What would God have to do to convince YOU of His existence?

[Hamstan]

Make the sun disappear, have a Category 5 hurricane as big as South Africa appear in the outback that rains bologna sandwiches, make one out of every 50 people have wings, have a plague of flying platypus strike the Midwest, and give me a cooler haircut. Anything is possible at that point.

Either the people would instead pray to 'God' to get rid of the evil mayhem-causing 'Satan', or the omnipotent omniscient omnibenevolent God would just surrender seeing point 4).

I'm just throwing things out there. The way I see it, if there is a God, the universe is much too massive for him to really care about a species like us. This would just be enough evidence for me to believe there is some kind of God. I just really don't think there's a benevolent one, given the scale we're talking.

[Wunderstrafanstalt]

Make the sun disappear, have a Category 5 hurricane as big as South Africa appear in the outback that rains bologna sandwiches, make one out of every 50 people have wings, have a plague of flying platypus strike the Midwest, and give me a cooler haircut. Anything is possible at that point.

Either the people would instead pray to 'God' to get rid of the evil mayhem-causing 'Satan', or the omnipotent omniscient omnibenevolent God would just surrender seeing point 4).

Oops, I meant point 5)

I'm just throwing things out there. The way I see it, if there is a God, the universe is much too massive for him to really care about a species like us. This would just be enough evidence for me to believe there is some kind of God. I just really don't think there's a benevolent one, given the scale we're talking.

If I put myself on the shoes of God (that might not make sense, but whatever) there's a likely chance I'll be experimenting, for my amusement, with one or even many planets to see civilizations rise and fall, or etc. Like a game called Galimulator I used to play (observe) for hours.

[The Blaatschapen]

Advanced AI Aliens comes to mind.

Even super advanced AI Aliens need to obey the laws of science.

Not if they created this universe

[The New California Republic]

Show up and give me a back massage

...does he work in a massage parlor or something?

[Alvecia]

Show up and give me a back massage

...does he work in a massage parlor or something?

Benefits of omnipotence I assume

[Yellow Kingdom]

What do you mean, you don't believe in our lord and savior the Yellow King...?


But in all seriousness, if he could end things like, oh well, I don't know, war, hunger and poverty by striking people who go against solving that using a golden sword of lightning wielded by a bunch of flying purple lightning, then I'd believe him.

[Hanafuridake]

Show up and give me a back massage

...does he work in a massage parlor or something?

God love you long time.

[Auze]

He's been pretty convincing so far. Keep it up, I guess.

[Korhal IVV]

He would need to appear and give people the answers to all of their questions. I certainly do not believe what is written in the so-called "holy books". Sure, they're holy all right, full of holes and stories which only a child under 5 could believe.

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

[Lanoraie II]

Give me 1 million dollars and physically form in front of me and at least 20 others and do something like make a tree rapidly grow in front of us or do some crazy impossible stuff with water and fire.

Edit: Actually, just physically appear in front of me and 20 others and remove my depression and give me motivation and tell me he loves me and wants me to do well.

[Purpelia]

After giving this some thought I honestly say nothing. There is nothing he could do. Because if there really was an omnipotent omnipresent deity out there his existence should be self evident. The fact it isn't and he has to actually act to prove him self shows he isn't what his definition says he should be.

[Korhal IVV]

After giving this some thought I honestly say nothing. There is nothing he could do. Because if there really was an omnipotent omnipresent deity out there his existence should be self evident. The fact it isn't and he has to actually act to prove him self shows he isn't what his definition says he should be.

As if the people were aware that they were in the Matrix

[The Snazzylands]

Send down one of those archangels with the big wings and fiery sword to appear in front of me and straight up tell me God is real. And then give me cool superpowers.

[Satuga]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

Story of the Ark, God with his mystic powers made all the animals friends to get on a boat built by some random guy and his family with no building experience whatsoever, and then the earth flooded killing all who didn't make it on the ark, in which the animals would then have to breed with each other and since there are only two of each species, once again we have a story of mass incest. Oh btw the boat design would have never lasted within such harsh conditions, but people usually play it off with "THE POWER OF GOD" excuse.

