Christians aren’t delusional

I randomly found a Google Video called “How do we know that Christians are delusional?” The user who created and uploaded the video claims that Christians are exactly like Mormons and Muslims, and that the basis of Christianity is a fairytale. It was interesting, but nothing new.

He also has a website called WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com, which focuses on the fact that prayer cannot be scientifically proven, despite the fact that the Bible makes it clear that God will answer all prayers. This reminds me of what we’ve been discussing in Core 101. Truth in Biblical times was not the same as it is today. They did not look at things scientifically. It could be symbolic. Ultimately, clarity and consistency did not matter; instead, sacredness was top priority. Of course, this part of the discussion can quickly diverge into a 20-page essay, so let’s get back to the original topic of this post.

The website says that prayers are not effective because no matter how many people pray, how long they pray (all day and night), or how much they believe it will happen, an amputee’s limb(s) will never regenerate naturally. In other words, if prayer can do anything, why can’t it cause the impossible to happen?

This seems to be a ridiculous question, but the website is highly persuasive. I like the intellectual arguments. It’s appealing and scientifically-based. It even seems logical, although it actually isn’t. I’ll discuss briefly what I think of the arguments presented in the video, and although it has made me think, my faith in Christianity honestly isn’t shaken (even as the video claims to be so profound that it would convince anyone).

Firstly, prayers will be answered if they are in accordance with God’s will. Yes, this sounds like a rationalization– like those the website claims are futile justifications. But think about this. There’s no other reasonable way for God to do it. Now, I’m not saying I understand God fully (I admit there are many things about him that I question regularly), but in this respect, his actions make sense.

(It’s important to note that God doesn’t say that if more people pray or if they pray for longer, they’ll get more or get answered faster, or anything at all actually. God is like a person. He’s not like a machine that will consistently do something. For instance, it’s ridiculous to think that if 5 people pray that I will get money, I’ll get $5, but if 500,000 people pray, I’ll get $500,000. It’s not a linear relationship or anything like that.)

Anything God does must be in accordance with his will. His will isn’t necessarily specific, of course. There are multiple paths that can occur, and still be aligned with his will. He keeps to the big picture– that is, the creation of the world and humanity, its salvation and destruction– big stuff like that. But as for little things– disease, grades, money, amputees– it could go either way and still be in accordance with his will.

For this reason, prayer is not meant to be scientifically proven. Statistics will never indicate the “effectiveness” of prayer. As stated in the Bible, God allows sinners to be blessed just as well, and many Biblical people question God on this point. But there are good reasons for this, too.

Also, it seems that science knows everything. Clearly, it does not. This is another 20-page essay, but suffice to say that science can describe things but not explain them, and even at describing them, there are always exceptions. For an example off the top of my head, just consider how many times the ‘smallest unit of matter’ has been redefined.

God won’t heal amputees, I believe, because then no faith would be required. It would be proof of God’s existence and power if he works in such a definite, inexplicable (by natural laws) way. God remains hidden because faith is crucial, and this is of course is also outlined in the Bible.

This unbeliever also has the example of the “milk jug illusion.” The Bible deals with that, of course. It’s just the way idols are formed. People weren’t insane in Biblical times. They really thought idols did something, and were probably rational about it. ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Wait’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an illusion. It implies but does not prove in that direction. It only means that there is no proof that prayer is real. And Christians never claimed that just because there are three possible answers, God must exist. That’s coincidental: there are three possible answers, but not getting an answer looks the same way. I agree.

“Why not pray to God to heal an amputee, and then track the results of the prayer in a prayer journal?” There’s no reason for God to do this, nor any reason for us to ask it of him.

“If prayer did work, then both your hospital and your insurance company would have a Department of Prayer, and they would have employees praying feverishly day and night. Hospitals and insurance companies want to save lives and save money just as badly as you do. If prayer worked, corporations would be using it every day without hesitation.”

This is a good reason why God doesn’t answer prayer in that way. It requires a certain kind of believer, one whose own desires are in-line with God’s. The number of people does not matter. The amount of time does not matter. The Bible makes this clear. If it did, it would quickly become ridiculous, exactly as you descibe. God’s more clever than you think.

I randomly found a video response to the “optical illusion” claim. It’s actually very good, so if you’re interested, I’ll leave you with that.