God’s Existence: Does It Matter?

I believe I live a good and morally sound life. Let us say that somehow god proves to everyone in the world that it exists.

My question: how does that matter? How does that change things? How would, or should, that change my life? I could simply acknowledge god’s existence, then go on living my life as normal.

I submit that theists can’t simply prove the existence of god and consider their job ‘done’: they need to prove why their particular brand of god requires us to worship it.

If it doesn’t require worship, making others aware of god’s existence simply turns into an intellectual exercise: “Yeah, ok, you’ve convinced me that god exists. Now… who fancies a pint?”

Well in Christianity, you'll go to hell. If Christianity proved itself true, that seems like a good enough reason to me. Most religions have something similar.

Not one bit.

Originally posted by King Kandy
Well in Christianity, you'll go to hell. If Christianity proved itself true, that seems like a good enough reason to me. Most religions have something similar.

Originally posted by Rascaduanok
Aye, but WHY does god require us to worship it? Surely a divine being needs no gigantic ego boost!

That's not relevant to the question of "does god matter?".

Originally posted by Rascaduanok
Aye, but WHY does god require us to worship it? Surely a divine being needs no gigantic ego boost!

from a purely intellectual stand-point, of course it matters. It would be a fact of the universe, like anything else, that in itself is worth knowing (like facts about geography, physics or psychology).

The implications of such a being existing in the way it is imagined in most religions would have direct impact on each of our lives, and afterlife.

The only reason we can ask whether it matters or not is because these "Gods of the Book" clearly don't exist. If the Old Testament God had any evidence suggesting it existed, this would be one of the most significant factors in human existance.

Originally posted by King Kandy
Well in Christianity, you'll go to hell. If Christianity proved itself true, that seems like a good enough reason to me. Most religions have something similar.

Due to a mistranslation of the words Hebrew "sheol" and Greek "Hades".
Hell was added by Catholics to scare people into joining.

The "pit" and common grave are the more accurate translations, I like to believe that evil people will just "cease to exist" so they can´t pollute the perfect universe.

The problem with all this is, God gave us free will we use it and get punished FOR using it. Totally insane and illogical.

Originally posted by Bicnarok

The problem with all this is, God gave us free will we use it and get punished FOR using it. Totally insane and illogical.

Originally posted by Rascaduanok
Re: God’s Existence: Does It Matter?

Clearly it does not to you, which I think is your point. It does to theists, for reasons stated above.

Originally posted by Digi
Clearly it does not to you, which I think is your point. It does to theists, for reasons stated above.

Yes, but I wanted to open up discussion on this. I try not to live in a secluded world considering myself the sole holder of all truth. Believe it or not, I like reading other people’s thoughts and opinions! 😄

It does if you want to go to heaven instead of hell.and at the end of the world people will see that he does exist.

Originally posted by Rascaduanok
Yes, but I wanted to open up discussion on this. I try not to live in a secluded world considering myself the sole holder of all truth. Believe it or not, I like reading other people’s thoughts and opinions! 😄

Good for you.

Originally posted by Rascaduanok
Aye, but WHY does god require us to worship it? Surely a divine being needs no gigantic ego boost!

There's already a really long thread that was made like 3 years ago, which asks that^ very question.

The existence of God matters very much.... whether you're a theist, deist or atheist.... for a start, how could you be an atheist without the possibility of the existence of God.... seriously though, as a wiser man than me said, if god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him... it was belief in the gods that started man on the path to discovery, and doubt in them that sustained the journey...

Originally posted by big gay kirk
for a start, how could you be an atheist without the possibility of the existence of God....

were there no concept of God, everyone would be an atheist, by the definition of the word.

Originally posted by big gay kirk
for a start, how could you be an atheist without the possibility of the existence of God....

Not believing in god makes you an atheist. If no one believes in god then, yes, everyone is atheist it just isn't a useful descriptor.

Originally posted by big gay kirk
seriously though, as a wiser man than me said, if god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him... it was belief in the gods that started man on the path to discovery, and doubt in them that sustained the journey...

I'd say it was being cold and hungry that started people trying to discover things. This also isn't relevant to the question posed, people can believe in a god that doesn't exist just as much as in one that does.

Originally posted by inimalist
were there no concept of God, everyone would be an atheist, by the definition of the word.

The prefix "a" means "not", or "anti". So its a general rule in English that the understood something must exist, in order for people to be a-something. Otherwise, there'd be no need for the term. A person can't be apolitical if there's no such thing as politics. And likewise a person can't be atheist, if there's no such thing as the concept of God.

There just wouldn't be a need for the word "Atheist", because the question "What do you believe in?" would have no meaning.

Originally posted by Quiero Mota
The prefix "a" means "not", or "anti". So its a general rule in English that the understood something must exist, in order for people to be a-something. Otherwise, there'd be no need for the term. A person can't be apolitical if there's no such things as politics. And likewise person can't be atheist, if there's no such thing as the concept of God.

There just wouldn't be a need for the word "Atheist", because the question "What do you believe in?" would have no meaning.

The word wouldn't exist, obviously, but that has no bearing on what they are from our point of view. Ancient humans didn't know about uranium but if I went back I would still find that granite was not uranium, if I asked the question "Is this uranium?" people would say no.

The answer to that question definitely matters, because if God did exist, we would know there is at least ONE alien in the universe.