by Cynthia Harlan

Created on: May 16, 2008

The question is: "Is God an invention of man's mind or true being?" My answer is: Does it really matter? The belief in a supreme being or beings has existed throughout most of recorded history. Most religions have the same central theme. That is, that a being or beings greater than ourselves created our world and then oversees that world and the people who live in it.

If you further examine the world's religious belief systems, you will also notice that they also share some of the same rules. For instance, you need to have faith only in your God or God's. Major sins against God include murder, stealing, adultery etc. Also, you will notice that even though the people created by God seem to fall short of perfect, there always seems to be a means to improve the people's fate.

If God is an invention of man's mind created to explain our existence what does it really matter? The belief in the existence of God provides two main things. It gives us hope and provides us with a system of values.

Hope helps many survive incredible hardships. It helps to ease personal pain. It provides us solace in our death or the death of our loved ones. Hope spurs us to explore further our world and our universe.

The belief in God's existence makes most of us better people. It is the belief in a higher power and the hope that there is something beyond our current existence that motivates us to strive to be something better than we are. We are kinder, more compassionate, less aggressive and less violent when believe in God and the values that the belief gives to us. In other words, our belief in the existence of God makes us more civilized.

Some argue that God is just an invention in man's mind. They say He does not exist. They guffaw at the people who do believe in his existence. They explain away the unexplainable things that happen every day. They believe that life ends at death.

Where is the hope in that? Is not my life enriched when I believe in the existence of a higher power? Where does an atheist turn when life kicks him in the butt? What motivates him to strive to be more than what he is right now? Is he happier looking out for number one than I am because I follow my God who teaches me to help others when I can?

It doesn't really matter if God is just an invention of man's mind or a true being. What matters is that we believe in his existence. It is our belief in his existence that makes him real.

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