Other than sacrificing his only Son for them? He already did that, Jesus healed the sick, and raised the dead. What more could God, and Jesus do to bring faith and belief in Him?
2007-10-06 23:51:30 · 26 answers · asked by xenypoo 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Levi, in God's time you will know how He came into exsistance. I am not God, so cannot tell you. If you read God's words to you, and us all,you will know that a thousand years is like a day, and a day is like a thousand years...to God. That makes me realize that WE humans are NOT ready to understand God, yet.
2007-10-07 00:12:43 · update #1
Oh Dear, Squirrel, I don't think the atheists will like the second coming of Christ!
2007-10-07 00:16:00 · update #2
Dear Xenypoo,
This is why he gave us a mind! The ones who chose to be strong against evil will choose to know God. There is more evidence to prove there is a God than not.
Those who are vulnerable to evil will Choose the lesser belief and succumb to the same. It is not impossible for some to overcome their disbelief by refuting Satan's strong pull. Some will see the light and others will unfortunately, remain blind to the divine light.
However, God need not do anything. WE are the ones to decide which path to take.
2007-10-07 00:11:12 · answer #1 · answered by Moody Red 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Let's see...
The obvious answer would be 'anything', but I'm guessing that you want something more detailed than that.
Your example is weak, since there is no archeological or cultural evidence, contemporary to Christ's 'life' to support that tale. Each and every word ever written about him, was written a minimum of 2 generations after the crucifixion story. This means that it is hearsay, at best. A man/deity, who made such an impact on the culture and society of the time would have had something written by a scholar of his day, and sadly, none exist. Historians and archeologists, both religious and secular, would love to find this proof, since it would put the bible into a true historical light.
So, that said, the only proof that I would accept (since I'm not a scientist) is as follows:
The being you call god would present himself, take a handful of dust, speak to it, and have a fully functional human male form. This male would be put through a battery of medical tests (nothing like vivisection...more like a complete physical). After the testing, the being would then, without harming the male, take a rib from him, and create a fully functional human woman. She would then be given the same medical testing. According to the bible, these 2 individuals would appear as any other human, with 2 glaring differences...the lack of a navel, and DNA (since there was no birth, and dust doesn't have genetic material). After the entire scientific community, via testing and peer review, determines that these beings are indeed, created by the divine, then we will have the evidence to support the existence of your god.
The criteria that I have for other deities, such as Zeus and Ra, is equally as stringent...but since you decided this was about your flavor of the divine, there you have it.
EDIT: In regards to your comment on a second coming, I only have this to say: Seeing as how over 90% of those who claim to be christian, barely act as such, I don't think that there will be all that noticeable of a population shift, when the rapture occurs...
2007-10-07 00:41:35 · answer #2 · answered by Bill K Atheist Goodfella 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The answer is individual. For C. S. Lewis, who spent part of his life debating on the atheist side, it was reason. For Anthony Flew, an equally famous defender of atheism, it was science.
The "reappear" answer comes from not thinking through the matter with any depth or seriousness. Obviously, that would be the last thing you would want if you spent your life trashing His name.
There is eyewitness proof from a variety of sources. It's been put together and published in one book that they reject. That book has more academic credibility than the published work on Alexander the Great, whom we all study in school and rightly so.
So there is no evidence they would accept. Hopefully they will become convicted before it is too late.
2007-10-07 00:36:17 · answer #3 · answered by cmw 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is not what God would have to do but the atheist has to do.
Open his eyes and heart which is the eyes to the soul.
Some do when faced with death, some do when the world around them falls and like all true Christians do every day by asking God where are you and why do you allow this to go on as it does.
It is called free will and you must seek him out and walk through the valley of death with our fear and hand in hand with faith that he is there.
2007-10-07 01:32:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
As an atheist, I am not entirely bothered if he does exist. However, because of his homicidal nature I would still choose not to worship him. My reasons for this:
1. The flood - here god started as he meant to go on.
2. Job - here god ruins a man's life for a bet, the fact that he bet Lucifer makes this so much worse.
3. King Saul - god through Samuel instructs Saul and his army to carry out genocide on the people of Gath (Gaza) and condemns Saul and his family to betrayal and death for not killing absolutely everyone (king of Gath and a dozen cattle survive the massacre).
