What would you do if you found out God existed

[Kernel Sohcahtoa]

Upon reflection, I have valued the responses of disinterest that I've have observed on AF when an individual asks a question that is similar to the thread title. IMO, it is a reminder that people are diverse in their lifestyles and starting points and will pursue the answers to questions that are meaningful to them while not taking up their time with matters that are trivial to them.  


P.S. As a general observation, IMO, it seems interesting that people of a particular starting point will assume that a different starting point, especially one which seems to challenge their own, is some kind of reaction/response to it, rather than seeing differences in thought as exercises  in free thinking and intellectual curiosity.

[The Grand Nudger]

Christians have this weird "Well, if you just took the the time to get to know him, I think the two of you would hit it off" thing going on.  They don't seem to grasp exactly how creepy it is.   Actual relationships have give and take.  They have feedback.  They not only have conversation, but shared activities.  One can't hang out at god's house and play D&D, or join a local bowling league with god, or go to the movies with god.

You're always in god's house.  When you bowl, god is there.  He's there at the movies, too.  In fact, he's always there.

[Succubus]

[possibletarian]

Ok, so let's suppose that God really does exist and that He proved His existence to you. He showed up and did exactly whatever was needed to convince you personally that He is real.

Then my agnosticism would have to be over for sure.

You had a conversation with Him for many many hours, over the course of many days in a row, and He even showed you things... like certain things in the future of humanity so you could see how everything will ultimately fall together. He took you back in time so you could see particular events, including many moments from the life of Jesus. He showed you what the afterlife is like, fully answered every single one of your questions about why He allows certain things to happen, etc, and cleared up all misconceptions and misunderstandings you have had that made you think He was bad.

It would take a great deal to convince me that somehow all the evil i see in the world was working towards some common or greater good, if i could be convinced even then then i would have to change my mind about many things.

Let's say you came away from all that realizing God isn't who you thought He would have been, but is actually completely good. Would you then want to be with Him? Want to follow His ways? Feel remorse for the times in your life when you acted wrongly?

I can't really say i would want to be with him, it would take a great deal of convincing.
I already feel remorse when i believe i have wronged someone.

...Or would you feel angry and continue on hating the idea of God (even after learning He actually is good), hating the idea of having to "answer" to a higher being, etc?

I think i would be greatly confused still, why oh why did an all powerful all loving god allow the nasty train wreck of a world we see now, it would be really hard to come to terms with. I think in all honestly i would rather there be no god, than a god who allows the world as it is.

[Patrick33]

Sooo hypothetical, but still. If he definitely existed - I'd have to believe, I guess. My first question (of many) would be whether hell existed. I don't really want eternal hellfire. The trouble is, based on what is documented about him and how he has allowed so much pain in this world - he simply couldn't be trusted. I'd have a really hard time backing him knowing that he may just throw me to the dogs anyway...

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Ok, so let's suppose that God really does exist and that He proved His existence to you. He showed up and did exactly whatever was needed to convince you personally that He is real.

---

You had a conversation with Him for many many hours, over the course of many days in a row, and He even showed you things... like certain things in the future of humanity so you could see how everything will ultimately fall together. He took you back in time so you could see particular events, including many moments from the life of Jesus. He showed you what the afterlife is like, fully answered every single one of your questions about why He allows certain things to happen, etc, and cleared up all misconceptions and misunderstandings you have had that made you think He was bad.

Let's say you came away from all that realizing God isn't who you thought He would have been, but is actually completely good. Would you then want to be with Him? Want to follow His ways? Feel remorse for the times in your life when you acted wrongly?

...Or would you feel angry and continue on hating the idea of God (even after learning He actually is good), hating the idea of having to "answer" to a higher being, etc?

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What do people do in the book of Revelation when Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews and the God of the armies, and Yeshua show up?  They band together and fight him to the death because he's a prick and the enemy of all life.

[Cyberman]

I think i would be greatly confused still, why oh why did an all powerful all loving god allow the nasty train wreck of a world we see now, it would be really hard to come to terms with. I think in all honestly i would rather there be no god, than a god who allows the world as it is.

