Atheists? What would suffice as evidence of the existence of God?

Question

answer seriously.

Answer 1

In the interest of saving time (as there's very little left to answer your question) I shall quote Paula Kirby :

" Special topic: What atheists would accept as evidence for the supernatural

These are just a few examples (and they'll be familiar to you if you've read Stenger's book) of phenomena that would defy any reasonable natural explanation. There will be many others.

1. If one type of prayer were convincingly demonstrated to work better than another type. For instance, if the efficacy of prayers said by Christians were consistently significantly greater than that of prayers said by Moslems or pagans, or people who just keep their fingers crossed. Or if any kind of prayer were shown to have a consistent, significant effect. Or if a single prayer achieved something truly extraordinary, something which simply could not be otherwise explained: the scientifically verified re-growth of an amputated limb, for instance.

2. If a new planet were to appear (as opposed to just being seen for the first time thanks to better instruments, for instance) in the solar system. This would violate the law of energy conservation and could only have a non-natural cause.

3. If evidence were to emerge that the universe must have begun in a high state of order, necessarily imposed from outside.

4. If there were any observable astronomical phenomenon that required the addition of a supernatural element before it could be described.

5. If, say, the Bible, had contained some specific information about the world which was unknown to science at the time of the "revelation" but which was later confirmed by observation. If it contained successful predictions of specific events in our own time that could have no plausible alternate explanation (not just vague allusions to suffering / evil / upheaval).

6. If someone undergoing a religious experience subsequently had new, verifiable knowledge that could not have been gained by other means. Not the usual stuff about how we should all love one another and watch our cholesterol, but something specific – the example Stenger gives would have been of someone in the 20th century specifically knowing that on 26 December 2004 a tsunami in the Indian Ocean would kill hundreds of thousands of people. We just couldn't account for such prescience other than by the existence of something outside the material world."

Although of number 3 I disagree. There can be other methods by which a high state of order could be imposed by laws of physics as of yet unknown to us. After all, we don't know the process how universes begin, or if there are any other universes than our own.

Answer 2

If he showed up with a pickup truck on moving day.

Seriously.

Answer 3

You have sight, sound, hearing, air to breathe, food to eat, and a beating heart. What more evidence of God do you need?  Faith is believing in something you can't see. you believe in the wind because you can feel it but you can't see it. Its a similar concept.

I hope you believe in God someday and enjoy the rebirth of your spirit.

Answer 4

Science and God do not contradict each other. Science is a collection of direct observations, hypothesis, and experiments. Since God cannot be directly observed or tested, there then is no contradiction between science and God as so many people believe.

Since there cannot be any direct, hard & solid PROOF of God, we must infer from observations and 'effects' of God. e.g. one cannot see the wind but they know it is there from its effects on the trees.

I would say (although I am not an atheist) that just looking at the human body would suffice as evidence (although there is much more). The human body is so complex, that even though the top leading scientists have blueprints of it in front of them, they, intelligent though they are, cannot reconstruct anything like it. Do the robots you see today resemble human intelligence, human sight, human co-ordination, etc. at all? (Note that these robots were built through intelligence). No. And yet to think that these robots could be built through random chance is laughable. Yet somehow people accept that we, humans, far more capable in every way could be just a cosmic accident? The idea hardly seems plausible. Look anywhere, in space, underground, at yourself, simply know that you can SEE, which in itself would be a marvel for random mutations to accomplish, and you will see evidence for the one who created you. See how our hands are perfectly designed for grabbing things, how our mouths can eat and our stomach digest, how our feet can walk - the list goes on and on.

By the way, if you say that aliens created us, who created a species so advanced that they are able to create us?? Everywhere the evidence points to God.

I suggest you look in the Bible for answers, and know that believing that God exists is not enough to save you. Jesus died 2,000 years ago so that we may be set free. In the Bible it says (in Romans 10:9):

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

The REASON God created us was to know Him, and worship Him.

Answer 5

Atheists know that there is nothing in existence that can be evidentiary of God. Why do you think we are atheists?

Answer 6

i'm not an atheist...reason being..take a look around..all THIS couldn't have come from just the 'big bang' and who started that bang?  GOD. duh.

Answer 7

you just answered your own question!

EVIDENCE

Answer 8

I'm sorry, but this question is impossible to answer. You should know that!

Oh, wait - maybe it's that invisible flying spaghetti monster sitting on a cloud in the sky!

