Why do I believe in God?

Ray Caldwell reflects on Scripture and contemporary psychology, especially the human experiences of suffering and ecstasy, and concludes that they provide strong evidence for the existence of God and for life after death.

Does God exist? If so, why does God seem so distant?

Perhaps the answer to the latter question is that we are dull, and we have to awaken to God by our conscious choice.

There are MANY things on planet Earth to distract us away from this one, supreme quest.

Disbelief in God has countless alibis. Is it God's fault that we choose to follow anything other than the one, supreme quest?

So, if you've made up your mind that God does not exist or it's God's fault that the One seems so distant, off you go...

The apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Is that 'old hat' and no longer relevant? The prerequisite questions are: 'How did they come to exist? How did they and why did they? By random chance with no conscious volition or by conscious design from conscious intelligence and will?'

We acknowledge cause and effect: it's undisputable. Even taking 'survival of the fittest', who and what foresaw and planned into planetary consciousness that natural selection program? And where would natural selection be going? What is the final effect of that cause?

WHY DO I BELIEVE IN GOD?

(1) Because ecstasy and hell are realities in human conscious experience. The human spirit can experience both subliminal sustained suffering as well as subliminal sustained ecstasy. Most people, I believe, are totally unaware of that fact unless they experience it. If humans were in touch with this truth, they would not even give the possibility of the dropping of a nuclear bomb on a city. What levels of suffering can the human spirit sustain? Take the case of Robert-François Damiens, Guy Fawkes or William Wallace.

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)

They were humans demonstrating what levels of sufferings a human can experience. Conversely, consider also what few humans have ever experienced: sustained ecstasy. This is intangible because apparently it is indescribable. The apostle Paul noted:

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2, King James Version).

Modern psychological research adds:

Ecstasy and bliss are profound states of consciousness that have captivated human interest across cultures and historical contexts. Within the realm of transpersonal psychology, these experiences are recognized not merely as transient emotional states but as transformative encounters that can significantly impact an individual’s psychological and spiritual development. Ecstasy, often characterized by intense joy and transcendence, and bliss, associated with deep peace and fulfillment, can serve as gateways to expanded awareness and deeper connections with the self and the universe...Understanding these states is essential for comprehending the broader spectrum of human consciousness and the potential for personal growth and healing.                                                                                                                      (Quoted from https://transpersonal-psychology.iresearchnet.com/states-of-consciousness/states-of-ecstasy-and-bliss/

Typical human consciousness exists somewhere in between these two poles, both of which are absolutely real.

The Bible discusses heaven and hell; that is well known. And Jesus certainly taught that both heaven and hell actually exist as states of human consciousness that are finally beyond human control. That is at once both enough to cause uncontrollable trembling and/or excited anticipation.

Now I am open to God, especially as Jesus Christ promised deliverance from hell to us, no matter the nature of our offences (except for one).

My second reason is:

(2) Design. There are innumerable examples of design. But just take the reproductive organs. How could men and women be so perfectly designed for each other? The reproductive organs are perfectly designed in the male and female for their compatibility. Random? Chance? No conscious intelligent design?

In Genesis 5:2 it is written:

He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them 'Mankind' when they were created. 

Nonsense?

The brain: does it exist without design? Neural pathways? Left and right brain?

(From https://sciencenotes.org/parts-of-the-brain-and-their-functions/)

Centres in the brain for controlling breathing, digestion, the immune system, the heart and blood? All coordinating in the body. Exists by random chance from no intelligent designer? Do I want to bore you with glands, sperm, eggs, the hands and the feet?

Whoever 'evolution' or 'the universe' is, that One is some intelligent creator with chemicals and consciousness.

Further, the aim of all this design seems to be to 'house' conscious awareness.

1 Corinthians 3:17 - If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Leviticus 19:28 - You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

1 Corinthians 3:16 - Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you

Genesis 2:7  - Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Clearly, the breath of life here is the conscious human soul.

Ecclesiastes 12:7. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Finally for my short discussion, there is:

(3) the human being and the tree scenario. 

If the tree exists to provide food for the human and is 'out there, how could unknowing random chance have organised this? Why does the fruit look and taste good? Why do humans have eyes to see the tree and its fruit, legs to walk up to it and hands to pick it if no one could see, understand and organise this relationship?

The logical deduction is that someone, someone conscious, must be able to see the face of the earth and place things according to the needs of the creatures. If it were all random chance, the chances are that all humans would have to bite on would be a piece of meteorite.

So is there a God? Is there a conscious and intelligent designer and organiser? A One who created both the body, the environment and the conscious existence? The consciousness that can know hell or heaven (polarised suffering or polarised ecstasy)?

Genesis tells us that God formed the human body out of soil and placed a human spiritual consciousness within that body.

Is that ridiculous?

I am going to stop this flow of thoughts here and ask you what you believe?

Do you believe in God? Or random chance and some primeval mud?
Do you believe in love and hate, good and evil?
Do you believe that hell and heaven are both possible in human experience?
Or is the ultimate suffering or the ultimate ecstasy impossible?

With best wishes for your personal direction in our present turbulent era!