ramifications on religion if God was proved to exist

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I am interested to hear the thoughts on this from Christians, or Muslims, or anyone else who has faith in the belief of God, or not. So often we debate about the existence of God, but not what would happen if by chance God was proved to exist (hypothetically of course, say for instance God appeared one day to everyone, made time stand still and proved himself to exist to mankind).

How would this affect religious beliefs? Would it destroy the core beliefs of some religions? Especially the central role that faith plays in Christianity. If God proved himself to exist, how would we view faith? Would everyone get into heaven because they all knew that God existed and then were obligated to follow his teachings? Life would no longer be a test of faith would it?

Or how about the effect on free will, etc. If God proved himself to exist, would we all just stop thinking that it was up to us, and stop trying to control our own lives everyday because God is no doubt in control of everything?

Or what about the effect on the belief of what is good and what is evil? Would this prove that the Devil existed, thereby changing the way people view the evil, would they be excused because we knew that the Devil existed, thereby preventing us from holding people responsible for 'evil' actions.

Or, would God proving himself to exist actually help religious beliefs? If so, how?

I think that we should actually examine the ramifications of proof that God exists, for if it would put religious teachings into doubt, then shouldn't people stop trying to prove he exists? A large part of the clash between believers and non-believers lies in the proof of the existence of God, and if we came to the conclusion that proving Gods existence would actually be harmful to religion, then maybe it should not be debated anymore.

Any thoughts? Please keep them limited to the ramifications of what would happen if God himself showed up and proved his existence, not whether he exists for you or not.

I think it would depend on what he said. For some it would be devastaing others would feel vindicated. If he said nothing everone would argue that it was to him that he appeared and they were the chosen ones. It could cause great striff and war depending on how what he said if anything. It would also cause many people to think deeply about their lives and religion and if they had lived up to what was expected. You would still have free will but you would know the consiquiecnes

What about if the classical Greek gods and goddesses were proven to exist? I hate how philosophical discussions on religion revolve around Christian-centric perceptions of the existential questions. In my opinion, it is just as useful, if not more useful, to ponder what it would be like if an unusual religious doctrine were proven to be objectively true. After all, Hinduism, Shinto, Greek mythology, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and the flying spaghetti monster all have equal standing objectively when it comes to doctrines of faith, beliefs in supernatural forces, and mythology.

If the christian/catholic god was proven to exist, I would be the first one knocking on the door of the nearest church.

I'd think there'd be a lot of people like that.

Don't know about the athiests though??

Sooner or later, Jesus will be coming down to earth. Then, even atheists won't be able to doubt God's existence.

Hmm....it's a very good question. Religion /spirituality deals with that which is unknown and not fully understood, and perhaps not even being capable of being fully understood. As long as it remains so, religion will have great importance. If God were to somehow prove His/Her/It's existence (and depending on how some people view God, perhaps it isn't even possible for Him/Her/It to do so explicitly-for instance some, like myself, believe that God's existence is implicit in the workings of the universe), it'd be completely different; things would no longer be unknown or not fully understood, and so religion as we know it would not be harmed or helped; it wouldn't really be religion as we know it. That being said, I think that as long as things remain unknown and mysterious and not understood by us, religion/spirituality has great importance, and questions such as the existence of God, what God means, the meaning of life, etc. are worthy of being pondered and discussed. It's the same as this situation: say we could all suddenly have all the questions pondered by philosophers and scientists answered for us. After that, philosophy and science would not be philosophy and science as we know it now. However, that does not mean they are not important now.

Technology can create illusion, it can also create the illusion of a god or supernatural.

Just on the movie screen!