Probability of the existence of God

Nope. There's too many unaccountable variables.The honest answer is that we don't know what the probability of god existing is.I do know, however, that saying that there are two possibilities, so therefore it is 50/50 is wrong (Phat). Just because there are two possibilities does not mean that the probability of each possibility is equal. It could jsut as easily be 60/40...

Haven't you fail to incorporate the odds that it really wasn't Jesus that you received?I mean, even if ever so slightly (0.0000000001%) that it was Satan deceiving you, or aliens putting thoughts in your head, that little bit of probability brings you out of the 100% realm.If you're unwilling to consider that as a possibility, then you truley are self-dilusional.It CANNOT be 100%.... ever.

In Message 8And from your link Stephen D. Unwin - Wikipedia :

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50-50 represents "maximum ignorance"

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So?There's still the slim possibility that aliens were brainwashing you.

How? False.Its not all or nothing. You can have a whole lot of faith, with just a little bit of doubt, or visa versa. Either way, its not 'no faith'. Meh, I follow Jesus' teachings, not old jewish folklore.God is pleased when I do things for the least of his people, whether I believe in him or not.

Abiogenesis is not spontaneous generation. The theories are incomplete, but they're working it out.From wiki:

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There is no truly "standard model" of the origin of life. But most currently accepted models build in one way or another upon a number of discoveries about the origin of molecular and cellular components for life, which are listed in a rough order of postulated emergence:

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1. Plausible pre-biotic conditions result in the creation of certain basic small molecules (monomers) of life, such as amino acids. This was demonstrated in the Miller-Urey experiment by Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey in 1953.
2. Phospholipids (of an appropriate length) can spontaneously form lipid bilayers, a basic component of the cell membrane.
3. The polymerization of nucleotides into random RNA molecules might have resulted in self-replicating ribozymes (RNA world hypothesis).
4. Selection pressures for catalytic efficiency and diversity result in ribozymes which catalyse peptidyl transfer (hence formation of small proteins), since oligopeptides complex with RNA to form better catalysts. Thus the first ribosome is born, and protein synthesis becomes more prevalent.
5. Proteins outcompete ribozymes in catalytic ability, and therefore become the dominant biopolymer. Nucleic acids are restricted to predominantly genomic use.

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Even if God, himself, flew down from the sky, landed in front of me, and told me that he existed, it would still not be a 100% probability that he existed. It could have been something other than God tricking me into thinking it was God, or I could have deluded the whole thing. Granted, it would be something like 99.9%, but it can never be 100%.

Yeah, I believe in Jesus too. I just have the intellectual honesty to say that I cannot KNOW that he is god. That's why god has this stuff called faith. If you really KNEW, then you would have no faith.I don't having faith that I'm typing at my computer right now, I know that I am. Of course, this is not 100% knowledge, maybe I'm dreaming or actually in The Matrix The point is that I can admit those possibilities when it comes to knowing if I'm actually sitting at my computer but you are unable to admit them when saying that you know god exists. Why is that? What are you afraid of? Admit it! Well I'd say the probability that we are all delusional is a lot less than one percent. So far less that it is negligible. But it is still there. Because its negligible, we don't have to include it in the results.As far as you being correct about god versus being delusional... I would say that the possibility of you being deluded is not negligible.We don't even know if a god is possible, or which god is the right god. I'm pretty confident that I'm at my computer. But as far as gods go, with all the disagreement and variety, the chances of you being deluded about god are a lot higher than me being deluded about being here at my computer.Like I said, you can't know, 100%, that god really exists.

I'm not attempting to ride the fence.... I believe that Jesus is God. No it doesn't. It doesn't say anything about doubt. You're assuming that belief has no doubt and then quoting a passage on belief and claiming that it has no doubt. Your reasoning is most circular.I believe, and I have a little doubt. Its not big deal really. I'm just being honest with myself. I could claim 100% belief and say that I KNOW god exists too. I'm just not going to lie to/delude myself That passage doesn't say there is no room for doubt either And 100% means lacking the intellectual honesty to admit that it is possible that you could be wrong.Why are you unable to admit that? You're claiming that it is impossible for you to be wrong about god's existence. That's bullshit. Well now your just contradicting yourself...If its based on faith then it isn't complete assurance. Complete assurance is the lack of faith. Then your god is worshiped by droids.But all this pedantic arguing about semantics is ghey anyways.I feel I proved my case about being unable to have 100% knowledge unless you are not being honest with yourself.The question is why can't you admit the possibility that you are wrong about god?

I don't draw that conlcusion but you are welcome to your own interpretation of course.But let's not quote mine the Bible for definitions. Instead, let's think about this rationally. A very high probability that can be ever sooo close, but never, 100%. That's circular too: "I believe because I believe."I know you believe. And you claim no doubt. I don't think it is possible to be both intellectually honest and without doubt. You are deluding yourself into a position of no doubt when you should be questioning your beliefs. How do you know it is God? How do you know that it isn't Satan tricking you into thinking that he is God?and you didn't answer my previous questions...

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And 100% means lacking the intellectual honesty to admit that it is possible that you could be wrong.

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Why are you unable to admit that? You're claiming that it is impossible for you to be wrong about god's existence. That's bullshit.

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The question is why can't you admit the possibility that you are wrong about god?

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By saying that its 100% you are saying that it is impossible for you to be wrong.And you didn't touch on how god giving you undoubtable confidence makes you his robot:

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And God does not allow those who truly believe in Him, to doubt His existence. Even if that doubt is only 1% or less.

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Then your god is worshiped by droids.

