Q: For clarity, do you believe in the existence of God, or a divine entity?
T: Yes, without doubt I do believe that God exists.

Q: Do you have any proof that supports this belief in the existence of God?
T: I have proof for the belief in God, which is expressed in terms of my faith. However, if you are asking if I can prove the existence of God without this faith, then I cannot do this.

Q: So you cannot show with valid material proof, the existence of God?
T: No I cannot.

Q: Therefore your belief in God must wholly rely on your Faith?
T: Yes, without faith there is no real belief in God. In fact, without faith in some form, you may reason that there can be no belief in anything whatsoever, real or unreal.

Q: Yet, is not this religious Faith merely passed down from generation to generation to you?
T: In my case yes it is, my faith is a part of my inheritance from my parents, and moreover, from their parents etc. However, there are many that choose a path to God for themselves or that may have converted to and from a particular religious faith.

Q: Perhaps we should clarify here, the use of this term Faith?
T: Yes I think we should, before we go any further.

Q: OK, from now on, when I use the term Faith, with a capital letter and italics, you may take it as applicable to any religious following, and when I use the plain term faith, it should be taken as its universal meaning - would that clear?
T: Yes, Faith = religion, and faith = the general term.

Q: Do you feel the term faith is synonymous with the term belief?
T: Well, a tricky question. Do you need faith to believe? Or do you need to believe in faith?

Q: You've just answered a question with a question?
T: Yes, but what I mean is that you have to believe in your faith. And this belief in God is essential within this belief in faith. If you do not believe your faith to be true, how can you believe in God? I guess my understanding of the term faith is primarily equal in terms to the meaning of belief, yet perhaps the term faith also includes hope. That is, faith is equal to belief+hope.

Q: Ah, so by saying you have faith in God, what you really mean is that you have the hope of the belief in the existence of God?
T: You have just twisted my words, however, I see you have a point here. The existence of God may not be proven by physical experiment, and may require that "leap of faith", or if you like, the hope of belief. Yet is this line of questioning really relevant at all? Can you prove the existence of the metaphysical at all, without the requirement of faith and without the need in the hope of belief?

Q: Touché. I accept that God may exist in metaphysical terms that cannot yet be explained by physics.
T: (smiles)

Q: So how deep does your faith go?
T: All the way down, and ever deepening, as I continue to evolve spiritually to a more profound level of understanding and acceptance, and faith in God. And with a steady belief, faith only becomes stronger and more unshakeable.

Q: But can you not still believe in God, without such a religious background, and without membership of a religious institution?
T: Sure, I guess you can. To really find God, the search must begin with some insight into our own nature, which we can only really find or understand for ourselves. And it follows that for those that may have found God, only they can know or perceive the experience for themselves. I guess you may still have these revelations, or experience of the divine, even though you may not participate in religious membership.

Q: So let's get back to the root of matter. What is your reasoning for the existence of God?
T: My reasoning, you mean my logic?

Q: Yes your logic will suffice for the moment, what is your logic behind the proof of God?
T: Well, it must be obvious that "some thing" cannot originate from "nothing". There must be some prime mover, some prime motive for the existence of everything? There must be a cause before an effect, and there must be a root cause for creation itself. That is, all has been created from a source, an origin, and a creator?

Q: Your answer here is not very new?
T: You seem to expect some new insight or revelation here. It may seem like a standard answer to an age-old question, however, this understanding has stood the test of time, and is deeply grounded in the human understanding regarding cause and effect. Science provides the proof of cause and effect at every turn and all that we perceive and the actions we take as humans rely on this understanding.

Q: Does there have to be an initial cause of creation?
T: I think there must be an initial cause. To contemplate creation without this, I feel is impossible.

Q: Creation itself may have been a natural matter of course, or may even be the result of some strange accident or anomaly. Why must you ascribe the whole of creation to a divine being?
T: Because I have Faith in the belief of God. I cannot accept that the whole of creation was a mere accident, or that humanity and all life and consciousness has been created without intention, or an intention to act.

Q: So what about the "Big bang", wasn't that the cause of creation?
T: The "Big bang" may have been the announcement of the creation of the Universe, and the cause and subsequent chain reaction that results in galaxies, planets and stars to form, but what was the cause of the "Big bang" in the first place? Who lit the taper?

Q: So you do believe in the "Big bang", and the models pertaining to the creation of the Universe guided by science and astronomy?
T: Yes I may do. The physicist Stephen Hawking was even blessed by the late pope John Paul, for his scientific work regarding the proof of this type of creation. However, he was then reminded by the pope not to push much farther in dispute of the creation by God of the "Big bang" itself.

Q: So you feel that science and discovery should have its boundaries?
T: Not necessarily. The "Big bang" theory is exactly as it states "on the tin", it is another theory. There are other alternative scientific views regarding the creation and state of the Universe, which may prove just as valid as the popular "Big bang". I feel that science should aid to help us understand creation and to find God.

