amputees

i recently took part in an online debate forum about God's existance. it's really interesting to hear the arguments that athiests will come up with against creation and God in general. proof to an athiest is everything. proof is all there is. if they can't "sense" something in some way physically, it must not exist. that's basically what the scientific method is.

so, since proof is everything to an athiest... i asked an athiest to "prove" to me that there is no God. she said she couldn't... she wasn't there "in the beginning". i then replied that she must have a great deal of "faith" that there is no God since there is no "proof" He's not there. i could almost see her face turning red as she thought about that...

"God NEVER heals amputees!" she seemed to shout back in her post.

this seemed a strange "proof" to me... but i understood what she was saying. i realized that arguing from Scripture's example of malchus' ear being replaced by Jesus was no good because she didn't believe that the Bible holds any authority... i did a little research and found that this was an extremely popular "argument" from athiests. there are entire websites and blogs dedicated to the very issue of God not healing amputees.

so, the following was my response (hopefully it can help you out a little if you ever get in this "amputee" debate... anyway):

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Here is our situation as I see it...

We have no physical evidence that God actually heals people. the healing of amputees would be an incredible miracle that would cause many, if not all people to acknowledge His presence and authority.

Now, having said that we have no physical evidence, we have nothing to debate except opinions... It's really a moot point because it doesn't prove anything.

My opinion, therefore (and I realize this doesn't prove anything because I will use Biblical examples) is that God desires a relationship with each of us. He gave us outward physical proofs of His existance before the coming of Christ. He gave us healings and miracles to establish His authority through the person of Christ. He gave us his Word to carry on with us as we prepare for His return.

God's covenant with us in the New Testament was meant to establish a firm belief system that anyone who believes and accepts His sacrifice would be saved. That was enough. We were even given accounts from over 500 witnesses to the ressurected Jesus.

Now if Christ's sacrifice was enough to establish our faith as Christians, we must HAVE faith as Christians, and gain knowledge through that faith. He wants us to SEARCH for the truth as we TRUST in him. If we were given an outright example of His healing power, why would we need our faith?

In other words, if God came down (again) and said "hey, here I am! Let me grow you a new leg. Let me stop the wars, let me do this or that!!" If He did that, would he not nullify the atoning sacrifice that He already gave? He would be saying "ok, the first time I healed all the people and laid down my life for them must not have been enough... I owe it to them them to give them more proof." God owes us nothing... He already gave everything.

He doesn't want us to follow because it was "proven" to us, He wants us to grow into a relationship with Him through experiencing Him first-hand through His Son.

If all the answers to an exam were given to me as I took the test, would I earn the grade I recieve? No, of coarse not. The teacher wouldn't want you to get your grade that way. If I believe in God because someone's leg grows back, how have I earned the reward of that belief? I did nothing to attain it.

In James it says "even the demons believe there is a God and shudder".

An amputees arm, leg, nose, ear or... anything growing back would definitly prove He was there (though some would write it off as some molecular genetic phenominon or something) but it would not attribute that miricle to Christ...the foundation of the faith. It would instead create zealous people from all beliefs to claim the miracles came from the god they worship... What good would that do in the big picture of things but to stir up more confusion?

God says, I gave you my Son. That should be enough. Now go, spread the word.

In arguing the subject of existance from a lack of evidence, we miss the finer point... the purpose of the void itself.

What's your opinion?

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her response:
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I really appreciate the time you took to post that reply--I feel I better understand your position now. (and that's actually a VERY good point about amputees--better than most I've seen)

Thank you again.
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i just wanted to share that, because it seems that alot of Christians try to use specific examples from Scripture to "prove" things, when the truth of the matter is we can't prove them ourselves. we can't go into an argument trying to "prove" anything. we have to reasonably explain why we "believe" what we believe. the bible makes alot of sense when it's wisdom is applied in a reasonable manner.

what we need to show them is that faith is as good as proof... if it weren't, we wouldn't really "believe" it, would we?