Why Won't God Heal Marshall Brain?

Is God real, or is he imaginary?

Marshall Brain thinks he's imaginary.
I think he's dead wrong. Here's why.

Introduction

1. Is God real, or is he imaginary?
   
2. Chapter 1 - The line is drawn
3. Chapter 2 - The mystery of God
4. Chapter 3 - The Standard Model of God
5. Chapter 4 - Facing the paradox

Section 1 - Prayer

1. Chapter 5 - Why won't God heal amputees?
2. Chapter 6 - Why do you need health insurance?
3. Chapter 7 - Why can't you move mountains?
4. Chapter 8 - Why do bad things happen to good people?
5. Chapter 9 - Who gets to go to prom?
6. Chapter 10 - Why do battlefield prayers sound so convincing?
7. Chapter 11 - Reviewing the evidence about prayer

Section 2 - The Bible

1. Chapter 12 - Who wrote the Bible?
2. Chapter 13 - Why does God love slavery?
3. Chapter 14 - Why does God love animal sacrifices?
4. Chapter 15 - Why is God so sexist?
5. Chapter 16 - Why does God massacre millions of children?
6. Chapter 17 - Reviewing the evidence about the Bible

Section 3 - Jesus

1. Chapter 18 - Was Jesus the son of God?
2. Chapter 19 - Why didn't Jesus move a mountain?
3. Chapter 20 - Why doesn't Jesus appear to each of us?
4. Chapter 21 - Why do we eat Jesus?
5. Chapter 22 - Why do so many children live in poverty?
6. Chapter 23 - Was Jesus' coming Prophesized?
7. Chapter 24 - Why does Jesus need your money?
8. Chapter 25 - Reviewing the evidence about Jesus

Putting it all together

1. Chapter 26 - What does it all mean?
   

The question of God's existence and whether there's any truth to religion is the most important question that we can ask as individuals. Why? Because if God does exist, then everything we do might end up having eternal consequences and should redirect our lives in order to please God. If God does not exist, we should not be living our lives praying to and worshiping a being that isn't really there and should redirect our lives.

There are some people who say that God exists. Some believe that this is obvious, and there are many ways of proving it. They often cite the beauty of nature as an example of God's existence. Sometimes, it's answered prayer. Sometimes it's the complexity of the universe. It could be revelation in scriptures, or miracles, or the existence of logical absolutes, or the existence of morality, or even the drive we have to make our lives have purpose that make God's existence obvious to these people. The largest religion currently is Christianity, with billions of purported followers.

There are some people who believe that God does not exist. Some also believe that this is obvious, and that there are many ways of proving it. They may believe that evil in the world is incompatible with God. They may think that God has certain attributes that are incompatible with each other. It could be Bible contradictions, or the hypocrisy of believers, or the lack of answered prayer, or our moral autonomy, or God's lack of tangibility that make God's nonexistence obvious to these people. These people are collectively known as atheists.

There is one such atheist who is named Marshall Brain. If you've ever visited the website, "How Stuff Works Dot Com," then you may be familiar with this man. In fact, he's the founder of the website. Brain has made a pretty good name for himself; he has even appeared on Oprah and other talk shows demonstrating, well, how things work. But seemingly more unknown about him that Marshall Brain also founded two different atheistic websites. One asks the question, "Why Won't God Heal Amputees?" formerly known as, "Why Does God Hate Amputees?" It attempts to prove God's nonexistence by saying that God doesn't answer the prayers of amputees when they ask Him to heal them, and the only explanation of this is that God doesn't exist. However, it does this in a very methodical, easy-to-read and, in a word, gentle way. The second website, however, is much more straightforward. It is called "God Is Imaginary." It lays out fifty reasons why God doesn't exist and doesn't bother to apologize.

I, myself, am a Christian theist. When I came across Marshall Brain's writings initially, they caused doubts about my faith because I had never seen anything like it before. And then, after thinking through them for a long time and consulting other opinions, I soon realized my mistake in analysis: Marshall Brain's arguments were almost the laughing stock of atheism. Even many atheists that I have encountered really dislike the guy and his arguments, saying that they give their beliefs a bad name. But at the same time, Brain has developed quite a following on the internet who follow his beliefs almost as if it were a religion in itself.

I was blown away that someone could so seriously believe what he was saying. And so I took it upon myself to respond individually to every single proof on God Is Imaginary. I began in July of 2006, with the help of a friend, and finished it the following year. Eventually, I rewrote the proofs that my friend had written, and it was officially completed on September 25, 2007.

This section of the blog, now that the first half was completed, is now directed at answering every single chapter of Why Wont God Heal Amputees.

I'm glad you visited, and I encourage you to post your feedback at the bottom of each response, where there is a comment section. Or, you could pay a visit to the Message Board. Read at your leisure, but be sure to think about what I've said, and think about what he said. Think about everything, and make a decision.

Sincerely,
Patrick Dunnevant