im guessing you are blind to the bias at the cbc since you hold the same views as them <| sep |> No , I don ' t believe you have to have an encounter with God to believe . Or even to be a Christian . Mother Teresa famously couldn ' t feel God ' s presence in her life . Or look at Doubting Thomas where Jesus chastised him for wanting a sign or some physical proof of Jesus before he would believe . So clearly Jesus doesn ' t think you need it . For sure , believing in God is easier if you have some experience with God like Paul did . Belief in Christ , because it is written in the hearts of all men , is held out for all . This faith is not merely believing , but an action choice to follow him . Not just , I ' m a Christian because I say I am but I ' m a Christian see me do His Will . That way , even when you don ' t feel like being a Christian , or can ' t feel God , or have doubts about him , you haven ' t lost faith as long as you do His Will anyway which is different than just going through the motions .