Thank you dear and honorable friend, Ahmed A. El Tayyan, that is a very powerful argument.

God for some may simply be a coping mechanism, a defense constructed via the wisdom of the ego to shelter us from the meaninglessness and nihilism of our existence. For others, God perhaps may be a metaphor indicating an otherwise ineffable and innate experience. As metaphor the “idea of God” orients our consciousness toward a “reality” or “realities” which extend beyond the parameters and ordinary realms of the ego. Proofs for or against the existence of God however remain superfluous. The question that remains paramount and of which we must continuously discern and ascertain becomes one of whether or not the “idea of God” facilitates or inhibits an individual’s capacity to cope with the incertitude of existence.

God is not visible, at least for our eyes such as air, oxygen. God can not be seen but can be felt.

It is very difficult to ignore the Intelligent design (ID), ideas like in http://biologos.org/ in whole, even knowing their opponents' opinions. Or the books like Kulakov's works (a Soviet scholar) and "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief" by F.Collins  - their voices for reason include some very interesting proofs.

@ Ahmed A. El Tayyan, I like your comment. The simple answer is "There is God". Those that still do not believe should believe before it is too late. As mentioned earlier, everything has a creator including man, Every producer, inventor, e.t.c always provide a manual for their products, the same thing applies to man, God created man and he gave us a manual (The Bible). Anyone who needs to know more can simply consult the manual.

How do you KNOW there is a God?

We can know there is a God:

From what we know to what we don't know / yet to know or what we can't explain scientifically we need faith in God as our knowledge is limited.  Of course there are many arguments to disprove God or God is imaginary or God is merely aliens etc.  Also in this era there are many people claim that they are "God" & are looking for believers.  Hence, we need to apply our wisdom the best that we can to decide for ourselves & the next step.

Other links show there is a God to share:

http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html

http://time.com/77676/why-science-does-not-disprove-god/

When we submit ourselves the divinity take care

It is something which cannot be explained. Our rational limitations do not allow us to experience something which is omnipresent. All of us get the benefit, whether we believe or not. 

Ancient people started naming the super powers as God and  worshiped (nature, creatures, sea, rock etc) because he could not over power it . But today the modern man even trust in the other common man as god which is ridiculous. They are made to believe by the so called monks (irrespective to any particular religion)

If we approach with sixth sense it will be understood that there is one supreme power that balances the cosmos/ Universe. We name it based on the family or cultural background as ALLA, Jesus or any other Hindu names.

Of course there is a question of atheists, they should  be made to see a corpse while doing autopsy. The veins, bones and flesh connected throughout the body will teach them the existence of one holy spirit. 

I'm not sure, do GOD exists or not. But as per human nature "We strongly blame  on some superpower(Maybe 'GOD') if something happens not according to us. Similarly, we also bless 'them' by saying, its possible just because of GOD.

We humans generally not like to take responsibility of any future/big events. Therefore, we need someone on whom we stay focus and should be commonly acceptable in society.  After accusing on 'special power' we ideally become normal with great pleasure 'Ohh I'm not responsible for that circumstances'.

However, sometimes we are less capable for doing some task. then need some kind of support from others, may happens several times we found and no need any super power or even we remember too. somehow if not able to get any sort of help we just start hoping that, May GOD helps this time. 

Believing in GOD or existence of GOD strongly individual perception or weakness sometimes of human-kind.  Maybe, our hypothesis only, we never, experiments on others creatures also (Animals, plants). If GOD or superpower exists then it should must for all not only for humans. I strongly believe it's mystery on mass-level but believing individually, subject to your capability. 

My early belief was intuitive as well as a cultural capital (habitus). Later, it was supported by the five philosophical ways of Thomas Aquinas.

God is the final conclusion of any unanswered question.

Dear All

According to me, I believe in Allah (God) existing without seeing him and if anybody asked me why and how, I would answer him with a question,

Can you approve that Allah does not exist ? Answering my question leads to answer your question as well.

According to my field of study (Engineer), I can confirm that each mechanical law, rules, evidence related to mechanics ... etc have been put and controlled by a Lord how knows every thing at the emergence of life.   

