Do the Gods Probably Exist or Probably Not Exist?

[ronandcarol]

Do the Gods Probably Exist or Probably Not Exist?
As you are able to take your next breath and notice your heart beating you will have to agree that the One True God that created us is certainly alive!
ronandcarol

 

[tayla]

whether or not the gods probably exist or probably do not exist.

In my view, nothing can be known about the structure and functions of the spiritual realm. All that can be known is:

1. There is a God who has at least the same attributes as us (since he created us).
2. He created the universe with the fundamental properties fine-tuned to allow for biological life.

The more detailed descriptions people give about the inner workings of the spiritual realm and its inhabitants, the more suspicious I am about it. The only way to know about such things is through revelation, and I am suspicious of all revealed religions and all revealed spiritual systems.

 

[osgart]

As reality is, the gods would have to be very arbitrary, and very indifferent to most everything. Perhaps even diabolically intelligent. I hope from what i see that gods do not exist. I see no divinity in nature.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Hi...
Deism might be an example where (2) on your list could come into play. A less specific belief set, combined with a non-interventionist God could easily be 'right' and also be the result of a belief in some sort of first-cause being required.

For me, that would fit clearly in the bucket of 'not impacting on my behaviour/thoughts', but was interested in your opinion.

I don't think so.

The first cause argument is fallacious nonsense, so it's not a path to knowledge of any god. Meanwhile, a non-interventionist god would necessarily not leave any evidence for itself.

I actually think deism is a pretty good example of a case where we can see how it came to be, and it has nothing with being inspired by truth.

Deism came about by a subtractive process, not an additive one: from a starting point of classical monotheism (mostly Christianity), people pared away the problematic parts until they were left with something unfalsifiable. The process wasn't rooted in anything that would suggest any good reason to think deism is true.

Frankly, I think deism is some of the most intellectually corrupt god-belief out there. With many other flavours of theism, I can at least say, "okay - while I may not accept your premises, I can see how your conclusion logically flows from them." Deism, OTOH, basically rejects the use of reason altogether to reach its conclusion.

 

[Muffled]

It seems to me that most discussions of whether or not deity exists sooner or later end up in efforts to prove with deductive certainty that deity either does or does not exist, or at least cannot be determined to exist or not exist.

That's all very well and good, but in this thread, I would like to confine the discussion to whether or not the gods probably exist or probably do not exist. Now, I realize that, if speaking in strictly mathematical terms, the question makes little or no sense, but I am using the word "probably" here in its much loser popular sense of what is most likely to be the case, rather than in any strict mathematical sense.

In this thread, please be so kind as to avoid, just as sternly as you would normally avoid kissing a blipsnitch on its hairy lips, any and all "proofs" that the gods exist or not, or cannot be determined to exist or not. However, if you still itch with all the fires of ten extraordinarily passionate men or women to discuss such things, please start your own thread.

Do the gods probably exist or do they probably not exist? That is the question. What say you, kind sir or madam, upon that heading?

I believe the Norse gods, Greek gods, Egyptian gods and Hindu gods probably existed in the past but are either not here now or not gods now.

 

[Muffled]

I believe that the Flying Spaghetti Monster probably exists. If he doesn't, then when I die, I'm not going to get to swim in the beer volcano and visit the stripper factory.

I believe I wouldn't rule out your ability to fantasize in the afterlife as well as you do in life.

 

[Muffled]

Excellent points, Gentlemen, points that swiftly cut to the bone and lay bare the very marrow of the matter! Thank you both for your kind services here! Seriously, I know of no method or procedure that can be used here to reasonably calculate the likelihood of there being a god. But I wonder if I'm not overlooking something. Hence, half the reason for this thread*.




*The other half of the reason chiefly being my sane hope that someone will think to lavish upon me fine microbrewed beers in honor of my efforts to get a discussion going. But that's always been a reason for my threads. Always.

I believe the fact that they were written about lends them credence. Of course it depends on your definition of a god. Baal was a god in the sense that people worshiped him but not in the sense of being a real person who could change things.

 

[Woberts]

I believe I wouldn't rule out your ability to fantasize in the afterlife as well as you do in life.

I believe that joke sailed right over your head.

 

[Willamena]

It seems to me that most discussions of whether or not deity exists sooner or later end up in efforts to prove with deductive certainty that deity either does or does not exist, or at least cannot be determined to exist or not exist.

