Dear AF,
This is my first post outside of Introductions, and I thought it best to start things off by asking a question. This particular question comes up in the latter parts of many debates, and the answers often offered leave me feeling rather unsatisfied. The question is, what would convince you that a god exists?
This may sound a bit like a loaded question, but it's an important one to ask ourselves. As a person who tries to ground my views in facts and evidence, I must assume that it would be possible for a strong enough case to be made that I would conclude that a deity exists.
For me, such a case could and probably would have to be personal revelation. Not the typical, "feel the spirit" kind either; an actual physical appearance might be sufficient. However, to take a more concrete stance on this evidence, it would have to be repeatable.
In the classical Christian sense, God supposedly paid what we're lead to believe is the worst penalty possible - losing a child - for the mere possibility that one of our souls might be saved for eternity. As a child, I used to be told that God would have made the same sacrifice for just one soul (mine, of course). Being that the cost was so high for God, why wouldn't he, omnipotent, omni-present, and omni-benevolent as he is said to be, be actively willing to dole out whatever level of evidence any one of us would need to initiate belief?
A theist might say that I'm not worthy of questioning the methods of the almighty. I disagree. I think that if the almighty really existed, he would respect the logic he gave me and all of us and provide our skeptical minds the comfort needed to believe without fear of being mislead. Maybe that's WHOOSHING out of thin air any time we start to have doubts...that would sure convince me. But I've seen no whoosh as of yet.
What would convince YOU that God, Allah, or even the supernatural exists?
This is my first post outside of Introductions, and I thought it best to start things off by asking a question. This particular question comes up in the latter parts of many debates, and the answers often offered leave me feeling rather unsatisfied. The question is, what would convince you that a god exists?
This may sound a bit like a loaded question, but it's an important one to ask ourselves. As a person who tries to ground my views in facts and evidence, I must assume that it would be possible for a strong enough case to be made that I would conclude that a deity exists.
For me, such a case could and probably would have to be personal revelation. Not the typical, "feel the spirit" kind either; an actual physical appearance might be sufficient. However, to take a more concrete stance on this evidence, it would have to be repeatable.
In the classical Christian sense, God supposedly paid what we're lead to believe is the worst penalty possible - losing a child - for the mere possibility that one of our souls might be saved for eternity. As a child, I used to be told that God would have made the same sacrifice for just one soul (mine, of course). Being that the cost was so high for God, why wouldn't he, omnipotent, omni-present, and omni-benevolent as he is said to be, be actively willing to dole out whatever level of evidence any one of us would need to initiate belief?
A theist might say that I'm not worthy of questioning the methods of the almighty. I disagree. I think that if the almighty really existed, he would respect the logic he gave me and all of us and provide our skeptical minds the comfort needed to believe without fear of being mislead. Maybe that's WHOOSHING out of thin air any time we start to have doubts...that would sure convince me. But I've seen no whoosh as of yet.
What would convince YOU that God, Allah, or even the supernatural exists?
