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Atheists, If God exists, what would you consider sufficient proof of his existence. Could he prove it to you?
Assuming that there were a God, how could he prove his existence to you? What would you consider to be an adequate and sufficient proof? If he sent a message to mankind, how could we authenticate that it was from him, as opposed to messages from other men, posing as messengers of God?
Would you consider the ability to foretell future events accurately hundreds of years in advance as such a proof?
I'm curious as to what level of proof you would require to convince you of God's existence. Perhaps an example or two. Would he have to present himself to you personally? Or would you consider that just a delusion? Would he have to appear once a generation? Would you demand a daily briefing from him describing your tasks for the coming day?
Note - As of about 20 minutes of asking the question I have received 19 responses. Of those one was from a believing christian. As he was not the target audience for this question I will exclude him from the discussion of the answers.
In decending order of popularity we have as follows;
Perform some act of magic/miracle - 4
No description of the kind of proof required - 3
Change the physical laws of the universe - 3
Appear in public - 3
Miraculous healing of an amputee - 2
An act of prophecy - 2
No amount of proof would be sufficient/impossible to prove - 1
Note - 55 minutes after the question was asked. Received 19 responses, one will be discounted as not coming from the target audience. Several of the responses made requests for multiple proofs.
Requested some kind of magic/miracle - 10
No description of required proof - 3
Change in the physical laws of the universe - 3
Appear in public - 3
An act of prophecy - 3
Miraculous healing of an amputee - 2
Impossible to prove - 1
Everard - You did not state anything that you might consider to be sufficient proof, but you did provide a list of things you did not consider to be sufficient proof. You did however state;
Information that cannot be verified is not evidence.
Information that cannot be falsified is not evidence.
I can understand how information that cannot be verified could be discounted as sufficient, but how can Information that cannot be falsified, or in other words, information that is truthful, not be considered as sufficient. You seem to be making a claim that only fals
You seem to be making a claim that only false information could be considered as sufficient proof.
Carlos K and Shawn B - Carlos, your answer concerning prophecy suggest that you might be willing to consider such as sufficient proof provided "Maybe, if the prophetic language wasn't symbolic, allegorical, or obtuse, relying on someone else's interpretation." Shawn, you said "This has never happened in the history of mankind."
Would you consider a prophecy stating in detail that a particular city would be taken by a king, using a particular tactic or method, the physical reaction of the ruler of the city on the night of the attack, and to give the name of the king making the attack, 150 years prior to the attack to be sufficient proof? Would a description of the empires and that would arise in the area of the middle east, describing their nation state origins, and brief descriptions of their internal politics, and their succession over a period of about 10
Tyco - Yours is the 20th answer. You seem to require a perfection of society in which there is no racism, no war, no suffering, etc. Please tell me, what role would free will have in such a society? If it is impossible to say no, does being required to say yes have value? If you are forced into certain actions or behaviors, how does that prove the existance or non existance of God?
You seem to require that God extend forgiveness of all sins, despite any desire or intention of the sinner ( for lack of a better term ) to choose otherwise. You would force mankind to abandon free will. Wouldn't such a society, or more accurately the failure to establish such a society, be more of a proof of mankinds inability, than proof or lack of proof for God?
19 Answers
- Biker4LifeLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
Cure cancer, defeat hunger, clean our atmosphere from harmful pollutants, I could go on and on, but why bother, we all know that a imaginary god can do nothing.
- 9 years ago
I guess for ME it would be a little bit different then the most Atheists. I am Agnostic and not 100% Atheist. Atheist DO NOT believe in God or any Religion, and without scientific proof they never will. Agnostics doubt the existence of God and feel there are to many religions and contradicting religious beliefs. They can't ALL be right. Although I would LOVE scientific proof, because it is disputable, I realize NOT everything can be proven with science, sometimes you just have to have faith, and that's what I lack. SO for me...I don't need to see GOD, after all I am a skeptic, so I would just probably just say it's a lie, that's just someone saying their God. I would like to see NO RACISM, NO HATE, a planet filled with HARMONY, LOVE and RESPECT for one another. NO hunger, NO poverty, NO evil, NO war. NO SUFFERING. I can't understand how people describe "God" as a loving caring forgiving "God" YET we deal with everything I just listed, and have for 1000's of years. Why? because Eve listened to a snake, and told Adam to eat the apple. I'm not buying that...Why didn't GOD forgive her, why is all mankind made to suffer for it. It is NOT until we die that we get PEACE!!! Come on how about a little intensive, a refresher course for ALL mankind, something substantial that we can believe in!!!! The bible is full of stories of miracles that supposedly used to happen all the time, and again we have seen NOTHING for 1000's of years. This world is at it's worst, you would think NOW is the time for a loving, caring God to do something...That would be proof enough for me!!!!
