what would it take for you to consider the fact that God exists?

Question

I am not saying believing just to stop and consider that he may be real, besides him standing in front of you and saying here I am?

Answer 1

Evidence would be a start.

Answer 2

I do consider the possibility that God exists, frequently. I find that in order to make a convincing argument--one way or the other--it helps to consider both sides of the issue.

The people who say they require evidence before even considering the possibility are perhaps more jaded than me, or maybe they know something I don't know.

Nevertheless, I have yet to bridge the gap between considering the possibility, and seeing a reasonable way to support it.

Answer 3

Aloha Cindy,

Thank you for your thoughtful, respectful question. I cannot add much more than what my colleagues have said, other than to share some quotations...

"If God exists, what objection can he have to saying so?"
— Lemuel K. Washburn

For centuries men have fought in the most unusual and devious ways to prove the existence of a God. But evidently a God, if there were a God, has been hiding out. He has never been discovered or proved. One would think a God, if any, should have revealed himself unmistakably. Isn't this non-appearance of a God (the non- appearance of a God in the shape of a single bit of evidence for his existence) a pretty, strong, sufficient proof of non-existence?
— E. Haldeman-Julius

What I'm saying is, if God wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the only way he could think of doing it, he could have done a better job.
— Carl Sagan

I’ve never understood how God could expect his creatures to pick the one true religion by faith – it strikes me as a sloppy way to run a universe.
— Robert A. Heinlein

Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.
— David Hume

That which is asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
— Christopher Hitchens

God, we know you are in charge, but why don't you make it slightly more obvious?
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1990, address to students at West Point]

They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.
— Emily Dickinson

We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess, vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your Bible and the works of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans and your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We want one fact. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little fact. We pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and implore you for just one fact. We know all about your mouldy wonders and your stale miracles. We want this year's fact. We ask only one. Give us one fact for charity. Your miracles are too ancient. The witnesses have been dead for nearly two thousand years.
— Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

Answer 4

Proof.
Why NOT him standing in front of me and saying here I am? That should not be too much to ask for an all-knowing god who created everything.

He could send an angel to appear in front of me.
He could make the limbs of amputees re-appear.
He could instantly eliminate world suffering.
He could appear in sky to everyone simultaneously in giant human form, and say How dare you doubt my existence?

I already consider that he MAY be real...may being the key word. I think it is unlikely, but I don't deny the possibility.

Answer 5

Standing in front of me and saying "here I am" would work pretty well, don't you think?

Have you ever thought about why that doesn't happen?
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If there were any evidence at all for the existence of a god, we'd certainly hear it in response to questions like yours. Instead, we get that "where did everything come from?" schtick (from people who miss the obvious problem with that argument), purported miracles and vague prophesies, and the old "look - a shiny object! There MUST be a God!" argument. Nothing with any substance at all.

Why do you think that is?

Answer 6

Any type of evidence would be good - how about saving the world's children from starvation and physical or psychological abuse.
Any real Invisible Sky Pixie worth his salt should be able to magic that outa thin air.

Look hon, it ain't gonna happen - the pixie is not real - he was dreamed up by some scammers wanting an easy ride in this world.

In any case, why would you worship something that reputedly says: You'd better suck up to me or go to hell?

Answer 7

Your question is actually a conclusion that God exists -- "...the fact that God exists?"

The existence of God is not a fact. That's why belief in God, Allah, Yahweh, Jesus, Yeshua, etc. is called faith.

Fact: Something known to exist or to have happened

Faith: Firm belief in something for which there is no proof

Answer 8

I have allowed myself to consider that, to quite a large degree. I thought he was for a bit in childhood, and have close and respected relatives whose lives are given to Him.
I have prayed, and still do, leaving myself open to Him.
I think I understand why people believe in Him, that is what makes me sure he doesn't exist, in the Christian sense at least.
At this point in my life I can't imagine anything that would make me believe, but it is an ongoing consideration.
So it would take nothing.

Answer 9

I give the idea that God exists a very low order of probability.

I have studied theology and comparative religions and mythology and anthropology. I was, at one time, preparing to enter a seminary. I remain unconvinced.

I try to keep an open mind and continue to examine the data, however.

Are you as open-minded as you are asking me to be? Are you willing to consider that God does not exist? Are you prepared to look at your own doubts?

Answer 10

Pretty much nothing. If you truly believe in something like this, nothing will change your mind Let me turn the question around and ask you: What would it take for you to consider the fact that God doesn't exist?

Answer 11

I require absolute, irrefutable proof that he exists... something that can be empirically tested, and the results repeatable and recorded.

Otherwise, I have no more reason to believe that god exists than I do anything else that I can't see or prove, be it a subatomic particle or a norse god or even the teapot that Russel postulated.