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Eh? I am convinced of God. I'm just honest enought to admit that I cannot know that God exist without any shred of a doubt nor do I refuse to admit the possibility that I might be wrong.

Then this faith stuff is just made up B.S. that is preventing you from maintaining intellect. And your opinion is wrong. Maybe you just don't understand what 100% really means. I think you're using it incorrectly because you've basically contradicted yourself. With those million possibilities, you cannot know, 100% that you're sitting in your car. It can be so close that it is negligible and using 100% could imply that so its not that big of a deal. And there's a difference in that we all can accept that cars and poeple both exists and that people can sit in cars. However, with the huge variety of poeple's gods that they all know that exists, and while they cannot all be correct, the chances of you being deluded are way higher than the chance that you're not really sitting in a car.Enough that people are gonna call you out for saying that you know100% that god exists, where they won't so much if you claim to be sitting in a car. I don't believe you at all. You could choose to believe that god doesn't exists but you can't admit that you don't know, 100%, that he exists!If you can simmply choose, willy nilly, that you believe that god exists 100%, then you are just making stuff up in your head and purposefully deluding yourself to believe the things that you think that you should be believing.I find this to be total dishonesty and an utter slap in the face of God. Hell, you practically just kicked Jesus in the nuts! That's bullshit.And if you've chosen this 100% belief, then how do you know you've chosen the right God? You could simply be wrong about which god you've chosen to believe, without a shred of doubt, exists! That's no where near 100%.

I think even Jesus had his doubts....He was made man and men have doubts. What do you think he was doing during his teenage years? Prolly trying to figure out if he really was the son of god. And if Jesus absolutely KNEW, then God cheated. That would make Jesus' sacrifice no longer a sacrifice. How easy would it have been to walk right up to the cross if you knew that you'd be fine anyways?Its only a sacrifice if he made a sacrifice, and knowing that everything was going to be okay anyways makes it no longer a sacrifice.Hell, Jesus even asked God why he forsake him.....And its like that sig I've seen around here:"If you know you're goind be raised from the dead in three days, dying isn't a sacrifice, its a painful inconveniece." No, I'm not convinced that God exists. I believe that he exists because of my faith. If you really know that God does in fact exists, then you don't need any faith at all. You know. Correction:I do not even understand what you think it means to have faith from a Biblical perspective. Only if Jesus was man. And yes, no man can know with 100% assurance that god exists. It is impossible. For you to claim that means that you're either crazy or lying. That or you're just using the phrase improperly. If by convinced you mean know 100%, then you are contradicting yourself.Faith is for things that you don't know for sure.

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And I see you've avoided those 'tough' questions I asked again....How do you know its god?How do you know you have the right god?How can all those people who have the wrong god(s), KNOW that those gods exist too?Edited by Catholic Scientist, : see ABE:

The Hebrews 11 defintion?That's Old Testament. I follow Jesus' teachings. Jesus said that the blessed are those who believe and who have not seen.Saying that you KNOW means that you have seen and that is why you believe. I believe whilst not KNOWING, as Jesus commanded.

Duh-huh I'm familiar with your position on faith, but..... it doesn't seem to add up....Jesus says that the blessed are those who believe in him without evidence (unless he just meant that the blessed are the people who have not received the evidence throught their eyeballs (seen)... but I doubt that). If faith is the evidence that allows you to believe then you wouldn't be blessed in the way Jesus described.Also, if faith is the evidence for a belief, and you have faith because you believe, then the evidence is circular. I don't believe in a god who picks and chooses which people believe in him and which one don't. Especially if he is going to punish the people that he chose to not believe in him. Oh, so you do think Jesus was talking about the blessed being people who have received the evidence in some way other than through their eyeballs!? It wasnt about just that because Thomas put his finger in Jesus' side as well. I think Jesus is talking about evidence, in general, not just seeingHere's the passage from KJV John 20:24-28 :

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24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

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25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

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26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

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27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

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28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

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Thomas was faithless before he touhed and saw Jesus. Thomas did not get his faith magically from God and then believe in Jesus because of the evidence that was his faith.No, Thomas got his faith when he saw that it really was Jesus and when he touched him. He got his faith from evidence, and then he believed. His faith couldn't be the evidence because he didn't have faith until he had evidence. The evidence is what gave him faith, not visa versa.If you believe in god because of evidence that you have witnessed (one example being this magic faith that God gives to the chosen) then you are like Thomas, and unlike the blessed. A god that gives all his people the ability to believe in him and doesn't pick and choose his "sons".

It can be used in another way too. That is to refer to when people decide to not be honest with themselves and believe what they want to believe despite.... whatever. But as has been explained, 100% is not actually attainable. Even in considering the possibility of your own existence, you can't get to 100%. To continue to believe this is what some refer to as intellectual dishonesty. This is a great place to learn how to debate. Surely, someone will point out almost every mistake you make. Also, you can reveiw your peers' positions in the debates and how they are advanced and defended. Which arguments will work and which ones are PRATT (Points Refuted A Thousand Times).Also, depending on your profession, honing these skill can be helpful in real life. This is a great site (my favorite), for learning about those things. I'll see you on the battlefield Get more comfortable with the setting and how anonymous strangers are going to be treating you before you open yourself up wide and let them have at it.In time, you can find that we can have constructive debates on these issues and learn a lot from each other.Welcome to EvC. You'll see me around.

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Science fails to recognize the single most potent element of human existence.
Letting the reigns go to the unfolding is faith, faith, faith, faith.
Science has failed our world.
Science has failed our Mother Earth.
-System of a Down, "Science"He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.
-Avenged Sevenfold, "Bat Country"