Baloo

Okay, so this is a challenge I developed while dating a theist who INSTISTED that I leave at least one opening for God to come into my life. What I came up with was so useful that I've used it ever since, whenever confronted with the "What would it take?" question. For God to reveal himself to me, all he needs to do is reveal a number to one of his followers in whatever manner he chooses. The follower can then relay that number to me (the number is simply a string of 32 digits). I then feed the number into a simple calculator program that generates a random 32-digit number and compares them. If they are the same, the follower, aided by God, has passed the challenge.

One thing I want to do is keep this challenge honest. And, in all honesty, there are naturalistic explanations (varying from a very sophisticated foul-play maneuver on behalf of a theist, to a "bug" in my two line program, to a glitch in the calculator's CPU, even to the actual possibility of one hundred thousand million billion trillion to one odds being beaten). So, sadly, getting this right will not, on it's own merit, make me into a Christian. However, the naturalist explanations, under close scrutiny, are so improbable that I have committed myself to the following:

If the number is matched, I will dedicate the next 5 years to
A) Reading the bible at least 30 minutes every night.
B) "Praying", to the best of my abilities, prior to every sit-down meal as well as before going to sleep, a prayer that minimally includes the lord's prayer, but is also my very best effort to "talk" to Jesus.
C) Attending 2 church services per week, and participating in all church rituals, from singing hymns, to reciting credes, to partaking in communion.
D) Informing all theistic friends and family of my 5-year saga, in order to form a "support group" for my efforts.

And most importantly:
E) Doing A through D while doing my whole-hearted best to shun any anti-belief skeptical thoughts, through whatever amount of will-power and thought-control I can muster. Also, to the best of my ability, I will adopt a "supernatural until shown natural" attitude towards any experiences I have which might be deemed "religious" in nature.


That is it. That is exactly "What it would take". And with this challenge, I also stick very diligently to my next proclamation: This is the ONLY door open to God through which he can begin to reveal himself to me. ALL other attempts will be AUTOMATICALLY assumed to have naturalistic explanations, regardless of whether I know what they are.

Any theists so inclined may feel free to list out a 32 digit number. Hell, just ask God to guide your fingers, and punch out 32 digits. One condition: you (like my ex-g/f) only get one guess.

And as one final note, let me just say that I do take this very seriously. I did check my g/f's guess, I checked the guesses of three theisitc friends of mine, and I have my calculator right in front of me, ready to check whatever guesses are offered.

GunnerJ

12876498645609200684365124687954

If it turns out right, does that mean that God is conceding his own non-existance? After all, he would be speaking through an atheist...

Draygomb

I like it but why limit it to the christian god be fair and give 5 years study to the religion of the person who gives you the right number.

Baloo

Rimstalker - Nope.

I do like Draygomb's idea... If anyone feels they have been inspired by or would like to represent a God other than the Christian God, please say so (also, this begs a question for Rimstalker).

critical thinking made ez

78634298409836134775234985125679

God just told me to tell you that if these numbers don't match your calculator's RanDomNum then he exists.

Baloo

CTME - No match, although it's interesting that you're god specified "these numbers". Almost seems to predict that there would be no matching numbers. Sadly, both you and RanDomNum had a "7" in the 18th slot. I can only hope your God has a "Don't shoot the messenger" policy when you go to explain to him exactly why he doesn't exist...


(edited because i can't count)

[ February 04, 2002: Message edited by: Baloo ]</p>

theophilus

I'm sorry that your "theistic friends" didn't point out that God doesn't do "tricks" to make people believe.
He has already provided adequate evidence through his creation and his word that unbelief, however rationalized, is inexcusable.
I am not a fan of theistic "proofs," but for the sake of discussion let me pose this question. If you are "really serious" about this, what have you done to confirm/deny the evidence that the Bible is, in fact, the word of God, i.e., historical, prophetic, etc? The number of Old Testament prophesies fulfilled by Jesus approaches the improbility of your 32 digit number.
No test of God will make you believe, but you cannot credibly "dis-believe" unless you have considered all the evidence.

Pantera

So how do you work that out then?

theophilus

I'm not sure I understand your question, but there are a number of resources on line which deal with this. Try something like Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell.
There are something like 300 prophecies which Jesus fulfills. I don't know how to calculate the odds that such could occur by chance, but it is substantial.

Bookman

When did he quit? I seem to recall a burning bush for moses and tricks with dew for Gideon just to name a couple.

I say he's just quit trying. Who wants to worship a deity that's constantly phoning it in?

Bookman