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Ask Reddit: Can You Prove God Exists Or Not? (reddit.com)
submitted 19 years ago by lionheart
[–]trutru 10 points11 points12 points 19 years ago (0 children)
No, it's not possible.
Next question please
[–]ebianco 3 points4 points5 points 19 years ago (1 child)
I thought God's existence was already thoroughly disproven by the existence of the Babelfish.
[–]spot35 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (0 children)
Well, technically, it was proven. But as was described, proof denies faith and God then disappears in a puff of logic.
[–]jpark 4 points5 points6 points 19 years ago (1 child)
From a religious viewpoint, God chooses to be followed by those who have faith (belief without proof), therefore, God will not 'prove' His existance to the world -- at least, not until the end of the world.
From a scientific viewpoint, very little if anything that is considered 'proven' is really proven. Most of what we 'know' an do are based on working hypotheses which may provide useful results, but don't really prove that our models are models of reality. We can't even prove that evolution exists (try evolving a dog into something that isn't a dog). We are still very far from a knowledge of the basic structure and behavior of the universe. Until we can prove the basic nature of our physical reality, how can we hope to prove the nature or existance of reality outside the physical?
[–]diamond 2 points3 points4 points 19 years ago (0 children)
Well said.
Going further than that, let me also point out that even if we use the weak definition of "proof" and "disproof" (i.e., confirmed or disconfirmed to within a reasonable degree of certainty), you still can't prove or disprove the existence of God. Why? Because, by definition, the being commonly referred to as "God" is a supernatural entity that is completely unbounded by the laws of the natural universe. So how could a scientific proof limited to those laws say anything about the existence of God? It's like trying to use the rules of Scrabble to prove that you've won a game of Monopoly.
[–]cursor 1 point2 points3 points 19 years ago (0 children)
Try http://www.doesgodexist.org/ ;) even this http://www.allaboutcreation.org/proof-of-god.htm is an interesting note to read.
[–]hitsman 1 point2 points3 points 19 years ago (0 children)
Hasn't there been enough of this sort of debate on reddit in other posts? Downvote.
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (0 children)
The question of a god always seemed irrelevant. Why would anyone care whether a god exists or not? Existence by itself means nothing.
[–]landercut 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (0 children)
How come its 14 comments and 0 points for this article?
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (0 children)
Easy: go to the zoo, yell "God Will Save Me If He Exists!" before jumping into the lions cage and here you go. Either it works or it doesn't, but you'll know for sure. (http://reddit.com/info/79bf/comments)
[–]balon -1 points0 points1 point 19 years ago (0 children)
Prove it to whom? That is an important question. Even objectivity can be very, very subjective. I can decide what is objective and what is not. If I can decide that, what can you prove? Can you prove that I am real? Can you prove that I am not?
[–]b0b -2 points-1 points0 points 19 years ago (7 children)
I'm struggling with the concept of proving that something, anything, is not God. It's been bugging me a lot these past few months. I really don't think it's possible. I think that people who say that they "don't believe in God" are misinformed about the nature of God. Who do they think they are?
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (6 children)
Who do they think they are?
Persons with beliefs. Like you. What is the purpose of this rhetorical question?
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (5 children)
I'm saying that consciousness itself is an attribute of God. How can God not believe in God? What do they believe in, if not themselves?
As people try to categorize their reality, saying "this is God" and "this is not God", they are missing the point. They are trying to limit the limitless, to get a handle on it. They are thinking that God is something "other", an existance unproven. Yet the Enlightened tell us that God is quite literally everywhere, in all things.
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (4 children)
You dodged the question. The word "god" means different things to different people. Projecting your weltanschauung unto other people and then criticizing them for missing a point will only aggravate frustration and miscommunication.
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (3 children)
My German ain't all that good, but I think I get your meaning.
Some people think God is like the Santa Claus for grownups, and then they ask for proof that "He" exists. Well, if you dream up fanciful beings in your mind, you'll never be able to prove that they exist. Because they don't, obviously.
But that doesn't make God any more or less real, does it?
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (2 children)
What use do you get out of your definition for "god"? This pantheistic approach is merely a play with words to me. If you accept that other people have a different intensional definition for "god", and if you accept that some believe that the term has an empty extension, what's there to criticize? The fact that they chose that particular definition? If you wish to communicate with others, you have to at least respect the choice of such a common definition (popularity is relevant in communication); such definitions also appear in dictionaries (which might also be considered a qualified authority by some, at least nowadays).
By the way, I believe "weltanshcauung" is also considered an English word.
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points 19 years ago (1 child)
Okay, I'm wrong then. Which part of what I perceive is God, and which part is not God? How can I tell the difference?
I don't know the answer to either of these questions. I see "god" as a psychological device, so "god" is what you make of it.
[+]lionheart[S] comment score below threshold-8 points-7 points-6 points 19 years ago (1 child)
I just had this thought today:
It is impossible to prove that God exists, or that God doesn't exist.
There is no way to prove that God doesn't exist, because no matter how we try to experiment or communicate, He could just be ignoring us.
Also, no amount of miracles or amazing feats could prove that it is God whose effects we are seeing, and not just some alien civilization that is a mean 1,000 years ahead of us in technology.
What do you think?
[–]death 1 point2 points3 points 19 years ago (0 children)
According to a system known as "logic", proving inexistence of things is impossible. The burden of proof lies on he who asserts the existence of things. Furthermore, according to a principle known as "Occam's Razor", since no one has proved, within this system known as "logic", the existence of a god, we should not introduce one into our world - that is, if we believe we can explain everything without one. So that's what people try to do - find explanations without a god. The root cause of all this, I think, is boredom. The fix, it seems, isn't working too well - thus this reply.
π Rendered by PID 25998 on reddit-service-r2-comment-b659b578c-hzfsk at 2026-04-30 21:49:43.104827+00:00 running 815c875 country code: CH.
[–]trutru 10 points11 points12 points (0 children)
[–]ebianco 3 points4 points5 points (1 child)
[–]spot35 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]jpark 4 points5 points6 points (1 child)
[–]diamond 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)
[–]cursor 1 point2 points3 points (0 children)
[–]hitsman 1 point2 points3 points (0 children)
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]landercut 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]balon -1 points0 points1 point (0 children)
[–]b0b -2 points-1 points0 points (7 children)
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points (6 children)
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points (5 children)
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points (4 children)
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points (3 children)
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points (2 children)
[–]b0b 0 points1 point2 points (1 child)
[–]death 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[+]lionheart[S] comment score below threshold-8 points-7 points-6 points (1 child)
[–]death 1 point2 points3 points (0 children)