Apparition had been changing faith in the world particularly in the countries where Christianity dwells. What if Christ or Mary appeared in front of you, would you believe in the biblical god?
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Well that is kind of a deal closer right there. If either one appeared in front of me I would have to believe in the biblical god..
I am not fond of "what if" questions such as this. Sure it's good to ponder from time to time but "what if" questions are used so frequently from theists on subjects that are beyond us.
I couldn't answer this without context. It's all to do with 'what's the most likely explanation for this', which could likely be a hallucination for example.
If they talk to you and you were able to touch them to prove that they are real, would you still think that you are only hallucinating?
Quite possibly, yes. That or I'm dreaming. I will always believe whatever is most likely, and since there is no other evidence for God as far as I could see, I would still see other options as 'more likely' and put it down to those. It is far more likely that this is someone just playing a prank on me, or I'm dreaming etc. I'm making an assumption here but I would think that you've asked this question to gauge how willingly an atheist will change their mind. If so, then I offer that I am completely willing to believe in God as soon as I am showed enough evidence to make his existence more likely than his non-existence, and an apparition of one of these figures would not be enough evidence to make God's existence likely enough for me to believe in him.
Well said, from an atheist's mind. Apparition is not an enough evidence and I don't think there would be enough. Maybe if someone goes right down from heaven and claim his Supreme authority in front of all the people of the world so that no one will think that they are just dreaming. But I don't think all atheist will believe by then. Maybe they will think of it as an alien invasion or something before they think about the existence of god.
I've heard of plenty of people "finding God" and changing their faith! On story in particular, which happened to a friend of my Mother's strikes me as especially awesome.
She had found Jesus! In her apartment on NYC's UWS, she went out to her kitchen and found Jesus in there. She said "Wow, if he wasn't Jesus, I totally would have killed that sonofab----" and now she considers herself a devout Christian.
She is a brilliant woman, but she is also a schizophrenic. She was off her meds, and found a creative way to cope with a home invasion by a young Dominican man who lived in her building - named Jesus.
Moral? One fact does not prove the validity of the surrounding assumptions.
If either one appeared in front of me in the flesh, I would think that I am a goner for not believing or following the right path. Why does the word "goner" look really wrong?
Lol, I don't know if there really is a way to make "goner" look right!
However you *are* right - if Jesus appeared before me, I would probably be being judged once and for all, and not with a very hopeful outcome. I'd hope that divine mercy would kick in at some point, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it.