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By the way this question is NOT intended to be blasphemous in anyway. I am questioning what every agnostic is questioning. You can find a more sober article about this here http://lesswrong.com/lw/i8/religions_claim_to_be_nondisprovable/

Randi gave $1 million dollar for any paranormal activity. Detail is here http://www.skepdic.com/randi.html

In ancient time, Eliah demanded that the Baal priests perform some miracles.

They failed and get killed.

To be fair, Hashem did perform a miracle at that time in shark contrast. Also many of His prophet were slaughtered by followers of Baal.

When I was a kid, I thought the killing of Baal's prophets are kind of just. I mean they claim that they worshiped some false gods that's proven to be worthless.

But then again, may be Baal is not worthless. Maybe he, as Eliyah him self said, was on a quest, sleeping, etc. Maybe, had Elijah ask the priests to perform miracle with enough forward and public notice, then Baal would be "on" during the time and can do it.

Or may be Hashem just happen to be around when Baal isn't? After all it's His prophets telling people to do certain things at specific time. So may be He is more well informed about the contest. Elijah himself, with his jokes, didn't dismiss the possibility.

What about Hashem? What would happen if the same test is demanded out of me, for example, as one of Hashem's believers (I am a pretty liberal semi agnostic Christian)?

Here is another one http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/02/450-religious-leaders-killed-in-prayer.html asking for the same "experiment" to be done.

Why doesn't anyone try this experiment today? (Skipping the slaughter of the losers.) We could start with believers vs. non-believers, Christians vs. Muslims, Catholics vs. Protestants, etc., until we zoomed in on the correct religious belief. It'd be so simple!

It makes me wonder. What about if the same test is used against any Hashem's followers' now. I don't know, rabbis, priests, imams, whatever.

http://www.skepdic.com/randi.html

None of Hashem's religious leaders can perform miracles either now. And, ugh, why not?

How do we know that Hashem is not just like Baal?

I mean, I know that many believes that Hashem did create tons of miracles in the past. However, there isn't a consensus there right? I am sure those Baal priests can claim some past miracles too.

The Baal priests was told to perform a miracle at a specific place and time.

Imagine if some atheist guy, say Pol Pot, or Chinese Premier collect 500 rabbis to get some altar burned up. Would Hashem pass?

Well we have something quite similar but far more humane and reasonable. Back to the question. We have this one million dollar challenge by Randi. Any paranormal activity would suffice. No time limit. Hell people can even win through fraud if they're smart enough to fool Randi. We don't have to burn altar on specific time and place.

Any altar any time any place is fine. So we can wait to ensure that Hashem is not on a quest, or sleeping, and match His schedule.

Why Hashem or one of his follower didn't win it yet by now?

What would judaism's point of view on this?

I know that almighty Hashem may not be able to create a puzzle so difficult he can't solve because that's logically absurd. What about some basic miracles? Something that could win $1 million?

user4951
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    then how could there be free will for those who don't believe. – Shalom Apr 02 '14 at 09:28
  • "God hides so we have to seek" - Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. – Shalom Apr 02 '14 at 09:28
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    Well, may be Baal hides too, so his followers can seek? Basically I am wondering why Hashem's follower fail the test Baal worshipers fail too. We can have free will with evidence. Just look at how many people freely choose to disbelieve evolution? – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 10:15
  • So what can I do then, as a normal person, to differentiate Hashem from Baal? Neither perform any miracles for what? 2k years? – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 10:17
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    @Shalom, I am seeking here. How else anyone should seek Hashem if not through questions like this? By faith? You sounds a lot like christians. – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 10:46
  • we live in a time of hester panim. Elijah didn't. We need to find God by looking for hidden miracles, not overt ones. This requires faith when we ascribe what others see as "everyday events" to God. http://njop.org/resources/holidays/complete-guide-to-holidays/purim/the-mystery-of-hester-panim/ – rosends Apr 02 '14 at 10:52
  • So that's Judaism's point of view? Now, we have 2 theories. Judaism and Atheism. How do I test which one is right then? – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 10:53
  • @Danno, interesting articles. I had my own biz problems. I wonder if I should solve this normally or wait for miracles. I am learning the secret. But then again. It's a different topic than judaism. – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 10:56
  • Christian "prophet" told me I would prosper and I did increase profit to $1k per day for a few months before my competitor found out what I am doing. I guess I'll check with him again. – user4951 Apr 02 '14 at 11:16
  • @JimThio we don;t wait for miracles. We see God's hand as "proof" of existence and ascribe to the divine the miracles of daily life. But for bigger things, http://www.learnhebrew.org.il/print/2005/june4.htm – rosends Apr 02 '14 at 11:37
  • Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/27362/472, http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/28725/472, http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/8231/472 -- is this a dupe of the first one? – Monica Cellio Apr 02 '14 at 15:05
  • @MonicaCellio, yes. – Seth J Apr 02 '14 at 17:02
  • One good clear, open, impressive miracle would be REAL nice... like the Cloud descending onto the Temple Mount, the folks who don't belong there running out ..on fire.. and when It lifts a nice new shiny Temple sitting there ...yeah, that would clear things up in a lot of folks' books... – Gary Apr 02 '14 at 22:20
  • I don't think the other questions are similar. I mean, I am comparing Hashem's action for the last 2k years with what Elijah demand Baal (or Hercules) 2.5 k years ago. – user4951 Apr 03 '14 at 01:01
  • Or may be Hashem think we are just his lab rats that he's already bored with? Scientists don't reveal his existence to his lab rats. He's more concerned in seeing what's the LQ 50 of this or that poisons. – user4951 Apr 03 '14 at 10:29
  • Elijah was contesting self professed prophets. They are making the claim that they get answered and are in communication. We don't claim to benefit open miracles. We do have certain claims like the everlasting Torah, Jews and Judaism. Unfortunately, this has been tested over and over. This is peer reviewed and repeatable -- but please don't:) – HaLeiVi Nov 12 '15 at 04:20
  • Why is $1 million an incentive for God? If He wants money, He'll just make it effortlessly. – Double AA Oct 02 '16 at 04:02
  • $1 million is not a good incentive for God. But you know, how many people will be convinced if a prophet makes $1 million? In fact, I am a prophet to. I prophecies that no body will win it in another year. Must be divine inspiration. Check mate Randy – user4951 Oct 05 '16 at 04:52
  • Related: Why don't open miracles occur nowadays? – Tamir Evan Aug 09 '17 at 15:46

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If you look in the Chumash, you'll see that even when people see miracles, they don't necessarily change their beliefs. Rambam explains that this is because the "miracles" are just very unusual natural phenomena. So, in other words, God's "paranormal" powers would just be perceived as "normal," because he creates reality by becoming reality. Sorry.

Tatpurusha
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    "because he creates reality by becoming reality" What does that mean? – Double AA Apr 02 '14 at 15:11
  • Can you cite this Rambam (becuase I dont believe he applies his position on miracles to people being affected by them. Please disprove me. – mevaqesh Feb 16 '15 at 18:14
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Hashem cannot perform a miracle to win Randi's bet because by drawing attention to a specific discrete act as paranormal, he would be implying that the creation and current existence of the world is not based on divine fiat, which would run counter to God's position.

Clint Eastwood
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See here. Punchline:

Ultimately, the reason why G-d chooses to conceal Himself is because G-d wants to be known rather than seen.

Yishai
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