Does God exist III - the Role of Faith ...

Friday, April 10, 2015. Does God exist? Let us briefly discuss the possibilities of reality and our reaction to it. Let us start from the assumption A) that God is invisible, but that B) we hear the message about him, the reports of people who believe in him and live with this faith. What is the option, and what are the consequences and possibilities when we choose?

The Square of Options …

On one hand there is (A1) the possibility that he does not exists and (A2) that he does exist. On the other hand there is our attitude towards him: (B1) I do not believe, i.e. we might ignore him, or (B2) we might search him and believe in him based on what we hear about him. It is sometimes good to think what consequences these attitudes have in each of the situations - just as a background for our choices and our approach to resolve the question.

  (A1) God does not exist (A2) God exists (B1) I do not believe

My belief fits reality: there is no God. My life is without God, and that is good.

I loose a fantastic chance. My life is without God. But I follow illusions, not seeing reality. I do not gain eternal life. (B2) I do believe

I build on something which is not there. I follow an Illusion. I am a fool following stories which do not fit reality.

My belief fits reality. I experience God in my life. Joy comes. I gain eternal Life.

You might want to think a little bit about the different options. I put some remarks into the above Square of Options, how different combinations of (A1) or (A2) with faith or no faith (B1) or (B2) interact. The remarks are based on faith as it is described in the biblical books. Faith is about community with God, about joy and eternal life. The book of Hebrews writes about faith:

Faith and God's Invisibility …

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ... more texts