.... i'd have to say i have to see God in order to have faith in God. i feel pretty unintellingent placing my faith in something that has no proof of existence. and that definition of faith, as well as those other common phrases associated with it, is highly rhetorical, not offering any real explanation to why YOU have faith in God, someone whom you have not seen nor heard from your ENTIRE life. and i'm sure it is pretty difficult to respond to this particular question, because your mind has already been biased your RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING ( parents and the "Good Book").

and your statements concerning God's "presence in your life" and "his works manifested in your life," to me, depict this person as concrete. however, given the general knowledge that God is a abstract being, this can't be true, right? to me, it has to be true because abstractness describes things that cannot be SEEN, TOUCHED, nor CONCEPUTALIZED. something that is concrete CAN be touched, seen, and conceptualized. Basically, if you ACTUALLY talked to God and have prove for everyone, then i'll believe you. if not, then you're wasting my time. furthermore, since when is God a "he?" i believe you can refer to the first passage for that explanation.

moreover, i have absolute NO PROBLEMS with people who believe in God. if this adds to your quality of life, that's wonderful, more power to you, etc. just know that my non-belief in God in NO WAY detracts from my quality of life. and i don't "call on" any "spiritual being" when i have adverse situations in my life--i just deal with it and move on! so i guess that answers your question about who i "call on."

ps. it's amazing what happens to people who challenge the status quo of any established ideas/values/beliefs.

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Author: Kemi (12.0.36.---)
Date: 04-19-01 08:42

I know I'm more than a month behind on this post, but I just had to respond to Kenneth's questions concerning the existence of God. Well asked, my brother. And let me add that I appreciate your candidness - a lot of people feel the same way you do but fail to verbalize their doubts for fear of being misunderstood, or maybe even harassed :-) That said, I have a couple of questions for you. You said you wouldn't believe in God unless you saw Him, felt Him, touched Him - anything less would make you feel "unintelligent." Fair enough. But I want to know: have you ever seen oxygen? Felt it? Touched it? Yet you know it exists. You're probably going to tell me that the existence of oxygen is a proven scientific fact... Well, scientists can postulate all they want, the fact remains that every theory begins with a hypothesis, and every hypothesis is based on an assumption. And every assumption is based on FAITH that what we hope to be true is indeed so. In other words, you have chosen to believe that oxygen exists, not because you've seen it or touched it, but because someone told you so and you accepted it. That, my brother, is the very definition of FAITH.

Now let's contrast this with my faith in God. You believe in oxygen because your science book tell you that it exists. I believe in a God that I've neither seen nor touched because my Bible tells me that He exists. You know that oxygen exists because you use it/interact with it everyday. Similarly, I know that God exists because my relationship with Him is affirmed every day, in every way. Finally, whether one chooses to believe it or not, oxygen does exist. It retains its power regardless of your beliefs. And at the end of the day it is responsible for your very existence. Likewise, whether you choose to believe it or not, God does exist. Your lack of faith in Him does not cause Him to cease to be. And like oxygen, He doesn't need you, you need Him. Because like oxygen, without God, you would expire. Call it faith, or call it intelligence. It's really just a matter of semantics. By the way, refusing to believe in something simply because you've never seen it actually isn't "intelligent" at all. On the contrary, it's about as silly as someone in my Nigerian village refusing to believe that snow exists simply because he has never seen snow. His belief or lack thereof does not in any way invalidate the existence of snow. It only narrows and limits the experiences of his unbelieving mind.

The simple fact is that every human being does have a belief in something he can neither see nor touch; something that possesses a higher power than he does. You can choose to place that belief in whatever you want, but you must believe. I would recommend that you place it in the God who is able to save both your body and your soul, but like I said it is your choice. You can believe in oxygen or you can believe in the God who CREATED oxygen. Which is the more "intelligent" option?

P.S. Your answer to my question would probably be "BIASED by your previously acquired beliefs", don't you think?