What is the best argument to prove the existence of God to Atheists?

[Calliope]

What goes when a plant dies?

 

[jesucated]

The best argument is living a life of humility, charity, faith, and love.

 

[AlNg]

I find that unbelievable that you would ignore 1000’s of eye witness testimonies, 1000’s of recorded miracles

How do you explain the miracles of Gautama Buddha? He was witnessed as being able to speak with great wisdom immediately after being born and as a young infant wherever he placed his foot, a lotus flower bloomed miraculously. Further, as an adult he had the power of telepathy. making himself invisible, passing through solid objects, etc. He was also witnessed performing the Twin Miracle, where flames were emitted from the left of his body, while water was emitted from the right and then vice versa.

 

[AlNg]

Just last month Ireland voted to make laws that allow woman to kill their babies in the womb

I thought that Ireland was a Catholic country at least before Vatican II ? Why have so many people turned against the Catholic Church in the last 50 or so years?

 

[AlNg]

it is a simple thing to look at say Lourdes the church has established that 63 miracles took place after the full investigations scientific and medical and the results being that there was no known medical reason for it to happen and there was no known scientific natural answer as to why the persons had come to Lourdes with various ailments and went home cured.

Could any of these miracles be explained as psychosomatic cures? For example, has there ever been a case of a soldier who lost his legs in war, then coming home and praying and then having his two legs regrow? Or someone who had lost his arm and then after praying, his arm grew back? I don’t think you could explain the regrowth of a leg or an arm as a psychosomatic cure.

 

[AlNg]

I am assuming that you have seen St. Thomas Aquinas: Five Proofs of the Existence of God

The First Way: Argument from Motion

• Our senses prove that some things are in motion.

But what is in motion is relative to the reference frame of the observer. If I am on a train, it appears that the earth beneath me is in motion. But if I am on the earth, it appears that the train is in motion.

 

[Scott_Milso]

There are many examples of altruistic behavior being beneficial and programmed into DNA.
That said, I am not an atheist

 

[Unnamed]

How do you explain the miracles of Gautama Buddha? He was witnessed as being able to speak with great wisdom immediately after being born and as a young infant wherever he placed his foot, a lotus flower bloomed miraculously. Further, as an adult he had the power of telepathy. making himself invisible, passing through solid objects, etc. He was also witnessed performing the Twin Miracle, where flames were emitted from the left of his body, while water was emitted from the right and then vice versa.

What branch of Buddhism are you talking about? There many types and beliefs. Buddha had some good ideas and all that but he is dead. Jesus rose from the dead. Want some proof? Go research the shroud of turin. Here is a good starting point. http://www.shroudofturin.com/Resources/CRTSUM.pdf Scientists
(e.g., folks from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) cannot reproduce the shroud today and have no idea how it formed. It is a negative of the actual image and has 3d data in it. The lighter the image, the closer the body was to the cloth.

 

[Dan_Defender]

If there is a program then there is a programmer that put it there. In the animal kingdom, you see males kill each other for the female or kill the offspring that is not theirs. Only humans have a different level of morality.

 

[AlNg]

What branch of Buddhism are you talking about?

Buddha Dharma Education association inc
http://www.buddhanet.net/

Go research the shroud of turin

OK but that does not explain the miracles of Gautama Buddha. how is it possible for a just barely born baby to speak with great wisdom and how do you explain his other miracles such as the Twin miracle?
“When the people of Kapilavatthu discovered that the Buddha had come to their city they flocked to see him. Prince Siddhartha’s own relatives came as well and said, “He is our younger brother, our nephew, our grandson.”
Then the Buddha realised that some people, even then, did not understand that he was already enlightened but felt they were his elders. He showed them a miracle called the “Twin miracle”.”

 

[sevenswords]

I just did a google search on this to find out more information and the first thing I came across was Wikipedia and I quote/paste
According to Buddhist texts, Gautama Buddha possessed several superhuman powers and abilities; however, due to an understanding of the workings of the skeptical mind and how the display of miracles can be abused by unscrupulous people, he reportedly responded to a request for miracles by saying, “…I dislike, reject and despise them,”[1] and refused to comply.

I dislike Reject and despise miracles therefor I won’t do them, I don’t hold much in this do you?
Buddhism is false, it offers no hope or salvation, I hope this is satisfactory to you?

 

[sevenswords]

has there ever been a case of a soldier who lost his legs in war, then coming home and praying and then having his two legs regrow? Or someone who had lost his arm and then after praying, his arm grew back?

