JOEL - If there were undeniable scientific proof that there is a God there would be no athiests. There really is no way to "prove" the existance of God to an athiest, because a belief in God requires faith, something that true athiests do not accept so easily. Athiests will always find, or try to find, logical and scientific explanations for every physical and spiritual thing that happens on this earth. And it is hard for them to understand why any God would allow some of the terrible things that happen to people on this earth. If athiests don't believe in God then they are also not going to believe in prophets or scriptures, the truthfulness of which can only be proven by spiritual means and not scientific evidence. The bottom line is all we have is a lot of circumstantial evidence and really no direct objective scientific proof for any of these things; if there was there would be no need for religion.
This quote from Howard W. Hunter might be helpful:
"There is no tangible, concrete evidence of the
existence of God or the divinity of the Master in the
legal sense, but not all inquiry for truth results in
proof by real or demonstrative evidence. It is
fallacious to argue that because there is no
demonstrative evidence of the existence of God he does
not in fact exist. In the absence of evidence often
thought necessary by the scientific world for positive
proof, our search may take is into the realm of
circumstantial evidence. We could spend hours
describing the wonders of the universe, of the earth,
of nature, of the human body the exactness of the laws
of physics, and a thousand things, all of which
dictate to the conscience of a truth seeker that there
is a creator and one who rules over the universe.
Suppose that all things could be proven by
demonstrative evidence. What then would become of the
element of faith? There would be no need for faith and
it would be eliminated, giving rise then to this
query: If faith is the first step or principle of the
gospel and is eliminated, what happens to the gospel
plan? The very foundation will crumble. I submit that
there is a divine reason why all things cannot be
proven by concrete evidence."
(Howard W. Hunter, "Faith - The First Step", Ensign,
May 1975, 37)
An athiest has to have a fundamental change of heart to be able to accept the concept of faith and be willing to believe without the proof.
President Gordon B. Hinckley once said about the doubting Thomas:
"The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have
seen the Lord." But Thomas, like so many then and now,
said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of
the nails, and put my finger into the print of the
nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not
believe" (John 20:25).
Have you not heard others speak as Thomas spoke? "Give
us," they say, "the undeniable evidence. Prove before
our very eyes, and our ears, and our hands, else we
will not believe." This is the language of the time in
which we live. Thomas the Doubter has become the
example of men in all ages who refuse to accept other
than that which they can physically prove and explain
- as if they could prove love, or faith, or even such
physical phenomena as electricity.
But eight days later the Apostles were together again,
this time Thomas with them. "Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said,
Peace be unto you."
Singling out Thomas, he said: "Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing."
Thomas, astonished and shaken, "answered and said unto
him, My Lord and my God.
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:26-29).
Can anyone who has walked beneath the stars at night,
can anyone who has seen the touch of spring upon the
land doubt the hand of divinity in creation? So
observing the beauties of the earth, one is wont to
speak as did the Psalmist:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament sheweth his handywork."(Ps. 19:1)
(Gordon B. Hinckley, "Be Not Faithless", Ensign, Apr.
1989, 2)
For athiests all we can do is show them through our own lives and example the importance and blessings of having faith in something that cannot be proven. We must let our own light shine before them(Matt 5:16) so that they will have a desire to have that same light within them and do what is necessary to make the change in their heart.
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