Honestly: What evidence do you need in order to believe God exists?

Question

This is a follow up to my previous question...bare with me here.

Proof 1: from my life as a pastor: Several times people with physical/mental ailments have come for prayer about them. On one occasion a boy, Matt, was diagnosed with advanced brain cancer...a few days later he had another appointment & there was not even a trace of the cancer, nor was there scar tissue.

Proof 2: Not scientific but very interesting. On another occasion, a friend of mine, with "bone cancer" wanted prayer. I was unable to pray for his healing but felt compelled to tell him the Lord didn't want to heal him but to finish well & with integrity...about 3 weeks later we discovered my friend was just lying to get money.

Proof 3: My friend Ken went to a native american reservation to a group of NA who knew no English. He preached a sermon to him & many of them actually understood him in their own language.

Proof 4: All I can give is my experiences, so bear with me. I was teaching a class & while I was teaching, I prayed that God would have this girl, Emily, specifically listen to the message. After class Emily came up to me looking really paranoid. She said that while I was teaching she heard a voice very clearly say, "You." And she felt as though God was speaking specifically to her, telling her to listen to the message.
BTW- I am not at all a holy-roller charismatic type, I try to be logical & even skeptical.

Proof 1 was not a misdiagnosis...although I know those happen. The cancer was very advanced-not in a minor stage or a beginning stage.

Proof 2- read it again.

Answer 1

Something other than "just look at the complexity of the banana! The banana is clearly proof of God!"

Seriously, you're talking about something that I have never once seen, felt, touched, or experienced -- something which doesn't have a shred of scientific evidence that I've ever seen (and I even tried very hard to convert to Christianity at one point, so don't say I didn't try). What evidence would I need? I have no idea... something that would convince me. It would have to be something totally amazing, because extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof (again, none of this "just look around you", "just look at the trees", "just look at the complexity of life" business).

Answer 2

Something more than "God in the gaps" where because we don't know the answer we say it must be God because how could it be otherwise. We felt that way about many things in the past that we now know have good completely natural explanations. Something more than an ancient, unreliable, and contradictory text written by some authors claiming divine revelation that can and has been used to justify a number of contradictory positions and prophecies. Something more than some American evangelical housewife proclaiming Jesus answered her prayers to have their mortgage approved when thousands pray for food and get no answer. Something more than people who claim to have unverifiable visions of God since their ranks include Jim Jones and David Koresh amongst other clearly insane people.

Why do I need to believe in God if I am living a fulfilling and happy life? Go ahead believe if it make you happy but allow others their own space. I am quite sure if their were a God who wanted me to believe in them they would have no trouble getting me the message.

Oh, the faith healing thing. No one has ever been able to verify scientifically faith based healing. I watched a documentary about a couple who were evangelicals who believe their sons cancer would be healed. They took them to a faith healer who worked with them multiple times and prayed like crazy. The boy died. The excuse, "well, it is God's choice in the end." Here the rub when it works you say "God did it" although it could be medicine or just they would have survived anyway. When they die it's God's will. Religious people feel they are vindicated either way and it just doesn't add up.

Answer 3

Umm, particular, basically. (And no, not one of the innovations you concept probably for my conversion are perfect). Do you basically have faith there is an invisible, bearded wizard interior the sky? i used to be Christian. Then i found out that i became in simple terms blindly following what human beings advised me to stick to. So I researched a great variety of different religions, concept approximately how probably each and each faith became, etc. I cleared my slate- acted as though I had under no circumstances heard of religion in the past, and in simple terms started clean, finding at each and all the innovations, not beginning up with a bias against one or the different. and that i got here to the tip that even nevertheless there's no way for everyone to completely comprehend if there's a god or not, i think of it very, maximum unlikely that there is a few huge invisible person smiling down at us and poofing issues into the air with a wave of his invisible hand. Now, are you able to provide me any evidence of God? in case you come across it so perplexing to have faith that we don't see the evidence, instruct us. the place's the evidence? scientific study, comments, sightings, etc. Any valid evidence, with study, evidence, etc., works for me... yet whilst you're finding for that, i think of i will stay the place i'm, thank you.

