Because we can imagine a scenario where the Christian god appears...
You wake up one morning, turn on the news, and every channel is reporting on a being that has appeared on the White House lawn. This being has snapped his fingers and turned the sun off and on. It's transformed dogs into cats, & baked 30 minute brownies in 5 minutes. In other words, it's performed bona fide godlike miracles.
What will six billion humans possessing free will do?
The faithful will, of course, be infinitely more faithful. A few billion will convert to Christianity on the spot. A billion or so will fall to their knees and call on their own god to smite this god. Millions will ignore what happened, and millions more will reject the god explanation and call this being an alien, Satan, etc. A minority will demand scientific proof.
In other words, human "free will" will remain perfectly intact and functional.
The Christian god has NOTHING to lose, and EVERYTHING to gain by appearing, so WHY DOESN'T HE?
2007-07-31 14:38:59 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
patrone07 - we most certainly would NOT be FORCED. Plenty of people would deny it was god simply out of spite or stupidity.
2007-07-31 14:46:56 · update #1
dewcoons - then god is the worst "parent" in history, for we don't raise effective children by making suggestions and hoping they "see the light." We reveal the truth, the consequences and the rewards DIRECTLY because allow for the fact that human beings are intelligent rational creatures CAPABLE of dealing with reality in a logical, non-ambiguous way. If god shows himself to be the being Christians claim he is, in ways that makes sense to an intelligent mind, millions of atheists would have no problem loving him genuinely.
2007-07-31 15:00:11 · update #2
1ski - what you're saying is that the Christian god wants people to take a chance on him, but if that were truly the case, then he wouldn't need to coerce people with the promise of reward (heaven) and threat of punishment (hell.) Intelligent, logical, thinking beings prefer FACTS when they have to make decisions, particularly life and death decisions.
2007-07-31 15:02:54 · update #3
Martin S - on the contrary, god most certainly DOES have to come down and perform a magic show (or a godlike miracle) if he wants me (and millions of others) to believe. I wasn't around to see this supposed messiah perform these supposed miracles, and sorry but your bible isn't legit enough to convince me. I want to be convinced in a manner befitting my logical, intelligent, reasoning brain (the one your so-called creator intelligently designed for me.)
2007-07-31 15:05:40 · update #4
God believers say a lot of things.... some say this and some say that and in the end they have all the bases covered several times around, (that's baseball talk for our cricket fans.)
It all amounts to this: The opinions of god as spoken by christians, jews or muslims are all incorrect... there is no god and there never has been.
But lets say for a moment, (just for a laugh,) that god was sitting up on his cloud in the sky and listening to all sides... What in the world would the poor guy do? If he kept an even tally of heads, his opinion would democratically have to be decided for the majority, (that would be the christians on most days of the week,) but what about the minority? What about the poor jews... his favorite people, right? Gosh, I guess he's have to give them a break onse in a while, wouldn't he? ... ...
Can you see the dilemma that all this side taking causes for god? (..not that it matters a hoot to a god who isn't there... but for people there is an easy solution to the problem, isn't there? -- Just quit the entire god thing and be done with it.)
If we're looking for god to show his face, (and personally, I'm not that stupid,) I think we'll be waiting a long, long, infinitely long time.... like until forever. So... forget about the instant brownies... It just ain't gunna happen.
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2007-07-31 18:52:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
He doesn't appear on the lawn of the White House for the very reason you stated. It would not change the minds of those who do not want to believe. So what would be the point? And even those who did "change" would be doing so from the "head" and not the "heart".
God does not ask for the minds of men, he ask for the hearts. He seek a serve that comes from love and trust, not from "proof". A person who follows "by faith" is giving their all by choice.. A person who follows "by prove" is merely agreeing with facts and do what he has little choice but to do.
Since God's purpose is not to make slave, but to make sons and daughters who love him, he moves by the heart, not the head. If he "appeared", he would lose the ability to have "heart" children. But once he gets the heart, the head comes along for free.
But there is another major flaw in your logics. That is the idea that God does not appear before people, and perform miracles. He does it all the time for me. I see him all around everyday in thousands of different ways. I have witnessed hundreds of miracles. I wonder what is wrong with people who don't see them.
2007-07-31 14:53:35 · answer #2 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Exactly.
When Jesus appeared to his followers after his death, he said something along the lines of it being a greater man who believes without seeing. Now, replace seeing with any other sense.
This passage alone suggests to me that the option of direct experience should be available. Since God has not seen fit to show itself convincingly to any of us non-believers in THIS life (as Jesus did), I must assume that the next life will grant me one last chance to believe and worship. So what if I'm a lesser man for it? At least I still exist. Furthermore, this is in line with the concept of an infinitely loving God, or even just a loving God; eternal torment for finding no reason to believe - indeed, every reason NOT to - is not only unmerciful, but unjust.
Then again, there is that one explanation I like to use...
The Christian God does not and cannot exist.
2007-07-31 21:57:50 · answer #3 · answered by Skye 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
He doesn't physically appear to us now, simply because faith is believing in something that you cannot see, and God wants to see how many of us actually have faith in him. HE is waiting for the very last soul on this earth to be saved before HE will come and take the believers to Heaven. Jesus is going to come back on Judgement Day, and that is when ALL will see HIM.
2007-07-31 16:41:41 · answer #4 · answered by Linda M 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God does not appear because he wants people to have faith? That is just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Why don't these "Christians" ever study classical apologetics? Theologians have postulated a very specific reason for why God doesn't appear. And that ain't it!
2007-07-31 14:47:25 · answer #5 · answered by NONAME 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Good reasoning but in the first place, why should he appear when nothing is going to change?
He will appear again when judgement day come. Then all your creative ideas can happen.
2007-07-31 14:48:17 · answer #6 · answered by IcyCool 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He DOES APPEAR, you just haven't seen Him!
God doesn't shows up physically, of course; but He does show up his love, his power, etc.! He still makes miracles, changes lives, etc.
You just have to go to the right place at the right time to see where He shows up. (a spirit-filled, bible-based, holiness-centered church).
2007-07-31 15:35:02 · answer #7 · answered by Joshua 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
it's not just in christianity--it's in judaism and islam as well.
the idea is that god wants you to love him with your own free will. that you were not coerced, that you were not convinced by miracles, that you were not forced at gun point, but that with your own intention -- out of your own sense of appreciation and devotion -- you chose to believe and serve your creator.
do you want a woman to love you because you buy her presents, because you go out of your way to dazzle and impress her? or do you want her to love you because she appreciates you for who you are without you having to prove anything to win her love?
same kind of idea.
2007-07-31 14:52:01 · answer #8 · answered by mobius1ski 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God doesn't do parlor tricks to amuse morons. As stupid questions go this is right up there...
2007-07-31 14:53:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't know, but I think that God wants each of us to voluntarily want to know and love him before we actually see him. God wants us to love him for who he is, our Father, Savior, and Comforter, not just because he exists. If God reveals himself to us before death, then we would be FORCED to believe in him, but God wants us to want to know him first, before we can meet him. God bless and I hope this helped.
2007-07-31 14:45:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