Besides Creation that gives a hint that there is a Creator, I rely on direct revelation of God's word.  I am thankful to the missionaries like Hudson Taylor who was a missionary to China; William Carey went to India, and Adoniram Judson was in Burma.  They suffered so that people like me could be saved, and have a relationship with God.  (Many scientists have marveled about the saving grace of God.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Isaac_Newton

Dear Prof. Skiles and Colleagues,

Good Day,

let me bring some fine threads with many good responses/ answers , as they are related to your question!

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does_god_really_exist_Or_is_it_just_a_product_of_a_weak_mind

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_to_define_God

https://www.researchgate.net/post/GOD

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_scientists_believe_in_god

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_Scientists_Can_Believe_in_God

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_there_any_Mathematical_Proof_for_the_existence_of_God

I can only say this:

Everyone know that a letter without an author, a table without a master and a picture without a painter would not be.

So, this perfect universe would not be without a creator (God, Allah).

Sincerely

God has provided many evidences of His existence. One of these is the testimony of His creations: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalms 19:1). Have you ever looked in awe at the night sky with its billions of stars? Or studied the intricate details of a leaf or flower? Or marveled at the miracle of a tiny new baby? These beautiful and complex creations didn’t come about by chance. They are the creations of God, your Heavenly Father. They can remind you of His existence and of His love for His children. An ancient prophet declared: “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth... and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Book of Mormon, Alma 30:44).

https://www.mormon.org/faq/faith-in-god

I do not KNOW, but I do believe in GOD!

seek and you will find =)

i cant explain but i believe... its called faith

For me, it is simply belief in someone or something whom is responsible for the creation, destruction.....JUST BELIEVE....

I can suggest some on-line complementary readings in spanish: 1) God's experience starting with human experiencing: https://www.academia.edu/4919473/1.1._Librito_La_vida_como_peregrinaci%C3%B3n._En_camino_hacia_Santiago_de_Compostela_08_2013_-_ISBN_978-3-639-52063-7_ 2) Phenomenological approch starting with human history: https://www.academia.edu/5371369/3._TRILOG%C3%8DA_TEOLOG%C3%8DA_DEL_CAMBIO_DE_%C3%89POCA_Vol._1_Historia_y_contextos_12_2012_-_ISBN_978-3-639-52019-4_._3.1._Historia_y_perspectivas_de_las_ideas_teol%C3%B3gicas._3.2._La_fe_de_los_cristianos_ante_el_actual_pluralismo_cultural 3) Aestetical approch: https://www.academia.edu/15551949/Celebrando_el_JUBILEO_Una_pastoral_de_la_misericordia_urgida_por_la_belleza_12_2015_

In my opinion, if there is a God, I think the patterns we have used during millenniums to know GOD have failed. The way of knowing should be influenced by the nature of what we are trying to know. However, we do not even have clear what is that we are trying to know. Probably, new ways of knowing beyond reasoning and spirituality are needed. 

Dear Bob and Dear All

Raising this question is easier than answering the same. Proving the existence of GOD or denying the same is beyond the powers of the mankind. 

I do try to deny HIM. But the more I try to deny HIM the more I am compelled to believe HIM... By WHOM?

When I try to know myself I come to know of HIMSELF. When I formulate an equation with n numbers, I need at least n-1 knowns to determine the nth unknown! When I hear someone denying HIM, I take it as a proof of HIS EXISTENCE!

I do not see HIM. I see HIS powers. Thereby I know HIM. 

I am not HE. I am not like HIM. I cannot see HIM until and unless HE allows me to see HIM. But HE lets me know of HIM. 

I know there is a GOD because I know there is a servant of GOD in ME.

Dear Bob, I do not know whether I have followed all of the constraints set by you. But I am putting a simple curiosity to you- did you exist in circa 1 AD?

With best regards

Israr

Positive charge attracts negative charge, Gravitation force exists- we do not know why. Therefore we take them as axioms because we can feel their effects. Even today with so much advancement in scientific research we have so many such axioms. Easy thing to explain them is to postulate the existence of God. Possibly we can not have a zero axiom system. However our effort is always to reduce this number. If we can achieve a zero axiom system possibly we will know exactly what is or who is God.