How come there's so much incest within these books?

[The Blaatschapen]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

*looks at world leaders*

This explains so much.

[North German Realm]

He would need to appear and give people the answers to all of their questions. I certainly do not believe what is written in the so-called "holy books". Sure, they're holy all right, full of holes and stories which only a child under 5 could believe.

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

If those Theologians with literal PHDs believe that the stories of Bible happened, they indeed are believing stories only a child under 5 could believe.

[The Blaatschapen]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

If those Theologians with literal PHDs believe that the stories of Bible happened, they indeed are believing stories only a child under 5 could believe.

Kid geniuses can be theologians

[Australian rePublic]

Which goes against free will

Why is Free Will such an inherent good that all else must be tolerated for it?

Because without free will, we would be mindless robots incapable of indipendant thought, actions or anything. Sure, we would exist, but our entire existence will based upon the will of God. Without free will, indipendant thought would be impossible. We would only think about what God wanted us to. God would control every single thought in our head. It would be impossible for us to think about, say, food, unless God wanted us to think about food. We could only be capable of thinking of whatever God wanted us to. Without free will we wouldn't be able to move without God wanting us. He would have to control every single motion. Without free will, we wouldn't be able to act without God wanting us to. It would be impossible to turn on the TV without God willing it. Without free will, we would be unable to anything and everything, unless God wanted us to. Without free will, we would be God's personal slaves (as in, the whips and chains aspect of slavery), only worse, because at least slaves are free to think about whatever they please during rest time. At least slaves are free to move sround their shelters when off suty. Creatures without free will, on the other hand, can't. Yea, sure, we would exist, but it would be a misrable existence. And the thing is, with free will, it's either all in or nothing. You can't just draw arbitrary lines all over the place and say 'free will will be suspended if someone does XYZ' because it defeats the purpose, and not only that, but then it raises questions about where lines are drawn.

But enough sbout free will. Let's go back to your original point- let's assume that God could interfere with free will, out of everything wrong in the world, why would the alt-right be one of God's priorities? In the modern world we have, radical Islam (key word here is 'radical' as the vast majority of Muslims are good, decent people). Anyways, we have radical Islam, physcotic dictatorships, female genital mutilation, modern day slavery, actual slavery, communism (i.e. China, North Korea, etc.), Sharia punishments for homosexuality, touture, beheadings, 401 Scams, etc, etc, etcTaking all these into account, why would the 'Alt-Right' be in God's Top 10 priorities? Why would the 'alt-right' be in God's Top 1000?

And before you scream 'Whataboutism'- we are talking about an omnipresent, omnipotent God. Nothing is impossible, and borders are 100% totally, utterly and completely irrelevant

[Australian rePublic]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

Story of the Ark, God with his mystic powers made all the animals friends to get on a boat built by some random guy and his family with no building experience whatsoever, and then the earth flooded killing all who didn't make it on the ark, in which the animals would then have to breed with each other and since there are only two of each species, once again we have a story of mass incest. Oh btw the boat design would have never lasted within such harsh conditions, but people usually play it off with "THE POWER OF GOD" excuse.

How come there's so much incest within these books?

Dude, our entire world is based on incest. The best secularist genelogists, mathematicians, and other people who work in related fields all agree that every single person on the planet who has as little as a drop of European blood is decendant from Charlemagne. And the vast, vast majority of people would have at least a tiny bit of European blood in 'em. Considering that the vast majority of us are decendant from a man who lived 1000 years ago, and yet we're far enough apart from eachother for incest to not be a problem, then why would incest be a problem when you multiply the time period by 7? I mean, if a common ancestor dating back 1000 creates enough genetic distinction to avoid incest, then why would a common ansestor from 7000 years be an issue?

And that's if you take the story of Adam and Eve litterarly. Many Christians don't

[Australian rePublic]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

Story of the Ark, God with his mystic powers made all the animals friends to get on a boat built by some random guy and his family with no building experience whatsoever, and then the earth flooded killing all who didn't make it on the ark, in which the animals would then have to breed with each other and since there are only two of each species, once again we have a story of mass incest. Oh btw the boat design would have never lasted within such harsh conditions, but people usually play it off with "THE POWER OF GOD" excuse.

