Thank you for your post, Islame.
Again, with respect, the practical benefit of believing in God, whether it gives you comfort, whether it provides a survival advantage, is irrelevent to whether he exists or not.
Or not.
The counter argument is:
Accepting G-d's Teachings for ethical human behavior is accepting G-d, regardless of whether you claim to believe G-d exists or not.
Per Jewish Teaching, G-d in His Humility states it is
not about Him:
"Better that My people should abandon (belief in) Me and keep the Torah, for observance of the mitzvot will bring them closer to Me." --Yerushalami Talmud, Haggigah 1:7
Its about us, His Children. His desire is for us to meet our full ethical potential, to be mature righteous beings.
I submit belief in G-d also is relevant in the human recognition of an Authority, and associated morality which is eternal and unimpeachable by Man whose tendency for selfish behavior (
yetzer hara) leads to moral relativity.
I.e. men can find excuses for immoral and unethical behavior, can justify evil performed upon their fellows, can lie to themselves for selfish gain.
However, a G-d based Law is eternal, and no man, nowhere and nowhen can change it. This constancy of ethics is what makes belief in G-d right and good--for those whose tendency to elevate the self over the other is not fully self-controlled (i.e. everyone).
Believing I will live forever after death and have heavenly rewards for eternity, may be a comforting thought but irrelevent to whether it is true or not.
I would say both are relevant to the one who believes and by their belief leads a righteous life.
Fyi,
personal salvation and
Afterlife reward are not particularly important in Judaism compared to Christianity and Islam.
Judaism is more comcerned with
world salvation and
Life.
See my answer in post #6.
Thanks for your reply, but did not really get to an answer for me and post 6 was more of a generic reply that did not answer why God allowed his messages to get corrupted.
The answer is still there. I am sorry I cannot make it clearer for you.
The Message has never been corrupt. Human beings, however, can be.
And the choice is ours.
At least Jesus never physically attacked the people who refused his claims(although his followers certainly did), I can't even say that about Muhammad.
The Temple moneylenders would disagree with you.
I dont know he did it or not, but he certainly gave orders for them to attack disbelievers?
Because of their unbelief alone?
If so, then that was his human flaw (yetzer hara dominant).
If you believe that religion is not purely a scientific consideration, are you saying its more of an internal feeling that you have - almost inexplicable but you can somehow feel his presence?
I can, yes.
However, I'm saying, as a man of science, that science alone does not explain everything--yet, and maybe never. Science is a tool for gaining knowledge and, at its best, it is amoral. For morality, something more is required. And, thus, it is not inappropriate nor unscientific to hypothesize--e.g. a soul, and a G-d.
Even if we somehow logically managed to disprove God's existence, are you saying you would still remain a believer?
That in itself is a hypothesis which cannot be proved or disproved--i.e. a null hypothesis.
And to what noble purpose?
Respectfully,
History
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