The answer seems obvious, right? If you do believe in God, God’s existence isn’t even a question. And if you don’t believe in God, God’s non-existence isn’t even a question. So how do we figure out what’s true?
Here’s what we know:
- If there is a God, no one living today has seen God in the same tangible way we can see and interact with each other.
- No one living today has ventured beyond our solar system, so no one can definitively say what is or is not out there.
- We’re all limited and we only utilize about 10% of our brainpower, so there’s a lot out there lurking beyond what we’re currently capable of understanding.
That said, understanding the power of believing is a game-changer. To believe something is to “accept [it] as true; feel sure of the truth of.” Believing does not mean that something is, in fact, true. Believing means that you accept and feel sure that something is true, even if you can’t tangibly prove it. So when we ask the question, “Does God exist?”, it’s less about what’s actually true (because that can’t be definitively proven one way or the other) and more about what you believe to be true and why you believe it. Another word for that belief is faith.
The definition of the word “faith” is having “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” When it comes to both believing (and sometimes not believing) in God, faith is a necessary element. However, what is not necessary is unsubstantiated (i.e. blind) faith, and it’s important to know what your faith, or lack thereof, is based on. Evidence-based belief is subjective because the type of evidence that is good enough for one person may not be good enough for someone else, but that’s okay because that’s kind of the point. Your faith or lack of faith in something shouldn’t be based on what’s good enough for someone else. In order to have faith in something, you have to be able to have complete trust in it, and what each of us needs to feel confident in doing that varies. If you know what you believe or what you don’t believe and why, that’s amazing, and we’d love to hear the reasons why you’re so confident. But if you don’t have that confidence, that’s okay, too, because it means you’re thinking and you have questions, which means you’re open to finding the answers you need to nail down what you believe, and that’s what’s most important.
Do you believe in God? Why or why not? What evidence do you base your belief on? Let us know in the comments below!