//however if the explainations for prayers being answered rests on bad memory, the brain doing weird things, or convient co-incidences; then then perhaps it's time to move on.//

Spoken like a true pokie polisher: your superstition is correct, and more mundane explanations of why the poker machine occasionally pays out when you rub its screen are of no concern. Makes sense psychologically - if I'd been making mystic hand gestures over pokies for the last 20 years and somebody told me it was bunk, I reckon there'd be a fair bit of cognitive dissonance arising from trying to reconcile my deeply held superstition with cold hard mathematics.

AJ, have you ever heard the phrase 'unsinkable rubber duck'?

//she felt something push her out of the way when no one else was there just before a car crash occurred where she was standing.//

Cool story, but I don't see where the supernatural comes into it. If she felt a mechanical force, then it's a force that can be tested. We can formulate a falsifiable hypothesis, do some measurements, get some data. Science!

//She's of the opinion that something is out there//

Yep, it's called the universe.

//I just don't understand the reluctance to address that God is real.//

God is real.

I just don't believe in your god. Because he's rubbish.

And if I was going to start believing in other gods, it still wouldn't be your god.

//It's a testament to the powers and authorities that rebelled against God in Satan's rebellion//

Ah yes, Satan's rebellion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SvBrYJVcOE

And there's only one teensy little theological problem with that whole idea: Satan is an angel. You heard the scary man quoting the Bible: 'the dragon and his angels'. Satan is an angel, and so are all the angels that fell with him.

Angels aren't people. According to most theologians, they are created by God, in his image, and with powers beyond those of mortals - but without free will. When Eve was offered the apple by the Serpent in Eden, she had free choice to eat it or not because she was a person and had free will. But the Serpent did not have a choice about it offering it to her: he was an angel, a messenger of God's will.

So he didn't get to choose to fall, either. How could he, with no free will? Poor bugger. Poncy Archangels like Michael & Gabriel get all the glory, and he gets all the blame. But it was your God that created him, and created him to fall with no free will to choose a different path, and in full knowledge of what evil he was unleashing.

If you were an omnibenevolent and omniscient deity, wouldn't it be easier to just not create all the evil angels in the first place?

//A living history to show the whole world, the whole universe not to turn away from God.//

Wow, really? You think that aliens worship your god, who'll they'll never get to hear of? Yeah, that seems likely… (sarcasm)

//the 2 factors are still the same. 1). God does exist, and loves the world greatly. 2). The world is broken.//

3) God is ultimately responsible for the world.
4) And I wouldn't say it's 'broken'. Are you OK? 
5) But yeah, it could be a whole lot better. Especially in the 3rd world.
6) Maybe he doesn't love it that much after all?
7) Or maybe he doesn't exist;
8) Maybe shite just happens
9) And it's up to us try and make the world a better place in spite of a cold, uncaring universe and the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

Not_Now.Soon,

I understand that you believe that your coma experience was the result of answered prayer.

<<Why would I not think it was a result of answered prayer?>>

However, you had acknowledged that there was a rational explanation for it, so I addressed the MRI part of the experience. When there is a rational explanation for an occurrence, then it wins out by default since there is no evidence for the supernatural.

<<The weak explanation of co-incidences is also making me think we should move on.>>

Co-incidence is not a weak explanation. Co-incidence is an infinitely stronger explanation than the work of a god because, again, there is no evidence for the supernatural. Co-incidences, on the other hand, do occur. We can know this.

In light of the points regarding confirmation bias which both Toni and myself spoke of, co-incidence is a very reasonable explanation.

<<Thank you for giving some other explanations, like a well timed seizure that helped me out (and never happened again) …>>

I never said that you had had a seizure. In fact, I had suggested the opposite.

<<… if the explainations for prayers being answered rests on bad memory, the brain doing weird things, or convient co-incidences; then then perhaps it's time to move on.>>

Yes, if you can still believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that the creator of the universe is intervening in your life, despite how reasonable and likely every other explanation is, then I would agree that it is time to move on.

<<I just don't understand the reluctance to address that God is real.>>

Because there is no reliable evidence, and I care about the truth of my beliefs. I dare say it’s the same for your friend.

Even if one could attribute such occurrences to a god, one would still not be able to determine to which god they should be attributed. You believe it is the Christian god because Christianity was the dominant religion where you grew up. Had you been born in ancient Greece, you probably would have attributed it to Zeus.

Continued…

…Continued

<<[The existence of evil is] a testament to the powers and authorities that rebelled against God in Satan's rebellion, of what their rebellion would come to.>>

So, is God weaker than these other forces then?

<<… a broken world that eventually God will fix, and remove all of the evil elements that made it so evil.>>

So, what is He waiting for then?

If I created a whole heap of little people to love and something was making their lives miserable, then I’d remove that something. That would be the moral thing to do.

<<A living history to show the whole world, the whole universe not to turn away from God.>>

Why can’t He just tell us, then? It would save a lot of heartache and pain.

More to the point, if He’s so omniscient and omnipotent, then why did He create this universe, knowing in advance what it would become?

<<My best guess of an answer is that God allowed the world to come to the state it is in, because it is a witness to not just us but to everyone in heaven.>>

Then He is immoral.

<<Even if I'm wrong on why the world is the way it is, the 2 factors are still the same. 1). God does exist, and loves the world greatly.>>

... But would clearly not be omnipotent or omnibenevolent.

<<After all, if God has limitations, but is still all powerful to the worlds He created, what difference does it make?>>

But He WOULDN'T be all-powerful.

To Yuyustu.

God is beyond everything. But He exists. He can cause the world to move or to turn on itself full stop. Like a king with the universe as His subjects He can give the world a comand and it obeys. But still with all of this at His comand He not only exists, He also reaches out to us. A small oasis in the desert ocean of magistic space. I don't know why He created us, nor do I understand His patience to love us. But He does. God is not like an object that interacts with another object. He is the greatests of all names. That even calling on His name has influence. Being alive and real is not an illusion. It is a journey. Existing in the sense that I mean it is that God is real. He is not like the idols and the alters that the ancient world crafted for belief without reaction (because they weren't real). God exists and both acts and reacts.

The amount of power He holds is worth noting, and I mention it to explain my reasoning that He exists. But that is not the only quality to be concerned with. God is great and powerful and worthy of our fear. He is also wise writing laws and teaching that never grow old or obsolete. His love is merciful, strong and protective. His justice is that of a king against enemies, as well as like a father's discipline to the children He loves.

You are right though that people objectify God. It would be better to know Him or serve Him, instead of thinking of Him as a force to grant wishes or a concept to justify their life. But even these wrong approaches that acknowledge God are better then not knowing Him. Deceived to believe that He doesn't exist.

I have a question for you Yuyutsu. Reading some comments it sounded like you were identified as Hindu in your beliefs. I know nothing of those beliefs or it's culture. But I wonder about if it holds modern day tales of miracles and Angels.

In my conversations with AJ Philips he has challenged me that I don't know if God is the cause of some of the most awesome unexpected and unexplained elements in them. Or if it is due to another God, not God as I know Him.

So my question is do you know (from your experience or those of people you know), does Hinduism have miracles and Angels witnessed by it's believers?