Answer 9

I'm Catholic, but I have doubts. My room mate is an atheist. She and I have many long talks about different subjects. She says there is no evidence that any gods exist. I told her some things I've heard, e.g. Thomas Aquinas' argument for God, and she refutes them all. There is no evidence, so it'd take some strong evidence to prove God exists. Any good evidence would do, but no one offers any. The silly things I hear on here make me doubt my religion even more. Your sermon here adds to my doubts, because you don't know much about intelligent atheists or about logical evidence.

Answer 10

that's very difficult to answer, almost anything I can think of could also be accomplished by an advanced alien civilization

Answer 11

Gosh, I have thought about this for a while. The thing is most people believe through their senses (see, touch, feel, hear, taste) and I think that is why people say faith because faith is not based upon those senses, but intuition.

For example, I have never been to Africa, but I know it is there because I see it on the map; I hear from other people, if I choose to go I could go and feel it, hear it and taste the culture. I would say I would need some type of evidence dealing with one of my senses (and no not "feeling" or "intuition" such as faith). Your senses are also what brings reality to you and if something that is suppose to exist cannot be proven through your reality-- then how can you know it exists?

Answer 12

we dont understand the world well enough to judge things like that. our understanding of the world is limited. its like seeing a picture real up close so u can only see blurred colorfull dots, if u zoom out the picture makes sence. but from up close  u cant see the bigger picture. people who say they know how the world started are not thinking rationaly about it. no one KNOWS how the world started. scientists have theories. the big bang is a theory. god is also a theory. altho the big bang makes more sence. through out history mankind has invented reilgions and gods. it is human nature. but the modern idea of "god" to religious people today is no different than the gods people worshipped thousands of years ago. the god changes, the religion changes, but the idea is the same. people want to belive that there is a greater power or powers in charge of everything. to give their lives structure, to make sence of things that dont make sence to them, and so they dont feel like its all meaningless.

u can not prove the existance of something that is just a theory. people who belive in god believe because they have "faith"  faith is believing in something that cannot be proven. so it is impossible to prove the existance of god

Answer 13

If I saw some kind of big light descend from the sky in the shape of a dove, and a booming voice say something like "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased," that might do it.  (But of course, it's totally possible to stage something like that, so...)

If the oceans literally turned into blood, and a third of the stars in the sky all "went out" at once,  I would be inclined to think there was something to THAT...

Or, if the sun stopped in the sky and moved backwards, that would probably do it, as well.

Basically, it would take some abrogation of the fundamental laws of physics -- probably combined with a specific statement by the entity claiming responsibility -- to really convice me of the existence of the theist God.

(On the other hand, a deist God might be a little easier to speculate on.)

Answer 14

I guess Him being here and judging me, and even then it will surprise a lot of people. It is like asking the same question about aliens, where is the proof? In the question of God, the proof is in the archeology and wonders created in the past. We just try to explain them away with myths and legends. I may be an atheist, but I was raised on the Holy Word. When you combine science with religion, you come up with a very different answer.

To see what I mean, read these articles I've written:

http://www.whatnots.cc/ac_articles.html#...

Answer 15

A face to face faceoff!

Answer 16

To begin with a definition would help, then after it's up to them to prove him. If there are no fallacies, I would except.

But the chance of that happening is slim and with the ideas of axioms, it's zero.

Answer 17

I would say that people who've "decided" not to believe could never be convinced otherwise.  If God were to rain fire down from the heavens with his hand reaching through the fire picking up Christians to take them to heaven, some idiots would sit there denying the whole thing was an act of God.

With that said ... I would say that the more we evolve the sciences, the less magical the universe seems.  The less magical the universe, the easier it is to discount God as a good story.  Back when there were no sciences, attributing all things to a higher power was easy ... these days it seems like science is the new God. Which is unfortunate.  I'm fearful on what things will be like 100 years from now.

Jerry Hobby

http://www.anythinginternet.com

Answer 18

Evidence of it would be a good start.

I am an atheist, because I think fairy tales are just that.

I am an atheist because I can be "good, kind, loving and positive" without having to buy into fairy tales.

I join millions of other fine people who are not tied to "higher powers," making deals with their gods to hurt others instead of me, and letting my baseball team win because I pray better or it is "god's will." Please!

I think we developed brains to use. I believe in lots that cannot be proven but are "manifest" like kindness,love, fairness, rights of equality and freedom.

I know that religion and belief in higher powers often interrupt and corrupt these manifest ideas.

I'm not buying virgin births and dead people coming back to life and saving us from sins we haven't even thought of yet.

I buy science and natural phenomenon. I can believe that.

I choose to use my mind, not blindly accept.