If God were proven....

[St Giordano Bruno]

I am yet to be convinced by any logical argument for God let alone evidence, just as I feel about Thor or Zeus, but what would a Christian's reaction be if Thor was proven?
I think extraterrestrial life is one case in point where I find there is a good logical argument for. There is no evidence that extraterrestrial life exists, but knowing the scale of the universe I think there is a good possibility that they can exist so I think there is a far better logical argument for that than there is for God. Extraterrestrial life does not invoke the supernatural as God does.

[drumlish]

The level of analysis here seems a tad too crude.  I would begin with the term "proven."  What constitutes proof of something like God?  I mean, if an angel appeared to assure you of God's existence, would that do it for you?  My guess is no.  How would you know you didn't have an hallucination?  Given the exceptional nature of the event, it would be more reasonable to think the later, after all.  Or are you talking about logical proofs like Anselm's or Aquinas' ontological arguments.  I mean, you can prove that a rose bush in front of your house should exist -- but that doesn't mean that it does exist.

Put another way, this notion of God being "proven" sounds a bit like saying, why I don't believe in square circles.  The fundamental structure of the title seems a bit unintelligible.  Could someone provide me with an example of a satisfactory proof of the existence of God, so I can get a grasp on what you are talking about?

[Insult to Rocks]

The level of analysis here seems a tad too crude.  I would begin with the term "proven."  What constitutes proof of something like God?  I mean, if an angel appeared to assure you of God's existence, would that do it for you?  My guess is no.  How would you know you didn't have an hallucination?  Given the exceptional nature of the event, it would be more reasonable to think the later, after all.  Or are you talking about logical proofs like Anselm's or Aquinas' ontological arguments.  I mean, you can prove that a rose bush in front of your house should exist -- but that doesn't mean that it does exist.

Put another way, this notion of God being "proven" sounds a bit like saying, why I don't believe in square circles.  The fundamental structure of the title seems a bit unintelligible.  Could someone provide me with an example of a satisfactory proof of the existence of God, so I can get a grasp on what you are talking about?

Sorry if it does, as I'm taking the question from speakers who never really specify what would constitute undeniable proof. They mostly talk in theoreticals, and I happen to agree with your line of thinking. I suppose that someone claiming to be god performing an actual miracle that defied physics (such as re-animation of the dead) would count.  Being an extraordinary claim, it requires extraordinary evidence. However,  with the topic I am speaking more of the idea of god, rather than the possibility of a god actually existing.

[Johan]

Would I worship if god were proven to exist? That's a really thought provoking question that I've never thought to ask myself before. My gut reaction is that it would depend on the proof. If god could be proven in such a way that it became clear my only options were worship or smite, call me crazy but I think I'd choose worship over smite.

But upon giving it some further thought, I think the entire question is pointless. Because the reality is if god were proven to exist, it is unlikely that very many of us would continue to live long enough to be able to even begin to decide the question for ourselves.

There are so many different religions in existence with so many followers who believe in so many different gods. If it could be proven that god does indeed exist, every one of those different followers is going to believe that their guy is the one which was proven. And most of them are not going to take no for an answer nor are they going to take the prospect of being wrong lying down. So I would expect that should an actual god ever be proven to exist, the end result would be almost instant holy wars the likes of which we've never before imagined. And the resulting death toll would likely be staggering. We're people, we fuck shit up, its what we do.

[St Giordano Bruno]

I do not believe in God and I do not believe in Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster, but if Nessy or Big Foot were proven to exist I would just have an expression of great surprise on my face;
but it God was proven to exist my eyes would just about pop out on stalks.  *.*

[Hijiri Byakuren]

The biggest problem with proving God's existence owes mainly to the origin of every god concept ever: the human imagination. Human imagination is limited, though, and as a result there is no "proof" of God for a theist to offer up that couldn't easily be conjured up by this gentleman:

[thepractice]

One of the most common things I hear atheist speakers say is that if God were proven, they would believe in him. Reasonable, but I'm more interested in whether or not you would worship him. This is a question that is fundamental to my identity as an atheist, and it was the first real one I asked myself. And my answer was no. I would never worship any God, regardless of the dogma associated with it. Religion and gods go against everything I stand for, and if my punishment for standing up for morality is eternal torture, so be it.
Whoa, that got heavy there for a bit. Sorry. Anyways, I wanted to know how the people of the forums responded to the question, so.....Good people of the atheist forums! If God existed, would you worship him(or her, or it)?

