How can people believe in something they don't understand??

Question

I am a college student who has grown up as a Catholic but have since opened my eyes to every other possible religion and settled for now on agnosticism. (which is I don't know)

Honestly I couldn't stand praying to something I didn't know was there, who wasn't answering. I couldn't stand believing in a 2000 year old man either. Really shouldn't religion be about the here and now???

I don't get how someone can believe so strongly in a religion unless they were brainwashed to believe it.

I mean, people actually think the Bible is the word of God. Really? Or was it written by men in the desert 2000 years ago?

No one understands this stuff, and people who say they do are very very arrogant. I'm trying to figure out why people believe so strongly in something they really don't understand?

Answer 1

how will you ever grow of evolve spiritually if you limit your faith and beliefs to things you can comprehend. be open and reach inward and hold fast to the things that are uncomprehendable. when you evolve spiritually you will begin to understand more and more of it but as a human, the mind just cannot comprehend some things that are beyond this world and dimension but seek those things, they are whats going to take you higher. not the easy things that everyone understands.

Answer 2

One Word:

"Faith".

(Bwah, Hah, Hah, Hah!!!)

Answer 3

Do you really think most people understand, truly understand, evolution, black holes, gravity or even electricity? And yet they, for the most part, believe in them. Understanding is not a prerequisite for belief, although it helps to have at least a basic understanding.

Answer 4

You don't have a good argument.

God handed down the law to Moses at Sinai and if you read it, you will find there all we need to live happy productive lives, but since we can't fulfill the law, God sent Christ.

It is easy to understand what the Bible is about.

it is about you, a sinner who can't be good even though you want to be,  and Jesus who is good who took your place so you can live and not die.

It doesn't require a degree in theology or psychology, just believe in Christ is basically all God knew we could do.

I mail a letter at the post office, I don't know but I believe they will deliver my letter to where I sent it. It is faith.

I eat and believe the food will nourish me, I do many things in faith and so do you.

I completely understand what Christ did for me because I made it my business to find out.

Answer 5

I must admit I believe in quantum theory but don't understand it.

Answer 6

I believe in electricity but I don't understand it, I can't see it, the books on it is like reading another language,but I can see the effects of it and know it's powerful.I don't understand this hurricane that's headed this way, can't see it, but I know it's there and pretty sure I will see the effects of it soon.

Do you believe in what you feel in your heart and soul? Do you love someone? How do you know? Because you can feel it, and if you do you want to please that person, you want to spend time with that person. I want to please God and spend time with God. I was driving down the road singing praises and I could feel the presence of God all about me and the sweetest feeling came over me and I just starting crying out of joy,have you ever felt that? Have you ever prayed for someone and saw that prayer answered? I have.I have a close relative that was on drugs so bad I saw him at the point I thought he was dying.I prayed and prayed for him. I knew if he died his soul would be in h**l. He was sent to a rehab through a hospital because he had overdosed, they gave him drugs to dry out, antidepressants to take when he went home and within a week he was back where he was before he went. Later on he went to a Christian rehab, received Christ as his Savior and is now preaching and has been for over a year now. He took no drugs to dry out no drugs to ween him off crack rock, crystal meth, pot, prescription drugs and everything else he could get his hands on. Explain that to me, please. I may not understand everything about the Bible and God  but if I did He wouldn't be the Almighty God that He is. Noone has brainwashed me, I feel His prescence I feel the power in His word and if you try to, you may also. I mean I don't understand everything about myself either but I believe in me..... God's word will stand, it has been here since it was written and He will see that it continues to be here and because it is the truth it will not change.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End.Sorry this is so long but I hope this helps you understand . Wise men still seek Him!

Answer 7

Are you not just as arrogant or more so at 19-20 years to decide you know more than anyone older with more life experience?

Can you explain quantum theory and use it to explain everything?  What??  You can't???  But you believe it as your instructors taught you right?

The Bible is about the then and also the here and now.  The Jews were glad they paid attention to the Mosaic Laws they were given.  They of course knew nothing about germs or bacteria.  Is it not fortunate they worshiped a God who did?  The sanitary and dietary laws they were given specifically saved them from such problems.

Today, if the world obeyed God's laws respecting morality, there would be no millions of deaths from AIDS.  Not even an epidemic of venereal disease.  How much suffering could have been avoided?

How about the divorce rate at over 50% today?  Applying Bible council on marriage and family life would reduce that to near zero.  Plus provide a happy home life as well.

