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ALEX - How would you answer someone who asked you to prove the existence of God with out using scripture, who believes confidence over faith?
JOEL -
First of all a correct deffinition of who God is, if there is a God, has to come from somewhere. For us and most people of the world it comes from scriptures or writings of some ancient prophets who actually saw and spoke to Him. If not the scriptures, it would have to come from the mind of each individual person.
People who don't believe in God base their lack of belief on what they think god should be and what they see happening in the world around them. For example, "if there were a god why would he allow so much suffering in the world; why does he allow people to die in wars, famines, floods, etc.? A god would not let those things happen, so therefore there is no god."
But what authority do they have to define what God's actions should be? If there is a God then the only authorized deffinition of who he is and what he would do must come from Him. The only authority we have right now that provides that deffinition from Him are the scriptures and living prophets who are in direct communication with him. But of course that kind of proof requires faith and would not qualify as the evidence athiests are looking for.
Other than having God actually appear to us the only proof that really means anything to us personally is the witnesss of the Holy Ghost confirming the existance of god to our souls.
No scientific evidence for the existance of God can be more powerful and certain as the witness of the Holy Ghost. But that again requires faith and willingness to humble oneself to a point where the Holy Ghost would influence one's mind; not very scientific.
It's interesting how some people can look at the world and because of what they see conclude there is no God, while others can't imagine how this universe and life can exist without a God. Here's an interesting story by elder Callister that illustrates this point:
"One of my brothers is a physician. During medical school he was assigned to study anatomy in companionship with an agnostic. Their education eventually required that the two of them carefully examine and dissect a cadaver. They studied the incredibly complex yet harmonious systems of the body. They noted the body’s power to correct its own deficiencies and to send healing antibodies to the place of injury or infection. They learned
of over 150 trillion cells within the body. If set end-to-end, these cells would encircle the earth more than 200 times. Today medical students learn of more than 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) of DNA in one human body. My brother and his fellow student learned of a brain that continually receives signals from 130 million light receptors in the eyes, 24,000 hearing receptors in the ears, 10,000 taste buds, and hundreds of thousands of receptors in the skin, with specialized commissions to recognize touch, vibration, cold, heat, and pain. My
brother and his friend became silent as they contemplated the miracle they were examining. Sensing the moment was right, my brother challenged: “Coincidence is a marvelous thing, isn’t it?” His agnostic classmate responded, “You win.” (Douglas L. Callister, “Our God Truly Is God,” Ensign, Jan 2008, 64–68)
I am a scientist by profession and like the above example, the more I study the complexities of life and this universe, the more convinced I am that there must be a higher intelligence in control of it all.
People who ask for proof that god exists are usually not going to be swayed by anything I tell them, so I usually just turn it around on them and ask them to prove to me there is no God; which of course they can't do. Debating this issue never convinces anyone, they have to find out for themselves in their own way.
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