Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Atheists would you be disappointed or pleasantly surprised to find out that God did, in fact, exist?

And for the sake of argument, let's say it is a liberal Christian God that you found out really existed. Let's say he made himself fully known to you. Would you be discouraged or encouraged, disappointed or pleasantly surprised?

21 Answers

Relevance
  • 6 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Well I would be slightly glad, but then I would be disappointed if I could not ask this god a few questions.

  • 6 years ago

    This all depends on how you define "god".

    A loving, just, merciful God? Sure--pleasantly surprised.

    OR, the capricious and monstrous being in the Bible who killed every man woman and child in a flood, who turned poor Lot's wife into a pillar of salt merely for looking back, the God who killed the innocent children of Egypt, who burns people in everlasting torment just for doubting his existence? Then I would be terrified, and so should every other thinking being.

    Neither of these versions of God conform with the observable evidence though--so either would definitely be quite surprising. But I'm not holding my breath. I'm quite confident neither of these beings exist, and furthermore, the vast majority of Christians live their lives as if neither being exists.

    Disappointed is not something that would occur to me. Why in the world should I be disappointed? The universe is the way it is, and I'm always willing to accept that. I believe based on evidence--wherever that evidence leads.

  • 6 years ago

    Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to find out that a god exists. I would be completely shocked if it was one of the gods people believe in, and that the religion surrounding it was actually what it wants.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    They have the education and intellect to know the truth that there is no such thing!

    The first person to produce a single tiny little piece of verifiable evidence for any god will become world famous and mega rich!

    Academia states that in the absence of any sort of evidence of the existence of something it must be deemed not to exist until verifiable evidence is found - thus god is held not to exist pending some sort of verifiable evidence.

    The bible is what is called "Faction” A fictional story set in a factual time and place. Thus the time, place and real historical characters are all correct but the fictional characters and stories are not!

    There is not one single mention of Jesus in the entire Roman record - that is right - not one! At the same time as he was supposed to have been around there were a number of Jews claiming to be the messiah - all of whom are well recorded!

    There is not a single contemporary record from any source and even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!

    He was supposed to have been a huge problem to the Romans and produced wonderful miracles but still not one contemporary record?

    Even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!

    Pilate is recorded in the Roman record as a somewhat lack luster man but no mention of a Jesus, a trial or crucifixion that would surely have been used to make him look brighter!

    At best he was an amalgam of those others but almost certainly never existed!

    Not one word of it is contemporary with the period and was not written until several hundred years after the period the story is set in!! How did the apostles write their books more than a hundred years after they would have been dead?

    Christianity is an invention of the Italians and that is why it came from the Holy ROMAN Catholic church!

    Please realize that those claims for the Old historians are worthless since they were not even born until long after everyone in the stories would have been so long dead!

    Josephus AD 37 – AD 100

    Tacitus AD 56 – AD 120

    Suetonius - 69 – 130 AD

    Pliny the Younger, 61 AD – 112 AD

    Justin Martyr (Saint Justin) AD103–165 AD

    Lucian - AD 120 -180 AD but he was hostile to Christianity and openly mocked it.

    Pamphilius AD 240-309 AD

    Eusebius AD 263 – 339 AD

    Photius AD 877 – 886 AD

    Thallus - But there are no actual record of him except a fragment of writing which mentions the sack of Troy [109 BC] Showing that he was clearly not alive in biblical times.

    Some even try to use Seneca. 4 BCE – 65 CE but as a Stoic Philosopher he opposed religion yet made not a single mention of a Jesus or Christianity!

    Even funnier is trying to claim Celsus AD ? – 177 AD Who said that Jesus was a Jew who’se mother was a poor Jewish girl whose husband, who was a carpenter, drove her away because of her adultery with a Roman soldier named Panthera. She gave birth to an illegitimate child named Jesus. In Egypt, Jesus became learned in sorcery and upon his return presented himself as a god.

  • How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
  • Archer
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    I am an Atheists because I "know" that none of the thousands upon thousands of gods mankind has created and worshipped in their vain attempt to come to terms with, identify with and explain that which they felt was significant in life but could not understand. On must understand that as mankind became more aware and able almost all have already been resigned to myth, lore and legend or simply forgotten. Facts are not hard to understand nor can they be ignored.

  • 6 years ago

    In one way, your question cannot be rationally answered, because such a deity cannot exist in the Universe and world that we have.

    Any benign deity would 1) Not allow it's followers to push a book which approves of murder, genocide, rape, slavery and many other evils, 2) Could not allow events in history such as The Holocaust, and the like, and still have ANY ground to claim that it's intentions are in any way beneficent.

    So, such realities make your scenario utterly impossible. Next to that, DC Comics being a supplier of documentaries, because Superman and the rest are real, is far more likely.

    “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

    ― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Neither, because god doesn't exist. I guess I'd be disappointed that reality turned out not to be real, though.

  • 6 years ago

    God has political affiliations?? I would be too puzzled to feel anything. By the way, how would you feel if say Hinduism turned out to be correct? I mean it's not like either or question.

  • I would be disappointed.

    I don't expect an insane Sadist to show his face after all he's done to his 'creations'. It's very clear why he remains 'a mystery'.

  • 6 years ago

    Amazed that a supposedly all-loving and all-powerful being would allow so much suffering. Today, about 15,000 children will die of starvation, disease, and abuse. If a god existed, he'd have some 'splaining to do.

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.