Yes you can understand the Bible.  That is what it was written for.  The difficulty is so much pagan doctrine is taught as part of the Bible.  Such excrement has no place being with the truth of God's Word. No one will ever gain any understanding with such mixed in.

Answer 8

I think you're right.  Prayer did me no good, ever.  And I don't believe the Bible is the word of God either.

I do believe there's a God though.  I am deist - I see order and logic to things and even though I don't think God can be communicated with, I think there's a creator of some kind who knows what he/it is doing.

EDIT: Don't you love Chris - one account suspension after another, and he just can't stop hating on Catholics...it's in his blood or something.

Answer 9

I'm Hindu,my religious scripture is over 5000 years old (as in,it was written down that long ago).My scripture involves ancient dialogs like the Bhagavad Gita,Srimad Bhagavatam...etc.It explains reincarnation,purpose in life and so many other things.It explains religion,how all religion is manmade but the proccess of finding your relationship with god can be done with any religion.So,since stuff like that is in my religious text,I'm easily convinced that it was all initially the word of god and passed down generation after generation.Though I admit,in the time,lots of things got twisted in my faith (caste system being one).

But the cool thing is,I don't consider myself arrogant because the scripture explains most of the stuff to me in a resonable and logical way.And believe it or not,I can be very scientific.

Answer 10

What else can I say, but that you are quite correct. If most theists had as little (none) evidence for any other area of their life, they'd blow off such factless claims in a heartbeat. Yet, on this, they throw out their working minds and fall back on what would barely be acceptable to a 5 year old.

Ridiculous, or, as Bill Mahar's new movie would say, Religilous.  

Answer 11

If science tells us the universe is constantly expanding then 10 years ago the universe was closer together, 1000 years ago even closer, therefore at some point in time the universe was so close together that it was the size of a pin, and slightly before that it did not exist at all.  If science tells us that something cannot be created from nothing then logic dictates that a force outside the realm of current scientific explanation initiated it all.  The question is what is this force?  Christians believe this force is the God of the bible, but why is their belief more credible than the Muslims, Jews, Hindus, or any other religion?  There is no evidence so they must all rely on faith.  The truth is no one knows, hence the agnostic view.

Answer 12

I don't understand how gravity works, but unfortunately I'm bound to it, no matter how much I would rather fly away...

1 Corinthians 1:25-28

" 25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: "

Answer 13

dont judge wht YOU dont understand. We have been given His spirit. It helps alot with spiritual things.

Answer 14

Why it is as easy as breathing to believe what you do not understand.

There are millions of persons who believe in UFOs and aliens out there somewhere in the Universe. But nobody who believes them claims to understand them, their motives, purposes or agenda.

And any fool can believe what is proven, what is true, what is certain, but it takes practice to believe in the impossible! It takes faith!

Here's a quote from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass

"'Now I'll give you something to believe. I'm just one hundred and one, five months and a day.'

"'I can't believe that!' said Alice.

"'Can't you?' the Queen said in a pitying tone. 'Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.'

"Alice laughed: 'There's no use trying,' she said; 'one can't believe impossible things.'

"'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"

What is religion but faith. And what is faith but belief in the impossible, the absurd, the stupid and the unknowable, inscrutible and that which has no evidentiary backing.

–

If you don't believe what I say, listen to Tertullian, the Church Father.

Credo quia absurdum est.

This basically says "I believe it because it makes no logical sense."

Answer 15

Most people lack gullibility... Oops, sorry, faith...  so you must bear with them and the cold facts of life...

Answer 16

I was also raised a Catholic and there were questions I had that they could not answer.   Because they did not have the answer did not mean there was not an answer.  

I had asked questions about salvation and why if Jesus died for all, and if our sin guilt had been paid, why we needed to confess to a priest our sins.  

I have knowledge of God and I know Him and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I have a personal relationship with God and I do understand God.

If you want to understand God, read His word.  People in the Bible were real people and they have genealogies to prove it.

Someone does understand this stuff and those people are born again Christians.   If you are not born again of the Spirit of God then you will not be able to understand.  

I believe because I have experienced the presence of God.  He is real!  He is not that far off that nobody can reach Him.  Pray and ask him to open your eyes and heart to receive His knowledge.  He will do it !

Answer 17

The Bible is 100% true.

Catholicism, however, is false.

Catholicism cannot save anyone.  Only Jesus saves.

The truth is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to eternal h**l is by believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe this and you are saved!

Please pray now: "Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and You rose from the dead. Thank You for eternal life!" You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die. :)