(August 2, 2013 at 8:51 pm)Golbez Wrote: So I've long dabbled in theological debate, and watched a number of them on youtube as well. One line of questioning has piqued my interest. Atheists know what would convince them that God is real. There is established criteria for which we could not deny the existence of God - his holy presence manifested in some unambiguous, obvious godly form, before a reasonable audience (easy thing to do if you, say, occupy the vast majority of the sky over the US, for example), performing any number of supernatural feats that defy the laws of physics.
I disagree. If God were to manifest in this way, it could be interpreted as another manifestation of natural law, in fact, it would be. Scientists would seek the unknown forces that led to the appearance of God. If God appeared in this way, it would be made manifest in physical reality, and therefore subject to scientific scrutiny.
What you are positing is a certain conception of God: an intelligent being that can manipulate natural law at will (its own will). As I said, this very thing could and should be viewed as another manifestation of God's natural law, since it exists in the material world. You are positing, in effect, a molecular basis for God. Some religions would consider that blasphemous (e.g. those religions that do not permit images of God).
My conception of God is that natural law is God's dominion and in fact, God is natural law (as God is also Love). None of this makes sense physically but that is precisely the point: God and spirituality transcend the material. So the scenario you posit is the same as saying the Earth rotates around the sun. You say "that just happens" due to natural law. I say "God made it happen", because God and natural law are one and the same.
