Thanks to all for your interest. Without having anything definitive to work with or subject to rigorous scientific testing, anecdotal evidence—called personal testimony among Christians—plays an important role in growing (bringing in those from the outside) and fortifying (reinforcing conviction of those within) the church. I think it's worthwhile to examine and discuss this subject regardless of perspective.
In that case, because we don't know the true origins of Thor, Ra, Zeus, Atum, Odin, Mithra, Allah, Krishna or most of the other gods worshipped throughout history, it's just as likely to be one of them behind it. I expect it's possible to find the origin of Santa, but the origins of things like faries and pixies, gnomes and trolls are about as hard to find as Yahweh.
serotonin-wraith,
I agree with you. I just meant to narrow down the field, not close it off. From there, we would have to ask questions to narrow down the field further. For example, are the events or apparent connections between events consistent with claims made in their scriptures or ancient texts, i. e., is there any justification in the religious writings for interpreting events a certain way? That may help in some cases, but not in others. From the names you mentioned, this seems to put us in the place of ancient cultures.
For the ice cream example, I'll give you one alternative perspective on it. First of all, I'm not sure that example qualifies as gluttony as mentioned in the Bible. Hey, the gospels state that Jesus went to big feasts on earth, and there's supposed to be a big feast in the future kingdom, so simply a large quantity of food or calories doesn't seem to be the problem. Also, while actual gluttony may be a sin, it's not on the same level as murder, theft, or false testimony against someone, yet those things happen. (From a faith perspective, God often permits us to sin. Why sometimes and not others, and why there are consequences sometimes and not others...well, that can be another topic.) But I'll pass on that issue for now.
As for what happened to the ice cream--well, it didn't have to be sent through an interdimensional portal, or be dematerialized. Its removal did not have to violate natural laws we know of. Even in the Bible accounts, what we call miracles were special events that took place under special circumstances for a reason. Sure Jesus is said to have walked on water, but he normally used more conventional means of transportation--like boats. And sure, he may have fed thousands from a few fishes and loaves, but, as far as we can see in other cases, the disciples ate what they caught, grew, or bartered for just like anyone else.
Here are some conventional explanations for the missing ice cream:
1. Someone there ate it and is lying outright.
2.. Someone may be misleading you through misinterpretation and withholding information. For example, someone may think you meant it was eaten. What happened is that they left it out, it melted, and they threw it away. So they denied taking it, thinking that you meant that also involved eating it. What we think we hear isn't always what is said (thinking of fast-food drive-thrus here).
3. A guest came over and took it without anybody knowing.
4. You thought there was ice cream there, but actually, you forgot you put it in a different freezer.
There are probably other reasonable possibilities, and further investigation might turn up what really happened, or it might not.
Now we could say that's all there is to it. If God's involvement meant things had to be miraculous, we wouldn't have much of an issue here. But the scriptures establish that God works through conventional methods according to natural laws, so being able to explain events through the natural order doesn't eliminate God from the picture. If the ice cream was removed by conventional means, God could still be involved. Where did the idea to remove the ice cream come from? How did the opportunity happen to present itself at that particular time? The more factors we bring in that all had to be a certain way, the more improbable the end result becomes and the harder it is to explain. The ice cream example is not a great one to use for this explanation, but it helps to illustrate the basic problem.
