# Atheists , how could God prove to you he exists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 5, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518 "2019-05-05T19:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/82 "2019-05-06T10:42:24Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > To me ,if you say the person with supernatural powers could be an alien to me that’s just giving a different name for God. Then what does “God” mean to you? And if it doesn’t inherently include things like “created the universe”, “all-knowing”, etc., why call it “God”? That’s a term with some baggage. It really comes down to how you define “God”. What you’re looking for is a set of claims. How could this god prove to me that they “created the universe”? That seems exceedingly difficult to prove. I might be charitable and assume it to be true if they demonstrated some similar miracle, but proving it seems a bit… impossible? In reality, if someone says, “I’m god, and you should bow down to me”, if they then decide to prove it by, say, writing a message in the stars that anyone can see, well, I’m probably bowing down, because whether or not they actually created the universe seems secondary - clearly they’re in a position to fuck my shit up in all kinds of interesting ways, has a bit of an ego, and _I’d better do whatever they want and whatever I can to get on their good side_. Given the utter paucity of evidence for any supernatural events (or indeed, any events that are hard to explain given the framework of science and purely naturalistic events), this is all purely hypothetical. In fact, it feels like kind of a waste of time to even consider. All available evidence seems to indicate that this kind of thing just doesn’t happen. God doesn’t heal amputees. ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/83 "2019-05-06T11:20:15Z")
Let’s go back to basics: Make a rock so big He Himself can’t lift it. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/84 "2019-05-06T13:31:20Z")
If I were to wake up in the morning a polyglot - able to speak, read, and write all the world’s languages (hell, I’ll settle for the top 50) - then I would be hard-pressed to offer a non-God explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/85 "2019-05-06T14:26:49Z")
I’m not picky. Manifesting something out of the aether, writing something in the stars, predict the behaviour of random passerbys, grant me a superpower, stop time, create life… Any of that goes, as long as it’s directed by my whims of that specific moment and performed instantly of course. This wouldn’t necessarily prove the being is “the” God, as in the YHWH of the Bible, or the Allah of the Quran, or Amaterasu etc etc ; but at least a being powerful enough for me not to try and fuck with. For a time. > [@Unreconstructed Man](#): > > I’ve just typed a list of 20 completely random words into the notepad app on my phone. If I get a DM in the next 24 hours listing all those words I will immediately convert to the sender’s religion. You just typed “penis” 20 times, right ? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/86 "2019-05-06T14:43:08Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > You just typed “penis” 20 times, right ? Only a _real_ god would know that he capitalized the word every time. Which he did. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/87 "2019-05-06T14:47:20Z")
My parents took me to church (Christian, Protestant, Congregationalist\*.) When I was 16 I asked my Sunday School teacher if there was any evidence for God. He replied there wasn’t and that you needed faith. I didn’t have any faith and had found contradictions in studying the Bible. So I became an atheist. As far as proof goes, to me it’s simple. There are many different religions, usually divided into different ‘factions’\*. This is what you would expect if there was no God, just people hoping there was. Meanwhile **every single person on Earth believes in gravity**. **So if God exists, all he has to do is prove it every time anyone asks him to.** ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/88 "2019-05-06T14:53:02Z")
If it was really God at my door, they would know how to convince me. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/89 "2019-05-06T15:30:38Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > You just typed “penis” 20 times, right ? ISTR a rock band in the sixties called Random Penis. Their sound originated from delta blues. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/90 "2019-05-06T15:31:25Z")
(1) Have Scarlett Johansson fall in love with me. (2) Give me $100 billion dollars. I wouldn’t care if somehow something else can pull that off, I’ll happily call whoever does that “God.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/91 "2019-05-06T15:34:20Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Meanwhile **every single person on Earth believes in gravity**. You have not been keeping up with the flat-earthers, some of whom believe that our bubble is accelerating upward, so gravity is just an illusion. So, _almost_ every single person, but not quite. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/92 "2019-05-06T15:50:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You have not been keeping up with the flat-earthers, some of whom believe that our bubble is accelerating upward, so gravity is just an illusion. So, _almost_ every single person, but not quite. Flat Earthers, huh! ;)🙂 Even they believe there is a constant force pulling them to the planet… ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/93 "2019-05-06T15:51:30Z")
Which God? My atheism is less that no universe-creating-supernatural-being exists, but that no earthly religion has anything useful to say about it if it did exist. Some dude comes up and wants to convince me that he created the universe… so what if you did? I mean, I’ll take the money and toys and shit, but if you want everyone to worship you, you have to convince them, not me. I’ll even follow whatever stupid rules you have on shellfish and mixed textiles, but let’s not pretend that you need me to be your prophet. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/94 "2019-05-06T15:56:54Z")