Q: So you are confident that science can and will do this?
T: Perhaps it can, who knows? But science has proven its value to us as sentient mortal beings, why shouldn't we use it to help us find God?

Q: By referring to "who", you place great emphasis on the personality of God. What makes you believe God is a "who" and not a "what"?
T: It is not relevant whether I feel that God is a personality, or even that he may have attributes like me or you. When I refer to God "whom" I love, it is with respect that I use the pronoun. Just as I may use the name of "father", to personify God. It is just our nature of language and the use of words.

Q: Do you believe God has any attributes similar to humanity?
T: A familiar retort for this question may be included here from the Holy Bible, which states that "God has created man in his own image". But I do not wholly accept this point of view. It is a very "old fashioned" and specifically an Old Testament ideal, that God should have comparisons to an aged man with a white beard. Perhaps God is nothing like his creations at all? And who in their right mind would limit an omnipotent Supreme Being with attributes, or any human shortcomings?

Q: Perhaps the term image should not be taken so literally?
T: Exactly! We are too quick to associate the term image with visual representation. It may also be used to include other attributes, which may be found in other animals, plants, or even all forms of life. Take the term "beauty" for example. This may be a descriptive term, but it may also be understood as an attribute, especially when referring to inner qualities, or even the qualities of essence.

Q: Do you feel God is beautiful?
T: I feel that God has imbued all of his creation with this attribute, and thus this attribute is of his essence. I feel that God's essence is in all things, therefore God is alive in all things.

Q: So you do feel God has attributes that we possess?
T: More so the reverse must be true.

Q: Do you believe man has any attributes similar to God?
T: Yes I do. Even for all of his failings, I believe that man has been created from the divine spark. I thus believe that man must possess some of the attributes associated with the creator, such as love, for example. Love may be the most important and singular notion that has been handed to us by God.

Q: But what about negative qualities such as desire, anger, jealousy and fear?
T: A good point. It is not so easy to cast aside these negative qualities and attributes that represent humans and humanity. Yet I feel that these negative qualities are purely human attributes, and are especially the attributes that keep us mortal, and that keep us separated from God. Perhaps they are a consequence of freewill?

Q: So you believe all the best attributes are from God, and the negative attributes are man's alone?
T: Yes I do. It would shake my faith to believe otherwise, that God was none other than the best that man could perceive, and be the essential agent of attributes such as love. Perhaps love is once again the singular notion and attribute of God.

Q: So you do not believe that God is wrathful, or may take vengeance?
T: No. I do not believe any of these attributes are from God. They are man's attributes alone, and it is sad to see them represented within our religions, and used as tools to sway the minds of men. All these negative attributes are merely a projection of man's ego, and his fears.

Q: So you feel that man's ego has the better of him?
T: Yes indeed. And most religious and philosophical beliefs would recognise this fact.

Q: So it is man who stands in judgment of man, not God?
T: Yes again. It is man's ego that projects judgment and wrath and vengeance in the name of God. It is man who must judge himself, and must atone for his failings, and must seek God. How can we be judged by God, it makes no sense? The indications are clear that it is we who make judgments, cause all of our own strife, and must thus judge ourselves. Why blame God?

Q: Yet all the major world's religions promote God in his judgment of good and evil, you say this is wrong?
T: I feel that it is religions, and the ignorance of man's understanding to explain his own attributes and his salvation, that has projected the responsibility of judgment onto God. I feel it is man and man alone, who makes judgment - "Judge not lest ye be judged". Within religious doctrine, the term judgment is too eagerly associated with the punishment of sins. Let us not forget that we make judgments at every point of our existence, it is within our nature to make these judgments, it is all just choices concerning thoughts and actions.

Q: And you say that God does not do judgment?
T: No. I believe God does not judge, and furthermore, would God really need this quality at all? If God is all that is good and pure, then he does not possess any negative qualities, and thus has no use of judgment of what is good. For example, the singular notion of love as God's essence has no need of judgment and simply is. This essence from God is free from choice, and needs not to be chosen, and needs not to stand in judgment of choice. Again, it is man alone who makes judgments and compares, and makes choices. It may all come down to the freewill to choose.

Q: That is the second occasion you have mentioned freewill. You seem to place important emphasis on this?
T: Yes. I believe that freewill is the gift from the divine, handed to us for us to choose, and to make our own decisions.

Q: Gift?
T: Yes, I believe it is by no mistake, that we as humans possess the ability to choose and to decide, and thus have freewill to choose our intentions and actions. The motive for this is quite simple. If God has created us out of love, then we may assume that this love is to be shared, yet, must be shared voluntarily, not shared through command or authoritative rule. Thus we have been granted the freewill to decide to choose love, (and forgiveness). Through this freewill to choose, is our path to God.

