A Quick FB Chat on Why I Believe

It needs to be noted - that I am copying and posting here a 2 minute exchange I had on Facebook.

I am intentionally not editing it.

But I think it says a lot in its brevity about how I think about about belief.

A student from over a decade ago asked me was in a conversation recently with an atheist and out of that, she asked me

"I was wondering about your answer to that question: why do you believe there is a God?"

I quickly responded:

On the belief issue - this is tricky to answer in this context but I certainly believe because I was "raised" to believe and it is hard to get away from nurture. So, I have to be honest about that.

In other days (periods of my life) I have chosen to believe because of two things (1) the human body (as one example of a living thing) is just too too too too too too too complex and amazing to believe in non-theistic evolution - in my opinion. Even if you posit billions of years - the fact that from a zygote our cells divide and know to be a fingernail, over an artery, and not a heart muscle, or an inner working portion of the cones or rods in my eyes. How can that happen but from some divine plan/purpose? The complexity is astounding. And, (2) multiply (1) times every living thing and the size and scope of the universe in all its phenomenal size, scope. If the earth were a mere couple of miles (a few thousand feet) closer to the Sun - which is millions of miles (millions and millions of feet away) - we could not have life as we know it. So - the mystery and scope and size and complexity of many created things - including a complexly old universe - these things have been a key factor in my belief in the Divine.

Finally, ultimately, I choose to believe that the way in which the total tradition of Judaism - and the lifestyle(!) and life and death of Jesus - makes sense of how the Divine (God) would want us to learn to live in the world to make it on earth as it is in heaven.

So -
Nurture
Complexity - Mystery
Love-Peace

That about sums it up.

I may have to archive this - it's really a simple way for me to express why I believe that Jesus best reflects God's hopes and intentions for a world that is complex and mysterious - but beautifully nurtured.

Blessings dear friend.

You are loved.

~ marty