Evidence For God

Abby Aaron petitecute@yahoo.com : Peticute.home.att.net : 2000-05-23

I just read your article on the "myth" of Christianity and why you are opposed to it. I enjoyed it, but there’s an aspect of Christianity that goes mostly unnoticed--yet it is perhaps the greatest "obstacle" to serious criticisms. To make this as "brief" as possible, I’ll "cut to the chase" . . .

Someone very near and dear to me has strong Christian beliefs, but a mind open enough to allow him to take part in serious discussions both for and against his beliefs. During such a discussion, in which about fifteen people participated, someone challenged him to come up with "even the smallest scientific evidence" to support his beliefs.

He stood before the group and held out his hand, palm up, as if he were holding something. "If I were to pray right now for a miracle," he said, "and if a rose were to suddenly appear in my hand, each of you would have one of two reactions. Some of you would fall down and worship God. The rest of you would swear it must have been some kind of trick. You’d come up and look at my hand and examine the rose and look for every possible clue to how I did the trick. I dare say some of you would study it for the rest of your lives, saying there must be a scientific reason for the rose to appear as it did.

[What has a parlour trick got to do with whether God exists? What kind of evidence would be convincing?

A large scale miracle like the parting of the Red Sea, an unscheduled eclipse, the Sun turning off for a minute, something that no human magician could duplicate, something that never happens naturally, that could be verified by scientific measurements, not just the testimony of a few eye witnesses.
Creating a feeling inside everyone totally different from that ever experienced. Logically this should not be convincing, but practically it would be the most convincing.
Allow people to makes wishes, subject to some limitations. Have them come true within two weeks.
Create a new Bible created of materials unknown to man, in language so clear even a child could understand it.]

That’s what Jesus meant when he talked about how difficult it is for an intellectual to get into heaven, my friend continued. That’s also what he meant when he said If you don’t believe the scriptures, you won’t believe a miracle, either.

“Don’t look behind the green curtain! Ignore the man behind the green curtain!”
~ Frank Baum The Wizard of Oz

In other words the promises of the Bible won’t stand up unless you close your eyes to the reality they are untrue. Further I don’t think that is what Jesus meant. For wisdom, you need a balance of both head and heart, not just head, not just heart. He made some outlandish claims, but he never asked anyone to pretend to believe obvious untruths.

I’ve often thought about his example. If he’s right, then it’s reasonable to believe that people who follow Jesus because of "scientific evidence" will be turned away--because such people have faith in science, not in him. Instead, the "ignorant" people who put their faith in him--and not in science--are first in his heart.

[If the promises of the Bible were true, there would be no conflict between science and faith.]

Simply put, I’d rather have someone be my friend because he likes me, not because it’s scientifically beneficial to him.

No other critic seems to address this issue, and I was wondering if you would.

Science or the Bible?

Abby Aaron petitecute@yahoo.com Peticute.home.att.net Thu, 25 May 2000

While you say that "if the Bible were true, it would agree with science," one might also make the argument in the reverse, since science, too, has its limitations (i.e., paradoxes concerning infinity, parallel lines, energy/matter conflicts). Carried to extremes, both science and the Bible have their limitations. But science seems to be able to address only the things that matter least in the world, while the Bible addresses everything else. Until science can explain what Beethoven had in mind, or why some people are willingly die to save others, I think I’ll give the Bible my undivided attention (and study science in my spare time).

The Bible is a book written by men who say "Trust us. We were inspired by God. Don’t believe your eyes. Believe us." The scientist says, "I looked and here is what I saw. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself." Who is the more likely con man?

	Please email your feedback for publication, errors, omissions, broken/redirected link reports and suggestions to improve this page to Roedy Green :
	Canadian Mind Products
	mindprod.com IP:[65.110.21.43]
	Your face IP:[38.103.63.17]
	You are visitor number 3,109.
	You can get a fresh copy of this page from:	or possibly from your local J: drive (Java virtual drive/Mindprod website mirror)
	http://mindprod.com/feedback/godevidence.html	J:\mindprod\feedback\godevidence.html