A big shout ftom the UK

Colloquially speaking I am an agnostic as I don't know whether or not a god exists. Technically I am an atheist as I don't believe any god claim I have heard. Although I used to be a Christian. I was brought up in the Church of England but properly self-identified as a Christian in my twenties and believed I was saved. I had my doubts after several months as a result of speaking to atheists and ex-Christians. Some things in the Bible stopped making sense to me. Some of the Bible was immoral, some of it was inconsistent and some of it was not credible. I prayed for answers but no answers came. I now consider myself to be an ex-Christian. Every so often I like to challenge my beliefs as I think it is healthy. In that spirit I would like to ask all Christians here what do you believe and why do you believe it?

Welcome to cc. Your question will get you many diverse answers! God is real,He created the universe and mankind to glorify and worship Him! He sent His only begotten Son from heaven born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit,to forgive the sins of the world! He came here as a man,the Son of God bc of His great love and compassion,for we are overcome by our weak sinful nature and cannot save ourselves! He was crucified,died for the sins of all, rose from the dead and ascended and now sits once again at the Fathers right hand! IT IS NOT THE WILL OF GOD THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH!

This is a topic which is much more appropriate for the bible forum.

Welcome to CC..

Hi @Spectrox, here's a big shout back atcha from the States, WELCOME TO CCHAT, and a thank you for your excellent and informative intro as well

The intro board isn't the best place for an ongoing discussion about the Christian faith, but if you start a thread or two about it, I'd love to join in

I will tell you this much however, I was a lot like you when I was younger. I was baptized as an infant and then raised (so to speak) in church (loved it actually ). I attended Sunday School and then church (regularly through college), I was confirmed, sung in the choirs (youth and adult), went on retreats, you know, the whole 9 yards. So, I always believed that I was a Christian, of course (why wouldn't I have?), until the day I actually became one, that is, two months after my 30th birthday.

I'm looking forward to hearing about and discussing some of the problems that you have with Christianity (and to hopefully being able to explain to you why I don't .. have any problems with it now, that is ).

Again, welcome and thanks for joining in the discussions!

~Deut

Hello Spectrox, welcome to Christian Chat. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here. I appreciate your honesty about your lack of belief. Whatever you are looking for, I hope you will find.

Psalms 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Welcome to CC and nice to meet you. There are so many fav shows I watch from the UK, incl all Agatha Christie movies.
Some scientists put much of the data re our universe and asked it, 'could all this have happened by coincidence?'. The computer said it would be impossible for all the integrated complexities involved in our creation to just happen by 'chance'. To think something so beautiful as our DNA, which are minute machine shops, randomly bump into the right positions, is much harder to believe than believing in a loving God who wanted a family.
Also, I would recommend a free online video '23 Minutes in Hell' by Bill Weise. God bless!

welcome to cc.Stay around and keep asking,keep seeking God .He will answer if you seek him with all your heart .God bless <3

Thanks for your warm welcome people. I've reposted my OP in the Bible Discussion Forum as requested.

The question you can ask yourself is this. Does the human mind have the capacity to tell if there is God or not. By itself, I think not. There are intuitions, feelings, and hunches, but that’s not enough for a modern mind like yours. But if we examine the New Testament from the historical point of view, we come to learn that no other work of antiquity is more attested than the books contained therein. Following the evidence, a real and objective possibility of truth emerges. I can point you to a more concrete material if you’re interested.

You can also ask yourself this. Those who wrote the New Testament all died horrible deaths. Who voluntarily goes to death for a lie they invented?

What do I believe and why? Talk about a monumental question....but I'll tell you about the path I have been on in my journey back to faith.

Firstly it comes down to God's existence....you say you prayed but received no answers. I continue to pray and I get answers every day....when I wake in the morning outside my front door I see majestic trees and the most gorgeous sunrises....Who created this? Science teaches that 14+ billion years ago that all matter and energy in the universe was contained within something smaller than a quark....they refer to it as 'the singularity'. I'm not a scientist, but I understand the concept....all energy and matter compressed into a tiny point so small it would be invisible sitting on the head of a pin. Okay....let's go with that.

My question then would be....What existed outside of this singularity? Science then tells us of the Big Bang, where the universe exploded out of this singularity and started expanding....expansion that continues to this very day we're told. My question....Expanding into what???

I find your's to be a very human question....which makes sense, we're all humans after all. We need to name, identify, quantify everything so that we can tell ourselves we understand it. I don't make any pretense to understanding everything....I take comfort from reading those parts of the Bible where Jesus has to explain Himself repeatedly to His chosen disciples. If the very men Christ Himself chose had difficulty wrapping their head around the concepts of God, then I guess I'm in pretty good company.

I'll end it with reminding you of Moses meeting with God in Exodus at the burning bush.....Moses asks God, "whom shall I say sent me"....Moses wants a name, something to identify and quantify God...the alpha and omega, the beginning and end....God that cannot be put into a box, Moses wants to put Him in a box. And what is the answer...."I AM, tell them I AM sent you".

God is real, God is....for me that is the first step on a journey of faith.

Blessings.