If God is real, how would you know?

[Jan Ardena]

I'd see evidence of it, I suppose.

So God would be want you want God to be. Just like when you thought you believed in God.
But that doesn’t work, as we can only pretend for so long.

You think you know that God is real. Speak from your own experience, Jan. How do you know God is real? Tell us, then we can compare notes.

Everything is evidence of God! Duh!!!
Fits right in with His definition.

A definition can't prove that something is real.

That’s true. But what’s that got to do with anything.

If I say "I define Nurk the Great to be the Supreme Queen of Unicorns, blessed with the power to make grass grow!" that doesn't get me started on a path to proving that Nurk is real.

Nevertheless, in the future when you bring “Nurk the Great” up, in a discussion, I will know who you are talking about.

I can't even know that Nurk is real if I happen to find some growing grass.

Having both reached the understanding that you just made up a random character for no good reason. We could switch the discussion to why you would do such a thing.

Defining something at best makes the defined concept real, but there's no reason the concept must correspond to anything that actually exists.

I don’t see it like that.
If you think that you would know God exists, because you could see the evidence, should it arrive, then I presume you already know something about God. Otherwise you would not know what to look for, especially as you reject definitions.

Minas Tirith is defined to be the great capital city of Gondor. Does that make Minas Tirith real, or Gondor, other than as concepts in your head?

The point of defining something is not to assert that it is true. Why would you think such a silly thing? But what makes you think you would recognise evidence of God, if you have no idea of what God is, or even supposed to be?

 

[Jan Ardena]

That would be working in reverse, we need to have evidence of God before God can be defined. If we don't know God is real, how can we define God? Makes no sense.

How do you know what evidence of God is?

 

[Jan Ardena]

If you know something to be true, what would change for you to no longer believe it to be true?

I would change.

 

[kx000]

If you had faith you would know.

 

[Beer w/Straw]

If you had faith you would know.

Yeah. I know God is real. In a dream we had sex. He being all powerful wan kinda an aphrodisiac. But, I don't see it requiring faith.

What is faith anyway?

 

[(Q)]

How do you know what evidence of God is?

That's the kicker, isn't it Jan, we don't know, we have no clue. It's pure speculation. That's why it's absurd to even assert such a thing, it's no different than asserting dragons, unicorns or orcs. From where other than the imagination would these things originate?

 

[(Q)]

If you had faith you would know.

Understanding would mean to knowing, faith would mean to not know.

 

[Seattle]

If you know something to be true, what would change for you to no longer believe it to be true?

You were a believer and because a non-believer (I think?) and now you are a believer again.

What changed for you when you weren't a believer? I'm guessing you missed something and that's why you came back but when you weren't a believer did anything really change?

 

[Seattle]

If God is real, how would you know?

It's interesting that this question even needs to be asked since everything else that we know as being real is obvious.

 

[kx000]

Yeah. I know God is real. In a dream we had sex. He being all powerful wan kinda an aphrodisiac. But, I don't see it requiring faith.

What is faith anyway?

Faith is both trust and hope by judging truth and life.

 

[kx000]

Understanding would mean to knowing, faith would mean to not know.

I guess imagination is more important and that includes make believe.

 

[Beer w/Straw]

Faith is both trust and hope by judging truth and life.

Wait, you mean you didn't have a dream of sex with God to know he exists, or something to that effect, but you need this faith?

 

[(Q)]

Faith is both trust and hope by judging truth and life.

When you have truth, you have no need for faith.

 

[Jan Ardena]

It's interesting that this question even needs to be asking since everything else that we know as being real is obvious.

Do you know everything there is to know?

 

[Seattle]

Do you know everything there is to know?

No one does. Do you?

Why would one need to know everything there is to know (an impossibility) to realize that what we do know is obvious and the concept of God is anything but obvious.

I saw a leave on my deck this morning and it wasn't there last night. Was it God? Or are there other much more likely explanations?

 

[Jan Ardena]

Why would one need to know everything there is to know (an impossibility) to realize that what we do know is obvious and the concept of God is anything but obvious.

How do you know God is not obvious?

 

[Jan Ardena]

I saw a leave on my deck this morning and it wasn't there last night. Was it God? Or are there other much more likely explanations?

I don’t know.
What was the original cause that occurred in order to make that event happen?

 

[Jan Ardena]

When you have truth, you have no need for faith.

So while you don’t have truth, you have a need for faith.

 

[(Q)]

So while you don’t have truth, you have a need for faith.

Now, you know the reason why people surround themselves with truth, so that they don't need faith. Faith is for those who don't want to know truth.

 

[Seattle]

I don’t know.
What was the original cause that occurred in order to make that event happen?

I don't know but what are the chances that that leave would end up on that exact spot of my deck given all the other places it could have ended up and are are the chances that other leaves didn't end up there?

The thing the only possible explanation is God, right?