"Do You Believe In God?"

A Philosophical Dialogue with Historical Context To Answer A 5-Word Question

Question: “Do you believe in God?”

Answer: “Well… that’s a loaded question, and in all actuality, that question doesn’t necessarily reflect the truth of the question. The question states, “Do I believe in God?” So first, 1) let’s break down the question, 2) point out its flaws, and 3) essentially get the essence of what the question is trying to portray.”

First, let’s start with the word “believe.” Do I “believe” in God. To clarify, I try not to believe in anything — and neither should you. I think we really need to stop “believing” in things. I’ve come to see the word believe like the following:

• “be-” = the state of being 

• “lie” = being lied too

• “-ve” = the state of having been

So, “believe” can be seen as “the state of having been lied to.”

Like Carl Sagan once said:

You don’t believe your name is “so and so,” you know your name is “so and so.”

So, when it comes to something as powerful as the Being being portrayed as “God,” I don’t think anyone should believe in such a deity. Something this profound needs to be known. 

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And so the question now should ask, “Do you know God?” And even within that phrase, some areas remain to be addressed, so let’s focus on the word “God.”

If I were to ask any common man on the street, “Who is God?” or “What is God,” most would reference the Bible and the Bible telling them who God is. Whether they believe the Bible or not, they would immediately reference it, and more specifically, they’re referring to this concept of “God” being associated with the Christian faith.

So that opens up a can of worms there. Does “God” only have to do with the Christian faith? Can I know there’s a God even if I don’t ascribe to Christianity? I would argue yes, and I would also say that due to the historical context at play, viewing “God” only in this light really diminishes the omnipotence of this Divine Entity. 

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