Why is faith more important now than it was in old testament times?

Question

Many people use the argument that there is no proof of god because that would negate the need for faith. In the days of the old testament, god interacted on a regular basis with his followers and his chosen people. He spoke out of storm clouds and sent plagues after their enemies. There seemed to be no lack of evidence that god was real back then -- going on the assumption that everything in the bible is accurate.

So, what's changed, exactly?

The time period in which the supposed events of the old testament took place, smartass.

Not of this world -- the question is, why? Why do we live in a time where faith is more important?

Scratch the Surface -- I'm regurgitating. I never claimed that any of those events actually occurred. Read the question again, and you might understand what I'm trying to say.

lins -- Honey, I'm NOT a christian.

Answer 1

"Old testament times" was before the sending of the Holy Spirit to dwell in believers. Faith however was extremely huge during those times. They didnt have the Bible or the teachings of Christ and had to rely on God speaking to them in order to learn about God. Then all they had was prayer and faith. Now we have that as well as Holy Spirit, Jesus, church, and the Bible to learn about God and have a relationship with him.

Some of people that conspired to have Jesus executed also saw him raise Lazurus from the dead. Signs are not the magic potion for belief that you think it is.

A good book of the bible (and I would assume any commentary on it) to read about connecting Old Testament faith with the New Testament is Hebrews. After reading it, maybe you will see that faith was a huge part of a relationship with God.

Answer 2

The importance of faith has not changed, faith in God has always been paramount, as for the visitations and visions you speak of , those were only by a select few WHO HAD GREAT FAITH and were dedicated to God and His design. I think what you really want to know is that wonders and signs were needed then to demonstrate the power of God as there were an abundance of man made deities in the days before Christ and even after through about the 5th century AD. But as the populous became more educated, written word became more available, the need for signs and wonders has ceased. People can actually read for themselves and choose to believe or not. But Faith has remained constant throughout. The choice is to have or not have faith and has always been, the faith now is stronger and greater because of the lack of these miraculous events. The evidence of God today is easily viewed when looking at the complexity of nature or the universe knowing that man and science and reason cannot explain all of these, nor can the knowledge of man duplicate; the constant attempts to disprove God show the belief in but non acceptance of, as those trying to disprove are students of a watered down form of Epicurean philosophy. In the US today there is a growing trend in a hedo-epicurean philosophy which by the very core of that philosophy is contrary to God's teachings thereby making God and faith in God inconvenient and therefore unacceptable.
But throughout all Faith has the same significance from the beginning to present day.

Answer 3

wow, some people on this place are dumb, not the question, the answers...
k so first off, faith has always had to do with the desire to believe. in the old testament, there are many times when people, even with the miracles happening all around them still chose not to see it as proof of a God. it's the same today. people have already chosen to believe or not believe in God, without any proof, so why would God go through the hassle of making Himself known when our minds are already made up. I choose to believe. Whether God comes down on a fiery cloud shouting that He created the Heavens and the Earth, or whether He just watches in some remote location of the Universe, it doesn't change my belief.

The old testament is a collection of religious stories spanning a long time condensed into a couple hundred pages. If you took all the stories of people who had some kind of religious occurrence from the time after the new testament to now, you'd have another collection of God interacting with his children

Answer 4

Faith is important now more than ever because there are so many more things discouraging in the world and away from God. Satan is more persistent than ever and also people are more cruel, thoughtless more than ever. In that time people were a whole lot friendlier crime was not rapid as now. With so much misery in the world my faith keeps me grounded. A belief that will be better by the grace of GOD. Whose to say that God is interacting with us we just are not listening?Look at at all the man-made and natural disasters like floodings, drought, rapid weather changes happening in this day and age.

Answer 5

You have managed to touch a nerve here. Faith is a very personal choice made by every individual. We all have very different relationships with God. That has always been the case, btw. Some people were and are pretty fanatical and self righteous about their beliefs, others are kind, accepting and tolerant of others. I think, we enjoy the comfort religion gives us in our every day life. It also helps us to except death of loved ones, sickness and pain of loss. It gives us guidelines for decency and morals, helping us to live better lives. The point is: nothing had changed. We might of gotten more education and are exposed to other cultures, but we don't need to see miracles on every day basis to know that God is there. We feel him in our souls.