- PeekaCHUULv 49 years ago
Unbelievable claims require unbelievable evidence. Burnt toast, personal accounts, etc. aren't real evidence.
"Would you consider the ability to foretell future events accurately hundreds of years in advance as such a proof?"
Most likely these 'predictions' will consist of such general guidelines that one could attribute several different things over 100s of years to them. Perfect example of this ridiculousness is the bible/koran.
Any sort of unbelievable event that CAN NOT be attributed to something other than the existence of a god would be sufficient proof.
- Anonymous5 years ago
Being an atheist signifies that I feel that no god (now not simply your God) exists. Being an atheist is the impartial role, how we're all born. It's your activity to turn out in any other case. Have a laugh with that
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- Shawn BLv 79 years ago
"Would you consider the ability to foretell future events accurately hundreds of years in advance as such a proof?"
This has never happened in the history of mankind. 26,000 children die of starvation every day, but this god loves YOU. Pure arrogance.
- FantomLv 79 years ago
>Would you consider the ability to foretell future events accurately hundreds of years in advance as such a proof?
Maybe, if the prophetic language wasn't symbolic, allegorical, or obtuse, relying on someone else's interpretation.
- Anonymous9 years ago
*drink*
From my files....
"I've been cruising this planet for over 60 years.
IF God existed he would know what sort of evidence would convince me of his existence… if he wanted me to know it ;)
So far?
Nothing; nada; zilch."
I suppose HE either doesn't care about ME in any way whatsoever…
OR
God is imaginary... I'm going with the latter.
I’m 100% certain god is imaginary.
If he really existed he would have found a way to convince me he exists.
Obviously he hasn't cos just as obviously he doesn't.
If you wanted to convince someone you existed, what lengths would you go to?
Would you drop a few seriously ambiguous ‘clues’... OR, introduce yourself.
Seriously - this has SCAM written all over it.
And-Or
Pretend you were some place and you were invisible – let’s say 50% of the inhabitants “knew” and “loved” you – let’s say you wanted the other 50% of the inhabitants to “know” and “love” you too… cos you really do love them all soooo unconditionally…
What lengths would you go to convince them?
Seriously - this has BOOLSHYT written all over it.
And-OR
“Understand that:
Dreams are not evidence.
Wishful thinking is not evidence.
Logical fallacies are not evidence.
Personal revelation is not evidence.
Illogical conclusions are not evidence.
Disproved statements are not evidence.
Unsubstantiated claims are not evidence.
Hallucinations/delusions are not evidence.
Information that is ambiguous is not evidence.
The Universe doesn't care what you believe in.
Data that requires a certain belief is not evidence.
Information that cannot be verified is not evidence.
Information that cannot be falsified is not evidence.
Experiments with inconclusive results are not evidence.
Information that is only knowable by a privileged few is not evidence.
Experiments that are not and cannot be duplicated by others are not evidence.
The wonderful thing about science is that it doesn't ask for your faith, only your eyes.”
~
- lainiebskyLv 79 years ago
I'd accept something truly supernatural happening. All the drought-stricken areas in the world suddenly being filled with billions of lush plants ready for harvest would indicate supernatural intervention. Of course you wouldn't know anything about the identity or characteristics of the entity that caused it, but it would be a start.
- wee falorie manLv 69 years ago
If "god" would answer the prayers of even ONE amputee, I would believe in that god.
Why doesn't "god" EVER grow back the limb of an amputee?
* edit: Okay, I answered your question; now can you answer my question? In the entire history of mankind, no amputee has ever grown back a missing limb. If your god can do anything, including heal people, why won't he grow back the limb of an amputee? Think about it and you will see the truth :)
- ?Lv 49 years ago
Personally faith-heal an amputee right in front of me. If no amputee is available, levitating for 5 minutes might work in a pinch.
I'm sick and tired of 'messages'. Every damned religion has one. I don't want fourth-hand stories from religious scam artists and gullible nut cases, I want hard empiricism, period. If your God can't even grow one amputee limb, I don't need him...
- Anonymous9 years ago
Announce his existence to the world. Perform a couple magic tricks, get interviewed by Letterman, yah know...
As it is, "He" always happens to pick some random guy, whisper in his ear, "I'm real," and thereon, it's up to the prophet to spread the word. Why bother? Either there's no god, or he thinks it's funny to fu*k with us.
