"Does God exist?"

What is the point of making this question?
Everytime i hear someone making this question, i wonder what is the purpose or reason for making this question.
This question always ends in chaos with Theists and Atheists screaming at each other.
If the answer was "yes" or "no", what difference would it make? Woudn't we keep living our lifes the same way? Do people bring this question only to see the world burn?

The true purpose of asking any question or indeed any communication or art whatsoever is an attempt to relate to a fellow human being, to express one's thoughts and feeling in the hope that another will at least listen. The answer or reply is appreciated but ultimately not required.

>Woudn't we keep living our lifes the same way?
Obviously fucking not. A huge amount of people would change their lives depending on the answer.

It makes sense to me, imagining it from the perspective of either a believer, someone who's resently lost faith or someone being uncertain in his faith, wanting to bounce his ideas and thoughts on other people as well as listen to theirs.

Yeah if there was concrete proof that a specific God existed just about everyone but the insane would at least attempt to radically change their lives, even those who already believed in it.

I'd probably seek a way to destroy my immortal soul. I want eternal rest.

But what it would it mean to a Theist or Atheist if god exists or not? Theists would believe they are "saved" from this world? Atheists would believe they lived a lie? Also, knowing "God" is real, doesn't mean the bible or any religion is correct about their beliefs. Only that god exists.

>Woudn't we keep living our lifes the same way
you would because you dont live to your ideals. For you philosophy is a matter of internet debates such as you expressed in "always ends in chaos with Theists and Atheists screaming at each other".

>You don't live to your ideals.
But i don't have any ideals about God being real or not, that's why i asked what's the point of even asking if it's real or not.

This user gave a pretty good answer, why you would even make that question.

>Woudn't we keep living our lifes the same way?

The fuck?
How the fuck would anyone live their lives the same way if they found out the true nature and purpose of existence? Fuck man. That's like trying to forget that you're in the matrix, bruv.

>But i don't have any ideals about God being real or not

What if the creator (God) is a "Game Maker" and we are like just a simulation in a computer with no real purpose. It's not like you gained or lost anything that changed you. Also, knowing if God is real or not doesn't tell me the purpose of my life, except if your purpose in life is to believe that God is real.

>"the God question isn't important" meme

I bet you think philosophy is pointless too

I'm not saying it's not important, i'm saying i don't understand why theists/atheists, think it's important.

Im going to throw a Hypothetical.

If you're a theist -> "You just discovered God is real, what happens now to you?"

If you're a atheist -> "You just discovered God isn't real, what happens now to you?"

And if i thought philosophy was pointless, i would never make a thread about it.

Assuming we're dealing with Ricky Gervais-tier militant atheists and American fundie-tier theists:
>If you're a theist -> "You just discovered God is real, what happens now to you?"
Theist would say "I was right all along!" and go around preaching and proselytising for their religion.
>If you're a atheist -> "You just discovered God isn't real, what happens now to you?"
Atheist would say "I was right all along!" and go around telling religious people that they're wasting their time with fairy tale nonsense.

So nothing changes basically lol

However if any one random person was chosen and told the truth of whether or not God exists, it's impossible to say with certainty how (s)he would react.

However, I think it's fair to say that someone being proven right (in either case) would have an "I-told-you-so" attitude and continue much as they were (perhaps with more fervour) and someone proven wrong would most likely have an existential crisis, depending in both cases how strong their convictions were prior to learning the truth.

So, the reason they asked the question was to prove the other person is wrong/inferior, so they can feel superior? So in the end it was never about God?

Kek, no you don't. The people who want "eternal rest" are people who haven't actually come to grips with their own mortality and the inevitability of thier death

Pretty much. That, or they just wanted to watch other people argue about it and make themselves feel superior for not getting worked up about it.
I for one enjoy a good philosophical/theological debate (especially playing devil's advocate for athiests/theists when my conversation partner is of the opposite persuasion), but the question of whether or not God exists is not something I like to trouble myself (or others, for that matter) with.

Thanks for the answers, especially this ones.

>people never believed in god
>they just wanted to be right
Literally what the fuck?

>10,000 BC.
>Man REALLY doesn't believe in Anu
>he just want's to BTFO all those atheists.

Of course people believe (and have believed) in a God or gods.
Your points are a bit redundant because the dichotomy between (monotheistic) theism and atheism is a relatively new phenomenon.
For most of human history, religion was simply fact. Nobody questioned it. And if you didn't believe in it, you kept that shit to yourself.
Now that we have outspoken atheists (like Richard Dawkins and Ricky Gervais), some theists have felt the need to compensate by being equally brash and outspoken. I'll admit I was using extreme examples, but I did not say that nobody has ever genuinely believed in God because that would be stupid.
>inb4 "you're saying atheists didn't exist before Dawkins, that's retarded"
I'm not saying that. I'm saying that, for most of human history, atheists were seen by everyone else as we see conspiracy theorists (for example) today. Ignorant and out of touch with reality. Feel free to debate me on this point.

Setting all that aside, you seem to be forgetting OP's original question:
>"Does God exist?"
>What is the point of making this question?
In a nutshell, my response would be:
People in the 21st century on the internet ask this question as bait or a shit-test. They want to start an argument, either to watch it (perhaps for philosophical insight but more likely or just for fun) or participate on the side they think is right. That's what I think. Again, debate with me on this but don't just post another 5 lines of greentext that has fucking nothing to do with this post.

What is god?

Anything or anyone, because it's entirely up to the person to decide who or what is God.
But most times it's a omnipotent entity.

>Anything or anyone, because it's entirely up to the person to decide who or what is God.
How can one determine if something exists if one can not define it's nature?

God is not necessarily a being, but a entity or belief.
Let's say our "God" is Earth itself, then the existence can be proven by science and not only by beliefs.
But if God is a extremely powerful entity that created everything, the question goes into a Limbo, because you cannot prove he exists, but you cannot prove he doesn't exist either.
If he made everything, that means he made the Big Bang as well, but there is no proof anything/anyone made it, so in the end, it's up to the person decide if it's real or not.

That's stupid and vague and moot.

That's like asking does a marslouparangtiang exist.

However as discussed in this thread, the question is not about knowing if God is real or not, but for your own interests.