Those who are atheist, what evidence do you require to believe in a supreme being?

Question

I'm not being specific to any particular supreme being. Just one in general. God, Goddess, gods, flying speghetti monsters, etc., doesn't matter.

Answer 1

Thanks for asking respectfully.

I would like to meet the "supreme being", and either see some miracles or hear some wisdom. Current claims fall short on both counts.

For example, I'd expect that a supreme being could converse fluidly with me on any topic I chose, switching from topic to topic along with me. If I asked him about the causal theory of representation he'd have an intelligent, informed reply, and if I switched immediately to discuss "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" he could tell me what key it was in, and then tell me the current yield of my money market account, and oh, get the program installation stuff in Windows XP working on my laptop again. That'd be a great start. If I then asked about which species of Oriole it was that we recently learned interbreed, he could tell me, and oh, he should be able to do this in English, en francais, y tambien espanol, switching from language to language with ease.

Now, that's just a start, of course, but you'll notice that it already WAY outpaces what believers present as "evidence". Notice for example that "Lion" (below) gives a long answer that amounts to "Trust me". Uh, no, it doesn't work that way.

Of course he could skip all of that and do it the easy way: just bring me Monica Bellucci, and I'd believe without any evidence.

Answer 2

Personal, plain, direct communication with said deity, in a two way format, in such a way that it cannot be attributed to extenuating circumstances. For example, I see Fenris Wolf in my out-of-body experiences, but these experiences occur under severe physical duress and I understand that these circumstances cause a signficant variation in my brain chemistry. Further, the personal, plain, direct communication would have to be such that external observers could validate that I and another being that they too recognize as deific are in fact communicating.

I also have a number of questions, mostly of a technical nature, that I would want answers to, and answers from such a being would go a long way towards supporting its being a deity considering the complex nature of the questions in mind.

There would need to be demonstrated proof that the being could create and destroy universes with impunity, could enter and leave them at will, and function in all of them equally well.

Find me a deity that can do those three things and you'll probably make a believer out of me -- even if it is just an alien, compared to the technology that will exist in my lifetime, it's pretty much divine.

Answer 3

Great question, as an Agnostic, I guess I would have to say that, If God exists, I would need to see some significant evidence it.

I am not talking about a pretty sunset, which is forever being propped up by religious folks as proof of God. Because that same pretty sunset is a horrific event on planets closer to the sun.

I would need to have God himself, or one of his close associates, like Gabriel or Jesus or even a contingency of angels come around and start setting us strait on who God is and what he wants.

It seems to me that God is being a bit of a Jerk by leaving it up to Humans to determine exactly who he is an what he wants. As a result you have religious wars, denominational splits, families separated, bigotry etc....

If God would get over this secrecy thing and just come down to show us his love directly, I believe that he would have quite a few more followers, and as a result wouldn't have to kill and condemn so many humans to an eternity of pain and fire.

I guess the next time God comes here, it is to kick but and torture unbelievers, then to take the few on the strait and narrow to heaven.

Answer 4

Good question, but anything that actually proved the existance of a supreme being. If something doesn't exist, it's pretty hard to come up with something that would prove that it does.

Hmmm, in the case of unicorns, you'd need a unicorn to study. In the case of "unabservable" things like gravity etc, you need to be able to see the results of its actions. So if you could point to verified actions that have no other explaination, that *might* be considered proof, i.e. a mountain moving, a completely dead person, preferable cremated, being raised from the dead etc.

Answer 5

Absolutely anything would do. Anything that can ONLY be explained as supernatural phenomenon. At present there is zero evidence for a god. So the default position of not believing applies, as it does for dragons, UFOs, fairies and Santa Claus.

I've always said that if God wanted to show off and shut the likes of me up before plunging me into the lake of fire he could always halt Venus in her orbit and send her in the other direction. God could to that. But I'd be happy with anything much, much less dramatic if it showed evidence of God. So far, nada.

Answer 6

"Proof" of existence would be evidence that the being could contradict the laws of the universe. Some things that should be included: time travel into the past, creating energy from nothing within a vacuum, destroying energy totally, creating square-circles, escaping from black holes after meeting the singularity, and to show a full all-inclusive understanding of women:)

Answer 7

Just something specific and unambigious would be nice. Let say it would be somewhat substantial, given the existence of any entity with the properties attributed has never been evidenced.

Say about the same level as I'd require to believe in ghosts, telekinesis, or alien abductions.

Answer 8

Something occurring in plain view of everyone that goes against all known laws of science and experience.

a. A giant being appears in the sky and speaks to everyone in all languages simultaneously.

b. People who do bad things... lying politicians who kill people for policy, criminals who do it for money, businessmen who do it for power, get scooped up and dumped in a bottomless pit of fecal matter. That'd be good.

c. Decent people who want nothing more than live with their neighbors in peace are rewarded with an effortless existence.

d. Sickness and death are banished.

Not asking for much. Just those four things will suffice.

Answer 9

I would want to see him, speak eith him, or see one of the alleged biblical miracles performed before me. Perhaps see an amputee spontaneously regrow an arm/leg. See some one fly. Have a burning bush talk to me, se *real*, peer-reviewed evidence for a worldwide flood. The rapture. Get visited by an angel. See someone raised from the dead. See blindness spontaneously cured, see someone walk on water, turn water into wine, bread into fish.

Answer 10

Tangible evidence that a miracle can happen in the blink of an eye, like water to wine, splitting a sea of water to make 30-foot-high walls, a random worldwide infestation of locusts, and people walking on water, as well as god's admitting that the bible is totally wrong and not in accordance with his will.