2007-11-05 01:27:55 · 12 answers · asked by I'm an Atheist 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
How can someone prove that something exists without a very good description? Religions seem to contradict each other a lot, so what exactly must scientists prove? That there's an old man in the sky? :))
2007-11-05 01:33:12 · answer #1 · answered by larissa 6 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Prayer might be an easy test, but God doesn't necessarily have to respond.
If I imagine the Scientific Method as a shape...a shape which probes into the physics and fabric of reality...religion is the inverse shape, running away from the slightest touch from a critical hand.
2007-11-05 02:39:02 · answer #2 · answered by chem sickle 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on how narrowly one defines God. If fundamentalist says "God created the Universe, the Earth and all life on it in 6 days, and that is absolutely, literally true. To deny it is to deny the very existance of God" then it is easy to disprove that God using the Scientific Method.
2007-11-05 01:47:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, it is not, nor need it be. What is required is a good argument for the necessity of some entity to which the concept of god can refer. There are some necessities for which it makes sense to gather "evidence" and for some it makes no sense. For example, one cannot find two integers, say "p" and "q", such that p divided by q is the square root of 2. While that assertion is true, it doesn't make sense to ask if there is any evidence for it. Indeed, if god were to exist, god could not find two such integers either. It is because when one asks the right questions one discovers that the requirement that p and q not exist is a necessary one.
So, this is the type of argument that theists claim leads to knowledge of god's existence. This means that those who say "There is no evidence for god" are quite right, but they miss the point.
HTH
Charles
2007-11-05 01:44:33 · answer #4 · answered by Charles 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No, to set up a testable hypothesis, you would need a testable observation, and a prediction of what it means. Simple existence can only be objectively verified by the actual presence of the object or phenomenon.
2007-11-05 01:30:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 11⤊ 1⤋
No so far, proposed tests for the hypothesis "God Exists" seem to be indistinguishable from insanity or mental deficiency on the part of the believer.
2007-11-05 01:42:34 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Without a testable property or two, the best we can do is to look for evidence of existence or evidence of reported miraculous events having happened.
2007-11-05 01:35:19 · answer #7 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 5⤊ 3⤋
No. Faith, like love, is irrational and has an intuitive/metaphysical component that can't be observed and analyzed. Science an rationality are the wrong tools for the job.
Edit: Seven thumbs downs so far? I wish I could hear from those folks and find out why they think yuo can test this by the scientific method. It's just bizarre to me that anyone thinks this.
2007-11-05 01:34:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 7⤋
Is the hypothesis "love exists" teastable by the scientific method? Both are intangible, yet both are real.
God's existance is evident in all that is around us, and within the changed hearts and lives of millions over thousands of years.
Jesus is the way, the turth and the life.. and no one can come to God except through Him. Exclusive... but true. Come test that fact and see for yourself.
Science is man's way of trying to understand the things of God.
2007-11-05 01:33:22 · answer #9 · answered by Bill Mac 7 · 1⤊ 9⤋
Scientific Method seeks to understand physical reality not spiritual reality. As God transcends physical reality the Scientific Method as it is now perceived is incapable of testing any such hypothesis.
2007-11-05 01:33:36 · answer #10 · answered by jaicee 6 · 3⤊ 8⤋