When God Cured an Amputee: The Astonishing Miracle of Calanda

The bible tells us that Christ healed many lepers and we know lepresy involves limbs falling off, so yes we see healings of amputees and in the garden we see Jesus’s last miracle when he replaced the ear of Malcus.

Note this passage
When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back. He praised God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him. - Luke 17:15
Jesus healed 10 and only one came back, now if you move into theoligy here what you notice is that 10 people got cured and only one gave thanks that leaves 9 people who did not bother coming back to thank the man who just healed them, what do you think this means? would you say that these people have condemned themselves more because a great miracle happened to them and they werent even thankful, so maybe it would have been better for them if they had not been cured then that condemnation wouldn’t be on them.
One last point here If you want to ignore the many miracles that have been rigorously tested by science and go the old route of Atheism then your never going to find the light because Atheism by its nature lives in the dark and is not open to letting in the light. Why not ask yourself why does so many people claim to have cures? how come they have medical evidence and eye witnesses? how come billions of people and many many with giant intellects believe this stuff? and if you take that route I can save you a lot of time by telling you God does not hide from people who seek him, he is easy to find and he established a big church for everyone to see and everyone made welcome so when your done asking questions and want real answers that will satisfy you then come to the Catholic church ask for confession tell the priest your sins as best you can ask for a blessing and ask for direction from him, it is free of charge many many spends a lot of money on therapy that never works, But this therapy does work because you are returning to your Father and saying sorry, he will put rings on your fingers and bathe you and dress you and heal you if only you would stop fighting him and listening to your adversary the devil who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

 

[sevenswords]

Ireland is no longer a Catholic country it is going the same way as all pagans countries and giving themselves over to the state to corrupt them, bloody fools that they are and every day in Ireland gets darker with suicide depression , drug abuse and misery after misery pilling up around them.
Vatican II was implemented to allow the church to change somewhat with the times, to be more accessible and allow the laity more of a role etc etc it has nothing to do with people not being Catholic.
People have turned against the church for a few reasons in my view which boil down to lack of faith, they are lovers of self, slanderous, rude, angry, spiteful, hateful, prideful, lustful etc etc and the church stands in front of them telling them that this is not the right road, so instead of saying sorry and turning back they say I will not serve your God, i will serve my self and off they go on that big wide road that leads to perdition like so many fools before them.
But I feel you are getting at you think it is because of scandals in the church is that correct?
Well that is not the case in my view as 2 reasons 1 many had left before the scandals broke and those that remained did so not out of piety or faith but to be seen or simply because its what we do on a sunday to meet up with the neighbours for scandal or to be seem.
2 at the time the reports broke that evil monsters had been running riot in the church and destroying lives there was another report out about sex scandels in the hospitals, and it was 10 times worse but no one left the hospitals or marched on the hospitals did they? at the same time it came out that the Gaa and other sporting bodies ahd been abusing children for years no one marched on croke park did they?
you see hypocrites is all that left the church no big deal they brought nothing to the body only illness and they left without looking for the cure.

 

[AlNg]

The miracle of Calanda occurred 380 years ago? Is there anything like this occurring more recently for soldiers coming back from war?

 

[AlNg]

Buddhism is false, it offers no hope or salvation

Then how was it possible for the infant Gautama Buddha to speak with such wisdom immediately after being born? And there were several witnesses who said that they saw him perform the Twin Miracle?
Also if Buddhism is false, how do you explain the book by Thomas Merton : Mystics and Zen Masters ?
Merton told Brrother David Steinal-Rast: " I do not believe that I could understand our Christian faith the way I understand it if it were not for the light of Buddhism."

 

[sevenswords]

I just did a quick search and that came up,I have in the past read one or two I’m sure If I had to find them I probably could, but here’s the thing I understand the enormity of the question, I understand that if Jesus healed people of deformed or missing limbs and it is believed he did then why do we not see it now? I can’t follow a God or religion that teaches that miracles are only for those with limbs and it is a huge mistake to try and justify it as I’m not aware of the question being addressed by the church, now It may well have been answered by a Pope or saint or mystic etc and I don’t know about it, I am only a lay person so i will need to look into it a bit.
But heres what I do know, I know that God parted the red sea and he is able to do so, but he has never done it again. I know that by his very nature he is able to do anything this is what my faith teaches so for him not to then there must be a reason and i’m not qualified to go into how and what God thinks, so I’m just back from work and a bit tired so can I get back to you when I look into it a bit I have millions of saints and even today I know of dozens of people who have stigmata and are mystically encountering God so I can check out if anyone has a satisfactory answer and thats not to take away from the answer I gave you to begin with, maybe it is a simple thing like a lack of faith? or maybe theirs lives are better without limbs, I have heard that said before on occasion that it was the best thing to happen to them, I don’t know so leave it with me a while. Just to say I don’t pay much heed to hippies and their ramblings so Budda etc does nothing for me as it is an easy enough thing to dismiss as it is simply a way of life taught through the lens of ignorance and superstition, that’s why I’m Catholic we don’t believe such things!

