Having been raised Baptist, I see it this way: God created man to take the place of the Angels, who had betrayed him. The Angels, however, existed on the same plane as God, saw him, perhaps even interacted with him. God wanted a being that would worship him of its own free will, so he created man, unable to physically see or hear or touch him, and laid down his rules for existence. If he really is there, then it is his intention that no one be able to find any definite manifestations of him. That would be counterintuitive.

well you cant prove that he exists and you cant prove that he doesnt...i believe he does though

Eh, there is no proof. No.. solid proof. There is evidence, and though I once thought it was strong evidence I now think that it is quite weak and insignificant. I mean, God is all-powerful. He is something which we can not imagine. Just think.. it's stated that if a human sees Him the human will go blind because of His brilliance. Now, how could we prove, let alone *understand* something like that? So there is no proof that God exists.. but there is no proof that He does not exist, either. Evidence is no stronger on this side than it is on the other. Well, there is strong evidence that the *Christian* God does not exist. Think of all the scientific theories regarded as fact.. evolution (it has been proven in micro-organisms), the big bang, the creation of the sun and each planet.. none of them match up with what is stated in the Bible of how everything came to be. If God does exist, then he is most definitely not the Christian God.

you act as though christianity is the ONLY religion... there are hundreds, if not thousands, of religions... how do you know their not right? for all you know you could be wrong, and by simply having a religion you are senteced to hell... i pick my side... there is no sure way of knowing what is on the other side... so i choose to live my life the way i want to, not letting some brain-washed old-geezer make the decision of what i can and cannot do... even if i'm wrong, and i'm going to hell, i'd rather enjoy life on earth, because if your way is the only way to heaven, then heaven is gonna be more boring than being locked in a room with Ben Stein... and i'd rather have some fun on earth, and go to a place where i can actually relate to people (hell)... then again, i could be a boring, intolorant, pig-headed, ass-hole the rest of my life and then spend eternity with a bunch of other boring, intolorant, pig-headed, ass-holes... personally, the way christians describe heaven sounds worse than hell...

I can not prove God does not exist, simply because it doesnt follow logic. Here are two logical syllogisms that I will show you right now.

The first follows the line of reasoning in the universe.

1. Everything that has a design, has a designer. If you were to be out combing the beach and you found a watch, would you not think that someone made it? Or even just that small fact is so obvious that it just seems ludicrous to not believe it.

2. The universe shows evidence of design. Its all around us. The very fact that if the earth were somewhere around 10 feet off where it is now, life on earth would be impossible. Thats just one example.

3. Therefore, the universe must have an intelligent designer, God.

If that wasnt enough, here is another one, and this one involves morality

1. Every law has a lawgiver. History shows this. Look at Moses or Hammarabi. All law is given by someone.

2. There is clearly a law behind the universe and the people in it. If there werent, then there would be no good or evil, right or wrong. If you believe there isnt, how about I walk up to you, punch you out, and steal your wallet? Wouldnt you think thats wrong?

3. This shows one that there has to be a lawgiver, God.

If you want more, just IM me, I will be happy to tell you, but these two should be enough.

First, there is no such thing as a Christian God because God is universal. There's like a million ways to prove God exists -

1) Someone remarked on the ilovephilosophy.com forum that, "If energy can neither be created nor destroyed then how can our universe exist?" Don't you think the answer simply is - there must be another reality that exists that created us and by that reality's laws, energy can be created. Call this reality God. 2) If the Big Bang happened, where did the physical and chemical and later moral and emotional laws come from? What was the mind behind them? Call it God. 3) People seek God. We don't go seeking something that doesn't exist, so if even one person goes seeking God He must exist. 4) Our world we know is imperfect just as we are. So what is perfect against which, it and we are defined by? Call this perfection, God. Now don't say there is no such thing as perfect or where did the word, perfect come from? 5) We have language that is perfect, it must have come from the Gods because anything perfect in our world gets competed with, yet language remains as such because it must be a God given gift. 6) For this world to exist by itself somehow, there would have to be a reason behind that. That reason is God. Etcetera....

If God did not exist, how come all profets called for the same concept, "Worship Mighty God creator of us", they came from different places and different times but they all said the same things and none of them profited from it materialisticly I mean. Most of us believe in the higher power, why didn't this higher power send us a message of existence like God did through profets and holy books, why during all previous decades wasn't able to deliver the message " NO, these profets are liers I am the One". In all investigations they try to find the criminal because he is hiding because he know he did wrong but in this case I bet creator of this universe would be proud to announce himself, why hide and let God take all the credit.

it exists to experience