To "Believe in God/Jesus" Means

I think we can extend this meaning of belief and attribute it to faith. Some people, particularly Atheists, seem to view 'faith' as if it were a dirty epithet. They seem to inherently derive the notion that anyone that has faith is from some lesser form of humanity for the silly-hearted. But any reasonable person should know how thoroughly entwined we are to faith. Allow me to give you an example of what I mean:We would commonly say that we 'know' that humans have landed on the moon. We would say that its a fact. But what are we basing this fact on? We couldn't really say that it was a fact unless we were there. So what do we actually base most facts upon? We base on what we call, 'expert testimony.' We expect that people in a certain field have attained the knowledge in which to to teach us these facts. But there is a glaring contradiction in this as well. It takes faith to believe that the person giving the testimony actually knows anything that they are claiming. But we don't 'know' that we landed on the moon in the same sense that we 'know' whether or not our shoelaces are tied. In other words, we are appealing to authority to corroborate the truth about this or that without actually 'knowing,' (in the classical sense) that their testimony is indeed true.Now, don't misunderstand me by supposing that I don't believe in most expert witnesses or that we landed on the moon. I'm merely showing how faith and belief is in integral part of ourselves and that, at some point, its absolutely neccesary to believe some things on faith. Having said all of this, allow me to make some clarifications about faith. There is such a thing as blind faith. Blind faith is most often not a good thing. Somebody may say, "Jump off of this bridge. Its only 560 feet high. You'll survive, don't worry!" If we believed them on blind faith, we would be fools. However, there is another form of faith, one that I base all of my beliefs upon. That is, an informed faith. An informed faith is based on merit, not suppositions. There is logic behind the faith, not some blind allegiance towards nothing at all. I mean, during my days as a pagan, if someone simply randomly walked up to me and said, "Believe in Jesus because He's the Son of God and He'll save your soul," I would seriously consider the man or woman to be delusional to expect me to believe that on blind faith without some sort of corroboration. It took me many years of investigation and prayer for personal revelation to come to know by an informed faith that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and that He holds the key to my salvation. If I were to flippantly believe for no apparent reason, then my faith is unjustified. However, if I examine the evidence of this and that, I am able to make a decision on the grounds of faith that is informed. I think that is one aspect of, "Do you believe in Jesus." But I think the underlying assumption within the begging question is, "Do you believe the account of Jesus? Do you believe that He was/is who He says He is?" That's what I've gathered over the years. I would agree with this. "After Jesus was raised from the dead, Thomas refused to believe the reports that He was alive. He said that unless he touched the nail marks in Jesus' hands and the wound in His side, he would not believe. When the Lord appeared to the disciples 8 days later, Jesus said to Thomas, 'Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" -John 20:29I guess a better question would have to be, how can you have travelled with Jesus for three years, seen the miracles attributed to Him, and still all of the Disciples on some level deserted Him for a lack of faith? How could Judas hand Him over to be crucified after knowing Him? Paul answers the question of faith by asking:"...even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered." -Romans 8:23-26Perhaps we can attribute it to another adage: "Satisfaction is the death of desire."Nobody can come to God without some basis of faith. Its just not possible. Its like me trying to explain to you what it feels like for me to love my children. Could you ever understand that? You might have an intellectual acquaintence with such a notion or you might be able to understand it by comparing your love for your children. But on some level, it is going to be required of you to believe that. Even your husbands love you, on some level, has to be taken on faith. You believe that your husband loves you because he says it and because he adorns you with gifts to manifest his apparent love for you. But on some level it is required of you to believe it. And without your belief that he is being honest, then it would just be unrequited love.

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“Always be ready to give a defense to
everyone who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you.” -1st Peter 3:15

I would agree with that. I would agree this as well. Both. Let me be as honest as I can, then you can determine whether or not you trust that i'm telling you the truth. To be a Christian doesn't come easy. Maybe for some it does. That comes down to blind faith or informed faith, as i mentioned earlier. I understand very well the atheist/agnostic mindset. I really, really do. In my opinion, its so much easier to be an agnostic and very difficult to believe in Jesus. However, once a thorough inspection is made dealing with historical, teleological, ontological, cosmological, rational, and philosophical arguments, I feel that this theistic beliefs stands out as clear as day. And when I look back its now difficult to comprehend just how misinformed I was. But that's my opinion. You certainly don't have to believe. But I hope that you can trust my testimony concerning this.I remember thinking in a similar vein as you are now maintaining. I remember thinking, "I need a primer in order for me to even entertain the notion of God. How could He, if He be real, condemn for a lack of knowledge." Years later I had come to realize that in a small way, I always knew, and always had sufficient evidence to question atheism. The reality was that I simply prefered a meaningless existence because if it wasn't, then I'd be accountable for my thoughts and actions. That's why its important in understanding how the Bible came about, the impossible odds for mere humans to 'invent' what is actually written. You see, most people claim to have read the Bible, but most really haven't. They've simply ruled it out as an a priori. And when you really learn prophecy placed side by side actual events in history, it becomes apparent that we have ample reason to at least consider for further inspection. But there is another factor; a very personal factor. There are those who met God in such a way that we know its not a mistake, or a hallucination, or that we're crazy.... But I can't prove that to you, nor do I have to. That experience is on an individual basis and it was desinged specifically for them. We don't meet Him in the same way. Why is this any different from history, or math, or science that you learned in school? There's absolutely no difference. Because you are trusting the teacher to know what they are talking about. You are trusting that the information that the professor is talking about is legitimate. You don't even question it. It was all swalloed on the basis of faith. I would agree. The Being of God, if God exists, would concievably be inconvieable! Its like an ant trying to understand the depth of the human being. Can't be done. But that doesn't mean that the ant couldn't recognize that we are much higher than it. (I'm speaking metaphorically. I don't think ants have a clue as to who or what we are, much less think about it). Seeing isn't always believing. Case in point, some people see the intricacy of God in the cosmos while others see capricious disorder. No they don't. He could have ulterior motives for al you know. It takes a level of trust and faith for you to understand that love. And I agree with that. That's why I argued against blind faith with an informed faith. You feel that you don't have sufficient reason to base a belief on God, but i do. So, there are only two options at work here. Either I'm totally incorrect in my assessment about God, or you have yet to find Him.

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“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner