Why don't all people believe in God? Why does a person believe in God? Why can't I give up my belief in God?
People believe in the evil eye, conspiracy theories, racial superiority, aliens and guardian angels. Why are we programmed to believe in the first place? Because that's how the human brain works. Disbelief, skepticism and the scientific approach require effort to overcome this innate mechanism of believing. Science is guided by the principle “everything new is false until it is confirmed,” the brain is configured to the opposite: “everything that I noticed is true until it is refuted.”
We owe this gullibility to the frontal lobes, which are able to build logical connections, or patterns. If we see a pair of shoes and a briefcase at the edge of a bridge, we immediately imagine a person who jumped off this bridge. But this mechanism suffers from the verification department: we willingly believe in the observed patterns, but with great difficulty and errors we can separate real patterns from fictitious ones.
There are two types of errors, they are explained by the famous example of a tiger in the grass. Let's say we are an ancient man walking through the savannah in search of prey. Suddenly we notice red spots in the grass and hear a rustling sound. An error of the first kind (type I error), a false positive, is when we mistake these spots and rustling for a tiger and run away, but in fact it was the wind and flowers. We came up with a logical chain that doesn't exist. What is the price of such a mistake? Not much - we'll run a little.
But there are errors of the second type (type II error): if it is really a tiger, and we do not collect the red spots and noise into a coherent picture, we will be immediately eaten. The price for a type 2 error is death. At such prices, natural selection will promote the prosperity of creatures who willingly believe in everything and in whom errors of the first type dominate.
Believing in something is the discovery of dependence. As real - I believe that this mister is watching me, because he follows me on my heels. So is the fictional one: this Mr. was cured of cancer because his wife prayed for him. Fictitious addiction is an error of the first type - there is no serious connection between prayer and recovery, but the wife believes in this connection.
There is an evolutionary explanation for the constant search for patterns (tiger in the grass): this is how we survive and reproduce better. But there is another aspect: a person feels very insecure in a situation that he does not understand. Chaos is an extremely uncomfortable intellectual environment for us.
Science is an excellent method for sifting out real patterns from unreal ones, but it is extremely young, seriously, it is a couple of hundred years old. Before this, nothing that man saw around him could be explained: lightning, plague, earthquakes, illness and healing - everything required at least some kind of explanation.
Our belief in the supernatural directly depends on how manageable we think our lives are. People with an external locus, who feel like they have no control over anything, are much more likely to believe just about anything. The spirit that you can appease is already an element of control. Beliefs exist to create the illusion of control over the situation.
What happens in our brain when we believe? Belief in the supernatural is associated with the activity of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, most notably dopamine. Peter Brugger and colleagues at the University of Bristol found that people with higher dopamine levels are more likely to see connections in unrelated events and detect patterns that don't exist.
This happens because, as Brugger suggested, dopamine changes the so-called signal-to-noise ratio. Noise is the entire amount of information that a person receives, a signal is a significant part of this information. The more dopamine there is, the more real and imagined addictions we see. A person with an average level of dopamine will associate the noise in the underground with mice, and a person with a high level will associate the noise in the underground with mice, and a person with a high level will associate it with his great-grandmother's stories about the Indian cemetery.
Dopamine improves the ability of neurons to transmit signals, thereby improving, for example, our learning and ability to creatively solve problems. But in high doses it can lead to psychosis and hallucinations. And here lies one of the possible connections between genius and madness, as Michael Shermer, editor-in-chief of the Skeptic magazine, suggests. If there is too much dopamine, the signal-to-noise ratio will be too close to one - all information will be interpreted as meaningful. And then psychosis begins.
As examples of two such types - “patterns just right” and “patterns too much” - Schremer cites two Nobel laureates: the sensible, witty and social Feynman and the insanely talented John Nash - a hallucinating paranoid. Feynman saw just enough patterns to make discoveries and cut off connections that didn't exist. Nash believed that everything around him was a significant pattern (he made many Type I errors), which led to persecution delusions, imaginary friends, and conspiracy theories.
In any conversation about faith, a logical question always arises: let people believe in whatever they want, even in unicorns, what harm will it do? But the herbalist's belief that his decoction cures cancer is by no means harmless. Like the belief that “our nation is better”, or “all troubles come from the Jews”, or the faith that pushed people to shoot Pentagon guards in order to find out the “secret of 9/11”.
The belief is so stable because the brain is extremely clever in looking for explanations for the pattern found, so it is easy to believe that aliens exist: Texas housewives are being kidnapped, crop circles are multiplying, UFOs are flying in two stripes. When we try to explain and rationalize a belief, we make another common cognitive mistake: as soon as we see a match (even a remote one) with our theory, we immediately shout “There, I told you so!” We don't pay attention to discrepancies. So, if one prediction of a soothsayer comes true, we will immediately forget about a hundred that did not come true.
Believing is a natural state of the body, and people can only make every effort to separate real connections from fictitious ones, so as not to harm themselves and others. So far, there is only one universal and extremely effective method for this - science.
Lesha Ivanovsky
T&P
Comments: 3 |
If you lock a pigeon in a cage and give it food only after it pecks the button, it will quickly understand what is required of it. But after some time he will think: why are they feeding him? Apparently, something is required of him in order to receive food. He will begin to flap his wings before pressing the button. And he will believe that they give him food because he flaps his wings...
