If God wants us to worship him, why doesn't he show himself in ways that would even have atheist on their knee

Question

Can he really blame someone for not believing with the zillion religions and theories out there?

I mean, its just a bunch of stuff people say, like Buddism in other parts of the world.

BTW, I am Christian, but I have nagging questions

Answer 1

If someone doesn't want to see something, they won't, even if its right in front of their face. It's easier to believe that something doesn't exist then acknowledge it and realize you have to change.

“I tell YOU, If these remained silent, the stones would cry out.” ~ Luke 19:40.

PS: Ask your question in prayer and if your earnestly seeking an answer, ask the next person who knocks on your door with a Bible. I'm sure they would love to discuss it with you. (and any other nagging questions you may have)

Answer 2

I'm sure you'll get a lot of answers.. Here's the typical breakdown:
a) He has! (Which ofcourse is not true otherwise there would be no atheists. Or did God, after creating the whole universe, somehow fail at getting atheists to see him?)
b) He will! (Appeal to future... which is another way of saying "I have no evidence right now to back up my claim, so just assume I'm right until later.")
c) He shouldn't! (Appeal to faith... saying that God "wants" people to find him without blatant signs. This is the worst of the answers, because it's utterly absurd to speak of an all-powerful being "wanting" anything. There are no barriers to an all-powerful creature, no ways to upset them. Are we supposed to assume that God wants atheists to find him, but that his all-powerful will is somehow frustrated by a tiny mortal man's mind?! If God exists, then the world is exactly, precisely the way he wants it to be, because if he wanted it any other way, what could possibly prevent it from becoming that way?)
d) "All of creation is a sign! How can you not see it?!" (Appeal to ethnocentrism. How do they contest the members of other religions who claim the same thing, when neither can make predictions or do anything practical to prove their claims? Further, this is a standard God of the Gaps response, which is the oldest and most discredited "reason" for God on the books.)
e) "Atheist choose not to see the signs." (Similar to #1, this is known in logic as the No True Scotsman fallacy. Instead of providing evidence for signs, a religious person will assume that those who cannot see the signs are just not looking hard enough -- which is an easy way to dodge intellectual honesty and the need to justify one's claims.)
f) God doesn't exist. Ahhh... the most rational answer.

Answer 3

According to the bible, He did repeatedly through the Old Testament. And if you give credence to the miracles of Jesus disciples, then you could say He was showing Himself through them.

But notice miracles faded out at some point along the way. People weren't performing miracles any more, relics were.

Why can't the Pope pull off a miracle, or Pat Robertson (can't even get God to drop a meteor on anyone ;-)?

Either there were no miracles, despite the reports, or God has abandoned the self-righteous, so they can look like fools and learn humility again.

Take your pick.

Answer 4

He does show him self, but people tend to ignore it and say it was luck or man that did it. Just think about the last time you were sick. You could have died because of a simple cold, but God made man to think of medicine. You have to look at things in a certain way and not these big huge miracles such as a car being lifted off of the ground to miss you. God works miracles in peoples lives everyday. Just think about waking up in the morning. God made you to be able to wake up. So next time you almost rear end some one, don't think that it was luck that you stopped just in time, think that it was God making you pay attention.

Answer 5

If many people have believed in the existence of God by looking at the creation around them (which the atheists also can see for themselves) then there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for atheists to say that the evidence is not enough.

Answer 6

Well, I'm Jewish, not Christian, but it's applicable all around. Now, I'm nowwhere near the level where I can even begin to understand the divine, but I read this amazing essay by one of the greatest scholars of Judaism in the last few decades, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. If I recall correctly, his point on this was like this: God created us so that He could be good to us. However, He can only be good to us if we merit His kindness by us ourselves being good, and there is no good in the natural realm without the contrast of evil, unfortunately. So everyone who does good is rewarded because there is the evil and they have gone away from it. Now, if God revealed Himself to us, how could we not do good? If you had an almighty power staring down at you to your perfect, objective awareness, would you not do exactly what He commanded you? Of course you would. So then, obviously, because He is right there, He can no longer be good to us, because we can no longer merit it by straying from an evil that is no longer appealing to us at all.

Answer 7

A wicked and adulterous generation ask for a sign.
Because God sees our hearts. He knows that if someone really wants to find him they can. The problem is that too many people don't want to find him. Instead, they want to live their lives without having to be accountable to him. Basically they are saying that if God will prove himself then they will think about acknowledging him and obeying him. But until he does that, they want to go on living lives full of sin. That means that they do not want to obey him out of love. They will only do it if he can prove to them that disobeying him would be worse. They want the creator of the universe to perform for them. The fact tha t he came to us and lived as a man, was beaten and humiliated, and even was put to death is not enough. They want him to do it all over again.
He does not serve us. We serve him

Answer 8

Part of the blessing of being here on earth is that we have been given our agency by a loving and kind God. Of course, He wants us to believe in Him and trust Him, but because of our agency, He will force no one. In Old Testament times, people were repeatedly shown marvelous works and miracles but continued to forget over time, so they were sent prophets to remind them. Once a person reaches the point in his life that he knows in his heart that God and our Savior live and love us, he ceases to need to see God himself, because he knows God exists.

To try and answer your other question about the zillion churches that exist today.... When Christ was on earth, He established His church and called the Twelve to continue in His work after his crucifixion (sp?). As the Twelve, also considered prophets, were killed one by one, Christ's church was no longer on the earth in its purity, because the authority given by Christ was no longer in existence. And ever since that time, people have branched and branched and branched from churches because of differences of opinions or differences in the understanding of the scriptures, or a variety of other reasons. Confusion is one of Satan's most powerful tools.

Hope this helps! Have a great day!

Answer 9

R035,
Because He doesn't want everybody. He will reveal Himself at a later date, but after the Great Tribulation. He will come, save Israel by defeating all their enemies that He gathered to Israel for war.

It's all His, "The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it." so anyone is still being blind. And a Christian saying that has questions and is stayng in a state of doubt better not treat his condition too lightly.

Answer 10

Heh, here's the agnostic, explaining it to the Christian.

Well, it's that you have to blindly believe. If He showed signs, answered prayers, walked around, then there would be no way to determine who is faithful to him or not. It's called faith.

Also, would you recognize Him walking around? For all you know, He might be the guy in the bowler hat sitting at the back of the bus. Would you believe some guy claiming to be God?