Q: That sounds logical, but you have already stated above that love need not be chosen, and simply is.. the essence from God?
T: Yes, indeed, for God, who's essence is love, there is no choice, or need of choice. Yet for us mortal humans who are separated from God, we need to realise that love should be shared voluntarily, and thus we have been granted the gift of freedom to choose this path or not, as the case may be. In other words, it is God's gift to us to choose a path to him, to choose love, (and forgiveness), for what use is love and forgiveness that is given under duress?

Q: Hmm.. that sounds good, but it seems to create problems from the beginning. Having this power to choose love and forgiveness, and God, seems like the hard way to do things? Why not just create us out of pure essence, of love?
T: Again, it is my belief, that love needs to be given freely, and the only way to do this, is to have the freedom and freewill to choose to give and share it freely. I believe that God's essence is love, and that God's wish is for us to share this with him and others freely, and thus become aware of his true essence, and of our true essence, (and potential).

Q: Yet if God had created us like himself, without a need to choose love, then errors and even separation may be avoided altogether?
T: Yes a very good point. This gift of freewill is the ability to make choices, the choice of either "yes" or "no". So unfortunately we may not choose love and forgiveness, (or at least at first). This freedom and freewill to choose may indeed keep us separated from God, yet it is also our path to salvation. It is for us all to realise that our own freewill is our power to choose a path to God, or otherwise.

Q: So is this gift of freewill, the cause of our separation from God?
T: No, I do not believe that freewill is the cause of separation. Yet to possess this gift, this freewill to choose, and to make choices, requires another catalyst we may call judgment! For how can you make a choice without first analysis of options, and thus use your own judgment to choose one way or another? So in other words, in consequence, this gift of freewill, and the freedom to make choices, must include this ability to make judgments. And thus we have arrived back at man's attribute we call judgment, which sounds such a harsh word in most circumstances.

Q: So judgment or the ability to judge and analyse is inclusive of this gift of freewill?
T: I believe freewill is the gift of freedom to choose, yet as a consequence, to this freedom and to make choices, judgment is required also.

Q: So it may be poor judgment of choices that keeps us in separation from God?
T: A good way to put it. Or rather it is our own ignorance, (of the real truth), that results in poor judgments of choices. If we cast aside this notion once and for all, that this word judgment is concerned with punishment or condemnation, and merely denotes the analysis of a choice, then we may see that the judgment of choices is a natural occurrence. We may see that at every turn we are faced with choices, which we must analyse and judge, before we choose to decide "yes" or "no".

Q: So where does it leave folks that do not choose to use this gift of freewill to find God?
T: I believe it leaves them with more time to think about it, and about choosing love and forgiveness. We possess the freewill to choose at every turn, and at every moment, such is the power of the gift.

Q: OK, I think I've got your meaning. So what is it that causes our separation from God?
T: Ahh, now we are getting to the bottom of things, (smiles). I believe that this is also very simply a consequence of this gift of freewill. And the answer becomes apparent when we think about the process concerned with making choices. When we find ourselves faced with a choice, and we have the ability to choose, we form analysis and make judgments. Yet when we are not so clear minded as to the outcomes of our choices, we speculate. We may speculate before or even after a choice we make, yet this all comes down to a simple yet negative small term, in a word - doubt!

Q: Please explain this term further.
T: I believe it is merely speculation concerning choices, and the ability to choose, which results in doubt. This doubt may begin very small and very subtle, yet we are all fully aware of this ongoing and perpetual presence that fills our minds and lives. Without question and reason we accept this notion of doubt and even use it to our own advantage when making choices and judgments. And the primordial doubt is the most subtle of all - does God exist?

Q: So you believe that it is doubt that is the cause of our separation from God?
T: Yes indeed. I believe that with the gift of freewill and the power to choose love and forgiveness, and God, originates this error in judgment, or the speculation that God does not exist. It may even be the result of doubt in oneself, at a fundamental level, which manifests this doubt in God?

Q: This is interesting. You are saying here that we may be our own result of separation from God?
T: Exactly! I believe that it is this fundamental error in judgment, this speculation, and this doubt, which causes our belief that we are separated from God.

Q: Belief in separation? You indicate this may also be an error?
T: Yes, I believe this apparent separation from God is only manifest, precisely because of this doubt or speculation. And by thus facing this doubt and using freewill and freedom of choices, we may overcome this error in judgment. By re-examining this fundamental uncertainty in ourselves and in God, and with the power to choose, we may "seek to find" the truth of God, and the truth of ourselves.

Q: This sounds like quite a radical idea?
T: Maybe not so radical, and certainly not so new. This idea, this notion, that it is our own ignorance of ourselves that breeds speculation and doubt, and questions God, dates back through thousands of years. Yet if we look closely, it is precisely this doubt that is possessed by each of us, even those of us with unshakeable faith may sometimes call to question the reality of God, and speculate about the origins of life, and even life after death. It is our nature to speculate, to doubt, because we have the gift of freewill to think and make choices.

Q: So it is a sort of "catch 22", that freewill contains the instruments of separation and salvation?
T: Yes, and precisely because we need to choose to love and forgive, are these doubts manifest, and the path to salvation may be realised.