Why Doesn t God Reveal Himself?
10 This is a major question and point of contention between non-believers and those of faith. 2Why is everything left up to faith when God could simply reveal himself (herself, itself or themselves) and eliminate all questions and doubts that plague mankind about his existence?
3The typical response is that we should simply believe because this is what God expects of us. 4They say that we demonstrate more allegiance when we blindly believe absent of physical proof. 5Again, this is another example of a deity that goes out of its way to make things difficult, yet punishes unbelievers. 60r at least this is what we re told.
Evidence in the Past
7What makes this question puzzling is that during Biblical times, God is alleged to have made his presence well known through miracles and disasters, as well as physically. 8For a God who wants faith without proof, this is contradictory.
90f course, miracles as described in the Bible and other holy books are generally not historical fact and may never have taken place at all. 10But since they are accepted amongst believers, they should be considered when discussing religion.
11God is believed to have made himself visibly evident in many places in the Bible, though there were as many negative manifestations as there were positive ones. 12God would intervene on Earth to save people, but also made his presence known just as much in order to punish people. 130ne well-known example of an appearance of God in the 0ld Testament is when Moses and the Israelites were trying to escape from the Egyptians. 14To help them escape, he opened up the Red Sea to let them pass. 15Needless to say, this kind of display would make anyone a devout believer. 16So why does it no longer happen?
17Jesus is believed to have performed several miracles during his lifetime, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead, turning water into wine and walking on water. 180ddly enough, not all of the gospels record these events the same way. 19That is to say, certain events are mentioned in some gospels but not others. 200ne would think that a disciple of Jesus would keep track of major miracles when recording the events of his life. 21Yet Luke does not include Jesus walking on water, and only John describes the famous water-into-wine miracle.
220utside of Christianity, the concept of miracles and overt manifestations of God is not as common. 23For Muslims, one of the biggest miracles and physical proofs of Allah s existence is the Quran itself. 24It is supposedly filled with scientific details that could not have been known by Muhammad, as well as prophesies that have since come true. 250ne example:
“And it is We who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily it is We who are steadily expanding it. (Sura 51:47)
26This is taken as a reference to the expanding nature of the universe, something obviously not discovered during Muhammad s time. 27A vague reference at best.
28In Judaism, many of the Old Testament miracles (such as the parting of the Red Sea) are just as part of their belief as Jesus s miracles are for Christians. 29Additional miracles are said to have taken place during early Judaic times, such as the miracle of the oil, which is the root of modern Hanukah celebration.
30To take an example of Godly activity from Hinduism, in the 13th century, Saint Jnanadeva touched a water buffalo and the animal then spent the next hour reciting verses from the Vedas. 31A shrine still stands at the spot.
32Miracles are only one example of a divine manifestation. 33The Bible, as well as the Torah and the Quran, have many instances where angels have appeared to speak to men and women to pass on messages from God. 34Why do they no longer bring these messages to Earth? 35Or perhaps they do, but never make it to the final cut of the nightly news?
36Regardless of the specific religion, they all include acts from the deity which offered proof of existence in the past.
Are We Ignoring Modern Miracles?
37In this modern age of science and scepticism, are we possibly seeing miracles but not recognising them, or choosing to ignore them for what they really are? 38We have all heard stories of supposed miracles, such as unexplained healings and the infamous crying or bleeding Catholic statues. 39They are shrugged off as superstitious nonsense, particularly when they take the form of a holy shape being seen in a burnt piece of toast.
40If you wanted to accept these small events as further evidence that God does keep performing miracles, why are they such tiny events compared to the huge acts that were performed in the past? 41Wouldn t our persistent and possibly jaded scepticism be the precise reason why additional miracles should take place in this modern era?
42But not all of these modern miracles are considered small, even though there aren t many events comparable to the displays that took place during Biblical times. 43There was one such event that took place in 1995 that Hindus claim as a major modern-day miracle, known as the milk miracle. 44At temples dedicated to Ganesh around the world, it was reported that statues were seen to drink milk that was given as an offering. 45The phenomenon is said to have lasted a few days and then stopped without explanation. 46Interesting that this is another statue-based miracle like those found in modern- day Catholicism.
It Depends on What You are Looking For
47Many religions see deity – and consequently miracles – existing all around us, infused in Nature and the Earth. 48Many say that the beauty of the sunrise is proof of God. 49For those that revere a distant God, this may be enough.
Rewards for Faith
50Most of God s actions tend to be punishments for various moral indiscretions, whereas a closer look at Jesus s miracles shows that many of them are rewards for a follower having faith. 51Did these events truly occur? 52Or were they created (or at least embellished) as a way of coercing people into having blind faith? 53For example:
“Jesus turned and saw her, ‘Take heart, daughter, he said, ‘your faith has healed you. And the woman was healed at that moment. (Matthew 9:22)
54This particular quote refers to the Bleeding woman that was healed because of her faith. 55Many of Jesus s miracles contain similar statements highlighting faith as the key.
56Perhaps these miracles are more allegorical and not true historic events: a dramatic way of saying good things will happen to you if you believe.
57It could be that the punishment-oriented tales of the Old Testament were no longer being heeded so the writers of these texts decided to change tack and offer up a more reward-based incentive instead.
58The most likely answer to our question is that most of these God-inspired events never took place, but have been added into the Bible or other texts as an illustration of how good things happen to believers (and bad things happen to non-believers).