Belief in the inexplicable is quite understandable. Why are we strong in hindsight, believe in spirits and can easily explain the causes of the economic crisis? With the beginning of the cognitive revolution in psychology (and social sciences in general), many researchers began to wonder: is it possible to use discoveries in the field of human consciousness to explain religious thinking? One of these discoveries was precisely the moment of truth.
Pashkovsky V. E.
This book is a brief clinical guide that outlines modern ideas about mental disorders associated with the religious-archaic factor. Until now, such manuals by domestic authors have not been published in Russia. The book provides a clinical description of mental disorders of archaic and religious-mystical content: religious-mystical states, delusions of possession and witchcraft, depression with a religious plot of delirium, delusions of messianism. A separate chapter is devoted to the problem of psychiatric aspects of destructive cults. The book contains data on the history of religion and introduces the reader to modern religious ideas, which should help in working with religious patients.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov (December 6, 1913, near Cherepovets - December 12, 2002, Kyiv) - Soviet and Ukrainian cardiac surgeon, medical scientist, writer. Author of innovative techniques in cardiology, author of a systematic approach to health (“method of restrictions and stress”), discussion works on gerontology, problems of artificial intelligence and rational planning of social life (“social engineering”). Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1969) and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Hero of Socialist Labor (1973).
Faith, Hope, Love... I wonder if anyone has ever wondered why we always use these meaningful names in this and not in any other order? Is this a random consonance, a harmonious rhyme, or is it true that for Russians faith always comes before hope and even love? Scientists from the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences do not take anything for granted and check any harmony with their algebra: shares, percentages, statistics, permissible limits of error. This is what happened in this case too. Sociologists from the Institute of Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences tried to measure the “level of religiosity” of Russian citizens and drew very interesting conclusions.
Psychologist Justin Barrett compares religious people to three-year-old children who "believe that other people know almost everything." Dr. Barrett is a Christian, editor of the journal Cognition and Culture, and author of Why Anyone Believe in God? According to him, children's belief in the omniscience of others decreases as they grow older due to experience. However, this attitude, necessary for a person's socialization and productive interaction with other people, persists as far as belief in God is concerned.
With the help of belief in the irrational and supernatural, people cope with stress and danger, scientists note. In the short term, little things like wearing a talisman can improve performance and give a feeling of self-confidence. That is why, the researchers emphasize, under unfavorable economic conditions, the number of articles on astrology and other parapsychological phenomena increases.
There are many reasons why many people do not believe in the existence of God. For example, the tendency to reject God for some people is rooted in a philosophy that exalts pure reason. According to Charles Darwin, the natural world is better explained by “natural selection” than by the existence of a Creator. True, although Darwin in his theory suggested how various forms of life developed, he did not explain how life arose and what its meaning was.
Another reason for disbelief in the Creator is the presence on earth of suffering, chaos, lawlessness, hunger, wars, natural disasters, etc. Observing what is happening in the world, many do not understand why the Creator - if he exists - will not change life for the better. However, the Bible gives clear answers to this question. It’s just that many people, unfortunately, do not know the Bible. This book explains why God temporarily allowed suffering to exist on earth.
Many people reject the Creator because they simply do not want to believe in him. They understand that then it will be contradictory...
Now is the time for former atheists to die. The age has simply come for those who were born on the eve of the Great Patriotic War and immediately after it to leave earthly life. “The days of our years are seventy years, and with greater strength, eighty years...” (Ps. 89:10). Most of them are former pioneers, Komsomol members, party and non-party communists, which means people are most likely non-believers. Even if someone was lucky enough to be baptized in childhood by relatives who did not forget God, many of them still had nothing to do with religion and faith for most of their lives.
And so, some “stand their ground” to the last and die without repentance and communion. Neither the persuasion of children or grandchildren who have become church members, nor the tangible presence of the Church in the information space helps. Others, even at the end of their days, open their hearts to God, begin to go to church, and prepare for eternal life.
And when you stand at a funeral, the question “why does a person believe or not...
People don't believe because they live from the point of view of the mind. Of course, by reflection you can (and should) come to God; this will no longer be faith, but knowledge. But many are limited to the statements given in the previous answer “there is no evidence of the existence of God”, “I do not want to be controlled by a priest”. People don't really think about this issue. They believe that God is the church, and now not even all the priests in the church are the kind you want to go to confession to. Moreover, many did not even read the Gospel, and did not think about “why did Christ speak this way and not otherwise?” Now there is a total distortion of all ideas and the only way to preserve their purity is to keep them inside yourself. If you believe in God, believe it, it's wonderful. There is no need to convince anyone else of this. Yes, people are unhappy without God, but they themselves chose their misfortune, this is their choice and one must be able to respect it. In the situation that exists now, you can find good sides, you just need to look for them, and not complain...
- “You write in scientific philosophical language. I am not a philosopher and I am close to the esoteric language (spiritual), based on the energies of information exchange.”
Of course, EVERYTHING is a matter of opinion, in the sense of taste, and tastes are not judged!))
