Here's "Why doesn't God heal amputees?" is a bad argument?

Question

First off, God HAS healed amputees in the past. We know of one such incident that occured in the New Testament. A man had his ear sliced off and Jesus was able to reattach it.

Secondly, it doesn't matter how many people pray for a limb to grow back. God does not do the people's bidding. He is the one in charge.

Third, losing a leg or an arm is not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Such an experience can strengthen a person's faith and make them stronger and a better person. It is the hardships in life that define us.

Agree?

Answer 1

I have to agree that this is a poor argument against the existence of a god. Personally, I am a nontheists (I do not believe in a god) and I have heard this argument several times from my peers. This argument is weak, and reduces the credibility of their other arguments. I personally believe that one can not argue that there is no god, because it is impossible to prove. However, that does not mean that there is a god, it just means maybe there is.

Answer 2

One answer is that the amputees don't deserve to be healed. And if they or humanity can't find why not, your god knows (how odd and pathetic).

Another answer is that, considering the high number of decent, honest, kind people who are amputees and never heal, that there are no gods in the first place, or they don't care (and are either evil, or powerless), which is the same for all practical purposes.

> Here's "Why doesn't God heal amputees?" is a bad argument
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Answer 3

God hasn't healed amputees or anyone else for about 20 centuries. In fact, he hasn't intervened or answered anyone's prayers since then either. Jesus said he would return by the end of that generation * and he is 20 centuries late. Why? Because these supernatural beings don't exist.

* I've heard the argument over whether Jesus meant "age" or "generation". The word generation means within a human lifetime.

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Answer 4

Hahahaha!

"We know of one such incident that occurred in the New Testament. A man had his ear sliced off and Jesus was able to reattach it."

Riiiiight. Its in the bible so it must be true, yep thats empirical evidence if ever I saw it. NOT.

Answer 5

Lesson: Circular logic: The bible is not proof for the bible.
Saying that god miraculously healed an amputee or raised Jesus from the dead does not constitute as proof just because the bible said so.

Lesson 2: Medicine does people's bidding. Humans change biological disasters all the time. If the doctor next to me is willing to exert all of his efforts to save my life but god doesn't lift a finger, what does that say about god?

Lesson 3: Leaving someone deformed so they will worship you is not considered moral, god or not. Hardships are inevitable, but cruelty is not.

Lesson 4: Back to the drawing board. There is no proof for a god. I'm not trying to be mean here, but I can't exactly believe in something that doesn't exist, and would be insanely cruel by your logic.

Answer 6

How about losing two arms and two legs, how would you feel then, rolling around on the floor praying to your god and saying it's no big deal.
Are you saying that is the way to make the whole world a better place to live and everyone will be a better person?

Answer 7

1) Totally not credible. 2000 year old story book does not = convincing example.

2) It's not about doing people's bidding... it's about it NEVER HAPPENING regardless of who did or didn't pray for it. It's never ever verifiably happened... it seems God is quite shy when it comes to defying the laws of nature these days. And by the way, if God never bends his will to our desires, WHY DO WE PRAY??

3) It's bad enough. If the EAR was bad enough (you know, the ear from the Biblical story you JUST QUOTED), a leg is bad enough.

Answer 8

A story in a book doesn't count as evidence.

The point about amputees isn't so much to imply that they are the worst off among us, thus it'd make sense that God would give them priority, yet he doesn't.

The point is, the healing of an amputation would be something that couldn't be explained away by any other means. You can't call "spontaneous regrowth" on that one like you can explain certain cancer remissions.

It would be the ultimate test of his existence, but he has never done it, not once. < That is the point.

Answer 9

God does whatever suits His purpose--- not necessarily ours. Prayers made by those who believe in Christ will be answered in one of three ways: yes, no, or wait for it. It is not necessary for God to prove himself to humanity, but for humanity to choose on an individual basis whether to believe what we cannot see. Interesting how an invidividual's perception and opinion of a given situation determines what God should do. There is a supreme arrogance in declaring that God prove His existence to us before we believe.

As to the statement that losing a limb isn't all that bad in the grand scheme of things... Yes, hardship will develop character one way or another, but our hardships do not define us with greater clarity than our joys and ability to love. Losing a limb, chronic or terminal disease, loss of relationships and loved ones are just part of the imperfection of a world where sin rules--- and our souls know that this is not what our Creator intended for us. How can we not feel an innate sense of loss and pain when the utter imperfection is made clear?

Answer 10

Do Buddhists believe in a creator god?

No, we do not. There are several logical reasons for this. The Buddha, like modern scientists, sociologists and psychologists, believed that religious ideas and especially the god idea have their origins in fear. The Buddha says:

"Gripped by fear men go to sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines." *Dhammpada 188

Primitive man found himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him. Finding no security, he created the idea of god in order to give him comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a god gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will hear them explain that they believe in god because they prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this seems to support the Buddha’s teaching that the god-idea is a response to fear and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we cannot change. He replaced fear, not with irrational belief but with rational understanding.

The second reason the Buddha did not believe in a creator god is because there does not seem to be any evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming that they alone have god’s words preserved in their holy book, that they alone understand god’s nature, that their god exists and that the gods of other religions do not. Some claim that god is masculine, some that she is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their god but they laugh in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of another god. It is not surprising that with so many different religions spending so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their gods that still no real, concrete, substantial or irrefutable evidence has been found. Buddhists suspend judgement until such evidence is forthcoming.

The third reason the Buddha did not believe in a creator god is that the belief is not necessary. Some claim that the belief in a god is necessary in order to explain the origin of the universe. But this is not so. Science has very convincingly explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the god-idea. Some claim that belief in god is necessary to have a happy, meaningful life. Again we can see that this is not so. There are millions of Atheists, free-thinkers and Buddhists, who live useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a creator god. Some claim that belief in god’s power is necessary because humans, being weak, do not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence indicates the opposite. One often hears of people who have overcome great disabilities and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties through their own inner resources, through their own efforts and without belief in a god. Some claim that god is necessary in order to give man salvation. But this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of salvation and Buddhists do not accept such a concept. Based on his own experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding.

But if there is no creator god how did the universe get here?

All religions have myths and stories which attempt to answer this question. In ancient times, when man simply did not know, such myths were adequate, but in the 20th century, in the age of physics, astronomy and geology, such myths have been superseded by scientific fact. Science has explained the origin of the universe without recourse to the god-idea.

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