Hi! my name is Emma,
I have lately decided that life really isn't worth living unless God is in it (and I'm sure all who have found God agree!).. My family and friends are all Christian but I find it hard to talk to them sometimes...
Basically I'm in trouble, because I can't help but find myself doubting God's very existence =(
I study Physics and Biology at a university level, and in every one of my 5 subjects, it is a requirement to believe that the world is billions of years old!
But most of all, I am wondering why God doesn't reveal himself more plainly than he does? My friend says that it would take away our freewill, but wouldn't it only give us a better understanding of our reality? that way everyone could make better decisions..
I wish I could get over my doubts and join with my family and friends in prayer, but I can't truly believe!
Thank you all very much for your help,
Emma.
Okay. 'It is God's glory to hide a matter', 'to kings glory to seek a matter out'. God and hiding a matter go hand in hand.
Jesus spoke of why He spoke in metaphor... I won't look up the verse, you should, but it is to hide the 'secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven'.
You have to *think* to figure all of these things out, using the superior mind of Christ. It is way beyond simple black & white logic I see people often approach it with.
And, yes, that includes highly worldly intelligent atheists, Christians, and those of other beliefs.
So often I get, in fact, the simplest of explanations from otherwise very intelligent atheists for their disbelief. Usually it can be summed up into "well, bad things happen, to me especially, so God must not exist". I hate to say it, but really it is a disagreement they have with God.
One of those unconscious things people tend to have at a deep level...
In all honesty (or truly as some say), I have never talked to an agnostic or atheist who understood the wider dynamics of these hard questions. It is that obscured and that deep and that hard to understand. Long, long time Christians very often do not understand these things.
They have lives to live. It is not important for what they need to know.
These are non-answers... I know, in a sense. Or I am being vague. But, it is much more important to get to a place of seeking and a "I do not know" place then to quickly find answers to such complex and deep questions.
Socrates was dead right to focus on getting his students to that place of destroying their assumptions. Jesus said the exact same thing.
As for evolution... not so important details. You should be able to work with social prejudice of all sorts as a Christian all the time. There is nothing wrong with knowing the answers to tests... even if you suspect those answers ultimately are incorrect. That is just the way the world is built.
Finally, God will reveal Himself more plainly. Prophecy speaks deeply on this. What we are in now is an Age. In the Age to come, matters will be different. This is described metaphorically and in deeply obscured language in Revelation, as well as in various prophets.
Finding secrets is valuable. That is why God hid them through out the Prophets. They give options others do not have, options which are useful. The world does not regard such knowledge, but that knowledge is very valuable. It supplements faith and does have practical usage in our daily lives.
But, as for "free will" or no free will.... different issue. Most see it as an "either or" scenario. I see it as a paradox, as a "we have every appearance of free will, but do not". Which is far more paradoxical in practice and consideration then to simply say or hear.
I suppose a simple "for instance"... Jesus points out that "all are called, few are chosen". Or that 'those who come to me are led by the Father'. He also points out that saving knowledge is obscured from outsiders so they will not turn.
I view it as a sort of conspiracy of the weak and "foolish" of the world. One which God has set up, not man. A good secret group "thing".
Personally, I also view that as ultimately being for the good of others, as well. So, there is no real "in club" with God. Rather, if anyone is first in the knowledge of the Kingdom of God, among the first... then they are so that they may help those behind them.
If someone starts work early, they get the same wage as those who start in the last hour. To remind of that parable. We can not complain for having worked longer if those who work for less time get the same pay. Nor should we. It would be selfish and petty. Not God's attributes, nor ultimate attributes of His Children.
