Atheists: Would you like to believe in God if there was good evidence for God?

[Trailblazer]

Imagine two scenarios:

- God exists, and Baha'u'llah's writings were inspired by God.
- God does not exist, and Baha'u'llah's writings were all his own personal creation.

The evidence at hand fits both scenarios. Until you show how one is inconsistent - e.g. by showing that Baha'u'llah's writings are incompatible with every scenario that doesn't include God - your evidence does not support concluding that God exists over concluding that God does not exist.

Yes, that is what I have been saying for years, although I stated it differently.
Baha'u'llah was either a true prophet or a false Prophet. He would be a true Prophet if His Writings were inspired by God, but he would be a false prophet if His Writings were all His own creation. If he was a false prophet He would be a liar, a con-man, or a deluded psychotic because He claimed that His Writings were inspired by God.

Nobody can ever prove that a Messenger got communication from God so all we can do is look at the evidence that indicates that He was telling the truth.

Baha’u’llah explained how we are supposed to establish the truth of His claim. First, we examine His own Self (His character); then we examine His Revelation (everything that surrounds His Mission on earth); and then we look at His words (His Writings).

“Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth. This is, verily, an evidence of His tender mercy unto men. He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God. How could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His Cause in their hearts. He will never deal unjustly with any one, neither will He task a soul beyond its power. He, verily, is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 105-106

 

[Milton Platt]

On another thread….

Trailblazer said: Many atheists say they would like to believe in God if they only had the evidence.

@ ecco said:
Name one. Show where he/she said "they would like to believe in God if they only had the evidence." That isn't what atheists say. That's what theists would like to believe atheists say.

Trailblazer said: Holy moly! ~~~ This is practically all atheists say, at least to me. Sorry, I cannot quote atheists from other forums because that is not right. They posted to me on other forums in confidence. Sure, they are public forums, but it is bad practice to take posts from one forum to another forum. But it is not only on the “other forums” where atheists have said this. They have also said it on RF. I am not saying that ALL atheists would like to believe in God if they had the evidence, since some atheists probably have no interest in God. But if they don’t have any interest in God, why is this forum comprised of as many atheists as believers? Hmmmmm.....

This would be a great topic for a new thread:

“Atheists: Would you like to believe in God if there was good evidence for God?”

Please answer 1, 2 or 3.

1) Yes, I would like to believe in God if there was evidence that was good enough.
2) I am not sure. I might like to believe in God if there was evidence that was good enough.
3) No, I would not like to believe in God even if there was evidence that was good enough.

* By good enough I mean evidence that was sufficient for you to believe that God exists, evidence that proved to you that God exists.

I have two issues here. First, if the evidence was convincing, it would not matter what I would like to believe. Being convinced of the evidence equals belief.

Second, that does not mean I would necessarily want to worship the deity. That would very much depend upon what I knew of the deity and what I thought of it’s nature and character.

 

[Trailblazer]

I have two issues here. First, if the evidence was convincing, it would not matter what I would like to believe. Being convinced of the evidence equals belief.

Second, that does not mean I would necessarily want to worship the deity. That would very much depend upon what I knew of the deity and what I thought of it’s nature and character.

Yes, there are really two questions here:
(1) Would you like to believe in God if you had good evidence that God exists? and
(2) Would you want to worship the God you had evidence for?

Obviously, the answer to (2) would depend upon the nature and character of the God you found evidence for.