1. Claim you’re God 2. ??? 3. Prophet! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/95 "2019-05-06T16:23:08Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > (1) Have Scarlett Johansson fall in love with me. > > (2) Give me $100 billion dollars. > > I wouldn’t care if somehow something else can pull that off, I’ll happily call whoever does that “God.” See, that’s just petty and shortsighted. You completely forgot (3) Make it so that Scarlett Johansson is \*really \*into anal. Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/96 "2019-05-06T16:24:08Z")
> [@Jane\_Elliot](#): > > If it was really God at my door, they would know how to convince me. Bring pizza (extra pepperoni) and Belgian beer ? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/97 "2019-05-06T16:29:08Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You have not been keeping up with the flat-earthers, some of whom believe that our bubble is accelerating upward, so gravity is just an illusion. So, _almost_ every single person, but not quite. Wait, that is a disk not a bubble or sphere, unless you are confusing two pseudo-sciences there. **Expanding Earth** > **[Expanding Earth](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth)** > > The Expanding Earth hypothesis, first proposed by Robert Mantovani in 1889, attempts to explain continental drift, but without the actual continental drift. > [@](#): > > The hypothesis posits that the Earth is growing as a result of the expansion of the seafloor. According to its proponents, an “expanding Earth” model explains why the outlines of continents that were separated by continental drift do not quite match up (most people cite erosion as the major cause of this). If the Earth were, say, 20% smaller, it is claimed that South America and Africa would fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.[1]. > > There are several versions of the hypothesis, from one that claims that the Earth’s mass has remained constant (and surface gravity has therefore decreased), to another that holds that the Earth’s mass has increased (where the extra mass came from is completely unaccounted for), to yet another that holds that the gravitational constant of the Universe has changed. > > Problems with the hypothesis > > As mentioned above, the idea of an expanding Earth has several problems and very little evidence to back it up. For instance, in continental drift theory, we have measurements of the rate of plate movement (done by fancy satellites and lasers) that show the speed of movement. This movement, projected back, gives us the last time the continents were together. That these figures match up with geological strata and the fossil record is another big hint that we have this right. And “good” old \*\*Flat Earth. \*\* > **[Flat Earth](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Flat_earth)** > > Flat Earth (also known as the Flat Earth myth, the Flat Earth theory, Globe Skepticism, Globe Denial, flat-Earthism, Earth shape theory, less commonly platygeism, and intelligent geography for parodists of intelligent design) refers to the... > [@](#): > > Flat Earth (also known as the Flat Earth myth, the Flat Earth theory flat-Earthism, less commonly platygeism, and intelligent geography for parodists of intelligent design) is the pseudoscientific belief that the earth — which the vast, vast majority of the population imagine in their heads as this big spherical thing (or oblate spheroidal thing, pedants) is actually a flat disk shape (Or, at least, cylindrical.). Believers in this almost always claim that the Earth is geocentric as well. Yes, people do believe this, although this belief usually involves some form of religious fundamentalism. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/98 "2019-05-06T16:31:02Z")
I’m as atheist as they come, but it would be pretty easy for a being to persuade me that they were either God, a god, or something sufficiently powerful that I wasn’t interested in disputing whatever they wanted me to call them. Make me fly. Instantly transport me to a foreign country. Rearrange the stars. Cure cancer. That sorta thing. Hell, I’ll even go the magic trick route. Make whatever I ask for appear in my living room and then change it at my direction a couple of times. After the yellow 72 Cutlass pops up, changes color to blue, and then is replaced by a talking elephant, I’m a believer. I guess I’m pretty easy. But hell, I haven’t even seen a persuasive image in a burnt piece of toast! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/99 "2019-05-06T16:38:21Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Wait, that is a disk not a bubble or sphere, unless you are confusing two pseudo-sciences there. The surface of the earth is a big pizza, with the Antarctic ice wall as its crust. The sky is a big dome enclosing the pizza. Somewhere beyond the foggy, unexplored boundary of the ice wall, the dome of the firmament meets the surface. Hence, the shape is bubble-like. And this describes the entirety of the universe. There is no turtle, or stack of turtles, because “underneath” has no meaning. It is depressing to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/100 "2019-05-06T16:40:28Z")
Where do the sauce and cheese come in? And what about the Big Pizza Cutter In the Sky?? That could be worse than the coming of the handkerchief… ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518/101 "2019-05-06T16:46:25Z")
Well, it would have to be something a human can’t do. IMO once we’re talking about aliens, the Matrix, etc., it all becomes equally ridiculous so I’d have no problem accepting that entity was essentially god. Let’s say he did everything the Lord of Light does in Game of Thrones, especially with the bringing people back from the dead stuff. I’d probably believe it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-how-could-god-prove-to-you-he-exists/833518.md?page=6)