Why Doesn’t God Reveal Himself?
April 3, 2008 by chillinatthecabstand
Someone by the name of “Coll” recently left this comment on my first Christian Challenge’s page.
“As a believer our aim is not to prove that God exists even the bible does not aim to do this but assumes God’s existence. God has given enough evidence to show but not to take away all doubt. It is not a lack of evidence why people dont believe but a desire to do their own thing. God could if He wanted give evidence to prove His existence but that would defeat the whole point of choice God doesnt just require us to believe but to know Him.”
…
I would now like to discuss WHY God doesn’t just come out and reveal himself.
Coll’s comment is a great example of the only response Christians have to the question – “Because it would inhibit our choice to accept or reject him.” Umm… how?
The story of Satan says that Satan was once an angel, but rejected God and was banished to Hell, where he now dwells, torturing people and fucking with people up here in our world.
Satan rejected God and was banished to Hell.
An angel would know beyond any doubt at all that God exists – God would be right there in front of him! God would be a part of everyday life, like cars are to us.But Satan rejected God knowing beyond a doubt that God was real. As you can see from the myth of Satan, God could reveal himself and become a part of our everyday lives, something we know is real. And we could still choose to accept or reject him, like Satan did.
So, again, why doesn’t God just reveal himself and end this once and for all?
Maybe God feels that he is not under any obligation to prove anything to you, chillin. As author of the universe, maybe he figures he can show himself the way he wants to. My understanding is that he came here about two thousand years ago and we had him crucified. Since then, billions of people have believed in him. Between that, and the proofs he claims in Romans ie. the natural world, the witness of the spirit, etc, he has done a pretty good job without asking for your advice.
By the way, I have wished for the same thing you seem to ask for, albeit your request seems a bit rhetorical. Maybe he will show himself to you in a way you find acceptable. I believe that if your request is sincere, he will. He has to me. I have heard his voice, and, like the apostles who knew him personally before the crucifiction and then didn’t recognize him after he rose, sometimes ask him to split the sky open so I can get a little reassurance myself. No luck yet, but sometimes I think that even if he did there would be those who would explain it away somehow.
Good luck on your quest, my friend.
You are certainly right about Satan. He is a puzzling case to me: he must have known God about as well as anyone ever has, and somehow he thought he could usurp His throne.
And you are right about our ability to accept or reject God (at least as it seems to us), despite whatever evidence we may have. Jesus says this Himself in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31): “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (v. 31)
As to why God doesn’t reveal Himself, I think the answer is that God does reveal Himself. Jesus lists “Moses and the Prophets” as part of the evidence. Jesus Himself is evidence. The intricately designed universe is evidence. These bits of evidence, and many others, convince some people. Some are not yet convinced by what evidence they have, but something may convince them later. Others will not willingly bow to God no matter what evidence they have.
I do hope that you are in the second category rather than the third. Keep your eyes open — something may change your mind.
‘So, again, why doesn’t God just reveal himself and provide evidence?”
>>Because he lives in the clouds…duh :), lol
Every living thing, plant or animal, came from something living. Each seed bears its own kind. Go back a trillion generations, back, back, back, and we would find that living things still got their life from a life-giving being supreme to them. There you have it in a nutshell, which actually houses a seed that can reproduce itself, and thus ushers forth more life. God reveals what He’s about by us contemplating a nut. See you on Immortality Road. Kenneth Wayne Hancock
Hmm… Those all sounds like either the argument from complexity (”Earth looks cool, so there must be a god”
and the argument from ignorance (”We just can’t understand God’s divine will”), which aren’t exactly great arguments.
Whatever. Thanks for responding, everybody.
Because God doesn’t live at your beck and call. Pompous arogant athiest.
lofl I love how you always find a way to put your foot in your mouth.
I think it depends on what one means when one uses words like “God” and “reveal.” I mean, if we’re talking about the narcissistic toddler from the OT, of course not. But like Einstein, I’m a deist, and while I don’t believe in a god of theology that punishes evil or rewards good, I do believe in . . . well, what I really believe in is something completely awesome and incomprehensible. And I think life is generally awesome and incomprehensible.
