I do believe in the existence of the God of the Bible.
I'm late getting in on this thread because I needed time to put my thoughts together--I don’t see a quick and easy answer, and it's been a long time since I've addressed this issue in the personal, non-apologetic way that LouBelle asked for.
First off, I see plenty of good support for the Bible as a reliable document. I'm not going into specifics here because that would become an apologetic approach, and it would be way too long. (Maybe someday one of us can put together a post to address all the historical and textual issues.) All the arguments I've seen that attempt to explain the Bible as based on mythology, or that is has been corrupted, or is a fabrication, are based on circumstantial evidence--they only give possible explanations, some of them based on how it appears other ancient documents developed--but there is no solid evidence that demonstrates those processes happened here. There is no "smoking gun." There are a lot of gaps in our knowledge of ancient history, and there are different ways of filling in those gaps. What you fill them in with determines how you interpret the whole picture, and what criteria are used to fill in those gaps are based on presumptions and preconceptions. So, at the very least, what we have is a stand-off between the differing positions.
Another reason is that, having been a Christian for over 30 years, and having studied the Bible for so long with the objective of understanding it as it was intended, having applied my life to it and having made all my major decisions based on its wisdom, my understanding can accommodate all the traditional objections people have. What I see often happening is that people will construct a God--create God in their image--and then judge him by their standards. They find him wanting because He didn’t do what THEY expected him to do according to THEIR concept. So, they reject this God, who is not really the God of the Bible. So, it would be OK to reject this false god except that they mistake him for The God. I just try to let God be who He really is.
Now here's an odd perspective for you. Atheists claim that deists believe in God because they WANT to, or because they NEED to. I can see living a life without God--it can be done, sure. For me, I believe in God because I CAN. What I mean is that many people have so much emotional baggage, or have accepted so many intellectual obstacles to faith that it is impossible, or undesirable, to believe. There simply are no barriers in my thinking to keep me from believing--it feels very natural. Has it always been comfortable or painless? No. But it has been good. It’s a positive and dynamic force in my life. Whatever fleshly sacrifice has been needed has been worth it, even if just for this life.
Finally, there is a practical reason concerning the afterlife. If I’m wrong, and there is no God and heaven, when I die, there’ll be nothing, and I won’t be conscious to know one way or another. (Unless there is some kind of non-Biblical afterlife consciousness, in which case, if I’ve lived a good life, I should be OK, right?) On the other hand, when the atheist dies, if he or she is wrong about the God of the Bible, and there is a hell, they will spend an eternity of consciousness in despair and torment. Now that may be easy for some to downplay now, but it doesn’t sound too pleasant to me. It’s a big gamble, with the highest possible stakes.
We can all write about the reasons why we believe or don’t--we can attempt to justify or explain it--but the bottom line is that some of us simply do or don’t for reasons we aren’t even aware of or have control of. I used to think that a good-enough argument, a good-enough sales pitch, could convince any skeptic to believe. It would be just a matter of finding the right approach. I’ve long since abandoned that idea because I’m convinced there are factors at work behind the scenes, influencing our decisions, that we cannot acknowledge. I don’t want to get into Calvinism, or predestination, or determinism, or anything similar, but some people are going to believe and some are not, and we don’t really know why. My wife has a Jewish friend who for most of her life rejected Jesus as Messiah. My wife, a believer, remained her friend and would patiently and gently bring up the subject on occasion. Then, one evening, my wife told me that her friend turned to Christ. Her friend said, "It’s all very clear to me now." I can’t explain it, but I believe there are some in the forum now who consider themselves atheist who will one day change their perspective. And then, there are some who will not…ever. If I can issue any kind of challenge, it’s to always continue to examine and question and research, and try to see things from the other perspective, regardless of where you stand. Don’t think you have all the answers, or know it all, or have come to the only possible model of reality—the universe is too big for that. I read skeptical material and amend my understanding where I see it’s justified. I’m even willing to acknowledge that--gasp!--I could be wrong. In any case, learning with humility should continue for a lifetime. Ultimately, only we are responsible for the decisions about life we make--we shouldn’t let someone else make them for us. If, at the end, we’ve done our best, well, that’s all we can do.
Thanks to LouBelle for posting this topic. I suspect it will go on for a while. There are some who haven’t posted I would like to see get in.
