How to tell if God is real?

Question

Heres a way to see if God is real. Take 100 christians that say they have seen Jesus or have spoken with Him, and put them through a lie detector test. If they are telling the truth, I will continue on with my Christian faith. If they are liars, goodbye. what do you think? there is a chance for error, as some may be so adamant in their own lies, they start to believe it as the truth(i forget what the psychiatric term for that is).

Answer 1

Good question, because it shows the limitation and the confusion of human mind. Any kind of belief is not a proof of truth, although for the person who believes this will be a truth, because there is a strong need and so rational thinking is excluded. To check if a belief is true with a lie detector test is absurd. You can't proof if a dream is true, right? Is a self-image true? It is what it is and this is the truth for the person who has created it. You can see it as a lie, because you are in a different position.
'God' is an image, created out of the limited human imagination; it became a strong image in which people believe. They need this, it gives them hope, sense and orientation, - it is their truth. They will defend their belief and there is no reasoning possible.
The only way to proof if 'God is real', is if you are capable to go beyond the level of mind and images to a form of realization within yourself, but you can't answer your question by staying on an emotional/mind level. You can talk a lot and argue about al kind of aspects, but this is like turning around yourself, not being able to go beyond your narrow sight to reach the horizon.
Stay with your Christian faith or if this is not enough for you, then find out about yourself. Try to find 'self-knowledge'. You can start in general by finding out about 'human nature'. Ask questions and be very critical with the answers you are getting and finding. Develop your intuition... There is a lot to search and to do, so you will be engaged for some time...
Continue asking questions, your attitude is important. You can use this space, it is a good opportunity to express oneself and clear up oneself, finding answers and being confronted with different viewpoints. Isn't this great?
BeiYin

Answer 2

There are easier ways and the lie detector will only verify if the Christians are telling the truth about their belief. You are likely to get the same results if you used Muslims, Hindus or any other religion as the lie detector only will show if a person is consciously lying. i.e. if I believe that the world is flat and take a lie detector test, it will not show that I'm lying.

Edit:
While things can not be shown to not exist (you do not prove the negative), there are certainly things that you can look for evidence for such as evidence that the Hebrews spent 200 to 400 years in Egypt, a global flood, creation, etc. God may only be know through faith, but his actions in this world should have left evidence. Given the total lack of this evidence, I'd say you would have your answer.

Answer 3

Lie detector tests don't work if the individual believes in the lie, which might explain why many of the people whom have lots of evidence put against them and then sit a lie detector test and come out negative are complete nutters.

It's not as if they're some sort of universal detector of the truth, after all.

If they were then we'd be able to find out a lot of things.

Anyway, i believe that a better way of proving the existence of God is to throw a rock into a crowd and see how many people try to kill or confront you (i.e; EVERYONE).

Answer 4

So is this how you tell if everything is real? Is this how you are going to continue your faith in everything else; by finding 100 people each time and giving them a test?

If a tape recorder was in a room with you, but you made no sounds, would it mean that when the tape was played back that you didn't exist; becuase the machine didn't pick it up?

At least I can now understand the limits of your thinking.

Answer 5

Lie detector tests can only reveal if the person believes what they are telling themselves inside. They get an 'error reading' when what they express aloud is not the same as what they are thinking inside, they get a 'positive reading' when what they express aloud is the same as what they believe. The lie detector test is limited beause it can only detect one's faith in one's mind, one's belief's or of 'the story one is telling oneself'. It can't be used to answer the question of 'is god real or not'.

So where does that leave you?

Betsy

Answer 6

Honestly, that wouldn't work well.

I'm a Christian. Have I ever seen Jesus with my own two eyes? Nope. He's not walking around in a tangible body or anything. He's there in spirit.

Have I ever heard His voice the same way I hear anyone else's voice? Nope. He doesn't "talk" to me that way.

So, literally I can't say yes to either of those questions. But I am sure in my faith nonetheless.

Answer 7

Christianity doesn't have the patent on God. I myself am an agnostic and consider our creator to be a mystery, not some giant bearded man in space.

So instead of focusing on believers, consider nature's amazing perfection as proof of a higher being.

For example, it is completely improbable for a bee to fly because their wings are too small and their little bodies too fat, but yet they do and how do they know how to make such perfect little hexagons within the hive?

Answer 8

Air is invisible to the eye you can't see it. So it's what each person believes in. Their are good Christian's and bad Christians.
I have been visited by Angels. My father had recently died. and my daughter just had major surgery I was going though a lot and I layed down for the night to go to sleep. The lights were off so it was totally dark in the room. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and said "it's going to be alright everything will work out". I shot up out of bed and turned on the light. Nobody was in my room. It freeked me out. I kept the lights on that night but I was visited by other Angels just recently. My mother lives with me and my daughter, my mother has early Alzheimers and her memory is not sharp like it use to be. Sometimes it's overwhelming to deal with 2 wks ago I heard foot steps and felt a presents in my room while I was laying down to go to bed I knew they were Angels sent from God to help me. I was after my mother was in the hospital for a short stay after being ill, the emergency room thought she had a stroke but wanted to keep her there for further tests. but it was a lot of strain on me. I prayed and prayed and that night they came and I couldn't see them but I felt them and know now that they are close by. So it's really how you look at "your" Christian faith. check out the bible. some people say they have seen him i believe them. who is to judge them. and why? it's all up to you.

Answer 9

There is no way to prove or disprove God. Belief or non belief wouldnt be changed even if all of them passed the test. There are always what ifs. What if they do believe it so much that they pass? What if the machine is broken? What if the results cant be trusted. If you want to know if there is a God seek with an open heart. You aren't trying to find out if there is a God as much as you want to disprove he/she exists.

Answer 10

There is no such thing as Hell right now. Or purgatory. Hell will come when Jesus comes. This is also wierd because it's strange to watch a loving God destroy those who don't follow him. You either follow God or Satan. There is no middle. If you follow the world, you follow the Devil.