened to George Carlin, just a bit too much.

When it comes to bull#, big-time, major league bull#, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bull# story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bull# story. Holy #!

But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in His own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is #ed up.

Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being. This is the kind of # you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently-run universe, this guy would've been out on his all-powerful ass a long time ago. And by the way, I say "this guy", because I firmly believe, looking at these results, that if there is a God, it has to be a man.

No woman could or would ever # things up like this. So, if there is a God, I think most reasonable people might agree that he's at least incompetent, and maybe, just maybe, doesn't give a #. Doesn't give a #, which I admire in a person, and which would explain a lot of these bad results.

So rather than be just another mindless religious robot, mindlessly and aimlessly and blindly believing that all of this is in the hands of some spooky incompetent father figure who doesn't give a #, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on.

And immediately, I thought of the sun. Happened like that. Overnight I became a sun-worshipper. Well, not overnight, you can't see the sun at night. But first thing the next morning, I became a sun-worshipper. Several reasons. First of all, I can see the sun, okay? Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun. I'm big on that. If I can see something, I don't know, it kind of helps the credibility along, you know? So everyday I can see the sun, as it gives me everything I need; heat, light, food, flowers in the park, reflections on the lake, an occasional skin cancer, but hey. At least there are no crucifixions, and we're not setting people on fire simply because they don't agree with us.

Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I'm unworthy. Doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don't pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn't presume on our friendship. It's not polite.

I've often thought people treat God rather rudely, don't you? Asking trillions and trillions of prayers every day. Asking and pleading and begging for favors. Do this, gimme that, I need a new car, I want a better job. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday His day off. It's not nice. And it's no way to treat a friend.

But people do pray, and they pray for a lot of different things, you know, your sister needs an operation on her crotch, your brother was arrested for defecating in a mall. But most of all, you'd really like to # that hot little redhead down at the convenience store. You know, the one with the eyepatch and the clubfoot? Can you pray for that? I think you'd have to. And I say, fine. Pray for anything you want. Pray for anything, but what about the Divine Plan?

Remember that? The Divine Plan. Long time ago, God made a Divine Plan. Gave it a lot of thought, decided it was a good plan, put it into practice. And for billions and billions of years, the Divine Plan has been doing just fine. Now, you come along, and pray for something. Well suppose the thing you want isn't in God's Divine Plan? What do you want Him to do? Change His plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a Divine Plan. What's the use of being God if every run-down shmuck with a two-dollar prayerbook can come along and # up Your Plan?

And here's something else, another problem you might have: Suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? "Well, it's God's will." "Thy Will Be Done." Fine, but if it's God's will, and He's going to do what He wants to anyway, why the # bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me! Couldn't you just skip the praying part and go right to His Will? It's all very confusing.

.........

And for those of you who look to The Bible for moral lessons and literary qualities, I might suggest a couple of other stories for you. You might want to look at the Three Little Pigs, that's a good one. Has a nice happy ending, I'm sure you'll like that. Then there's Little Red Riding Hood, although it does have that X-rated part where the Big Bad Wolf actually eats the grandmother. Which I didn't care for, by the way. And finally, I've always drawn a great deal of moral comfort from Humpty Dumpty. The part I like the best? "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again." That's because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None, not one, no God, never was.

In fact, I'm gonna put it this way. If there is a God, may he strike this audience dead! See? Nothing happened. Nothing happened? Everybody's okay? All right, tell you what, I'll raise the stakes a little bit. If there is a God, may he strike me dead. See? Nothing happened, oh, wait, I've got a little cramp in my leg. And my balls hurt. Plus, I'm blind. I'm blind, oh, now I'm okay again, must have been Joe Pesci, huh? God Bless Joe Pesci. Thank you all very much. Joe Bless You!

originally posted by: NateTheAnimator
People are Christians because God loves you more?
Am I getting that right?

What a merciful and loving father figure...

That's what I got out of this post as well. Why even try because unless/until he chooses you, you can't believe and the chosen ones are the ones more loved.

originally posted by: Slanter
So, I don't believe in god because he hasn't "picked" me to believe in him yet? It seems sorta hypocritical of him to damn me to eternal fire if I die before he gets around to infusing me with the holy spirit.

You do not believe in God because you do not want to.

Oh BTW there is no eternal fire.....Christ will destroy it. Read the book of Revelation.

Hell is not for eternity ...... again another lie from those who hate God.

Two more quotes on this, the first appears to contradict the quotes I posted above but the source (Norvel Hayes) is rock solid...

Nothing in the Bible is complicated. God would be stupid to write a book that people couldn't understand. That'd be the stupidest thing that He ever did. ~ Norvel Hayes (@ 3 min)

originally posted by: The GUT
My perception is that it's FAR too clever to have been concocted by man. Get into the Word deep enough and strange, wonderful, & inexplicable things start to happen. The word is ALIVE! Blew my mind anyway.

Faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Has HE given you the faith you need to come to God?

Based upon your statements...... I guess not.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Well I agree with that sentiment.

Those that hate god seem to be most of the self-proclaimed good christians i've met over the course of my life, all the way back starting with my best friend's step-mother that would grill me about god every time I went to their house, and in a matter-of-fact tone tell ten-year-old Slanter that he was going to burn in hell for eternity.

I'm not saying i haven't met any christians I get along with, I enjoy civil discussions about religion, it just seems the ones that are the most obsessed with their own holiness are also obsessed with your damnation.

What a wonderful way to not only use your opinion to "prove" the point you are always pushing, but also to stroke your own ego while simultaniously placing your status above nonbelievers. Uhhemm.... Your bias is showing.

Why do you spend so much time perpetrating these mental gymnastic routines which don't gain you any headway towards convincing anyone of anything except your inability to understand why people actually don't believe in your gods, instead of directing your precious rescources towards actually proving the existence of your god. Which would actually convince people that your god is real.

Because. The real reason why some people don't believe in gods, is that all of the presented evidence is not convincing.

And the real reason that some people do believe is that they have lower standards of what they believe to be convincing evidence. That is all it is.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Why do you reject Thor? Or Zeus? Or Krishna? Why do you reject Fukurokuju? You are just as big a disbeliever in those gods, but there were times when people were just as convinced in their divinity as you are in your god. In 9th century Northern Europe, there were people who had been 'awakened' by Thor's spirituality in much the same way religious people today are by their chosen gods.

The objection of not having enough proof fails to hold water because (1) there is plenty of evidence that attests to the Bible’s validity;

Rubbish. There may be plenty of poor or subjective evidence believers interpret as attesting to the bible's validity, but no good evidence at all. Nothing conclusive whatsoever, or we simply would not be having this discussion and you would not need to post this article.

Why is your god so bad at communicating his message that people on Earth are in disagreement about his existence? We should be all convinced, his message should be unequivocal and beyond denial. But it's far from that.

Are you posting this nonsense more for disbelievers, or to try and convince yourselves? Because if anything, it seems to betray a lack of self-confidence on your part.

ETA - As others have also pointed out - when you start with the position that the bible must be true you fall prey to confirmation bias. You are working backwards from your conclusion to try and selectively choose and massage evidence to fit with it. You are doing the exact opposite of clear, objective science, and garbage like this is the result.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

You choose not too because you have NOT been chosen.

So much for Free Will.