How come there's so much incest within these books?

Dude, our entire world is based on incest. The best secularist genelogists, mathematicians, and other people who work in related fields all agree that every single person on the planet who has as little as a drop of European blood is decendant from Charlemagne. And the vast, vast majority of people would have at least a tiny bit of European blood in 'em. Considering that the vast majority of us are decendant from a man who lived 1000 years ago, and yet we're far enough apart from eachother for incest to not be a problem, then why would incest be a problem when you multiply the time period by 7? I mean, if a common ancestor dating back 1000 creates enough genetic distinction to avoid incest, then why would a common ansestor from 7000 years be an issue?

And that's if you take the story of Adam and Eve litterarly. Many Christians don't

[The Blaatschapen]

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

Story of the Ark, God with his mystic powers made all the animals friends to get on a boat built by some random guy and his family with no building experience whatsoever, and then the earth flooded killing all who didn't make it on the ark, in which the animals would then have to breed with each other and since there are only two of each species, once again we have a story of mass incest. Oh btw the boat design would have never lasted within such harsh conditions, but people usually play it off with "THE POWER OF GOD" excuse.

How come there's so much incest within these books?

Dude, our entire world is based on incest. The best secularist genelogists, mathematicians, and other people who work in related fields all agree that every single person on the planet who has as little as a drop of European blood is decendant from Charlemagne. And the vast, vast majority of people would have at least a tiny bit of European blood in 'em. Considering that the vast majority of us are decendant from a man who lived 1000 years ago, and yet we're far enough apart from eachother for incest to not be a problem, then why would incest be a problem when you multiply the time period by 7? I mean, if a common ancestor dating back 1000 creates enough genetic distinction to avoid incest, then why would a common ansestor from 7000 years be an issue?

And that's if you take the story of Adam and Eve litterarly. Many Christians don't

That is not the incest as implied by the bible if you take adam & eve literally.

[North German Realm]

Story of Adam and Eve, if this frankly insane story were true, then our entire world would be based upon incest, which if doctors haven't told isn't exactly a good thing for the health of a person.

Story of the Ark, God with his mystic powers made all the animals friends to get on a boat built by some random guy and his family with no building experience whatsoever, and then the earth flooded killing all who didn't make it on the ark, in which the animals would then have to breed with each other and since there are only two of each species, once again we have a story of mass incest. Oh btw the boat design would have never lasted within such harsh conditions, but people usually play it off with "THE POWER OF GOD" excuse.

How come there's so much incest within these books?

Dude, our entire world is based on incest. The best secularist genelogists, mathematicians, and other people who work in related fields all agree that every single person on the planet who has as little as a drop of European blood is decendant from Charlemagne. And the vast, vast majority of people would have at least a tiny bit of European blood in 'em. Considering that the vast majority of us are decendant from a man who lived 1000 years ago, and yet we're far enough apart from eachother for incest to not be a problem, then why would incest be a problem when you multiply the time period by 7? I mean, if a common ancestor dating back 1000 creates enough genetic distinction to avoid incest, then why would a common ansestor from 7000 years be an issue?

And that's if you take the story of Adam and Eve litterarly. Many Christians don't

Even if this were true (Because the same thing is commonly said about Genghis too), there were other people around the time Charlemagne lived who weren't related to him. If you take Adam and Eve literally, Adam and Eve were possibly the only humans around for a while, which means generations after generations of inbreeding among first cousins, siblings, etc. The two aren't even remotely similar.

[Autumn Wind]

Why is Free Will such an inherent good that all else must be tolerated for it?

