Say... something profound and inexplicable happens to me. I attribute this experience to the power of [insert deity, supernatural entity or mystical force here]. This proves to me that [deity, entity or force] exists.
Was this a trustworthy method of determining whether or not a [deity, entity or force] exists?
2007-02-02 08:56:59 · 31 answers · asked by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
There are personal experiences that might convince one of the existence of God, but what you just outlined leaves too much open for debate. No. that would not be a trustworthy method of determining whether or not a [deity, entity or force] exists.
2007-02-02 09:01:51 · answer #1 · answered by MyPreshus 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It may only be proof for the person it happened to. However I may believe you if I had a similar experience. If enough people had similar experiences it may become evidence that an outside force caused these experiences or some phenomenon that still remains unexplained. You can not put God in the same box you put all of you scientific evidence because God is too big all those kind of boxes. He reaches much beyond the human mind is going to understand therefore it takes faith to grasp Him.
2007-02-02 09:23:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no such thing as 'legitimate proof' of the existence of no/one/twelve/whatever God(s).
Personal experience is the closest we can get though. Any experience I have which is 'proof' for me (and by that I mean it convinces me that God exists) I admit is not enough to show other people - and I wouldn't expect it too.
The only way it can be, is in the way that if I am changed by an experience and it affects the way I live my life, then the cause of the experience (which I call 'God') is a real force in the world.
2007-02-02 09:07:27 · answer #3 · answered by guest 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It seems to me that the scientific method (which is a method of physical observation) can't really work when it comes to proving or disproving spiritual, or non-physical things.
I don't know if there really can be proof on that sort of level. But I think personal experiences, personal experiments with trying to live the teachings of deity, and multiple credible witness are probably some of the best evidences we've got on the subject.
Thanks
2007-02-02 09:04:11 · answer #4 · answered by daisyk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you know that what us humans feel in our body is actually all in the mind... has anyone ever read Derren Brown's book? Or seen the things he has done.
Its almost (sorry for the comparison) like being drunk, or being on drugs... it makes your body feel different...
When you are drunk, your legs feel heavy, you start talkin a different language, suddenly you love everyone... you get clumsier... while most of these seems like physical changes in the body, the only changed that have occured are in the mind, where the drink has taken effect.
Kind of the same with drugs... people ave claimed they have felt their bodies (in some cases even seen their bodies) floating on air, flying, walking through things, seeing things that arent really there.
Its all in the mind. It has nothing to do with the miracle of flying, or the miracle of someone being able to walk through things. It is psychology...
if someone was to stay in a room for a night, and they were told that the room was supposedly haunted, they are likely (depending on how cynical they are) to say they heard strange noises, and they were sure they heard/saw a ghost.
However, if someone stayed in that room, but they werent told it was supposedly haunted, they are likely not to hear or experience anything out of the ordinary.
2007-02-02 09:07:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it depends. Like, if you get an electric shock or something and pass out for a while, and while you're out you have a 'near death experience' and see what you think to be god. I think most of the cases like this can be contributed to other's reports of a similar experience. The idea of seeing a light or whatever it is can sit in your subconcious and when you have a near death experience, that idea can resurface and it would be like a dream. And dreams are definately not reliable sources. I had a dream about some crazy monster chasing me. Would that mean that that monster really exists? I highly doubt it.
2007-02-02 09:07:28 · answer #6 · answered by ...... 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No because proof is not a legetamit reason for determining proof of the existance of God. You believe in God or you do not, for whatever reasons you choose. Believf is not dependent on proof, because there are somethings that cannot be proved. That is why science limits itself to the existance of physical phenomena. Now that may not provie reliable evidence that a god exists.
2007-02-02 09:20:59 · answer #7 · answered by Michael M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is just like asking if a tree in the forest falls and nobody saw it, does it mean it didn't happen? It may not have happened to somebody in New York that didn't see it happen but the tree most certainly exists and it most certainly fell. The animals and the birds saw it and to them it was an experience. An experience is something that no one can refute.
2007-02-02 09:14:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is if the person is you, but on the other hand some people need to desperately prove the existance of God at any cost, that it may not make sense to anyone other than themselves. In my opinion the only way to know that Jesus is real is through your own experiences. And I believe He wants to reveal Himself to us but He will not force us to believe. I became a Christian because of an experience with a group of Christians who were praying in my house. I could not even stay in the house, I couldn't breath, & I felt a strong presence in the room which they prayed, which forced me out of my house. This may sound strange & I have tried to think if lots of different reasonswhy this could have happened to me, but the truth is that Jesus revealed Himself to me, I thought about lying to myself & just ignoring the experience & a lot of people have told me just to ignore it, but living something which I really can't believe in is not a way to live.
God reveals Himself to us everyday, search & you will find, but one thing I would advise is to find Jesus yourself, you can ask others their opinion but ultimately, it's up to the individual to find God for themselves because He is there you just need to be willing to accept the possibility.
2007-02-02 09:22:02 · answer #9 · answered by Jason 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, but then, neither is anything we experience through our senses either, if we are to believe the physicists. At the end of the day, even the scientists among us make a value-decision of what concepts we accept and what we reject based on our 'personal experience'. Every decision we make is emotional. We just rationalise it afterwards
2007-02-02 09:11:49 · answer #10 · answered by dead_elves 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