Everything maker and we have to have our maker, either How do you know the existence of God. When exposed human to risk may lead to the end of his life you see sticking subtle strongly feels it's the only one that can save him from this danger and he feels very close to the absolute power is no doubt that this force is God. Certainly, who used to feeling so strong without being exposed to the risk is the closest to God.

Professor Wolfgang Schwarz shared a very edifying tragic life story of a genius researcher on the topic "scientist and society".  It's a real happy end if Faust can say: ‘for spiritual comfort, I find assurance in the concept of the fatherhood of God, for ethical guidance, I rely on the corollary concept of the brotherhood of man’. Thank you very much for the link!

Dear Respondents,

I thank you all for the many honest, thoughtful and heart-felt responses. I believe, for many persons, it takes quite a lot of bravery to speak publicly of your deepest, and often intimately held, knowledge, experience and belief regarding God (seemingly, younger scientists, nowadays, just starting new careers in academia or government-supported research positions are especially wary ... even in the U.S. where we supposedly maintain such a long and indelible tradition of freedom of speech and tolerance for religious diversity and expression).

A common thread seems to be the concept that: "... for everything made, there must be a maker (designer) ... for a table, there was the carpenter ... for the Earth, the Universe, we humans, there was God, our Creator."

As I admitted to my dear and most respected friend Ahmed A. El Tayyan, this is a most compelling argument. Especially when one knows the vastness (possibly even the infinitude) and complexity of our Universe (and acknowledging that, according to indications from current mathematics/physics theory/research, ours may only be one among many universes).

NEVERTHELESS, if for every thing there must be a Maker, I am compelled to ask YOU in return (humbly and with all due respect): Who (or What ?) made God? Who (or What ?) designed the Designer?

My best respects,

Bob

Who (or What ?) made God? Who (or What ?) designed the Designer?

God has provided the answer in scripture, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" - Revelation 22:13. 

@ BOB, are you asking - is there a God/do you believe in God? or 'how to you know THERE IS A GOD? As a scientist, the later question seem like 'the existence of God is a factual statement', meaning, truth is unfalsifiable.

As scientists, we always ask for the 'evidence' or 'proof'. Cannot prove wrong doesn't mean that guarantees the existence of God. The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. In a never-ending debate such as this one, an appeal to ignorance are very often used in an attempt to fill the void or shift the burden of proof. It is customary to believe that the absence of evidence is the absence, or lack of, any kind of evidence that may show, indicate, suggest, or be used to infer or deduce a fact. If someone believed that everything needs a creator, then it is natural to ask, who or what might have created the God?

Finally, if we further probe critically to figure out 'which God', the entire belief system on God would collapse on such argument. Every religion has evidence to show that their God is special or superior citing testimony.

As a scientist, we want to do research, seek knowledge and evidence, challenge others - their ideas, concepts, and beliefs and finally disprove others are wrong. However, when it comes to God, many would not be such critical, but only to take refuge and submit themselves. Mostly this is true!  It is akin to, if I were a lawyer to punish a sinner, I will punish differently if the sinner were my siblings. It is almost I don't want to evaluate in a standard way of judging things. 

Can science and religion co-exist or can a true scientist believe in God? It is a matter of bigger and serious debate. However, there are inconsistent consistencies on this topic. As scientists, we have considerably advanced, but we don't have all answers. What happened over the millions of year cannot be deciphered overnight; but we are in the right direction. What we know 50 years back was much different that than what we know now. That is the only evidence. 

I do not have any personal experience with God. 

Our birth itself on our Mother earth itself sufficient proof that there is an existence of a God .God is omni potent,Omni presence,& Omni scent that we all have experienced in our life.

Are you not aware the play of our destiny sometime the positive & negative action of our life & with all our experience ,intelligent ,knowledge we can not understand in which mode the movement of destiny comes in our life .

If this be a case we have to understand the presence of GOD .If we are energetic to the world ''GOD''  all we are atheist ,in this line also we have to consider the play of nature which we have not known & understood.

Dear Bob,

To your response "Who (or What ?) made God? Who (or What ?) designed the Designer?" my submission is that God is not the maker but the concept of God is there to hide our ignorance. 