On the other hand, if we take logic as a criterion, then we can look for objective support for the opinion.
It seems to me that your use of the term “esoteric” here is not entirely correct.
What I read from you is purely exotericism. Dualistic, essentially.
Not even mesotericism.
But what relates to monism is truly esotericism.
The word “esoteric” itself suggests:
“The word “esotericism” comes from the word “esoteric” - secret, hidden, initiated into the secrets of some society or teaching, open only to a select few. Antonym - exoteric. It can be used as, for example: “the esoteric meaning of a ritual.”
In fact, all societies that publish something like this in any form are mesotericists,...
Why do people believe in God? Faith brings us closer. Faith is divisive. Because of their faith, people staged the largest Crusades, where thousands died. But faith was, is and will be an inexplicable and mysterious phenomenon. This is why people often wonder: Why does a person believe in God, while others choose atheism? Psychologists, scientists and religious leaders have their own points of view on this matter.
Researchers of the phenomenon of faith argue that religiosity is inherent in a person as an acquired and not an innate quality. By nature, a child greatly trusts older authoritative figures from his environment (father, mother, other relatives), and therefore, like a sponge, he absorbs and unquestioningly trusts the knowledge that is passed on by older generations, and subsequently follows the 10 commandments. We can conclude that faith has been passed on as an inheritance for many hundreds of years. But still, scientists do not give a clear answer where this chain begins...
Reason vs Faith
Essentially, people who deny the existence of God can be divided into two groups. The first includes individuals with critical thinking who require irrefutable evidence of the presence of a higher spiritual principle. As a rule, such people have a fairly developed intellect, which makes them skeptical of religious rhetoric.
Since in modern conditions it is not possible to scientifically prove that God exists, skeptics make the logically correct conclusion that there is no higher being governing human life. Those manifestations of “divine power” that the official church calls “miracles” are perceived by atheists either as a coincidence of circumstances, or as unexplored natural phenomena, or as fraud and manipulation of facts.
It is a fairly common opinion that faith is a conscious refusal of knowledge and attempts to prove or disprove a certain statement using the scientific method. Scientists from two American...
Mitred Archpriest Anatoly Kirichenko (Kyriakidis)
14th Sunday after Pentecost
(Matt. 22:2-14)
- The Lord spoke this parable: Make the Kingdom of Heaven like the man king, who married your son. And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriages, and did not want to come (Matthew 22:2-3)
From the current Gospel and the interpretation of it, we can see how God calls all people to perfection in peace and love, to the joy of life everywhere and in everything, but since we do not understand what we are talking about, we refuse God’s calling and the very God.
The reasons for our refusal may be very different, but they are all insignificant compared to what God offers us. We realize that having been born into this world, we could not have survived without the outside help of our parents or patrons who looked after us, raised and educated us. As adults, we perceive life as we see it, according to our knowledge of life—life experience. We build our lives like this...
Why do people hate God
First, we must remember that we live in an era of apostasy from God.
Most people are atheists, atheists, although many still believe.
The lukewarmness and spirit of this world took possession of them.
Where are the reasons for this? There is no love for God and no compassion for other people.
Let us ask ourselves the question: “How did it happen that people began not only to ignore God, but to fanatically hate Him?” But the question is this.
No one can hate something that doesn't exist. Therefore, we can say that people believe in God more than ever before in the history of mankind. People know the Holy Scriptures, the Teachings of the Church and God’s universe and are sure that God exists.
Humanity does not see God and therefore hates Him. And, in fact, people perceive God as the enemy. Denying God is taking revenge on God.
But why do people hate God? They hate Him not only because their deeds are dark while God is Light, but also because...
We live in a world where many are so religious that they are ready to easily kill their own kind who have different views on life. Today we are afraid of Muslims with weapons in their hands, but the times when humanity groaned under the iron heel of Christianity have not yet been forgotten. In the Middle Ages, embittered believers waged bloody religious wars for years and burned heretics and witches at the stake. The Christians of that time did not have any scientific knowledge and took at face value everything that the priests told them. But how can we explain the fact that modern people, who have been comprehending the knowledge accumulated by previous generations for many years, for some reason also believe in talking fire bushes, a fairy tale about paradise, and angels who roamed the heavens on mighty wings?
Let's try to figure out why people believe in God
The most important factor determining a person's religion is his place of birth. In our country, many people are Christians, simply because...
We have no doubt that the camera, radio and computer were created by someone. Is it reasonable, then, to believe that such complex organs as the eye, ear and human brain appeared on their own, without the intervention of a wise Creator?
GOD reveals himself to people in two ways. The first is through the Bible, from which we can learn the truth about God and his purposes (John 17:17; 1 Peter 1:24, 25). The second is through creations. As many people observe the wonderful creations that surround us, they conclude that there must be a Creator—God, whose majestic personality is reflected in his works.—Revelation 15:3, 4.
Over the past centuries, scientists have spent a lot of time studying creations. What conclusions did they come to? One of the pioneers in the field of electricity, the famous British physicist William Thomson, said: “I think that the more scientific knowledge we acquire, the further we move away from what might be called atheism.” Another famous scientist...
WHY DO I NOT BELIEVE IN RELIGION AND IN GOD?