That's all very well and good, but in this thread, I would like to confine the discussion to whether or not the gods probably exist or probably do not exist. Now, I realize that, if speaking in strictly mathematical terms, the question makes little or no sense, but I am using the word "probably" here in its much loser popular sense of what is most likely to be the case, rather than in any strict mathematical sense.

In this thread, please be so kind as to avoid, just as sternly as you would normally avoid kissing a blipsnitch on its hairy lips, any and all "proofs" that the gods exist or not, or cannot be determined to exist or not. However, if you still itch with all the fires of ten extraordinarily passionate men or women to discuss such things, please start your own thread.

Do the gods probably exist or do they probably not exist? That is the question. What say you, kind sir or madam, upon that heading?

I am not skilled enough in maths to answer that question.

 

[syo]

Do the gods probably exist or do they probably not exist?

gods are 100% real.

 

[Trailblazer]

Do the gods probably exist or do they probably not exist? That is the question. What say you, kind sir or madam, upon that heading?

It is obvious to me that One God exists, and I do not need any objective proof of that.
I guess the main reason it is so obvious to me is because of my religion, but I think it makes sense that there is a God anyway, so that could be one reason why it was not difficult for me to believe in my religion. However, it was the teachings that really attracted me to the Baha'i Faith, not God. And the more I look at society and how it is deteriorating, the more I realize how much we need those teachings.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

It is obvious to me that One God exists, and I do not need any objective proof of that.

And yet to people like me, there's absolutely nothing that suggests a god exists.

It seems to me that one of us must be wrong. AFAIK, we're both mostly looking at the same stuff, so either I'm missing something by seeing no connections to any gods, or you're too quick to infer God when the evidence doesn't support it.

How do you think we could figure out which possibility is going on?

 

[Trailblazer]

And yet to people like me, there's absolutely nothing that suggests a god exists.

It seems to me that one of us must be wrong. AFAIK, we're both mostly looking at the same stuff, so either I'm missing something by seeing no connections to any gods, or you're too quick to infer God when the evidence doesn't support it.

How do you think we could figure out which possibility is going on?

I guess you mean that we are both looking at what we see in the material world and wondering how there could be a God. I would be wondering too if that was all I had to go on, especially given all the suffering I see all around me.

I could not believe in God if I did not have the information that was revealed by Baha’u’llah that explains why suffering exists in this world and how it will no longer exist in the afterlife. So what you are missing is that information.

Since I am already convinced that I have good evidence that God exists you are not going to talk me out of that. For four years on the primarily atheist forum I was on they tried to tell me my evidence was not evidence and that did not work. All it did was confirm that my evidence was even better than I had thought before I showed up on that forum, since I kept having to look things up to post thereby learning a lot about my religion I had not previously known. So they did me a big favor.

Of course we cannot prove that God exists, but the evidence is quite compelling if you actually gives it a fair shot.

 

[Muffled]

I believe that joke sailed right over your head.

I believe you are correct. After all I figured you seriously liked beer and strip joints.Of course you won't find the strip joints in Heaven but maybe the beer without the intoxication. Otherwise stay out of Heaven if those are the fantasies you prefer.

 

[Muffled]

gods are 100% real.

I believe Popeye and Pokemon are real also (as cartoon characters).

 

[1137]

So I'm not even allowed to discuss why it is more or less likely? Alright... Well I think gods probably exist.

 

[Muffled]

It is obvious to me that One God exists, and I do not need any objective proof of that.
I guess the main reason it is so obvious to me is because of my religion, but I think it makes sense that there is a God anyway, so that could be one reason why it was not difficult for me to believe in my religion. However, it was the teachings that really attracted me to the Baha'i Faith, not God. And the more I look at society and how it is deteriorating, the more I realize how much we need those teachings.

I believe you are on the road to Hell because your teachings can't save you.

 

[Muffled]

And yet to people like me, there's absolutely nothing that suggests a god exists.

It seems to me that one of us must be wrong. AFAIK, we're both mostly looking at the same stuff, so either I'm missing something by seeing no connections to any gods, or you're too quick to infer God when the evidence doesn't support it.

How do you think we could figure out which possibility is going on?

I believe I have evidence that God exists since I have had many experiences with Him.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I believe I have evidence that God exists since I have had many experiences with Him.

What do you mean by "experiences with Him?"

 

[Muffled]

So I'm not even allowed to discuss why it is more or less likely? Alright... Well I think gods probably exist.

I believe the rules allow you to discuss a lot of things including this.

I believe the gods do not exist today because I have neither seen nor heard evidence of them but I am certainly willing to listen to why one might think they do.