Dear @ Pandi-Perumal Seithikurippu Ratnas,

My question seems rather straight-forward and self-explanatory. I even add a long paragraph describing rather precisely the limits of what kind of information I'm looking for. Certainly, you are entirely correct to caution (as Carl Sagan was often wont to do) that "the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence" (although he was, most often, applying the concept to extraterrestrials, rather than the existence of God ... but as I seem to remember Carl, in a talk one time, after destroying most of von Daniken's crazy theories, however, seemed to throw-him-a-bone, and musing that if there WAS a God living out-there-in-the-Heavens, as many religions surmised, then wouldn't this God who stimulated so many similar apocryphal stories in so many cultures most likely have been an extraterrestrial?), as-well-as noting it does not appear that I am conducting well-designed (conventional) science, here. Your implication is entirely correct, I am not ;-) Being an archaeologist (with almost a half-century particular interest in the ancient history of writing and archives) I have a pretty-good understanding of the history of most of the world religions' so-called "sacred texts," and the very temporal and convoluted non-sacred means by which they all came into existence, and realize full-well that NONE is the literal, infallible, perfect, revealed words of God, and EVERY one is a text written//created by a very fallible (and often very venal ... at least in the latest "editions" that we presently use) human (most with a very pointed, social, political or racial agenda of one kind or another ... and each copy made since the first was compiled, and first pressed into mud tablets, written-down on sheepskin or cowhide, has diverged, and grown ever more corrupt ... and that was long BEFORE royal personages even got involved in convening councils of retro--Dark-Age theologians to determine what Jesus might be officially allowed to have said or done, under the careful monitoring of the King's minister and aegis, for example), and when it comes to being used as evidence for-or-against the existence of God, then they cannot be relied upon ... they are biased testimony of adherents of a particular point-of-view, they should be afforded no more veracity than the prejudicial views of a present-day political candidate ... as (scientific) evidence, they must be wholly disregarded! No blasphemy intended (but I am certain plenty will be perceived on the part of true believers who will not ... cannot ... accept the actual reality of known history ... in place of "faith" that these holy texts are the veritable words of God rather than (largely ?) apocryphal stories (perhaps some based loosely on  actual historical events).

My regards,

Bob

PS - I am certainly NOT seeking to prove there is no God (prove a negative ... I'm not trying to prove anything ... if I was trying to prove something, I would much rather try proving something I FEEL has a higher chance of success, like God's existence ... see following), rather I am only asking for people's personal knowledge/experience that tends to reveal God's existence.

PPS - I suppose I should add that, personally, I do not KNOW or have FAITH (or belief) that God exists, but I have a strong FEELING that He does ... and I have had many indications and experiences throughout my life that tend to indicate or favor His existence more than not (and, yes, the choice of an authoritarian, male, proper, pronoun seems right for me ;-)

George,

Any ideas on how to reach a better/higher crowd?

Bob

PS - prayer hasn't seemed to work for me ;-)

Dear All,

As I can see Bob asked a clear question and I think he is waiting for a clear answer. I consider people believing in God would like to be “humanly” sure in the existence of God as well as to have a personnel tiny relationship with the Lord. However, this would create a very biased situation regarding our moral task to God and to the behaviour God except us. Our decisions should be made independently, upon the basis of accepted divine ethical rules and the total certainty could not be the necessary sacrifice.

Have read all the answers. I would answer as follows: you are sure there is a god/God only if you have had the experience, period. Anything else is just words.

Dear Carlos,

The problem is what is – this - experience?

Dear András, to be sure it is a non-productive experience. In other words, you cannot put it in words of the form S is P. Only those who have had any similar experience know it. Those who have not as yet, don't.

You know, not everything is rational.

After tens of years searching, astronomers have come to a conclusion :

- the probability of a notion that the universe were existed by chance, just happened, "would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really?"

quintillion : a thousand raised to the power of six

I think you may read this article.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568

Dear Friend Napoleon,

I do not see any contradiction in a person who is ignorant about God (me) asking people who may know about God (you) how they came-by that knowledge about God. If they (you?) want to answer my simple question with "I read a sacred text and I believed (have faith in) what it said" then I can accept that and still respect and honor them (and perhaps even envy their faith).

My respects,

Bob

I don't know whether there is a GOD sitting on the Top of the world, but I feel there is some energy that is running the universe. May be this energy is named as GOD.