Because without free will, we would be mindless robots incapable of indipendant thought, actions or anything. Sure, we would exist, but our entire existence will based upon the will of God. Without free will, indipendant thought would be impossible. We would only think about what God wanted us to. God would control every single thought in our head. It would be impossible for us to think about, say, food, unless God wanted us to think about food. We could only be capable of thinking of whatever God wanted us to. Without free will we wouldn't be able to move without God wanting us. He would have to control every single motion. Without free will, we wouldn't be able to act without God wanting us to. It would be impossible to turn on the TV without God willing it. Without free will, we would be unable to anything and everything, unless God wanted us to. Without free will, we would be God's personal slaves (as in, the whips and chains aspect of slavery), only worse, because at least slaves are free to think about whatever they please during rest time. At least slaves are free to move sround their shelters when off suty. Creatures without free will, on the other hand, can't. Yea, sure, we would exist, but it would be a misrable existence. And the thing is, with free will, it's either all in or nothing. You can't just draw arbitrary lines all over the place and say 'free will will be suspended if someone does XYZ' because it defeats the purpose, and not only that, but then it raises questions about where lines are drawn.

Unless there was some sort of semi-free will, whereby God simply creates a world without sinful actions, and being an asshole isn’t and option, and people would be able to choose either neutral or good/righteous choices of their own free will. Like a video game where the AI npcs have aggression dialed down and they never choose to attack one another or steal anything It wouldn’t be turning people into mindless robots but rather particularly evil deeds wouldn’t be a choice that the human mind is capable of choosing.

[Australian rePublic]

Theologians with a literal PHD on that subject disagree.

If those Theologians with literal PHDs believe that the stories of Bible happened, they indeed are believing stories only a child under 5 could believe.

Actually if you were a dedicated theologian, younwould have to have multiple degrees. You would need to speak Ancient Hebrew, and Ancient Aramaic, and Koine Greek. Not one of these languages, all of these languages. Not just the alphabet, grammar, etc. You'd also have to learn idioms, etc. in order to determin figures of speech. And you can't just travel and speak with the natives, because the dialects that the Bible was written in died out centuries ago. You also have to be an expert in Middle Eastern history, in order to understand the historical context, and you have to make use of other supporting documents, etc.

I've dabbled in English language theology, and it's a very difficult discipline. (And this is from someone who came in the top 5 in my entire grade for my Bachelor's degree, albeit a small class. Most of my marks were credits, distinctions and high distinctions. So I am a goodish academic). And dablong, I've dangled my feet in the kiddie section. With theology, you have to try to determine the answers to questions which are never answered anywhere. And my dabbling was limited to the English language. I could only imagine how much harder it would be in Koine Greek, or Biblical Hebrew, or Ancient Aramaic.

At this point, you would have to either be ignorant or dishonest to accuse a theologian of unintelligence.

[Australian rePublic]

Because without free will, we would be mindless robots incapable of indipendant thought, actions or anything. Sure, we would exist, but our entire existence will based upon the will of God. Without free will, indipendant thought would be impossible. We would only think about what God wanted us to. God would control every single thought in our head. It would be impossible for us to think about, say, food, unless God wanted us to think about food. We could only be capable of thinking of whatever God wanted us to. Without free will we wouldn't be able to move without God wanting us. He would have to control every single motion. Without free will, we wouldn't be able to act without God wanting us to. It would be impossible to turn on the TV without God willing it. Without free will, we would be unable to anything and everything, unless God wanted us to. Without free will, we would be God's personal slaves (as in, the whips and chains aspect of slavery), only worse, because at least slaves are free to think about whatever they please during rest time. At least slaves are free to move sround their shelters when off suty. Creatures without free will, on the other hand, can't. Yea, sure, we would exist, but it would be a misrable existence. And the thing is, with free will, it's either all in or nothing. You can't just draw arbitrary lines all over the place and say 'free will will be suspended if someone does XYZ' because it defeats the purpose, and not only that, but then it raises questions about where lines are drawn.

Unless there was some sort of semi-free will, whereby God simply creates a world without sinful actions, and being an asshole isn’t and option, and people would be able to choose either neutral or good/righteous choices of their own free will. Like a video game where the AI npcs have aggression dialed down and they never choose to attack one another or steal anything It wouldn’t be turning people into mindless robots but rather particularly evil deeds wouldn’t be a choice that the human mind is capable of choosing.

I already addressed that...