Answer 6

shakespear galileo and different philosophers standardize God? What befell to the stable hassle-free adult adult males being God's human beings? David? He replaced right into a 0.33 string sheppard, he wasnt impressive canines suitable away, yet He replaced into paving the way for Jesus so he have been given up there. You for sure do not additionally comprehend the previous testomony to come back after it like that. Jesus gets the excitement of sitting with God because of the fact he's! fool

Answer 7

Nothing has changed. Religious zealots still claim god sends down plagues and storm clouds to smite thier enemies. Even back then there were people that believed and people that didn't , but the main difference was there was no internet or television so information didn't travel and it was easier for the church to destroy books they didn't like. Now we have much more information and the churchs don't control the world anymore.

And thats a good thing.

Answer 8

First of all, faith is just as important now as it was then.

Faith is a principle of action and power. Whenever we work toward a worthy goal, we exercise faith. We show our hope for something that we cannot yet see. Faith is much more than passive belief. We express our faith through action—by the way we live.

One of the reasons we left our heavenly Father's presence (in the premortal life) was to pass through trials here on earth - dealing with adversity is one of the chief ways we are tested. Our faith in our Heavenly Father and his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, is the source of inner strength. Through faith we can find peace, comfort, and the courage to endure. As we trust in God and his plan for our happiness with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding (see Prov. 3:5), hope is born. Hope grows out of faith and gives meaning and purpose to all we do. It can give us comfort in the face of adversity, strength in times of trial, and peace when we have reason for doubt or anguish.

Second, God still does interact with his followers. Faith being a key part here - many will say 'show me a sign and I will believe' or 'seeing is believing,' but that is not the way it works . . . faith precedes the miracle, or perhaps believing is seeing.

Perhaps the following will shed some light on this subject:
Based on your question, I assume that you are a Christian. I assume that you believe in the Bible—the Old and New Testaments. I assume you believe in prayer. I assume you believe that God ever did speak to anyone? I assume you believe he spoke to Adam, to Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and to others of the prophets. I assume that you believe that contact between God and man did not cease when Jesus appeared on the earth. I assume you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. I assume you believe that after the resurrection of Christ, God still spoke to man – for example, Saul of Tarsus who was going down to Damascus to persecute the saints, and who had a vision, was stricken blind, in fact, and heard a voice that said ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. …’

I suggest to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to man.

Many believe, however, that it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era. Why do you suppose that is?

Perhaps it is because he cannot. He has lost the power. . . .
Of course that would be blasphemous.

Perhaps he doesn’t speak to men because he doesn’t love us anymore. He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.
No. … God loves all men, and he is no respecter of persons.

Maybe the only other possible answer is that we don’t need him. We have made such rapid strides in education and science that we don’t need God anymore.
If you look at the world today, I’m sure you would agree that there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now.

He does speak, he has spoken; but men need faith to hear him.

Answer 9

God interacted with His people at that time because it was His way of saying, "I am here, I am your God, you are my people". The Israelites had nothing else to go on, they had no texts, no Scriptures, no history of God working to rely on. God acting in this way lessened as time went on, as texts were written and the knowledge of His workings became evident. But, seeing wasn't necessarily believing. Shortly after God took His people out of Egypt, using His divine power, revealing Himself to them, they went back to worshiping idols. We, as believers, are called to live by faith, not sight. We are called to believe He exists, to believe His word is true, and that Christ died to satisfy to sin punishment due His people. Christ Himself said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign". We require no sign, no wonders, no miracles, we simply have faith, given from above.

Rom 1:17 for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; even as it has been written, "But the just shall live by faith."

Answer 10

Because in this day in age with everything being so high tech, chaotic, warlike and downright nutty, I think people are longing for something, anything, that would help explain one's existence.