I addition to above I would also like to add that in the course of my life I have felt the 'Hand of God' many times. The feeling of hand of God has been in-explainable. It has left me awed.   

Dear Bob:

Perhaps Sri Ramakrishna could have answered your question, but he passed away long ago. So I quote from a book on his experiences about God.

Pre-monastic name of Swami Vivekananda was Narendra. He mate his Guru Sri Ramakrishna when he was ninteen. One day Narendra asked following question to his Guru.

NARENDRA: Sir, have you seen God?

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: Yes, I have seen God... I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I am talking to you... But, my child, who wants to see God?... People shed jugs of tears for money, wife, and children, but who does that for God? If they weep for God for just one day, they would certainly see Him.

"Sri Ramakrisha The Great Master" by Swami Saradananda, (tr.) Swami Jagadananda.

http://www.chennaimath.org/istore/product/sri-ramakrishna-the-great-master/

"The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna." by Mahendranath Gupta, (tr.) Swami Nikhilananda.

http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Sri-Ramakrishna-Abridged-Edition/dp/0911206027

Above books available across the world at Vedanta Society bookstores.

http://www.vedanta.org/wiv/links/centers.html

Regarding your question: Who (or What ?) made God?

In Hinduism there are two doctrines. Dvaita (Duality) and Advaita (non-duality). People have different capacity and tastes in their approach towards God. Some people like to keep eternal seperation between themselves and the God they love. Some people like to unite with God in eternal Union so that their sparate existence gets obliterated.

When Christians worship the Father in heaven, that is a dualistic mode of worship. When Jesus said, "I and my father in heaven are one." That is non-duality. But every one does not have the same capacity as Jesus. This non-duality is realized when the individual consciousness unite with the all pervasive infinite consciousness which is the Father in heaven. This all pervasive consciousness has existed through eternity and will exist through eternity. It is perfectly motionless and therefore cannot be detected by instruments. When it begins to move, it becomes

energy which can be detected by human mind as thoughts and ideas. The entire universe is made out of same Spirit (consciousness) which has become energy. Energy and Consciousness can never be destroyed.

Appendix of article Philosophy and physics lists spiritual experiences of four individuals which may be of some interest to you.

Research Philosophy and physics

Dear Bob

From 'how do you know' to 'who did'... It is a natural culmination of the query you have raised. And the result, most probably, the same cycle of going from one corner to another.

I would like to repeat my answer wrote above:

"Dear Bob and Dear All

Raising this question is easier than answering the same. Proving the existence of GOD or denying the same is beyond the powers of the mankind. 

I do try to deny HIM. But the more I try to deny HIM the more I am compelled to believe HIM... By WHOM?

When I try to know myself I come to know of HIMSELF. When I formulate an equation with n numbers, I need at least n-1 knowns to determine the nth unknown! When I hear someone denying HIM, I take it as a proof of HIS EXISTENCE!

I do not see HIM. I see HIS powers. Thereby I know HIM. 

I am not HE. I am not like HIM. I cannot see HIM until and unless HE allows me to see HIM. But HE lets me know of HIM. 

I know there is a GOD because I know there is a servant of GOD in ME.

Dear Bob, I do not know whether I have followed all of the constraints set by you. But I am putting a simple curiosity to you- did you exist in circa 1 AD?"

Before going to your next question 'who made God', I would request you to answer my questions.

Did you exist in circa 1 AD? 

AND

What makes you ask these questions?

With best regards

Israr

Is the experience of God reduced to the claim of the various religions? Isn' t it possible to have a knowledge, i.e. of God outside the frames of theology, the religions and the institutions - namely priests, monks, rabbis, etc.?

Dear @ Israr,

The honest answer to both your questions is the same (that is, if by asking if I existed in ca. 1 AD you mean my consciousness, and not my present physical state): "I don't KNOW."

IF I did exist then (as Vikram Zaveri explains in a previous post) I suppose it is conceivable that I would not have had a separate or physical manifestation, but could have been only a thought subsumed within the mind of God.

Indeed, in my limited understanding of the latest thinking about string-theory and quantum-mechanics, I can see no reason why we should not SUSPECT [feel, think] that we [and all things; even the physical bodies that cart our brains around] are only "thoughts" flickering through the "mind" of God.