But really, why don’t I believe in him? After all, so many people believe, and they believe unconditionally, earnestly, sometimes even fanatically. And many of them, in turn, are perplexed that there are individuals who reject the almighty and merciful creator of all things. Such people even consider us, who do not believe in their God, to be somewhat limited, perhaps even stupid, and often sympathize with our blindness. But are we all really so blind who do not believe in the intelligent source of the universe? It often happens that those who believe in God have not heard or read the arguments of those who do not believe in him, or do not want to hear them, being firmly convinced that they are right.
What grounds do I have to claim that the god whose existence monotheistic religions insist on not only does not exist, but that his presence contradicts common sense itself? First and most importantly, these are the glaring contradictions underlying religious...
Adrian BARNETT
Why do people become atheists or remain believers?
(Why do people become atheists?)
(Copyright by Adrian BARNETT.
Translated and reprinted
by permission of the author.)
(Copyright belongs to
Adrian BARNETT
Translated and published
with permission of the author.)
1. Reasons
2.Why am I an atheist?
3. Where does faith in God come to people and on what does it rest?:
A. Belief in God from parents
B. Everything is put in its place for a purpose.
B. There must be Justice and Justice
D. Man is not an animal.
D. “Blessed is he who believes, he is warm in the world”
E. Afterlife
4. Conclusion
1. Reasons
People become atheists for many reasons. Believers most often see the reason for this in some kind of personal drama, like betrayal in love, after which the former believer...
Anti-religious poster
Why don't some people believe in God? Really? Why? Every Orthodox Christian sooner or later encounters unbelievers. And if these people mean something to him, he tries to understand the roots of their disbelief. The roots are different. Let's try to trace them together.
Residual atheism
Atheism in the form of a residual phenomenon is quite common among us. So to speak, a legacy of Soviet times. This type of godlessness is characteristic of the older generation, who were taught from school: “Science has proven that there is no God.” Universities taught “scientific atheism.” Doctoral dissertations were defended on atheism and professorial titles were awarded.
The entire huge educational system worked for state atheism. And the results were consistent. In order to escape from the field of attraction of “scientific atheism”, what was required from a Soviet person was not just intelligence and erudition, but much more - unbending...
Because believers are so weak morally that they are looking for someone to blame for all their troubles, and they are also looking for someone who would do all the work for them and help them out at the right time... And a person does not necessarily have to believe in something like said earlier...
When people die, they don't go to hell or heaven, they go to the coffin! That's it, they're gone! And you hear, you will never see them, unless you dig up the coffin and you will be able to see their remains! And when you die you will be gone! There will be nothing, no light at the end of the tunnel, no God, no Devil, no Buddha, no astral plane, no reincarnation... You died, that's it, there will be nothing...
This is what charlatans frightened weak and impressionable people at the dawn of civilization, and they, in turn, believed them and gave away all their belongings just to avoid going to hell...
And it’s good that people appeared who began to doubt the words of “good” people in robes, how would you, believers, live now without us, atheists? So we would live knee-deep in shit, working...
Should modern man believe in God?
One philosopher once said: “God died a long time ago, people just don’t know about it.”
Religion has always walked alongside man. No matter what ancient civilizations archaeologists find, there is always evidence that people believed in deities. Why? Why can't people live without God?
What is “God”?
God is a supernatural supreme being, a mythological entity who is an object of veneration. Of course, hundreds of years ago everything inexplicable seemed fantastic and aroused awe. But why would modern man worship a mythical creature?
Modern science is making giant strides forward every day, explaining what were once considered miracles. We interpreted the origin of the Universe, the Earth, water, air - life. And they did not arise in seven days. Once upon a time, people explained all disasters as the wrath of God. Now we understand that an earthquake is a consequence of the movement of the earth's crust, and a hurricane is a consequence of air flows. Today scientists find...
Religions appeared a long time ago, but even earlier people began to believe in various deities and the paranormal. Belief in such things and interest in life after death appeared when people became people: with their own feelings, thoughts, social institutions and bitterness over the loss of loved ones.
Paganism and totemism appeared first, then world religions were formed, behind almost each of which there is a great creator - God in different understandings and ideas depending on faith. Moreover, each person imagines it differently. What is God? No one can answer this for sure.
Let's look at the question of why people believe in God below in the article.
What does religion give?
There are different situations in a person's life. Someone is born into a very religious family, so they also become the same. And some experience loneliness or find themselves in such random dangerous situations, after which they survive and after that begin to believe in God. But the examples don't end there. There are many reasons and explanations for why people believe in God.
The power of faith in God sometimes knows no bounds and can really be beneficial. A person receives a charge of optimism and hope when he believes, prays, etc., which has a beneficial effect on the psyche, mood and body.
Explanation of the laws of nature and everything unknown
What is God for people of the past? Faith then played a key role in people's lives. There were very few who were atheists. Moreover, the denial of God was condemned. Civilizations were not advanced enough to explain physical phenomena. And that is why people believed in deities responsible for various phenomena. For example, the ancient Egyptians had Amon, who was responsible a little later for the sun; Anubis patronized the world of the dead and so on. This was not only the case in Egypt. It was customary to praise the gods in Ancient Greece and Rome; even before civilizations as such, people believed in deities.
