Question for everyone?

Question

Hi. I'm an agnostic, not trying to convert anyone just looking for answers to a question.

I notice on yahoo answers in the religion section the following question (paraphrasing):

Question for atheists: Prove God doesn't exist?

So my question regarding this is as follows:

1. Is this something any one can do, prove that something does not exist?

2. Since it is logically impossible to prove an entity doesn't exist, what motivates people on yahoo answers to ask this question, is it to "debunk" Atheism?

3. Has this ever worked with anyone, asking them to prove God does not exist and then the Atheist becomes a Theist?

Thanks

Answer 1

In every aspect of their lives, your standard theist will apply logic and reason to a given situation.

They turn off this logic and reason ONLY when discussing religion, however.

Ask them to disprove the existence of the Easter Bunny, and they will laugh and say that's ridiculous. Everyone knows there's no Easter Bunny. They will agree that it doesn't need to be disproven.

But that same question gets a different response when it's about god, which is no less ridiculous a creature to imagine.

Atheists can clearly see this. And there is no way an atheist will ever be "shown the light" in this way. This sort of argument is child's play to an atheist. But child's play is all the theists typically have to work with. Very few of them are educated and/or objective enough to form an actual worthwhile argument for their god.

What none of them realize is that atheists could argue in favor of their god far better than they ever could. In fact... that gives me a sinister idea... :)

Answer 2

I have an answer for # 3: Yes. His name was Josh McDowell; he was in law school and was challenged to prove that the Bible was false and that there was no God. He took the challenge with a vengeance, convinced he could debunk Christianity once for all. If you are truly interested in knowing about this read:
Evidence that Demands a Verdict.

I also knew a fellow from SriLanka when I lived in Dallas. He had been in training to become a Buddhist monk but had converted to Christianity. I found this puzzling and asked him what happened. He said he was instructed at the monastery to read the Bible in order to prove it and the existence of God false. He read it and converted.
I had a friend from Boston do the same thing. He was an atheist with the ironical surname: Divine! He kept trying to convince everyone else that there was no God and he ended up becoming a Christian himself.

Answer 3

The burden of proof is on the person proposing the positive, i.e. those who say God exists. It is impossible to prove something does not exist.

The motivation is when atheists ask someone to prove God exists. It is a common tactic in debate - redirect the question.

PS Neither argument works for either side as one cannot prove God does not exist and the whole point of faith is to believe regardless of any evidence or lack there of to do so.

Answer 4

1. Can you prove that you aren't non-existant? Yes, you can, and by doing so you have proven a negative.

If I say, 3+3=8; you say that doesn't exist as a true equation. Can you prove it. Of course you can!

2. Your premise is not true, so this question is not applicable.

3. I don't know, but it sure exposes a flaw in your thinking.

Answer 5

It's just that atheists seem to think that we should believe only things that can be proven.

They believe there is no God. But they cannot prove that there is no God.

Therefore, they believe something that they cannot prove -- which is contradictory to their "only believe what is proven" philosophy.

I agree that it's not possible to prove that something does NOT exist.

It's just that atheists acknowledge that there's no proof to the claim that "God does not exist" -- yet they believe it in their hearts anyway.

It's not really about getting them to prove He doesn't exist. It's more about exposing an intellectual double-standard.

Answer 6

People are just trying to help you understand what they understand, but it comes off as arrogant and unclear. I would suggest just searching for youself. Read the bible. Pray. A good book is also Case for Christ or Case for Faith. Both are good.

Bickering about proving one thing or another isn't going to get anyone anywhere. I think spiritually we have proof as Christians, but we take a lot on faith as well. Faith can't be studied in a laboratory.

Happy searching.

Btw...on a genuine side note. I'm glad your posting questions. Perhaps you're searching for something.

Jesus loves you.

Answer 7

It's a scientific rule that you cannot prove the non existence of something, Its the onus of the person to prove it's existence.
Buy that logic you could say UFOs, unicorns, dragons and whatever else you claim exists and you can't prove otherwise!

Answer 8

Atheists constantly demand proof for God's Existance, & still do not believe no matter what kind of answer that they get.

Therefore, a believer would put the same challenge to atheists.

Answer 9

"Prove God doesn't exist"

God’s flesh was known as Jesus.
Jesus, God's Flesh, died at the cross.
Flesh & Blood cannot enter into Heaven per (1 Cor. 15:50-56)
Jesus was Flesh.
Jesus no longer exists

Jesus is called Jesus because of the attribute of Flesh.

If Jesus = God (who is spirit) then the entity known as Jesus ceases to exist. The flesh/body of Jesus, no longer exists and the spirit of God is still the unchanging spirit of God. No Jesus at that point. The Flesh, called Jesus, is dead.

Greek meaning of flesh

Answer 10

All it does is show that the original questionner asking for disproof of god is uneducated.

They haven't learned that you can't disprove a negative.



Further, I like to ask them what proof they would accept for disproof of god.
That usually shuts them up because the don't have an answer.