what would make you change your beliefs?

[Autumnlicious]

But it's still more probable that a super-intelligent super-advanced alien wrote it as a practical joke than God wrote it (/wrote it through humans by "inspiring them spiritually").

EvF

One man's spiritualism is another man's confidence trick. Difference is how much they believe in it.

[Godhead]

I don't think that the question of would you believe in god, if god were to directly communicate with you, involves assessing anything or deciding anything. If god exists, and if god is the "creator" of everything, and it communicated with you, then as a "creation", you would instantly know.

[Minimalist]

A reliance on human gullibility has sustained con men throughout history.

If 'god' showed up the fucker would have to pass a test that I devised. Otherwise, he's just one more Nigerian heir to a fortune that he needs my bank account number to attain and split with me!

[Godhead]

Haha, I don't think god is nigerian. What I mean is that if god communicated with you directly (assuming it exists of course), you would have no choice but to know that it is god. There would be no question of you devising tests at all. Do you question your eyes when you think you see something? You don't, of course, you trust your eyes. If god exists and is the creator of you and everything else, you would straight away know, by virtue of being a creation of god, and you would know absolutely, as opposed to what your eyes tell you.

[Cego_Colher]

what about you Godhead? I know your belief in god is an feeling, but what would make you change your mind? even if it was to the Christian God or Thor?

[Godhead]

Cego -

Good question. I don't think about it often but I'll think about it now, give me a moment...

...I doubt very very much that I could be convinced to become a christian or part of any religion at all. I don't think that anything short of an appearance by Jesus or some kind of vision would convince me. In terms of becoming an atheist...give me another moment...

...If I were to have an extremely depressing period in my life (ie a trauma or something like that), I would almost certainly figuratively shake my fist at god and then stop believing. It wouldn't be the first time. But over time, I would believe again, because I would remember what I believe, and that I already knew that bad things happen, and I'd remember and accept that I already believe(d) that what events happens in life are neither here nor there in terms of my belief. Depending on the circumstances, it might take a short time or a long time. It might not happen at all and I might remain an unbeliever, but if I were to live for say hundreds of years, I would eventually believe again, it would just be a matter of time, and remembering that what happened (the trauma or whatever) doesn't mean that god doesn't exist. Another possibility in theory would be if I almost died, and momentarily stared into complete nothingness, rather than any hint of something else. But then again, I wouldn't be able to perceive nothingness, so I can't see that happening.

[Minimalist]

There would be no question of you devising tests at all.

No.... it would have to prove it is god. I'm not the type to merely accept the word of some putz that he is a god or even that he has a clue.

It's one reason I could never be a republican.

[Godhead]

Minimalist -

You wouldn't be in a position, or have any desire, or need, to devise any sort of test at all. You'd know. We're talking about a hypothetical creator of you and everything, not a person claiming to be something. If god communicated with you directly, it wouldn't be like a person communicating with you, because god would be communicating with you in a direct way, and as a creation of god, you would immediately know.

[Scented Nectar]

If using the definition of god being the supreme ruler and creator of the universe, I don't think I could be convinced no matter what. Let's say a being proved to me that they were the creators of everything, and even that they ruled everything, how could I consider them supreme, much less perfect (as some of the definitions also include)? Supreme and perfect would be my opinions. I don't think that things, if created, are good enough. They are certainly good enough for what they are, which is existence without expectations of perfection or of some weirdo grand purpose of greater meaning or whatever the fuck, but if there really were some ruler/creator, than they really could have done a better job.

They could not convince me of their supremacy, their perfection, and other things too, like all the logical contradictions in the various god/theism/deity definitions. After explaining which definition of god they are, they would have to answer to whatever contradictions/impossibilities that definition has.

For instance, if the definition includes the one sole deity requirement, how are they going to prove to me that there are not other gods out there? Maybe I'm being lied to. And so on for the other definitions. Even the ones that try to narrow it down to god being the universe itself, well, I already believe in the universe - I'm part of it. That's not a god. If it has a mass consciousness that I'm not aware of because I'm a mere cell in its body? Well that's not a god either, that would be a very complex organism.

Some definitions mention supernatural powers. Well, I consider any and all powers to be natural as soon as they appear or affect nature/the universe, etc. So, how can it be proven to me that a being has supernatural powers that don't fit into natural laws? It can't. I will consider the power/ability to simply be something that I don't understand how it works. There is no reason for me to think these powers are somehow outside of everything/nature completely. How could I know that? Even if the being teleported me to outside the universe or whatever, well, that new spot is now a part of everything/nature (the universe and beyond) to me, so anything that happens there is now part of being natural too, not supernatural. As soon as something is real and perceivable, it is no longer supernatural to me, so nothing could ever prove to me it is.

[In This Mind]

Fred Phelps, Jerry Falwell, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Osama bin Laden, and a couple dozen or so others all spontaneously being struck by lightning on a clear day would provide a level of evidence that a god I am willing to follow exists.

If the Christian god proved beyond a doubt that he existed, right this moment, I still would not follow him anymore than I would follow Hitler.