Answer 4

The Saint Paul said it best when he said that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain. All of the original eyewitnesses to the resurrection were willing to die rather than give up their absolute certain belief that Jesus had risen. Not one of them, to save their skin, was willing to say it didn't happen. Would you die for something you knew to be a lie? Wouldn't at least one person say, "hey, I'm out?"

As for the more general theistic question: have you read "The elegant universe" about string theory and the big bang? How many dimensions are there? You mean the universe just...you know...exploded into being out of absolute nothingness? The chances of life are HOW remote? Humans don't have the cranial capacity to deal with numbers so large...I think that Crick (of Watson and Crick fame) was right on the money when he said that anything so complex must have been deposited on our planet by aliens. Who is that alien being? Can we ever know? We theists believe that the "alien" is a higher power, ie: God

Answer 5

Evidence is something that you can measure with some instrument. It needs to be verifiable and repeatable.

A good example to me would be that your theory claims that prayer helps heal. You just did it yourself. If you could show that in a controlled repeatable experiment, that would be evidence. It might not clinch it, but at least it would provide evidence.

When this was actually tried, this is what the results were: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?ex=1301461200&en=4acf338be4900000&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

As you can see from the article, there was no real difference. In fact the control group actually faired slightly better. That means that something predicted by you theory was proven to be not true. Your "proof" doesn't include a control group, so there is no way to sort out what would have happened by chance.

That is actually strong evidence against your theory. If your predictions don't hold up, there is a flaw somewhere.

Answer 6

Honestly? A few hundred thousand more Christians who actually believe and follow the precepts of their religions instead of just mouthing it. And make those few hundred thousand the ministers of this faith, because I've seen the way too many ministers act - can you be at all suprised when their followers act the same - or worse?

Christians who actually act as Christians - and Jesus intended people to act - good, kind, decent human beings - not what too many Christians act like today.

And yes, I can cite prominent activities in defense of my statement- but do I really need to? You can read the news, watch the news.

Come up with that, then I might start buying it.

Sorry to ask the impossible.

Answer 7

What evidence do I need? Well, hmm? Why don't the mystical things of biblical times happen anymore?

Everything that occurs CAN be proved by science. You can tell yourself anything you want to believe, and anything you see will prove that to you.

But it doesn't cut it when life is so damn predictable. God doesn't make a limb grow back, God doesn't save all the little children,
God allows many innocent to suffer and die who cry out for his help but then up and decides to "cure" the obese man with a football injury? come now.
If God looks down and sees children being murdered by the trainloads of his chosen people, ripped away from their mothers and kicked in the head whilst they shiver naked in the cold, but never steps in, but then all the sudden steps into some funky church group to do a parlor trick, that God sucks. Sorry.

Answer 8

First, I'd like to say that I appreciate your attempt to offer proof.

The proof you offer is annecdotal. If you were to offer the same kind of proof to show that a drug was safe and effective, that drug would not be allowed on the market.

Most believers I know say that God can not be tested, but that's really the kind of evidence I would need to be able to believe. The only tools I have to know whether or not God exists are my senses and my mind. I can't see him with my senses, and I can't devise a test to show that he's there. Barring that, I can't make myself believe.

Answer 9

Do something that can be verified externally by separate observers that breaks the established naturalistic laws of our universe. Preferably in a lab setting so it can be properly recorded.

Ideas: Make light go faster than it usually does. Decrease the Cavendish constant in the gravitational attraction (F= FmM/r^2) equation. Make something disappear instantly while I have my hand on it.

Surely these would be parlour tricks for an omnipotent god, no?

Answer 10

A short while ago, someone asked why people are always mocking the askers in this category.

From what I can see...the askers are continually challenging the non-believers.

So my friend...you deserve everything you get...and more...

What evidence do I need?
Physical evidence...
Show me the DVD of him creating the Universe...
There must be one...You don't create something like that without filming it for posterity.
I bet he re-watch that DVD everynight...thinking...Gees I am good...