I've been wondering, what exactly would it take for me to believe in God? This is something I've thought about quite a bit and, unfortunately, I feel like I have more questions than answers.
My initial thought was that I, and several other individuals who I could verify were in no way delusional at the time, would have to witness some kind of testable, miraculous event. However, such an event could easily be perpetrated by a deceptive individual like Satan. If my goal in life was to turn people away from God, like Satan, that would be a good way to do it. That raises other questions as well. When people think that they hear God telling them to think and do things, how do they know that it's not Satan tricking them. This is particularly interesting when two people are "told" by God to do conflicting things. Which one, if any, is right?
So after thinking about this for a while, I really can't come up with a particular event that could happen to make me believe that God is real.
I would be very interested to hear other people's opinions on what would make them believe in God. I'm also interested in finding out what it would take for the faithful to turn from God.
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If a testable event did occur through the work of Satan, would you still doubt the existence of God? Would you still doubt God even if you knew there was a devil?
ReplyDeleteIf a testable event occurred and I could verify that Satan was the exact Satan as described by the bible then I would say yes. That would mean that I could verify that this is the Satan that was cast out of heaven by God so therefore God exists. I could still doubt the existence of God if there was a devil that wasn't specifically Satan as referenced in the bible.
ReplyDelete@Vinnie: Your doubts on the existence (or lack thereof) of God and Satan are rooted to your knowledge (or the lack of) from the Christian bible. If you did find a Satan and he did mention that he was the exact Satan that was cast from Heaven, why should you believe there is a God? After all, isn't his work supposed to make you not believe or question the very existence?
ReplyDeleteHence, your rationale test is flawed. Try again.
"I could still doubt the existence of God if there was a devil that wasn't specifically Satan as referenced in the bible." .... again, you are still rooting it based on the bible.
I find it amusing that you use Satan as your testability subject.
"@Vinnie: Your doubts on the existence (or lack thereof) of God and Satan are rooted to your knowledge (or the lack of) from the Christian bible. If you did find a Satan and he did mention that he was the exact Satan that was cast from Heaven, why should you believe there is a God? After all, isn't his work supposed to make you not believe or question the very existence?
ReplyDeleteHence, your rationale test is flawed. Try again."
My comment was based on a question specifically asked to me regarding Satan. Also, I did not say that "Satan" would simply tell me that he was Satan, I specifically and purposefully said, "If a testable event occurred and I could verify that Satan was the exact Satan as described by the bible then I would say yes." Having a verification beyond a reasonable doubt that it is the exact Satan that is described in the bible is much different than someone telling me that they are. Second, if I would could verify that without a doubt that this "Satan" was the exact same Satan from the bible, meaning his origins, his actions and everything else, then I would know that God exists because if Satan's origin is verified to be true and requires the existence of God, then God exists. This isn't to say that my bar for verifying the existence of Satan isn't any lower or different than my bar for the existence of God.
It's simple logic. If I'm not sure if A exists but I know B exists, and I know that B requires A to exist, then A exists.
"I find it amusing that you use Satan as your testability subject."
I was simply answering a question that was posed to me.