4. Abraham - Let us be clear about this one, if a disembodied voice told you to murder your child, you would have to be some kind of psychopath to obey, yet this is the first lesson that god wishes Ab to learn - Do what I say unquestionably and regardless of how heinous the deed may seem. A very dangerous precedent and one that I would never follow.
There are countless other reasons, but surely those above are sufficient to show god up as a maniac!!
2007-10-07 00:14:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
I'd want him to appear the flaws in all religions - and ask why he existed when all the other 'gods' didn't.
I'd want to understand how he came in to existence, and him to explain how (if he could) he interfered with reality. What forces did he utilise - I don't mean wishy-washy answers like 'gods power' I mean actual physical mechanisms.
There's no evidence that Jesus existed at all, even though he did seem an ok guy - at least compared to the vile and genocidal ogre in the old testament.
You might as well ask me what evidence I'd need to accept that the tooth fairy exists - I'd have to examine her wings, see what she did with the teeth. Find out where she got her currency etc...
2007-10-07 00:05:13 · answer #6 · answered by Leviathan 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A tiny bit of EVIDENCE. Right now there's nothing.
By the way, if God rally wants the whole world on his side, all he has to do is write 'I AM THAT I AM' in words of fire on the wall inside the main chamber of the UN, in the middle of a session.
He's done such things before. It should be easy. An end to all wars, and everyone a Christian (or similar) overnight. How'swaboutit?
CD
2007-10-07 00:14:51 · answer #7 · answered by Super Atheist 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Lee Strobel, a former atheist, wrote the book "The Case for Christ" because he researched, because he went to the lengths needed to "prove" there is a Jesus Christ who died on the cross.
When Lee Strobel's wife became a Christian, he found that the positive changes in her were too noticeable to ignore. Since he had a law background (Yale Law School), and was an investigative reporter, Strobel decided to subject the claims of Christianity to the type of scrutiny he used in reporting on legal cases for a major newspaper. The result: The Case for Christ, a book which chronicles Strobel's journey from atheist to Christian, and offers a compelling argument for the veracity of the Christian faith.
To answer his questions, Strobel decided to seek out the experts. He was hoping to learn whether the evidence we have about Jesus in the Bible was reliable and accurate. He picked the brains of the following thirteen experts: Dr. Craig Blomberg (eyewitness evidence); Dr. Bruce Metzger (documentary evidence); Dr. Edwin Yamauchi (corroborating evidence); Dr. John McRay (scientific/archaeological evidence); Dr. Gregory Boyd (rebuttal evidence); Dr. Ben Witherington III (identity evidence); Dr. Gary Collins (psychological evidence); Dr. D.A. Carson (profile evidence); Louis Lapides, M.Div., Th.M. (fingerprint evidence); Dr. Alexander Metherell (medical evidence); Dr. William Lane Craig (evidence of the missing body); Dr. Gary Habermas (evidence of appearances); Dr. J.P. Moreland (circumstantial evidence).
After having all his questions answered, Strobel pulls the evidence together and presents the verdict. Not surprisingly, the verdict, based on legal rules for evidence, pointed to Jesus being exactly who the Bible says he is. The evidence overwhelmingly points to Jesus being the son of God, who died on the cross and rose three days later. So if you have questions about the truth of the Christian claims, or know someone who does, this book is the best place to start. Written by someone who knew which questions to ask (because he had them too), this book presents logical, rational answers that can help.
There are so many others who don't WANT to know what the truth is, whether it is that there is one true God or not. I those cases, evidence will not matter. Apparently, ignorance is bliss.
2007-10-07 01:05:11 · answer #8 · answered by glendiva1968 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
When Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, the atheist didn't believe then so why would they believe now? And they saw this with there own eyes.
2007-10-07 00:10:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, I think the only thing would convince them would be another appearance. Two thousand years is a long time from anyones point of view.
Edit; yeah, they may not like it, but they'd have to accept it.
2007-10-06 23:59:33 · answer #10 · answered by Skippy 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