In one of these posts on another topic not so long ago a friend (and I apologize for not being able to remember who) pointed-out that perhaps one of the great restraints on human thinking has been our creation of the concept of time ... we are "time-bound" ... we have allowed our minds to be shackled by the concept. He suggested that perhaps if we could un-shackle our minds from the necessity of considering time in every problem we construct, this might be a novel method to a better understanding of how the universe works. His comment made me think ... ahhh, yes, certainly it must be true ... for if there is a God ... an omnipotent Creator ... then surely He must pay no heed to the passage of time (although I pay little credence to so-called sacred texts and revelations they purportedly relate, there is a specific declaration attributed to Him on this point, viz: "I am the Alpha and Omega ...") and if the universe is contained within the mind of God ... hmmmm ...

My own idea is that time may simply represent a separation away from unification with God ... time (for individual human consciousness or "soul") begins when a tiny/separate portion of His consciousness is propagated away from the whole; I assume this mote of consciousness is indestructible, likely conserved and reclaimed/rejoins the whole [God] upon death of our physical bodies...but I don't KNOW. This is the thing I would most like to know and most probably the reason I ask my questions, my dear Friend Israr.     

My regards,

Bob

Bob,

When we consider how big God must be -- look at the size and complexity of everything, including our own psyche -- we clearly can end up coming to him from a seemingly infinite number of directions.

If I understand you well, from your question, you are asking for a sane person's path to faith. It is good to know that there is ultimately ONE person that we must convince, ourself. We do not have to prove our conviction to others. It is our own. This is conviction, confidence in our conclusions about God. It takes a bit of moxie to trust your conclusion.

Part of my conviction of faith is gained from having faith. There is a lot of silly stuff out there flying under the banner of faith, so much so that it is hard to ignore it at times. 

When we read the scriptures (I am speaking of the Bible, NIV not KJV version) we gain faith. It has, as some call it, "the ring of truth". As I have lived by faith, I find more confidence to do so more. 

I think that the first step is nailing the existence issue first. Look at the stars. (Astronomer Guillermo  Gonzales wrote a good book, The Privileged Planet which helped me.) I looked at my own psyche, my own heart. I have a need for God and it is not a shame to believe.

Some call God a "crutch". They seem to assume that they can get by without God. Really? Do they know everything? Can they heal ALL their illnesses? Can they nullify (the fear of) death? Do they have an answer for life that outlives death? Yet faith addresses all of these. This realization attracted me.

Those who accuse people of faith of needing a crutch, have themselves put a blindfold on themselves and laugh as they walk among snakes, acting as if they have real answers which they don't.  

Statistics played a part. The chances of there being no God is so infinitesimally small that it causes me to pause when I feel my heart being tugged toward unbelief. 

What ever aspect of evidence, internal or external, that draws you to faith, claim it. Move forward. Build a camp on it, push the border of faith further. 

I'm open to further dialog if you trust my approach.   stevenaherrmann (at) gmail (dot) com

God bless your search! - Steve 

Lawrence,

Dr. Stoica is all wet. Faith and knowledge go hand-in-hand. They are not opposed to one another. Faith is not lunacy, as it is said, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” (Ps.14:1)

The one who refuses faith is the one who is also refusing knowledge. God calls us to trust, not to knowledge. Knowledge begets control. Are you seeking to be God? That is what rebellion from God is, seeking our own control. Let's not be silly, only God is in ultimate control. 

One-liners are usually some sarcastic comment.  r.e.: Dr.Stoica's lame thoughts.

Carlos,

Yes, it is possible to know OF God outside of church, synagog, etc. -- but it is SHALLOW. We can recognize that God exists from the world around us and by our psyche within us, but answering WHO is that God? can never honestly be answered without choosing a side and ultimately joining a community. To experience God we must know who He is. I suppose one could read the Bible on their own and never interface with other believers, but still I see many areas where a faith community is needed for a growing, healthy faith. 

To answer your question it depends on what you mean by “experience”. One can create their own god, but such a god can never help you. If we want the real God, we need to know who He is and that will eventually involve joining a community. 

