Most people can agree 1 + 1 = 2. There is a proveable answer. Anything proveable about religious beliefs?

Question

Disclaimer: I don't mean this question to be rude or insenstive,

just wonder if there is any value to applying scientific methodology to religious beliefs.


Discover magazine deals with this question extensively, and the conclusion is that as of yet there really aren't any expiriments that are able to prove god, or reincarnation, or things like this,

but that it is a field of study, outside the mainstream of science, which fascinates me.

Is it junk science to try to prove reincarnation or out of body expiriences?

I'm just asking.

Thank you.

Answer 1

No, it's all crap.

Answer 2

I have found that the more that people try to apply scientific studies or anything of that nature to God or the existence of a God the more you find that it's not something you can prove. Take these questions into consideration. Where does the wind come from? Why are tides in the seas and oceans and rivers and lakes? Can you see the wind? No, but you can feel the wind. Can you see God? No, but you can feel God, if you want to. I don't believe in reincarnation, and I consider out of body experiences because God uses things like that for his will. God doesn't show himself like he did way back when he came in the form of the burning bush. So there really aren't any experiements that can be done to prove that there is a God.

Answer 3

There is no way to prove religious beliefs of any sort at this time.

This doesn't mean that it's all hogwash simply because we haven't yet developed an experiment to prove any of them. We haven't yet developed a cure for diabetes, either, but I'm confident that one day, we will. Though truth is, most religious beliefs are beyond the realm of science, and likely always will be. That doesn't mean they have no value simply because they're unproven. Believe as you wish - there's a reason most of these things are based on faith.

Is it junk science? Anything that has 'proved' one of these controversial things to be true thus far is based on junk science, or believe me, it'd be all over the news. But in the future, it could well be we develop a way to see things we've never been able to see before, and to gain a different perspective and understanding of the world.

Answer 4

Yes there is.....there is one thing that your can say about science. It is an ideal of what people say to be true. Man made ways to prove something does not truly mean it is real. Saying we exist to just exist is like saying the words i am typing are your imagination. There is one creator who created everything....your science has said that. Whether it is an object or central being in in debate but there is one creator. We call this creator God while others call it different names. The debate of the unknown is just that.....I believe whether true or not faith is the key element to a Christians life. The same faith that every time you sit in your car that it will start or walking down the street that you will not just fall down dead. Could it happen....yes. Christian belief as well as all religions are based on the concept of faith.

Answer 5

So far, there are no recorded events of someone leaning over to a tree, and saying, "George!? Is that you?" Yet people fiercely believe in reincarnation. Faith is a funny thing. Facts fly in the face of faith. Belief has achieved more than facts ever could, because Columbus believed the world was round. The Wright Brothers believed they could make that contraption fly. These thinks had not been previously done, but that didn't stop them. They had their share of naysayers, too.

Answer 6

What if science could somehow prove that god answers only some prayers? I know, it's complicated because it can't prove there's a god but they do study the efficacy of praying and have proven that sometimes praying is effective, sometimes not. Would that stop some people from praying? I seriously doubt it. People of faith tend to ignore countervailing science.

Yes, faith breeds ignorance - I just had to throw that in to get the thumbs-down count up.

Answer 7

That's like asking for proof that there was a Genghis Khan. Billions of people believe it because it was recorded with written records, but no one has seen him. The same for 1 + 1 + 2. Logically, numbers are human defined, and mathematics is only absolute by human definition. To err is human, therefore encompassing human-defined mathematics, it too is flawed. Faith is the only proof an individual needs.

Answer 8

Religion the way I would describe starts in the literal character and personality of God. Its impossible to put a formula on a personality.

Answer 9

It is by faith we believe that a man is more than flesh but also a spirt and the two are one soul. It is the image of God. Those who love the truth will seek the truth and recieve a gift from God called faith and through faith comes revelation of God and a personal relationship with him. It is true revealtion from God that reveals his truth. Man in his limited understanding does fall short of God's perfect truth. The truth comes to man not simply by blind faith but by revelation of God.

Answer 10

You need to differentiate between proveable in the mathematical sense and possible based on the available evidence. In maths we deal in certainties, in everything else we deal in likeliehoods and possibilities.

Answer 11

Folks have tried to prove God's existence, but these proofs are ultimately fallacies. You can't do it.

The wiki page has a bunch of examples of attempted proofs.