I've heard a lot of people on these Religion boards and elsewhere about the evidence for God. Most atheists and agnostics will claim that there is no evidence, while theists will claim that there is. That leads to a question that I don't think has been covered here: What constitutes evidence for God?
I don't think anyone doubts that there have been thousands, if not millions, of accounts of miraculous events throughout history, even up to the present day. On the other hand, I don't think anyone doubts that many of these have been hoaxes, hallucinations, or misunderstandings. For the sake of illustration, I have two friends that have told me of personally experiencing miraculous healings, which they were able to see happening directly, after being prayed over. While I didn't see either of these events with my own eyes, I have no independent reason for doubting their truthfulness, and they both mentioned multiple witnesses present.
So for the "non-believers": What would you accept as evidence for God? Does my account qualify, and if not, why not?
For the "believers": What evidence do you accept for the existence of God? How would you differentiate between possibly legitimate visions, miracles, etc., and hoaxes or misunderstandings?
I don't think anyone doubts that there have been thousands, if not millions, of accounts of miraculous events throughout history, even up to the present day. On the other hand, I don't think anyone doubts that many of these have been hoaxes, hallucinations, or misunderstandings. For the sake of illustration, I have two friends that have told me of personally experiencing miraculous healings, which they were able to see happening directly, after being prayed over. While I didn't see either of these events with my own eyes, I have no independent reason for doubting their truthfulness, and they both mentioned multiple witnesses present.
So for the "non-believers": What would you accept as evidence for God? Does my account qualify, and if not, why not?
For the "believers": What evidence do you accept for the existence of God? How would you differentiate between possibly legitimate visions, miracles, etc., and hoaxes or misunderstandings?