Of course, over time, discoveries occurred. They discovered that the earth is round, that there is vast space, and much more. It is worth considering that faith has nothing to do with a person’s mind. Many scientists, discoverers, and inventors were believers.
Nevertheless, even now, answers to some main questions have not been found, such as: what happened before the formation of the Earth and space as a whole? There is a theory of the Big Bang, but it has not been proven whether it actually happened, what happened before it, what caused the explosion, and more. It is unknown whether there is a soul, reincarnation, etc. Just like it has not been proven for sure that there is absolute and complete death. There are a lot of disputes on this basis in the world, but this uncertainty and unknown cannot be avoided, and religions provide answers to these eternal questions.
Environment, geography
As a rule, a person born into a religious family also becomes a believer. And the geographical place of birth influences what faith he will adhere to. For example, Islam is widespread in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.) and in northern Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Libya). But Christianity with all its branches is widespread in almost all of Europe, North America (Catholicism and Protestantism) and in Russia (Orthodoxy). That is why in a purely Muslim country, for example, almost all of the believers are Muslims.
Geography and family usually influence whether a person becomes religious at all, but there are a number of other reasons why people believe in God later in life.
Loneliness
Faith in God often gives people some kind of moral support from above. Lonely people have a slightly higher need for this than people who have loved ones. This is the reason that can influence the acquisition of faith, although before that a person could be an atheist.
Any religion has such a property that its adherents feel involved in something global, great, sacred. It can also give confidence in the future. It is worth noting that confident people are less dependent on the need to believe than insecure people.
Hope
People can hope for different things: for the salvation of the soul, a long life, or for a cure for illness and cleansing, for example. In Christianity there are fasts and prayers. With their help, you can create hope that everything will be really good. This brings optimism in many situations.
Some cases
As mentioned above, a person can suddenly believe in God. This often happens after completely extraordinary life events. After the loss of a loved one or illness, for example.
There are cases when people suddenly think about God when they come face to face with danger, after which they were lucky: with a wild animal, with a criminal, with an injury. Faith as a guarantee that everything will be fine.
Fear of death
People are afraid of many things. Death is something that awaits everyone, but usually no one is prepared for it. It happens at an unexpected moment and makes all loved ones grieve. Some people perceive this ending with optimism, while others do not, but nevertheless it is always very uncertain. Who knows what is there on the other side of life? Of course, we want to hope for the best, and religions provide this hope.
In Christianity, for example, after death comes hell or heaven, in Buddhism - reincarnation, which is also not an absolute end. Belief in the soul also implies immortality.
We have discussed some of the reasons above. Of course, one should not discount the fact that faith can be groundless.
Outside opinion
Many psychologists and scientists suggest that it does not matter whether God really exists, but what matters is what religion gives to each person. For example, American professor Stephen Rice conducted an interesting study where he interviewed several thousand believers. The survey revealed what beliefs they adhere to, as well as character traits, self-esteem and much more. It turned out that, for example, peace-loving people prefer a good God (or try to see him that way), but those who think that they sin a lot, repent and worry about this, prefer a strict God in a religion where there is fear punishments for sins after death (Christianity).
The professor also believes that religion provides support, love, order, spirituality, and glory. God is like some kind of invisible friend who will support in time or, on the contrary, scold, if this is necessary for a person who lacks concentration and motivation in life. Of course, this all applies more to people who need to feel some kind of support under them. And religion can provide this, as well as the satisfaction of human basic feelings and needs.
But scientists from Oxford and Coventry University tried to identify the connection between religiosity and analytical/intuitive thinking. It would seem that the more analyticalism a person has, the higher the likelihood that he is an atheist. However, the results showed that there is no connection between the type of thinking and religiosity. Thus, we found out that the inclination to believe in a person is determined rather by upbringing, society, environment, but is not given from birth and does not arise just like that.
Instead of a conclusion
Let's summarize why people believe in God. There are many reasons: to find answers to questions that cannot be answered in any way, because they “pick up” it from parents and the environment, to combat feelings and fear. But this is only a small part, since religion really gave a lot to humanity. Many people believed in the past and will in the future. Many religions also mean doing good, from which you can get pleasure and peace. The only difference between an atheist and a believer is the presence/absence of faith, but this in no way reflects a person’s personal qualities. This is not an indicator of intelligence or kindness. And it certainly doesn’t reflect social status.
Unfortunately, scammers often profit from a person’s inclination to believe in something, posing as great prophets and more. You need to be careful and not trust dubious individuals and sects, of which there are a lot lately. If you remain reasonable and treat religion accordingly, then everything will be fine.
Reading time: 3 min
For centuries, humanity has believed in God. No matter what continents or countries people live in, they all visit temples, worshiping higher powers. Why do people do this, why do they believe in God? The answer is simple: the population of a particular country was already born with a certain faith, for example, Hindus, Muslims, Greek Catholics, etc. People are not allowed to doubt their faith by convincing them of the existence of God.
In addition, some other social situations arise due to which believers adhere strictly to established religious rules. Every church creates community and gives members a sense of support when needed. Many areas of pragmatic life have reduced their values to zero, and religious communities have filled such voids. Belief in God convinces people that this is how they can find a mentor in difficult times.
