Knowing God exists doesn't replace the concept of faith. You forget how easy it is for someone to lose faith is God, especially in this day and age. The devil is constantly working to break your faith, and even if you know God exists, you must have faith that He will always watch over you, even when it seems that there's no hope, you must remain faithful.
A good analogy to this concept would be knowing that a person is kind-hearted and willing to help you. Knowing that this person is kind doesn't replace the faith you have that he will be there for you when you need him. If that person lets you down, you may lose your faith in him, even though you know that he is a good person.
So, my knowledge of God existing doesn't replace the faith that I have that He is merciful, just, and loving. I can lose faith in God even though I know that God exists. In other words, knowledge of something doesn't necessary mean that you faith in it.
They are related though. As you learn more about God through a relationship with Him, through prayer, and through reading the Bible, you will gain more faith in God. However, you may know a lot about God and still choose not to have faith in him. In fact, you may lose faith as you gain knowledge about certain things (not related to religion necessarily).
In conclusion, knowledge certainly doesn't replace faith, but they are related, sometimes directly, and sometimes, inversely.
Well said mindstorm. God, Christianity, and the Bible are certainly not things I believe in blindly. I believe because of my own experiences with God working in my life, and in the lives of my family and friends. I always question the beliefs of my church to my teachers at my youth group cIasses in church, and so far, all of the questions I've asked about these beliefs have been answered, and that is why I choose to believe them too. I certainly would never believe in these things without a reason and/or proof that they are right and righteous. Trust me, I have just as much thirst for knowledge, especially about religion, as you do, TC. So far, God hasn't let me down and I can say definitively at this point that I know He never will let me down. How can you expect God to reveal Himself to you if you don't believe in Him or have faith in Him? Here is one of many miracles God has done in the past century to prove His existence. Now all you have to do is follow His commandments according to the Bible, pray, and have faith. If you do so, God will eventually reveal Himself to you and you will begin to develop a relationship with Him.
God performs miracles in order to reassure His followers that He is still there watching over us and also to convert nonbelievers. Once you begin to have faith and follow God's guidelines given in the Bible, He will reveal Himself to you. God will not reveal Himself to you if you question Him. It says in the Bible that you are not to 'test' God, i.e. say "if God exists then He will save me if I jump off this cliff?" which is essentially what you're doing by having the mindset that you will not believe in Him unless He reveals Himself to you. You're basically saying, "if You are real, then prove it to me?" which is just wrong and not how it works.
God can't be proven scientifically, but He certainly has to proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that He exists and loves me and guides me and watches over me. That's why I believe - because I've experienced God in my life and in the lives of my family and friends.
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