Is There a Real God?

Both believers and atheists are constantly waiting for clear evidence to confirm or deny the existence of God. Check out this list about theories and tests conducted by scientists from different fields that are intended to demonstrate the existence of God, Heaven, and Hell. Are they fact or fiction? You decide!

According to legend, in 1989 a team of Russian scientists who were operating under the direction of Dr. Azzacove drilled a hole that was nine miles deep in an unnamed place in Siberia before breaking through into a cavity. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, they lowered an extremely heat tolerant microphone, along with other sensory equipment, into the well. They listened and recorded (purportedly) the tormented screams of desperate people. The second surprise was the high temperature that they discovered at the earth's center, which was over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The conclusion was that they had opened a hole into Hell.

The story was first published in 1990 by the Finnish newspaper Ammennusatia, a journal published by a group of Christians from Leväsjoki, a town in Western Finland. 

United States tabloids soon ran the story, and sound files—recordings of those alleged supplications from the damned—began appearing on various sites across the Internet. Immediately, the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TNB) discussed the sound clip on its evangelical channels, proclaiming that the clip was the ultimate proof of the existence of Hell.

Age Rendalen, a Norwegian teacher, heard the story on TBN while visiting the United States. Disgusted with what he perceived to be mass gullibility, Rendalen decided to augment the tale at TBN's expense. Rendalen wrote to the network, originally claiming that he disbelieved the tale but, upon his return to Norway, supposedly read a "factual account" of the story. According to Rendalen, the "story" claimed not only that the cursed well was real, but that a bat-like apparition (a common pictorial representation of demons, such as in Michelangelo'sThe Torment of Saint Anthony) had risen out of it before blazing a trail across the Russian sky. To perpetuate his hoax, Rendalen deliberately mistranslated a trivial Norwegian article about a local building inspector and submitted both the original Norwegian article and the English "translation" to TBN. Rendalen also included his real name, phone number, and address, as well as those of a pastor friend who knew about the hoax and had agreed to expose it to anyone who called seeking verification.

Unfortunately, the Trinity Broadcasting Network ran the story without contacting Renalden or the Californian pastor, and the false story of "Well to Hell hoax" appeared on television, radio, and in a large number of publications.

The real story is that the Soviet Union had, in fact, drilled a hole nearly eight miles deep, the Kola Superdeep Borehole, located not in Siberia but on the Kola Peninsula, which shares borders with Norway and Finland. Upon completing the borehole in 1989, some interesting geological anomalies were found, although they reported no supernatural encounters. Temperatures reached 180 °C (360 °F), making deeper drilling prohibitively expensive. The recording, however, was later revealed to have been a cleverly remixed portion of the soundtrack of the 1972 movie Baron Blood, with various effects added.

In 2008, Eben Alexander III, a Harvard neurosurgeon, suffered a very ferocious E coli meningitis infection which attacked his brain and plunged him deep into a week-long coma. Brain scans showed that his entire cortex – the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, memory, and understanding – was not functioning. Doctors gave him little chance to live and told his family that if he did survive he'd probably be brain-damaged for the rest of his life. Against all odds, Mr. Alexander woke up a week after being stricken.

Deep in a coma, his brain was infected so badly that only the most primitive parts were working. He claimed that he experienced something extraordinary: a journey to Heaven.

In his autobiographical book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, he asserts that he left his body and had a near death experience. 

Mr. Alexander asserts that there is an eternity of perfect splendor awaiting us beyond the grave, complete with angels, clouds, and departed relatives.

As of July 3, 2013, Proof of Heaven has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for 35 weeks.

In a wide-ranging investigation of Mr. Alexander's story and medical background, Esquiremagazine reported in their August 2013 issue that prior to the publication of Proof of Heaven, Mr. Alexander had been terminated or suspended from multiple hospital positions, and had been the subject of several malpractice lawsuits, including at least two involving the alteration of medical records to cover up a medical error. The magazine also found what it claimed were discrepancies with regard to Alexander's version of events in the book. Among the discrepancies, according to an account of the article in Forbes, "Alexander writes that he slipped into the coma as a result of severe bacterial meningitis and had no higher brain activity, while a doctor who cared for him says the coma was medically induced and the patient was conscious, though hallucinating."

Mr. Alexander issued a statement after the article's publication, asserting that he wrote a truthful account of his experiences during a coma.

Alexander's book and publicity campaign have been criticized by scientists, including neuroscientist Sam Harris, who described Alexander's NDE account (chronicled in Newsweek, October 2012) as “alarmingly unscientific,” and "the evidence he provides for this claim is not only inadequate — it suggests that he doesn't know anything about the relevant brain science.”

In November 2012, Alexander responded to critics in a second Newsweek article claiming that his doctors have told him that according to all the brain tests they were doing, there was no way that any of the functions, including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language, or logic, could possibly have been intact.

Is it true or false? Only you can decide.

According to urban legend, the following is an actual question given on a University of Washington Chemistry midterm.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

Why should there be such doubt—such confusion—about the existence of God? For thousands of years, people have debated whether God exists. Most conclude that it cannot be proven—one way or the other. It is surmised that the correct answer lies in the area of abstract philosophy and the metaphysical.

Others become agnostics, asserting that they “don’t know” if God exists. Those who do accept God’s existence often do so passively, merely because they were taught it from childhood. Some do not even care. Such people probably cannot be moved from their apathy.

Atheists have concluded that God does not exist. These people represent a special category that God describes as, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” (Psam. 14:1). This scripture is repeated in Psalm 53:1. What follows will explain why God calls atheists “fools.”

Over 45 years ago, I learned of absolute proof that God exists. My studies lasted two-and-a-half years. I came to realize that I did not have to accept His existence “on faith.” Since that time, science has learned much more and the “case” for God’s existence has become far stronger than at any time in history.

This Personal presents numerous absolute, immutable proofs that God does exist. After reading it, you will never again doubt the answer to this greatest of questions! Some proofs will amaze you. Others will inspire you. Still others will surprise or even excite you. All of them will fascinate you with their simplicity. We will first examine some traditional proofs and then consider material that rests on the cutting edge of scientific understanding, before returning to established proofs. You will learn from biology, astronomy, chemistry and mathematics.

There is an all-important question that is inseparable from the question of God’s existence. The question of whether life on Earth exists, because of blind, dumb luck and chance, through evolution, or because of special creation by a Supreme Being, cannot be avoided in studying the existence of God.

Did all life on Earth evolve over millions of years, as evolutionists assert—or did an all-powerful God author it at Creation? Most people assume evolution is true, just as those who believe in Godassume His existence. I also studied this question—evolution vs. Creation—in depth, during the same period that I sought to prove God’s existence.

I learned that it takes far more “faith” to believe in the intellectually chic and fashionable evolutionary myth than it does to believe in the existence of God. In fact, I learned that evolution is based entirely on faith because no facts or proof have ever been found to support it!