I am sure there are a millions blogs like this but I feel this topic is very important. I am a Christian Theist. I will briefly describe why I believe what I believe then allow others to put there comments in. First let me describe why I believe people believe what they believe. There are three ways in which people believe things...logos, pathos, ethos. Logos is when a logical argument is made that is both valid and sound for instance...1. All men are mortal. 2. Socrates is a man. 3. Therefore Socrates is mortal. Pathos is when an individual is convinced my their emotions. For example someone may say they do not believe in the death penalty...but then someone they love in brutally murdered. After that their opinion changes not based on logic but emotion. The third is ethos. This is when an individual in convinced by the status or credentials of the individual making and argument. For example lets say someone does not believe in the theory of relativity....then when they read about how much scientific clout and respect Albert Einstein had they change their opinion based on his credentials. Now most people (at least myself) Are at times persuaded by all three types of arguments. Now the majority of the arguments I will present will be based on logic. Based both in philosophy and science. However logic can not answer everything. For example....I believe when I die I will live eternally in heaven. Now I have no logical reason to believe this. However if I show logical reasons that Jesus physically rose from the dead and he taught that I could have eternal life...then my logic gives me good reason to believe things he spoke of based on his credentials.
Now I will explain why I believe in God and Christ.
1. Lets start with the universe.
The Kalam Cosmological argument has always been my favorite...Here are the basics.
1.Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore the universe has a cause.
This argument was first presented as a muslim Theological argument by Algazel around the twelfth century. It has recently been popularized by my favorite Christian apologist William Lane Craig. Up until the 20th century most scientist and philosophers believed that the universe was eternal. However with the discoveries of the Hubble telescope in the 1920s. Mainly the discovery that the universe (space itself) was expanding. Then in 1964 with the discovery of the cosmic background radiation. It was clear that the universe had a beginning known as the singularity. If the universe is bigger tomorrow then it follows that yesterday it was smaller and day before even smaller. So if you keep going back about 14 billion years the universe simply is not there. Not just the mass and energy but space itself. Therefore logically speaking something had to bring it into existence. Now in the beginning of the universe everything physical came into existence. All space, time, matter, and energy suddenly came into existence. Now what attributes would the cause of the universe have to be. First it would have to be timeless and space less...since both time and space came into existence in the big bang. Secondly it would have to be immaterial...for the same reasons. Thirdly it would have to be incredibly powerful compared to our understanding of power. Finally it would have to be personal. When and impersonal force is at work wherever the cause meets the conditions...the affect follows. When water is (212 f) at standard pressure water boils. However whatever created the universe chose at a specific moment to bring the universe into existence. So to sum up the Cause of the universe would have to be. Timeless, spaceless, immaterial, incredibly powerful and personal. I define this being as God.
This is all I have time for tonight. I understand there are many objections to what I have said so far. I would be more than happy to answer any of them....though it may take some time based on my schedule. I will also give some additional reasons nest time I post.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
God Bless.
