The answer to the theism question is generally an answer on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being atheist, 10 being theist, and agnosticism in the middle. For religious figures like Jesus Christ, it is similar but the official wording is different. Eg, 1 being disbelief, 10 being fully believing, and “evemerism” or “euhemerism” in the middle.
From what I see with Christian expats who determine Jesus Christ did not exist, sometimes they find another religion, and sometimes they become atheist. Personally, the atheism position is frustrating to witness because the new religion is almost always liberalism with “science” and “naturalism” at its core. As I’ve mentioned before, naturalism rejects all things supernatural and paranormal. And if you’re reading articles on this website you know that this “naturalism” position makes me cringe.
In my opinion, I don’t think it’s impossible to combine atheism with a belief in the supernatural. It is not my position, but I think it’s a viable position. I think the result is something of a spiritual world in a state of anarchy or perpetual war, but with no particular ultimate deity reigning above all. Seems possible – so who can say for sure?
From what I understand, the belief in a constant spiritual war between good and evil has B.C. roots in Persian (Iranian) Zoroastrianism, and this was appropriated by Judaism, and then further spread into all other Abrahamic religions.
The concept of “gnosticsm,” commonly believed to originated from the Judeo world, I think has its true roots in Ancient Astronaut theories related to ancient Egyptian and Sumerian mysteries. Gnosticism according to liberalist religious studies super-wizard Andrew Mark Henry will tell you “gnosticism is complicated.” Here is a sample video on the matter:
One of the gnostic takeaway items worthy of contemplation is the concept of an initial creator called “the demiurge.” Theologically, this is related to “deism” which is a concept that there was a creator who created the world/universe and then left it to its own devices. This could be similar to parents having a child, and then the child growing up to be an adult and self-individuating to becoming his or her own person. In the Ancient Astronaut Theory sense, there seems to be very mysterious mysteries as to whether or not humans – us – as we know ourselves – somehow got here by way of alien “deposit.” Perhaps all of us, or some of us, are descendants of extra terrestrials and we have extra terrestrial DNA. In my opinion, this is a pretty good hypothesis as to the origins of gnosticism, where people in an earlier time had some kind of knowledge of extra-terrestrial roots.
If you really want your mind blown, watch Lloyd Pye tell you everything you know is wrong. Be warned, it’s a 2 hour video.
One of the things Pye is suggesting in this presentation is that Bigfoot is the true native earthling, and us humans are more or less aliens colonizing the planet. And we don’t even know it. It’s incredibly compelling. If you want to put that on the 1 to 10 scale with 1 being false and 10 being true – this probably scores a solid 7.
Back to the question, “Does God exist?” In my opinion, no matter whether you are theist or atheist – there is no way for anyone to prove either theism or atheism as true or false. So many liberalist-style atheists think they’ve got theists cornered. They don’t. Not in my opinion. Likewise, so many theists think they have atheists cornered. Again, I just don’t see it. Clearly, theism or atheism is just a “choice.” Literally, how do you want to live, and how do you want to see the world?
We are on a planet though. This “spaceship earth.” And we are traveling in a solar system that is spiraling through space at a tremendous speed. “We” didn’t make any of it. And I don’t think aliens made it either. What I think we can gather though, is concepts about the creation that tell us about the creator. The same way you can find traces of your ancestors within yourself. You are not them, but they are in you – somehow.
The other thing I tend to believe is that there is legitimate good and evil, and, magic is real. (I understand Christians and other Abrahamists don’t like the word “magic.” Alas, I’m going to use it anyway.) I don’t know how “real” magic is – but it seems there is enough of it to where prayer seems to work, good luck can be manifested, and psychic abilities can be used. All of that, plus more. As I said before, many atheists are also naturalists. This is a huge error on their part. But for theists, I think they would have to say, “God made this magic available.” That is certainly logical. I think this is also an area where theists will always be able to score a goal against atheists. I also believe theists have the potential and capacity to dazzle atheists, so long as they are working with whatever one might call the “true principles of magic.”
I don’t want to leave you with a low opinion about atheists. I do think atheists help theists to define what God is not. An atheist at the very least is a “skeptic” and a sharp skeptic can get rid of a lot of false notions. Without atheists, some theists would never have any idea how retarded or even downright cruel they can behave.
Personally, I grew up theistic. Then somewhere in my 20’s I became an atheist. Then in my 40’s returned to theism, and it was not that easy. I’m only putting this out there so that you know I did spend considerable time as an atheist and I am very familiar with the mindset. I will also say that going back to theism was weird and actually took over a year to get comfortable with. Switching to atheism in my 20’s was also difficult and uncomfortable – but the transition was a bit faster. I think it’s important that people know that it’s actually not easy to switch. You could say it changes you from top to bottom, as well as at the cellular level, and that takes a while. That’s been my experience, anyway. Certainly experiences differ. I will say when I switched back to theism, I knew it was a choice, and not something I could “prove.” I would go so far as to say that this time understanding it as a choice was a benefit. I prefer it being a choice, and I prefer it being something that I cannot “prove.”
You might think it’s a little bit strange for me to tell you “monsters and angels are real” but I can’t prove God exists. However, I consider the paranormal and supernatural at least like a K-12 education process and you don’t start in high school. That’s not the best metaphor, but it’s the metaphor I have for now. But if God is the grand-master super level above all levels of philosophical proofs – what kind of hubris do I need to have to believe I can prove His existence to you? That’s far above my pay-grade.