Most people, when analyzing the complexity of the creation of the universe or contemplating the beauty of nature, realize that there is something more in our universe that could create such magnificence, as well as the physical world around us.
In the past, all religions have put forward their opinions about the history of the origin of life. Each of them states that everything was created by a higher power - God. However, this is one of the most answers why people believe in God.
Perhaps the main reason for believing in God comes from the personal experience of an individual. It is possible that someone heard an answer to prayers, someone received a warning at a dangerous moment, grace descended on someone, and he recovered, becoming a happy person; someone, having received a blessing, successfully completed the work he began. This creates a feeling of happiness and peace, this encourages you to go to church and get acquainted with the sacred scriptures.
At the moment, a colossal number of people, despite countless advances in technology, are in a depressive, unhappy state. This happens due to social problems and some kind of deprivation in life, as well as due to the desire of the majority to compare their personal lives with the lives of successful people.
Also, people believe in God in order to become happy, to understand. Some individuals need strict rules that allow them to control their actions, while others, on the contrary, require more self-expression and freedom. Belief in God allows a person to understand his goals and values. Faith makes it possible to predetermine your priorities, rethink relationships with loved ones, and requirements for yourself and society.
Religion helps you find the answer: what is the meaning of life. For each individual, this question remains the main one throughout life. This spiritual problem has to do with determining the ultimate purpose of existence. Not everyone is able to answer what the meaning of existence is. And even having realized the meaning, not every person manages to substantiate it. But what is interesting is that in every individual there is a need to find meaning and rationally justify it. When deciding the question of the meaning of life, the human is faced with the inevitability of choosing one of two probable alternatives, since many worldviews are ultimately limited to two directions: religion or atheism. A person has to choose between religion and atheism.
It is difficult to define what religion is. However, one can definitely say: religion is a fact of social life. The word “religion” literally means harnessing, binding. It is likely that initially this term denoted the attachment of a person to something unchangeable and sacred.
The concept of religion was first used in the speeches of a Roman politician and orator of the 1st century. BC e. Cicero, who contrasted religion with another word meaning superstition (mythical, dark belief).
The very concept of “religion” came into use for the first time in the century of Christianity and denoted a philosophical, moral and deep system.
The initial element of any religion is faith. Faith has been and will be an important property of an individual’s consciousness, the main measure of spirituality.
Any religion exists thanks to religious activities. Theologians compose works, teachers teach the basics of religion, missionaries spread the faith. However, the core of religious activity is cult (from Latin - veneration, cultivation, care).
The cult includes an understanding of the entire set of actions performed by believers for the purpose of worshiping God or some supernatural forces. These include prayers, rituals, religious holidays, services, and sermons.
Religious objects, priesthood, and temples may be absent in some religions. There are religions where the cult is given insignificant importance or may be invisible. Although in general in religion the role of the cult itself is very significant. People, carrying out worship, communicate, exchanging information and emotions, contemplate magnificent works of painting and architecture, listen to sacred texts, prayer music. All this helps to increase the religious feelings of parishioners, unites them, helping to achieve spirituality. At the same time, the church imposes its judgments and rules, which can negatively affect the psyche of people.
Pros and cons of religion
For centuries, religion has successfully enveloped human consciousness in a “web” of impracticables, constructions of the universe, an afterlife, etc. Thus becoming stronger in the minds of people and in the memory of generations, becoming part of the cultural potential, religion received some cultural, ethical and socio-political functions.
The functions of religion are understood as ways of religious influence on the life of society. The functions of religion give rise to both pros and cons.
The advantage of any religion is that faith helps believers to more easily endure negative emotions. In other words, religion provides consolation by leveling negative emotions (despair, grief, feelings of sadness, loneliness, etc.). Religious consolation is a specific form of psychotherapy, both effective and cheap. Thanks to such consolation, humanity was able to survive in the historical past, and is still surviving today.
The second advantage of the function of religion is that it promotes communication between people with a common worldview.
Communication is a significant need and value in life. Limited communication or lack thereof makes people suffer.
Most pensioners are especially acutely experiencing a lack of communication, but it happens that young people also fall into this number. Religion helps everyone overcome this negative side of life.
Only historians note the disadvantages of religion, since theologians are convinced that religion has no disadvantages.
Historians consider alienation of people based on ideological grounds as a disadvantage. This means that parishioners of different faiths treat each other either indifferently or hostilely. The more strongly the idea of chosenness in religion is propagated, the more pronounced the alienation between believers of different faiths occurs. However, there is a religion (Baha'ism) whose moral code condemns such behavior and classifies it as a moral vice.
The second disadvantage, according to historians, is the decrease in the level of social activity of believers.
Social activity is a non-religious activity, the purpose of which is to serve society, for example, socially useful work, political activity, scientific and cultural activity.
Religions, due to their ideological function, interfere with people’s participation in socio-political activities (participation in rallies, elections, demonstrations, etc.). This happens either through direct prohibitions, but often due to the fact that there is no time left for social activities, since personal time is devoted to prayers, rituals, study and distribution of religious literature.
