This thread is a bit heavy for my tastes. Tons of information offered with little interaction by the OP...I don't personally like that and tend to not respond if someone "seems" to be intentionally being "non-diplomatic" with other people that are giving what they can to assist them.
Not everyone thinks "logically" whatever that really means.
@BuffyLou I understand where you are coming from to an extent trying to understand this logically...but in my own mind there is a clash between logic and faith. The two are not mutually exclusive but they have a unique interaction that I cannot explain.
I've read at least one person use the car start analogy. Another one is the chair analogy...when you begin to sit you don't think about the chair holding you up you just believe...cool. That doesn't take one very far does it?
Suppose the car does not start? Suppose the chair breaks or...?
I'm sure "logically" you can think that type of a faith explanation through. It doesn't particularly hold water on my end on it's own and growing up that sort of thing always seemed "half full" so to speak as far as being a real explanation.
Also what is the car and what is the chair? The car is a means of conveyance and the chair could "hold you up"...neither of which do you "need". You could then sit on the floor for support or walk for conveyance. Suppose your body eventually breaks down or you break a leg. What then?
A simple analogy helps to explain things when you already have the trappings of an understanding but without that I don't see how it can go anywhere. Intellectually (in my view), faith is illogical but spiritually speaking it simply is. It's confusing certainly if you focus too hard on it.
Without faith it is impossible to please God (scripture)
How can this be? Surely if he revealed himself to us then it would come down to trust and the choice would be clear right?
Are faith and trust the same?
I'm not going to speak to gods...I think it is foolish to do so unless you are legitimately searching for truth. In which case, starting out with explaining the reality of the demonic realm is a dangerous place to start. I'm certainly down to continue discussing an intellectual "base" to begin launching actual searches from though.
There is nothing wrong with not being sure if Jesus is who he says he is. Plenty of the Jewish people at the time felt that way and some believed based off certain events. I would encourage you to focus on these events...How some did not believe until the heard him speak, some until they witnessed a miracle, and some simply believed. Some did not and he called these the devil's children.
Jesus even mentioned that in Matthew 11: 20-25.
I could give many many "components" of belief and how some came to understand and how some did not. How some were right on the edge but backed down. There are even some rather curious examples of "sight" in the OT that looks relatively unlike faith but all I can say about that is that it is mentioned in the NT many times as error and is little taught in the church generally speaking.
If you can operate from the position that scripture "could" be true, then perhaps we could get somewhere. I can tell you that my life has both had blind faith almost unto death and doubts so deep that I have delved into what you appear to be intrigued by. I can only guess as to what intrigues you...I presume knowledge. Truth and wisdom can be consumed together with knowledge as the dipping sauce of sorts but it is not a meal safe to consume by itself.
Knowledge is not synonymous with truth. Consider the Tree in the garden. You could say that this is simply man's knowledge and not truth. The knowledge they gained was the knowledge of sin and consequently mortality...was/is that truth?
What occurred there is a bit too deep for simple text and something I'd prefer to speak about, but they did indeed learn the "truth" that the serpent wanted them to know, what sin is and death. To know both good and evil...although the fulness of what that means I cannot say at this time as I am still "arriving" but that the knowledge is limited by our own mortality if nothing else. We cannot attain to truth unless truth has been revealed to us. Truth has been revealed to us, but it requires faith to see it. Faith is a gift of the father. Many are called and few are chosen. There were many that had doubts...but we are told that if you seek you will find.
I have found many things. Many curious events and unexplainable elements. I find a lot of the explanations in scripture but they still require trust. To lean not to my own understanding but in all my ways to acknowledge him. In all my ways I don't all the time...have I found the Lord? Do I know him? Can I intellectually assent and yet my heart be far away? Yes to each. I have faith that it is so. My mind doesn't get it....the equation is beyond me. There have been times that's been depressing, infuriating and comforting (sometimes at the same time) but that's what I live each day.