Proof That God is Real

First I would like to say thank you for being very considerate. This is actually the first debate In which I have ever taken part, and I"m excited that my contender is offering well considered points and perspectives. I agree that science is an integral part of our learning about the world around us. Yet with ever-changing scientific discoveries and theories nobody can say at any moment that any theory is absolute truth. Which is why they are called theories. Just to be clear, I did not refer to advances in science as being a "folly". However, the folly that I believe resides in the need for scientific proof alone is that there can"t be any solid proof in which a person can hold a firm stance. I am not anti-science. My own father passed away years ago after having heart surgery that was, at that time, very risky. Today, because of scientific and medical advancements, that same surgery is a simple low-risk procedure. So, I am thankful for the continuous advancements, which in my view, does not diminish from the existence of God, but speaks loudly to fact that God is far higher than us in every single way, and it is because of His very creation that we can attain to any advancements at all. I am not one who believes that science will prove the existence of God. If the amazingly organized intelligent aspects of scientific discoveries hasn't caused one to recognize that there is a much higher force behind creation, then there's nothing that I can say that will change a person's mind. Just as I quoted in my original argument: Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. It is the same principle. As with the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, and the anti-Christ opinions of many in this world today isn't it our individual responsibility to search out the truth personally? If, in the end we are wrong at least we can say that we did our best to search it out and did not rely on opinions and theories. Will a theory or an opinion make a difference in the end? I think not. What we find as being absolutely true, will. Just for the sake of the argument presented, my take on evolution is this. There are many who disagree with the theory of evolution. For each scientific "proof," or rather, theory, there are equally convincing arguments that offer "proof,' that is just as solid. Charles Darwin had no understanding of genetic coding. This is not to dismiss his intellect, but while the theory of evolution was being "theorized," genetic coding was many years away from being discovered. As you know, I"m sure, that genetic coding dictates the offspring that any living creature will produce. For there to be changes in any genetic code, as Mendel"s laws of genetics demonstrates. (Although even Mendel's theory has been changed.) there are definite limitations. There isn't any case where different species of animals have bred and produced an entirely different species. There definitely have been differences in specific animals bit those differences can even be observed by us today. Two different breeds of a dog would produce perhaps a small dog or a large dog, a long haired dog or a short haired dog. Yet, the dogs that are produced remain dogs as is the case with every living creature. The encoded genetics dictate what any creature will produce and its traits. In order for there to be an entirely new trait intertwined in an animal's DNA, there would have to be new genetics introduced. Although certain traits may lie dormant for unknown amounts of time I have never heard of any case where dogs produce a cow, or cats produced a mouse. I have no relatives that are monkey, (although that in itself is debatable.) I would think that science today has the technology to introduce something new into an already genetically encoded string, but that would involve some sort of intervention and although there are recorded cases of genetic "flukes," even on those rare occasions, it takes a lot of speculation to form the idea that there is some sort of other species in a genealogical line. If you look at a chart that depicts evolution we can start at the beginning, with a monkey. There is no argument that there are still monkeys in existence today. We can look at the end of the chart which depicts man, and we can say with certainty that there are still men today. Where are all the creatures in-between? One would think that each one survived long enough to leave behind tremendous amounts of evidence of domination for a decent period of time, but the evidence is sparse at best. I don"t usually spend time researching evidence for evolution as I personally do not believe that it is accurate, but every ten years or so some single skeletal remains are found and science immediately jumps to the conclusion that they have found the ever-evasive missing link. Let"s examine the world religions. The bible acknowledges the existence of different religions even in the very first book (Genesis.) So today's mixture of religions is really nothing new. The bible states this: Isaiah 40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? If you research world religions and different time frames, all have a documented beginning, (and some have a documented end.) Christianity and Judaism both adhere to the belief that God has always existed and directly conveyed His will to mankind at the very foundation of the earth as the above verse shows. If you research all the way back to Nimrod and Babylon, the separation and divisions that took place and the religions that have formed since that time, you will see that there are similarities today that tie directly to the different religions that have formed on this earth throughout history. The bible bears historical record of many different beliefs systems, from the followers of "Dagon," to followers of the "goddess Diana." If you feel drawn to research these different belief systems, you will even find that many times there is a common denominator that involves a serpent symbol and in other cases, a moon sliver and a star. I can even name a so-called Christian denomination that uses the serpent symbol as part of it"s base system, and refers to it as the "white snake," or "quasi quatro," I will leave that to you to look into. I certainly hope that you will because if nothing else, you will have even more knowledge than you"ve already displayed in your wonderful and well thought-out responses. I must add that in the bible, the other different religions that were present were never once considered to be based on the same God. For there is only one God and His name is Yahweh. This brings me back to my original statement. "There is nothing that I could say that would cause a person to believe." Ultimately, the burden of proof comes down to each person seeking it out in Christ Jesus for themselves. If it"s proof that a person seeks, then ask HIM sincerely. Thank you for taking part in this debate. I look forward to your final response. A big thank you to all who added comments and brought forward great points for consideration.