Atheists, trying to understand believers, ask themselves what motivates people to believe in God.
Sometimes religious individuals think about this, observing the diversity of religious movements.
Some believe that belief in God is a matter of personal preference, others believe that without faith a person becomes an inferior person, others prefer to remain silent due to the belief that people themselves invented faith in God. All opinions are contradictory, behind each there is a conviction that reflects the individual’s view of faith in the creator.
So, people begin to believe in God for the following reasons:
- birth into a believing family. Religion depends on the area in which the family lives (for example, Hindus live in India, Catholics live in Italy, Islamists live in Morocco, etc.);
- Some individuals come to faith because they feel the need for God. They are consciously interested in religion, the creator, thus making up for what they lack. They are convinced that the emergence of humanity is not accidental, everyone has a purpose. Such faith is not a temporary impulse, but a deep conviction;
- even an individual distant from religion, having experienced life’s trials, turns to God, for example, during a period of serious illness;
- some, having understood the answer to their prayers, begin to believe in God out of personal desire, expressing their gratitude to him;
- pushes a person to faith. He may not actually have faith, but will pretend to be a believer out of fear of being judged by others or believe out of fear of what will happen to him after death.
The reasons why people believe in God can be listed endlessly, but it all boils down to the fact that an individual can have superficial or deep faith. This will be reflected or not in his words and decisions, and the words spoken out loud “I believe in God” are not always true.
Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"
Arguments for the existence of God[edit]
"God of White Spots"
Main article: God of white spots
Proof of God's existence based on gaps in scientific or plausible natural explanations.
Proof of perfection
“In our conscience there is an unconditional demand for the moral law. Morality is from God. »
From the observation that most people follow certain moral laws, that is, they are aware of what is good and what is bad, a conclusion is drawn about the existence of objective morality, but since good people commit bad deeds, and bad people are capable of good , a source of morality independent of man is needed. It concludes that the source of objective morality can only be a supreme being, that is, God.
The fact that a person has a moral law - conscience (which differs from earthly laws only in greater accuracy and inexorability), and an internal conviction of the need for the ultimate triumph of justice, indicates the existence of a legislator. Torment of conscience sometimes leads to the fact that the criminal, having the opportunity to hide his crime forever, comes and announces himself.
Cosmological
“Everything must have a reason. The chain of reasons cannot be endless; there must be the very first reason. Some people call the first cause of everything “God.” »
It is found, in part, already in Aristotle, who distinguished the concepts of being random and necessary, conditional and unconditional, and declared the need to recognize, among the relative causes, the first principle of any action in the world.
Avicenna mathematically formulated the cosmological argument for the existence of God as the single and indivisible cause of all things. A very similar rationale is given by Thomas Aquinas as a second proof of the existence of God, although his formulation is not as strict as that of Avicenna. This proof was subsequently simplified and formalized by William Hatcher.
The cosmological argument looks something like this:
Every thing in the universe has its cause outside itself (children have their cause in their parents, parts are made in a factory, etc.);
The universe, as consisting of things having their cause outside themselves, must itself have its cause outside itself;
Since the universe is matter existing in time and space and possessing energy, it follows that the cause of the universe must be outside these four categories.
Therefore, there is an immaterial cause of the Universe, not limited by space and time, not possessing energy [not in the source].
Conclusion: God exists. From the third point it follows that he is an immaterial spirit, outside of space (that is, omnipresent [not in the source]), outside of time (eternal), and does not depend on energy [not in the source] (omnipotent) [not in the source].
Genesis[edit | edit wiki text]
The problem of the relationship between being and non-being is considered as an initial philosophical problem. The central question of this problem is: what serves as the beginning and foundation of the world - being or non-being. Within the framework of the paradigm of the philosophy of being, it is argued that being is absolute and non-being is relative. According to the philosophy of non-being, non-being is original, and being is derivative and limited by non-being. For Abrahamic religions, the question of what is the most basic is answered by the book of Genesis (Genesis 1.1): “In the beginning God created the heavens (spiritual, angelic world) and the earth (visible, material world)…”.
Eternity[edit | edit wiki text]
Eternity - a sign of transcendental existence, certainly supertemporal - is found in Indian theosophy, in some of the Upanishads; this concept was also developed in Greek philosophy (especially among the Neoplatonists) and became a favorite topic of thought for both Eastern and Western mystics and theosophists. We first meet him in the revelation of the eternal God among the Jews.
Varieties of cosmological argument[edit | edit wiki text]
Kalamic argument[edit | edit wiki text]
In light of the Big Bang theory, the cosmological argument goes like this:
Everything that ever happened has a reason
The universe appeared
Therefore the Universe has a cause
This type of cosmological argument, due to its origins in Islamic theology, is called the kalām cosmological argument.
Leibniz's cosmological argument[edit | edit wiki text]
For Leibniz, the cosmological argument takes a slightly different form. He claims that every single thing in the world is “accidental”; in other words, it means that it is logically possible that it does not exist; and this is true not only in relation to each individual thing, but also in relation to the entire Universe. Even when we assume that the Universe has existed forever, then there is nothing inside the Universe that would show why it exists. But according to Leibniz's philosophy, everything must have a sufficient reason, therefore the Universe as a whole must have a sufficient reason, which is located outside of it. This sufficient reason is God.