So my faith is really beyond human terms, but still, it’s there.
I once did a paper on miracles. My argument was that, if you don’t believe in miracles, you don’t see them; if, on the other hand, you do, you see life as a miracle.
I see life on earth as miraculous, but not as a miracle as in a supernatural or religious sense, just in the sense that it was so improbable.
And this is talking about the theistic god, not the deist god, which I understand to be more of a force of nature than a deity.
The capitalized God on here is always a reference to the theistic God, just for future reference.
I see life on earth as miraculous, but not as a miracle as in a supernatural or religious sense, just in the sense that it was so improbable.
And this is talking about the theistic god, not the deist god, which I understand to be more of a force of nature than a deity.
The capitalized God on here is always a reference to the theistic God, just for future reference.
“Because God doesn’t live at your beck and call. Pompous arogant athiest.”
>>Heres a question xian, doesnt most of the christians want god to revewal himself though, so why pick on one atheist?
“lofl I love how you always find a way to put your foot in your mouth.”
>>HE does that so well doesnt he?
Ah, I see the distinction you’re making. Thanks for clearing that up.
And yes, you’re right: the “god” I have faith in is more like ur-Nature, I think. As in, the universe is merely the physical manifestation of something I just completely don’t understand.
A great question, but your post “begs the question” - if DNA should be believed in, why does it not reveal itself? Or at least more directly, like you’re demanding of God. Why would DNA only be indirectly observable in much the same ways God himself is? I don’t think the question is valid in either context. It requires an impoverished view of the world, one in which nothing is real that doesn’t smack you directly in the face.
And again, I’m forced to ask. What exactly does your question have to do with “landmarks”? With Egyptians? Do you realize a person might be interested in, say, the history of Egypt, or its current foreign and domestic policy? Given the region of the world it’s in, that seems pretty feasible to me.
You used five (!) tags containing “sex” and three with the word “slave”. There is a modern day problem with millions of people enslaved brutally, and against their will. Most often this is for sexual purposes, this is how today’s slave owners “profit” from their victims.
Why should a person who’s trying to educate themselves on present day slavery in the world be forced to sort through your demands for God to show himself to you in order to see what people around the world are saying about a real and brutal practice?
DNA is different, it is not a being that is capable of saying “Hey! I exist!”
As for the tags, I just got in the habit of lumping all of the ones I ever used together so it would be easier.
I’ll delete the irrelevant tags in the future.
Hmm.. I think this question “Why doesn’t God reveal himself?” is definitely one asked by an atheist, maybe one that is asked by people who wanted God to reveal himself to them. I don’t know if this is some kind of jealousy or envy for people who don’t need to ask this question anymore, or a kind of disgust for what atheists think are stupid people who believe in something they cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt.
Why should we argue anyway? If the atheist doesnt believe in God and is happy anyway, what’s the reason to ask? And if the Christian believes in God and is happy anyway, why the need to convince the atheist that there is a God? Sometimes, when I read these kind of things, I get the impression that both the atheist and the Christian are angry, and maybe that is why they want to prove who is right, so that maybe in proving who is right, somebody can finally be happy.
I think that if we can just respect one another’s point of view and be happy for each other’s happiness, we can begin to ask different questions, questions like “Can I have a good time with a Christian in things I consider to be wonderful and beautiful even if He believes in a God that I don’t?” or “Can I have a friendship with an atheist and enjoy his support and his loyalty even if he doesn’t believe in a Savior that I can count on to in my darkest hour?”
I did a post on why we argue, called “Should Atheists Argue With Theists?” or something to that effect. Search “should argue”.
It’s not really an “I’m pissed, cuz I’M right” kind of thing, it’s more of that each side sees the other as genocidal demons that our destroying the world. It’s a matter of percieved evils and a want to stop such evil.