Intentionally Hidden (Religion)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, March 27, 2013, 08:11 (4042 days ago)

Carry over from the Trilobite Eyes discussion-[David] We can only know God through His works. There is no direct evidence, because He wants it that way.-
>Tony: I think it is more than a simple case of 'he want's it that way'. I see that there is a reason behind it that is very valid and grounded in sound logic. Not going to derail this thread for that though.->Bella: Tony, I am interested to hear your perspective on the reason behind why God did things the way he did them. Maybe you could put it under a separate category?-
First, understand that I am speaking partially from a biblical perspective when I am looking at this topic. Perhaps that should go without saying, but, better to be explicit. -In the beginning(that just sounds epic...) God revealed himself to man in a manner that one could almost call routine. There are numerous times in the early scriptures where God's presence was revealed directly. -However, he was presented with a challenge. Does God have the right to rule his creation? While he answered that challenge, he also established a precedent for showing people preferential treatment. While not unreasonable, this allowed room for the second challenge, which we see in the story of Job. Will people still follow you leadership if you do not give them special care, treatment, and rewards? -Essentially, while both questions attacked the character of God, the second one also questioned the faithfulness and character of mankind. Would we do the right thing simply for the sake of doing the right thing? Would we offer our loyalty, love, and respect to someone without asking/demanding anything in return? Could we be satisfied with what gifts we have received, without asking for special treatment?-Should God reveal himself or give physical blessings to people, as he had done with Job, then he is admitting that not only is he not fit because he has to resort to bribery, but also that humanity is not fit to exist because we can not be trusted to do the right thing. -The only way to answer that challenge is to allow things to happen on their own, without interfering, putting faith in humanity that at least SOME of the people would turn out to be good people, and that they would be worth saving. -When you look at the picture of the Bible as a whole, that is what we see. All of the prophecies, all of the events that are supposed to come to pass at 'the end of times' is a separating out of those that showed faith in God without requiring anything in return; people that loved him because he is worth loving.-Belief is not enough. "In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,". Some people never realize it, but God has put a tremendous amount of faith and love in humanity, and that is all he expects in return; for us to love him and justify his faith in us by having faith in him by trusting that what he has told us to do is for our own benefit.-If God were to reveal himself, it would no longer be an act of faith. People would do what they were told to do because of fear, not loyalty, love, or faith. If that happened, YHWH would have failed the challenge that he was presented with, he would be declared unfit to rule and humanity unfit to exist. -That is why I say that it is no great surprise that we can not find obvious evidence of God. If you start with the faith that there is a God, and then you will see the evidence absolutely everywhere. Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.