If you're an atheist, what will it take to get you to believe in God?

Question

If you already do believe in God, what would be necessary to eliminate your faith? Is it possible?

Answer 1

I would stop being an atheist in a split second were I presented with hard evidence of God's existence. His actual appearance would be nice and I would need him to prove he isn't just some other form of life that happens to be more advanced.

Answer 2

It's more than possible, it's a fact that people convert to different beliefs and religions all the time and have throughout all of history. Personally I do not think my faith could ever be turned upside down. But nothing is 100% percent certain in this world.

Answer 3

I'm an atheist. If God exists and is as portrayed then He knows what would get me to believe. All his followers need do is to pray for guidance for the Lord to show them what would convince me.

Since that hasn't worked thus far, a large scale, unambiguous miracle would be likely to do it. Let's say that around the world in 2 hours an image appears in the sky and speaks in a language everyone understands to say that in two weeks all cancer will be cured. Then in two weeks, cancer is cured.

Need it be that extreme a proof? no. But since so far I've seen nothing but vague, ambiguous offers of proof that can easily be explained by any number of natural processes, I'm far from seeing anything close to what would make me believe.

Answer 4

Dear Gaia, do you people get toaster oven when you get a certain number of converts to your religion? Why do you care what I believe? Is it really such an insult that atheists and agnostics walk the earth, some happy, some not; some kind, some mean--you know, like god-believers.

Religion is a lifestyle choice. It's also one that is not right for me.

Answer 5

Oh, I dunno... God?

I'm not an atheist, but I'm guessing that some difinitive proof of a super-being / deity might do the trick for them.

Since I do believe in God, probably nothing because if I definitively believe that there is an invisible purple mongoose that follows me around, you really can't proove that there isn't oine, so I will continue to believe it no matter how silly it sounds. The possibility of God cannot be quashed.

Answer 6

No one can name that one thing that will convert them either way. It is impossible to know. It could be the smallest thing like seeing someone help a little old lady across the street one day to gain faith. To lose faith it could be just as easy, say seeing someone mug that little old lady instead of helping her. It all depends on how strong your beliefs are and that certain situation.

Answer 7

A divine intervention perhaps. Some kind of sign or appearance or an ability to actually communicate with God.

I am agnostic so I don't really know if there is a God either or how to correctly define God. Since I can't define God or know God, it's hard to say whether there is a God or not.

Answer 8

For me to believe in God, he'd have to come down here personally and show me he's real. Maybe take me to visit another planet. Maybe take me back in time for a while to see the dinosaurs.

Even then I'd be looking for some kind of slight of hand.

Answer 9

I think if I started praying for belief and being thankful for God s graces, went to Church and decided to love the experience with all my heart, decided to enjoy and appreciate the sense of the practices, felt the love of the community of the faithful, fell in love with a Catholic woman who also loved me, kept the cross on a chain close to my heart, and did all this for at least 3 years I think I d finally understand the goodness of belief.

In fact, I decided to do this and am now on month 9 of it. I don t think it ll take 3 years. I think if I continue this for another year, max, I d be so much in the habit of belief that it ll FINALLY come naturally to me.

Answer 10

I did believe in god, and then I questioned, which led me to the truth that god was made up. Nothing will make me believe in an invisible friend again.