The question is "How do we KNOW that God exists?" One CAN know. To stoop to the attitude that everyone's truth is just as valid as another's is simply illogical. One can know Truth by doing it. I am not "pretending" to know truth. Nor am I being obnoxious or arrogant in saying that we can know truth. Is water wet? Stick you finger in! You can believe what you want. I have no problem with that. But to say that one truth is as valid as another is illogical. There is truth in science, in math, and also in spiritual matters. For ultimate verification we will all have to wait, but common sense verification is available today.

Dear George,

You might not have understood me.    

Dear Carlos,

Your answer may be a right one but it cannot be used in a discussion.

Dear András and friends, please allow me to play the role of a lawyer (which I am not, thanks god!):

The question is not whether you know if there is a god. Rather, it is about how do you KNOW there is a god. Well, only those who have experienced God know there IS a God. Those who have not experienced god as yet, cannot know -by definition- how they know or not about god.

Dear Steve, we can never be sure that god is only in one place, or definitely in one place - and not in others. I seriously doubt that god prefers a distinctive place to be and be with his/her beloved ones.

Once a priest friend of mine said: all those who go to church obliged sin, for one should go freely and joyfully to church. Can you get my point, even if you may not agree?

Dear Dr. Lucio Jose Fernando Caceres Vera

Your question generates many other questions but my sample argument is

in science there are many laws and assumptions upon which we we build our faith and design our sequential inventions.

Let us assume SOME ONE is there who created this beautiful world call this constant 'GOD'. This constant factor matters in the results of all our successes and failures. GOD has given us all the senses to keep this world beautiful and sustainable.

Yes, indeed, thank you George ... as well as being clearly among the most intelligent people observed here on RG, now you prove yourself a very gracious person, as well.

Merry Christmas!

Can't agree more with you, dear Anne. Many people even un-critically assume the He and forgets the She.

Dear Anne, for sure it was a male colleague here on RG who down-voted us. A closed and narrow one. A female colleague would have never down-vote our answers. Plus an intelligent, tolerant and open friend in RG would not, either. 100% sure about this.

(Provocation).

Dear George,

I have always been in favor of abolishing the anonymous "down voting" capability at RG and feel this is wrong-headed, anti-science, and a cruel instrument designed particularly for, and whose only justification can possibly be for, the delight of (retro Nazi ?) sadists. I regret that you have been victimized for doing a gracious act ... I will certainly keep an eye on your contributions (here and elsewhere), in future, and ensure that you receive at least tenfold up-votes from me as my contribution toward seeing that you receive justice for that horribly unjust down-vote.

Sadly, my regards,

Bob

By miracles

The rational way to proof the existence of God started in the ancient Greek philosophy. The starting point of Being is the One beyond all beings, which nowadays we say that it is the Big-Bang, the starting point of our universe. We need to have logically and physically a starting point of everything and that is God. How do we know that God is the One who created the world out of chaos? We cannot say that "the world" exists, because according to astronomy and physics we know that there was a singular point, indescribable, which in the modern times we describe the development of it as the universe, and since the ancient times it was named God. The further question is about the source of every creation, including nature: if it was a creation, then it was a Creator; if it was no creation, then we have to explain everything that exist in the universe by materialistic, scientific laws till the last end, and that is impossible. On the other hand, we should ask why God created a discrepancy between Himself and the creation so that He leaves humans in an eternal problematic condition. As created human beings, we will never wholly comprehend the essence of the world, the reality, everything that exists and even ourselves. Moreover, any proof of the existence of the Creator confirms neither God’s own work, nor his ideas, nor his thoughts, because they are not and never will be fully comprehensible to human beings. Ergo, God’s existence is wholeness, unity and infinity; He is an unnamed and hidden entity, while human beings are utterly dependent on God for their existence, thoughts, will and deeds.

An additional rational religious thought has an essential aesthetical facet; it is grounded on the idea that unequivocally God is the Architect of the universe, and his highest summit is spiritual creation. If the universe is the effect of an act, and the act itself is the effect of a Being and of a need, of a thought, of a science, of an idea, and of a power of that Being, it is by an act alone that one can join again the great aim and propose to oneself, by the imitation of him who made all things. This is the most natural way of putting oneself in the very place of God, and out of all acts, the most complete is that of constructing.