Proof of God’s Existence- Scene 1- A Knock at the Door

Ok, I think I’m ready to proceed with this. This is meant to be a somewhat extemporaneous thought experiment, in which the reader is invited to participate. There is no set destination point for what will probably be a somewhat protracted hypothetical scenario. I’m doing it this way with the intention of making this more of an informal exploration than an actual argument, which I think would require a pretty involved outline to properly pursue, and I just don’t have the time or energy right now. I’m hoping some others might chip in along the way, since I have a feeling I’ll probably miss a few things, and the more minds, the better. To tell you the truth, I’m not even sure if what I have in mind is going to to work. The reader might find me tweaking things here and there as I go along, finding this or that aspect of my presentation too unwieldy or otherwise impractical to continue using. Patience will be the watchword.

My purpose is to present a series of fictional situations, through which we might explore the ways people generally assess reality on a daily basis. First, let me introduce our cast of characters:

Bob Smith- Bob is a somewhat elderly man, retired, whose wife and friends find innocent and trusting to the point of being gullible.

Carol Smith- Bob’s wife is the counterpoint to Bob’s trusting nature, skeptical to a fault, and always on the lookout for a scam. (note: both Bob and Carol always try to be scrupulously honest with each other).

Mary Jones- The Smiths’ nextdoor neighbor, as well as the local real estate agent. She’s a recent move-in, and neither of the Smiths know her very well.

Mr. Garcia- The mysterious man across the street.

I think this is about all the information we need to get started, and so, without further adieu...


It’s late Monday morning, and comes a knock upon the Smith’s front door. Bob answers. It’s Mary from next door.

MARY- Why, good morning, Bob! Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know that I’ve sold the yellow house across the street. I didn’t think I’d ever unload that thing in this market, but luck was with me, I guess. Anyway, the new owner’s name is Garcia. I expect he’ll be in and out fairly soon, and I just wanted to let you folks know so you won’t be worried about the garage being open, or anything like that. You’ll be sure to let Carol know, won’t you? Toodles!

BOB- I sure will, Mary. Thanks for stopping by with the news!

In the subsequent few days, there’s no activity at the yellow house across the street. Then, on Thursday afternoon, Carol peeks out the window and notices that the garage door is open, and there are some boxes stacked in the middle of the floor. She tells Bob, who takes her word for it, and doesn’t bother looking himself. Later on, Bob goes outside to fetch the paper, and notes that the garage door across the street is now closed. He tells Carol, who believes him, and doesn’t bother checking for herself.

Ok, from here I’ll proceed with an analysis of the story so far, in an attempt to ascertain what is factual, what is belief, and what is faith...as well as possible points in-between. This’ll concern both the points of view of the various characters, as well as my own evaluations and, of course, those of the reader. This is probably the way I’ll be continuing throughout the series, but if I change tracks, I’ll be sure to let the reader know. Please bear with me, as I’m feeling my way through this as I go. Hopefully, all this will become clear as I move ahead, including to myself...hehehe!

For the purposes of this series, it is to be assumed that I’m transmitting this fictional account as if it actually happened, and that any factual meta-statements/descriptions regarding the story and its characters, such as ‘It’s late Monday morning’, or ‘Carol said to Bob...’ are to be taken as factual givens. There is one exception to this rule, contained in the cast of characters, namely ‘Mr. Garcia- The mysterious man across the street’.

So, on with it, shall we?

When Bob answers the door, who’s there? Bob recognizes it to be Mary, the woman who lives next door. Of course, it might be a twin, or a clone, or an impersonator up to no good. But does Bob have any good reason to doubt that it is, indeed, Mary? None that I can see. Why? Because the alternatives I’ve offered are too farfetched to be seriously considered. That kind of stuff happens in soap operas and other forms of fictional entertainment, but not in the real world. In the real world, we generally assume that people we know are who they appear to be. We don’t seriously question that our families and co-workers have been replaced by lookalikes.

How about her story? Has she really sold the home across the street, and to a ‘Mr. Garcia’? Again, Bob has no apparent reason to doubt Mary. As a matter of fact, Bob believes Mary’s story to an unquestioning degree. However, having said that I would submit that Bob’s degree of certainty should be lower than his identification of Mary herself. Why? Because in the first case the evidence is provided by direct sensory input-Mary’s face and voice are both imprinted upon Bob’s memory-while in the second case Bob is forced to make his truth evaluation based on a story told by someone else. Even trusting old Bob has been burned a few times in his life. He knows that people tell lies, and that stories don’t always line up completely with reality. Still, nothing in his admittedly limited dealings with Mary would lead him to believe that she’s trying to deceive him. Furthermore, what would be the point? What could possibly be gained? Unless, of course, Mary’s a pathological liar and makes stuff up just for the hell of it, or to fulfill some distorted kind of psychological need. But there’s certainly no reason to go there as yet, is there?

In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that Bob’s skeptical wife, Carol, holds a very similar attitude towards Mary’s information as her husband does. And why not? It’s all so innocuous, isn’t it? With the confirmation of the boxes in the garage a few days later, what’s to seriously question here, if there ever was anything in the first place?

VERDICT: It is highly reasonable for Bob and Carol to take Mary at her word concerning a Mr. Garcia moving into the vacant yellow house across the street. At this point, with the information they have, in the context of the situation, I think anyone in the Smiths’ position would take Mary’s story as FACT, plain and simple. Are they reasonably justified in doing so? Why, or why not?