 

[AlNg]

that’s why I’m Catholic we don’t believe such things!

Have you heard of the Roman Catholic monk Thomas Merton?

 

[PJM]

The Cosmological, the Moral Conscience argument\ the mystery of the human conscience, or the Historical arguents, such as miracles and other supernatural graces?
i am still confused as to which one i should use?

Have them look into a mirror and ask themselves if THEY choose what to wear that day?

Such an action in an absolute sense requires rationality: a a mind {not the brain}, a intellect {not ones IQ}, and a freewill

Then ask them to quantify for you their FREEWILL:
What is its size, weight, color, shape and where precisely is it located in the human body?

Each of these similar to God is a SPIRITUAL reality {still, expect true atheist to be logically-illogical.}

May GOD guide our life-path

 

[sevenswords]

I have, I hold that he is wrong in many things and was in danger of losing the true faith. More hippy nonsense trying to bring God down to a palliative being that man could ascend to be like with his own merits.( this is the first lie that we can be like gods and God is a liar)
zen Buddhism is nonsense, the last Pope Benedict warned that these type of movements aimed at distorting the truth of Christ and replacing him with eastern philosophies would ( or could I can’t remember) replace Marxism.
If you want real knowledge/spirituality I recommend anything by any Pope, John Paul II being years ahead of his time in warning the world what was coming, his writings on the Human Body etc etc here is sound teaching that will lead you to the truth not away from God.
Lastly Can I add that these eastern religions are empty vessels they have no Grace to give other than a short term feel good factor, real ascendance and meditation come from the passion of Christ here all things are revealed and in accordance with tradition handed on from the first Apostles.
The east was brought Christianity years ago and they rejected it for the most part, but that is changing now and we see great hope now coming from the East as they come to Christ in their millions, its a case of when the west reject they are left in darkness and the east accept they are given light. I will predict that we will see the east open in ways of social justice and education when the churchs are built and the despots are replaced with fair rulers.

 

[sevenswords]

I read this a while back and will just copy it for you, I highly recommend getting to Know Padre Pio, If you believe it or not here is a true story I witnessed, It was a 2 year old boy in the Cork University hospital who had a Brian tumour, his family sat by his side as it was thought he wouldn’t last the night, it happened that the Glove of Padre Pio ( one of a few in Ireland ) was at the hospital as someone had requested it, the Man with the glove saw the child and placed the glove on the child with the consent of the family who admitted to being Atheists, the man prayed and long story short that boy is alive and made a fully recovery that night. I witnessed that and it even made the RTE news.
so on with just one of the thousands of miracles attributed to Padre Pio.

The eye reappears

More astounding still may be the thoroughly-documented cure of a construction worker named Giovanni Savino, who was severely injured on February 15, 1949, in a dynamite mishap. When Dr. Guglielmo San- guinetti, a physican, and Padre Raffaele, another Capuchin, and Father Dominic Meyer rushed to the injured man’s side, “all three men noted that among Savino’s numerous injuries, his right eye was gone entirely. They agreed that ‘the socket was empty’,” reports biographer Bernard Ruffin. Other doctors confirmed that the eye was completely annihilated and the other one badly damaged.

It looked like Savino was also going to be totally blind. For three days, the worker lay on a hospital bed with his head and face bandaged. When a surgeon entered the room three days later, Savino reported that Padre Pio had visited him — something Savino recognized because he had detected the beautiful aroma so often reported around the priest. A week later, at about one a.m. on February 25, 1949, Savino felt a slap on the right side of his face — the side where the eye was completely gone. “I asked, ‘Who touched me?’” testified Savino. “There was nobody. Again I smelled the aroma of Padre Pio. It was beautiful.”

When later the ophthalmologist — an atheist — came to examine the remaining eye, there was a shock. “To their amazement,” writes Ruffin, “the doctors found that his shattered face was fully healed and covered with new skin. Savino, however, was most delighted at the fact that he could see. ‘I can see you!’ he said excitedly to the eye specialist.”

Thats the jist, I have no time now togo looking into it as Im off to work
I hoie this helps