Could anything ever prove or disprove the existence of a Deity 100%?

[Raban]

So the premise of the question, is that atheist, or agnostic people often claim lack of evidence for the support of God. Theists reject evidence which some parties posit claiming it disproves God. But could there be any event or discovery which either totally eradicates any belief in God, or makes it impossible not to believe in God? (note: I am not referring to any specific God, just a deity of some sort)

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

It comes down to faith.

 

[Badran]

I don't think there's any event that can occur which would make it impossible for people to hold beliefs either way in this regard.

 

[Revoltingest]

The existence of dieties cannot be disproven.
Even the abomination of poutine fails....but it would indicate that the dieties are malevolent.

 

[HonestJoe]

One point of view would be that you can't prove or disprove anything with 100% certainty (for example, there is always the possibility that we're in the Matrix and nothing we perceive is actually true). We can prove or disprove day-to-day things to a sufficient level of certainty for all practical purposes though - we'd never be able to do anything otherwise.

A very specifically defined deity (or one with a specifically defined characteristic) could be practically disproven if that characteristic were shown to be logically impossible, internally contradictory or factually wrong. I'm sure there is no god who turns all apples red because we have green apples. That's why most religions have moved away from such direct claims of divine intervention.

The idea of there being "some kind of god" can't be disproven, in part because of the intentional definition of god in the first place. The whole point is that they're a mysterious explanation for things we don't understand or know. That by definition requires them to have aspects that we can't (aren't allowed to!) understand. That pretty much renders gods impossible to disprove by definition.

Personally, I find that a good reason not to believe in any specific god in the first place.

 

[LuisDantas]

So the premise of the question, is that atheist, or agnostic people often claim lack of evidence for the support of God. Theists reject evidence which some parties posit claiming it disproves God. But could there be any event or discovery which either totally eradicates any belief in God, or makes it impossible not to believe in God? (note: I am not referring to any specific God, just a deity of some sort)

Not really, mostly because "god" is such a malleable concept.

 

[Quintessence]

Well, if your god-concept is synonymous with reality like mine is, then it's pretty darned hard to disbelieve in reality.

But as noted, 100% should never be the goal. Humans are not omniscient or omnipresent, therefore they can never have perfect knowledge.

 

[Titanic]

I don't think there's any event that can occur which would make it impossible for people to hold beliefs either way in this regard.

I agree with this. No amout of debate can either, so there you go.

 

[Koldo]

So the premise of the question, is that atheist, or agnostic people often claim lack of evidence for the support of God. Theists reject evidence which some parties posit claiming it disproves God. But could there be any event or discovery which either totally eradicates any belief in God, or makes it impossible not to believe in God? (note: I am not referring to any specific God, just a deity of some sort)

That's going to depend on the definition being used for this word.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

It would be extremely contingent upon the attributes of the god concept, but yes it might be possible to completely disprove. Firstly there must be at the very least an acknowledgement that logic can be applied to the god concept (some god concepts do and some god concepts do not have this attribute) and some (specifically non metaphorical) claim made which is directly contravened by another (specifically non metaphorical) claim and the observable state of existence i.e. through a logical examination given certain assertions it is possible to disprove a god concept.

For example

Some god concept which holds itself to be logical
Literally has exactly one eye and this has always been the case and will continue to be the case
Literally has exactly three eyes and this has always been the case and will continue to be the case
Is capable of being proven false.

Of course many god concepts (particularly supernatural ones) do not have logical characterization as an attribute, this immediately means it is impossible to disprove them (actually it means it is also a waste of time to attempt any rational discussion about them, but that is another thread). Likewise many god concepts have a variety of attributed claims, these may have at times been considered literal but believers have been given by their texts etc (or take for themselves) the right to instead adopt metaphorical interpretations of the claims. Metaphorical interpretations provide such a degree of leniency in interpretation, it is functionally impossible to disprove as claims can be interpreted to mean almost anything.

 

[outhouse]

Can you disprove yellow ducky the creator of all! doesnt exist?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Slightly different take on it, but one of the tenets of atheism IN MY OPINION is that it is possible to prove God.