I'll add to that and say that I would be likewise very confused as to why such an entity needed to hide its existence from everyone except those who already say they believe in it. Why should Saul be worth a Damascus Road experience while everyone else has to work with nothing more than poorly-written mythology and the testimony of the least reliable people on the planet, many of whom have an insidious, self-serving agenda?

[Edwardo Piet]

Ok, so let's suppose that God really does exist and that He proved His existence to you. He showed up and did exactly whatever was needed to convince you personally that He is real.

Then my agnosticism would have to be over for sure.

You had a conversation with Him for many many hours, over the course of many days in a row, and He even showed you things... like certain things in the future of humanity so you could see how everything will ultimately fall together. He took you back in time so you could see particular events, including many moments from the life of Jesus. He showed you what the afterlife is like, fully answered every single one of your questions about why He allows certain things to happen, etc, and cleared up all misconceptions and misunderstandings you have had that made you think He was bad.

It would take a great deal to convince me that somehow all the evil i see in the world was working towards some common or greater good, if i could be convinced even then then i would have to change my mind about many things.

Let's say you came away from all that realizing God isn't who you thought He would have been, but is actually completely good. Would you then want to be with Him? Want to follow His ways? Feel remorse for the times in your life when you acted wrongly?

I can't really say i would want to be with him, it would take a great deal of convincing.
I already feel remorse when i believe i have wronged someone.

...Or would you feel angry and continue on hating the idea of God (even after learning He actually is good), hating the idea of having to "answer" to a higher being, etc?

I think i would be greatly confused still, why oh why did an all powerful all loving god allow the nasty train wreck of a world we see now, it would be really hard to come to terms with. I think in all honestly i would rather there be no god, than a god who allows the world as it is.

Great post! to the forum. Please make an introduction thread

[possibletarian]

Then my agnosticism would have to be over for sure.


It would take a great deal to convince me that somehow all the evil i see in the world was working towards some common or greater good, if i could be convinced even then then i would have to change my mind about many things.


I can't really say i would want to be with him, it would take a great deal of convincing.
I already feel remorse when i believe i have wronged someone.


I think i would be greatly confused still, why oh why did an all powerful all loving god allow the nasty train wreck of a world we see now, it would be really hard to come to terms with. I think in all honestly i would rather there be no god, than a god who allows the world as it is.

Great post! to the forum. Please make an introduction thread

Hi there, thanks for the welcome the thread was just too tempting to not reply too so i jumped right in. I have introduced myself now

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I'll add to that and say that I would be likewise very confused as to why such an entity needed to hide its existence from everyone except those who already say they believe in it. Why should Saul be worth a Damascus Road experience while everyone else has to work with nothing more than poorly-written mythology and the testimony of the least reliable people on the planet, many of whom have an insidious, self-serving agenda?

I agree, I find it very hard to believe that an all powerful god, who says he wants no man to perish but all to be saved would hide so well his very existence, surely not a very good way to go about things if you want people to worship you, however the question was hypothetical and in the scenario had indeed proved his existence.

[henryp]

When I'm telling my kid to do something, a lot of times, I'm looking on a very large scale. Building good habits that will serve her well in life 15 years down the road. Meanwhile, she can't really comprehend not being the age that she is. So for her everything is very short term. By the time she reaches the age where what I'm telling her makes sense, she probably won't remember that I ever even told her.

If there's a God, and this existing stuff is going to last for eternity. That's like billions of years not even qualifying as a beginning. And a being that exists in a way we can't comprehend. Aren't we like a child in that situation. With our super tiny perspective of reality, where 70 years is a lifetime. Where our experiences are everything, not just an infinitesimal fraction of something bigger that we can't even understand.

I think the idea of God is silly wishful thinking. But if there was one, the attitude of "There's no way God could convince me of ... " just seems goofy. That everything you could know about the universe and existence gets changed in ways that you can't comprehend, but you're fairly certain nothing in that infinite amount of unknown could possibly justify the things you don't like based on what you've come up with living in a tiny little box for a couple decades.

I just don't get it. I don't understand the unjustified certainty people have in their own opinions, that even in a hypothetical where everything they've thought has been shaken in ways they can't conceive, they're still almost positive they couldn't be mistaken about a bunch of stuff.