Convince me God is real without quoting a holy book.

@MysterSoup I've never had a person ever come up to me and prove that morality is real.

@MysterSoup

Faith or belief is not based on the a book ....

faith and seeing it work or things that happen are  unexplained any other way ........cannot be proven to someone not open to it and frankly you would need to experience it yourself. 

@MysterSoup the purpose of this community is to share what we have in common, not debate issues like whether there is a God or not. If someone gets benefit from having a loving compassionae God to help them cope with life, then that is fine with me. 

What I am curious about is what do you have faith in that helps you cope with the uncertainty of life? What inspires you and gives you strength to face the difficulties this world presents?

If you do not believe in God, then no one can convince you of that. We are not trying to convert anyone, only provide a space for people to share what about spirituality helps them, in life and if they have mental health issues, with those as well. 

Please share your beliefs about what helps you and let's not invite a debate that no one will win. The people that want this community to be a positive experience cannot benefit by debates about other people's religion. Let's find the common ground that we all want to be happy and avoid suffering as much as possible.

Nah bro I understand. I'm just going through a kind of belief crisis thing and really wanted someone to at least give me some reason to believe there is an afterlife and not just complete and utter nothingness.

@MysterSoup

Forget about the afterlife.  What matters is this moment, right now.  Today will come and go, that is a given, so what will you make of it?  

@MysterSoup I am speaking from a perspective of someone who has studied different religions and am trying to find common ground within them.

I think when you believe there is notihing it is kind of scary. I like the analogy of sleeping. When we go to sleep is there nothing or is there a mindstream that is still active and wakes up in a body that is somewhat different than the one we left when we went to sleep. The continuity that I believe in is the mindstream that continues on after death. I do not know what that will look like when I get there, but it makes sense to me that there is not nothing, just the way there is something after I sleep and wake up. 

If this seems like too far a leap to go, try an experiement. Be kind to people and see how that makes you feel after doing that. Be understanding and compassionate and patiently listen to someone that is grieving or depressed. How does that make you feel? I feel a lot better being like that. 

As GoldenNest implied, why do we need to trouble ourselves about what life will be like in the future, be kind and compassionate and that makes us feel better now. My belief is that being this way also brings us naturally to a better future and experiences after the present moment.

Think about this when you are going to sleep or taking a nap. This is something that each person must work out for themselves. Do not believe what I say because I say it. Explore and ponder and find out what makes sense to you.

I ain't religious but the best argument for some sort of god I've seen is the fine-tuning argument. 
It goes as follows

"universal constants"  - rules/constants of our universe that allow life to exist such as the speed of light, the binding energy and stability of atoms, the existence of water at a reasonable temperature ect ect

Premise 1: The requirements for life are specific and require a finely tuned set of "universal constants"
Premise 2: The chance of these constants being tuned to allow life to exist is unlikely 
Therefore
There must be some outside factor (this is implied to be a god of some sort) to adjust these odds

Some counter arguments are:
There could be an infinite amount of iterations of our/parallel universes that change the constant every time making the odds of a finely tuned universes existence likely.

The finely tuned argument assumes that the universal constants could be different.

The universe is also finely tuned for other unlikely events such as Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning 7 times, does this mean we should assume a god exists who has adjusted the universal constants such that Roy Sullivan would get struck by lightning.  

Yeah, I never really got the fine tuning argument. It's like the puddle analogy; was hole created perfectly for the water to fit in? No, the water fits the hole. Was the universe created to fit us? No, we evolved to fit in it.

@MysterSoup I love the part in big bang theory where Sheldon talks about this.

@MysterSoup

Hello MysterSoup! How are you? 😊

Thank you for your post and for having shared your thoughts, you are always welcome to join to discuss about something you are trying to figure out.

I think it's often a personal experience that is rooted into a need to sense and seek for an inner connection with God, as far as i know nobody started from a scientific evidence of the Divine to start believing in God, if it makes sense?

Hope it helped a lil!

Sending you good vibes! 💙

@MysterSoup

Well, imagine for a moment that God is the ultimate cosmic comedian. You see, the whole universe is one big cosmic joke. It's like a masterful stand-up routine. You and I, we're just the audience, and God is the comedian on stage, delivering the punchlines.

Take a look around at the beauty and complexity of the world. It's like the universe's way of saying, "Knock, knock. I'm here, and I've got a great punchline for you." You think the stars, the galaxies, and all of creation just happened by chance? No, that's the divine setup for the ultimate cosmic punchline.

And let's not forget about the quirks of human existence. Ever notice how life seems to throw curveballs, and just when you think you've got it all figured out, it takes an unexpected turn? That's God's way of keeping the joke fresh and unpredictable.

Now, you might ask, "What's the punchline, then?" Well, that's the beauty of it. The punchline is life itself. It's the experience of joy, love, and connection. It's the laughter of a child, the warmth of a hug, and the taste of a delicious meal. God's cosmic comedy is all around us, and we're invited to join in the laughter, to embrace the mystery, and to find meaning in the absurdity of it all.

So, in this grand cosmic stand-up act, God is the ultimate comedian, and life is the punchline. The proof of God's existence is in the laughter, the love, and the beauty that surrounds us. So, my friend, have a good chuckle, and remember that you're part of the divine comedy of the universe.

I'll concede that no one can prove that GOD is real, at least not in a way physical, tangible way. 

Just like you can't prove that GOD isn't real.  

That's okay.  At 7 Cups, we come from all walks of life.  We have members of every religion imaginable, and plenty of agnostics and atheists too.  Members come from all over the world.  It's a really cool community here, because despite our differences, we're here to cheer one another on, to support one another, and to learn from one another.  

We try to avoid divisive topics like religion, because there's no one/real answer, and it seems to get heated so quickly.  

@MysterSoup How can I convince you of something which I have trouble believing myself?

There may be a god, or several gods, or nothing beyond this reality. I have no idea. All I have is a quote:

"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't believe, no explanation will do."

@slowdecline48 good point about those who believe, believe and those who do not don't and may not want to here.

I think we all find a path through life. Hopefully we do not get tangled up in activities that lead us to suffering and find ways to give to others that give us joy. I think it is not up to me to convince anyone of what I think is best for them. Even if I could convince someone by intellectual arguments, how deep would their conviction be if it was only based on words?

@MysterSoup

My main argument is: If there's no God, what are the odds that our planet forms in the Goldilocks zone around our sun, that somehow life forms on the ONE planet that supports it, that so much stuff exists that lets us live our lives (Water, food, things to make shelter)... I can keep going :)