I say this because if proof is not possible, it is more logical to hold to agnosticism than atheism, at least in some ways.

I'm not talking here about humans being able to prove God, but about God being able to prove God if s/he desired to. Whilst aware of the wildly different definitions on what God or Gods are, it would seem to me that most atheists are rejecting a traditional polytheist and monotheist version.

 

[philbo]

I can't help but think that if there was an omnipotent God with any kind of interest in humankind, we wouldn't be asking this question at all: there are an infinite number of things which would incontrovertably prove the existence of such a god. It would be utterly trivial for such a deity to prove its existence beyond any doubt whatsoever.

That we haven't seen such proof means one of two things: either there is no such deity, or it has a reason for wanting not to have its existence proven. With all the talk of ineffability and the like, I still haven't come across anything which comes across as a reasonable reason.

Hmm.. have I made enough posts yet? First parody pimp of a new messageboard: If there really was a god

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well one can prove 100% the lack of objective communication by any deity outside of human intervention. Strongly suggesting nothing of the sort is there.

 

[RedJamaX]

So the premise of the question, is that atheist, or agnostic people often claim lack of evidence for the support of God. Theists reject evidence which some parties posit claiming it disproves God. But could there be any event or discovery which either totally eradicates any belief in God, or makes it impossible not to believe in God? (note: I am not referring to any specific God, just a deity of some sort)

Proving the existence of a THEISTIC god could be proven with 99% certainty... It would just require an act from that god, to EVERYBODY AT THE SAME TIME, that would indeed prove it's existence...

Disproving is impossible because of the "well he just doesn't want to show himself" BS...

Proving or disproving a DEISTIC god I think would be impossible because that god does not exist INSIDE our universe...

 

[fantome profane]

The existence of dieties cannot be disproven.
Even the abomination of poutine fails....but it would indicate that the dieties are malevolent.

Ah yes, the holy trinity of gravy, cheese curds and french fries. For surely no other meal shall hasten our way to the afterlife like this.

I agree there is no possible way to prove or disprove the existence of a deity. But this does provide some evidence for the existence of French Canadians.

 

[RedJamaX]

Can you disprove yellow ducky the creator of all! doesnt exist?

My name is not yellow ducky

 

[ManTimeForgot]

It is not possible to know anything with 100% certainty with the exception of contradiction and tautology, and possibly including that you exist, so there isn't anything that could conclusively prove that no deity or "God" could exist.

But that is a "mere technicality." If you explored the entirety of the Universe and found no other consciousnesses or lifeforms (of any sort), then the existence deities becomes unlikely. Is it possible that some sort of hidden intellect or lifeform exists? Sure, but that black swans are possible doesn't mean that you should believe they exist against strong evidence to the contrary.

MTF

 

[Skwim]

So the premise of the question, is that atheist, or agnostic people often claim lack of evidence for the support of God. Theists reject evidence which some parties posit claiming it disproves God. But could there be any event or discovery which either totally eradicates any belief in God, or makes it impossible not to believe in God? (note: I am not referring to any specific God, just a deity of some sort)

Kind of depends on what constitutes acceptable proof. Some people are convinced by little more than the say-so of their mommy. Others need to dissect the evidence down to the last gnat and nanny before saying yea or nay.

So, in answer, yes it is possible.

BTW, there's no need to shout when posting. Most of us can read normal script quite well.

 

[outhouse]

It is not possible to know anything with 100% certainty with the exception of contradiction and tautology, and possibly including that you exist, so there isn't anything that could conclusively prove that no deity or "God" could exist.

But that is a "mere technicality." If you explored the entirety of the Universe and found no other consciousnesses or lifeforms (of any sort), then the existence deities becomes unlikely. Is it possible that some sort of hidden intellect or lifeform exists? Sure, but that black swans are possible doesn't mean that you should believe they exist against strong evidence to the contrary.

MTF

Not really true.

One could provide evidence that man has created all deities, that would bypass your line of reasoning. Would it not?