If God were proven, then the relationship between man and God would be fundamentally different. Faith would be coercive. It would be like faith in a authoritarian dictator- of course you would believe in him, and worship would be coercive as well, it would not be freely given.

[stromboli]

It goes back to the point that god is an assumption- we assume he exists, and then assign attributes to him/it. Explains why there are so many religions and so many gods. Proof amounts to satisfying that god meets the attributes we assign him. Proof of one god is not proof of another. Horus isn't going to have the same attributes as jesus. I think, ultimately, you'd never be able to convince everyone even if a god did show up.

God is already an ultimate dictator. He already sets conditions that amount to either/or, do this or die. Every religion has a history of coercive behavior, whether it be the Pogroms in Russia against the Jews, the slaughter of the Armenians or genocidal conquests in America. All mandated by god.

[Icarus]

One of the most common things I hear atheist speakers say is that if God were proven, they would believe in him. Reasonable, but I'm more interested in whether or not you would worship him. This is a question that is fundamental to my identity as an atheist, and it was the first real one I asked myself. And my answer was no. I would never worship any God, regardless of the dogma associated with it. Religion and gods go against everything I stand for, and if my punishment for standing up for morality is eternal torture, so be it.
Whoa, that got heavy there for a bit. Sorry. Anyways, I wanted to know how the people of the forums responded to the question, so.....Good people of the atheist forums! If God existed, would you worship him(or her, or it)?

If God were proven, then the relationship between man and God would be fundamentally different. Faith would be coercive. It would be like faith in a authoritarian dictator- of course you would believe in him, and worship would be coercive as well, it would not be freely given.

Isn't worshiping god (as it is now) coercive because of the threat of eternal damnation if you don't worship him/her/it? Dictators can only kill you but god can make you suffer for eternity; which is the worse punishment? God is the worst dictator ever because he's the one you can never escape. Not really the freely given worship you're talking about.

[truthBtold]

Satan had free will. Satan knew god was real.. god was there with him..so to say that it violates free will if he shows himself is false....

[stromboli]

Satan had free will. Satan knew god was real.. god was there with him..so to say that it violates free will if he shows himself is false....

Or it could be that Satan is a mythical character. Hmmm.........

[truthBtold]

Satan had free will. Satan knew god was real.. god was there with him..so to say that it violates free will if he shows himself is false....

Or it could be that Satan is a mythical character. Hmmm.........

But santa has to be real.. or im returning my presents!!

[robandrob1]

Aside form the logical issues with proving that God exists, assuming that I knew 100% that a theistic God existed and that he was going to burn me in hell-fire for all eternity if I didn't worship him, then I'd reluctantly choose to worship him, I think anybody who says they'd rather go to hell hasn't really thought through how bad eternal torture would be or hasn't had much experience of excruciating pain and suffering.  However if a theistic God was proven to be real worrying about hell would probably drive me to insanity anyway, I would inevitably resent and hate God for being so immoral and bloodthirsty, which would presumably jeopardize my ability to get into heaven even if I worshipped him.  On top of this I'd be worrying that if the creator of everything is psychopathic enough to torture me for not worshipping him, maybe he's just lying about us having any hope of getting to heaven and he plans on torturing us all anyway.

[Johan]

I think anybody who says they'd rather go to hell hasn't really thought through how bad eternal torture would be or hasn't had much experience of excruciating pain and suffering.  

I've worked retail.  There is nothing satan can bring to the table that I haven't already seen.

[aitm]

Aside form the logical issues with proving that God exists, assuming that I knew 100% that a theistic God existed and that he was going to burn me in hell-fire for all eternity if I didn't worship him, then I'd reluctantly choose to worship him, I think anybody who says they'd rather go to hell hasn't really thought through how bad eternal torture would be or hasn't had much experience of excruciating pain and suffering.  However if a theistic God was proven to be real worrying about hell would probably drive me to insanity anyway, I would inevitably resent and hate God for being so immoral and bloodthirsty, which would presumably jeopardize my ability to get into heaven even if I worshipped him.  On top of this I'd be worrying that if the creator of everything is psychopathic enough to torture me for not worshipping him, maybe he's just lying about us having any hope of getting to heaven and he plans on torturing us all anyway.

there is an obvious fun worthy point here. Xians love to fan over how they love their god, how they fear their god, how they worship their god.....its those goddamn obnoxious rules he has that gets them all a sinning. I mean, we, meaning most of us, have read the damn thing, it AIN'T THAT HARD. Truly, it would not be hard to live as good ole god tells us, IF you really believed that god was that fuckin psycho.