Teleological[edit | edit wiki text]
“The world is too complex to arise by chance. »
The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, observing the purposeful structure of the world, came to the idea of the “supreme mind” (Νοΰσ). Also, Socrates and Plato saw in the structure of the world proof of the existence of a higher mind.
The essence of this argument can be stated as follows:
Indeed, the extreme complexity of the structure of the universe testifies to the Great Master, who created such a complex mass of the world and filled it with such complex settings that it is simply impossible to explain it by chance. If an ordinary video camera hardly approaches the level of complexity of the eye, then how could our eye create a blind case? If echolocation cannot be explained by chance in humans, how can it be explained by chance in bats? This is sheer stupidity!
Thus, the universe, which has a very complex structure, must have an intelligent creator. The anthropic principle is also very interesting here.
This argument is also called the “watchmaker’s argument”: “If there is a watch, then there is a watchmaker who made it.” It was developed, among other things, by the British scientist William Paley (1743-1805), who wrote: “If you were to find a clock in an open field, then, based on the obvious complexity of its design, you would come to the inevitable conclusion about the existence of a watchmaker.”
Representatives of patristics also spoke about this, for example, Gregory the Theologian in word 28: “For how could the Universe be formed and stand if it were not for God who carried out and contained everything? Whoever sees a beautifully decorated harp, its excellent design and arrangement, or hears the harp itself being played, imagines nothing else other than the one who made the harp or who plays it, and his thoughts go back to him, although perhaps he does not know him personally.” .
A special case of this argument are arguments that rely on the existence of complex structures found in nature (for example, the DNA molecule, the structure of the wings of insects, or the eyes of birds or humans; as well as complex social properties inherent in humans, such as language). It is stated that such complex structures could not have developed during independent evolution, and, therefore, were created by a higher intelligence.
Ontological[edit | edit wiki text]
Main article: Ontological argument
“What is more perfect is what exists both in imagination and in reality. »
From the concept of God inherent in human consciousness, he concludes the real existence of God. God appears to be an all-perfect being. But to imagine God as all-perfect and to attribute to him existence only in human imagination means to contradict one’s own idea of the all-perfection of God’s being, because what exists both in imagination and in reality is more perfect than what exists in imagination alone. Thus, we must conclude that God, as a being represented as all-perfect, has existence not only in our imagination, but also in reality. Anselm expressed the same thing in another form: God, in theory, is an all-real being, the totality of all realities; being is one of the realities; therefore it is necessary to admit that God exists.
Psychological[edit | edit wiki text]
The main idea of this argument was expressed by St. Augustine and developed by Descartes. Its essence lies in the assumption that the idea of God as an all-perfect being exists eternally and could not be formed as a result of the purely mental activity of a person (his psyche) from the impressions of the external world, and therefore its source belongs to God himself. A similar idea was expressed earlier by Cicero, who wrote:
When we look at the sky, when we contemplate celestial phenomena, does it not become quite clear, quite obvious that there is some deity of the most excellent intelligence who controls it all?<…>If anyone doubts this, then I don’t understand why he doesn’t also doubt whether there is a sun or not! Why is one more obvious than the other? If this were not contained in our souls, as known or assimilated, then it would not remain so stable, would not be confirmed over time, could not take root with the change of centuries and generations of people. We see that other opinions, false and empty, disappeared over time. Who, for example, now thinks that a hippocentaur or a chimera existed? Is there an old woman so out of her mind that she would now be afraid of those monsters of the underworld in which they also once believed? For time destroys false inventions, but confirms the judgments of nature.
This argument is somewhat complementary to the historical argument.
Historical[edit | edit wiki text]
This argument is based on the idea that there is no state without religion, and was proposed mainly at a time when there really were no states with an overwhelming majority of non-religious citizens.
Possible formulations of this argument are as follows:
“There is no people without religion, which means that religious veneration is natural for man. This means there is a Divinity.”
“The universality of faith in God has been known since the time of Aristotle, the greatest Greek scientist... And now, when scientists know all the peoples without exception who inhabited and inhabit our land, it has been confirmed that all peoples have their own religious beliefs, prayers, temples and sacrifices. “Ethnography does not know irreligious peoples,” says the German geographer and traveler Ratzel.”
The ancient Roman writer Cicero also said: “All people of all nations, in general, know that there are gods, for this knowledge is innate in everyone and, as it were, imprinted in the soul.”
According to Plutarch: “Go around all countries, and you can find cities without walls, without writing, without rulers, without palaces, without wealth, without coins, but no one has ever seen a city devoid of temples and gods, a city in which prayers were sent, they did not swear in the name of the deity.”
“The fact that a person is drawn to God and feels the need for religious worship indicates that the Divine really exists; that which does not exist does not attract. F. Werfel said: “Thirst is the best proof of the existence of water.”
Religiously experienced[edit | edit wiki text]
Near-Death Experiences - Some people who have near-death experiences report seeing deceased relatives, floating above their physical body, or experiencing other supernatural experiences. Such evidence is considered by believers to be proof of the immortality of the soul and the existence of the afterlife.
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