(September 6, 2009 at 1:28 pm)Darwinian Wrote: Why was little or no faith needed to believe in God during Old Testament times (God appeared to humans regularly) yet today Christians have to rely on 100% faith for their belief?
I am assuming you mean faith that God exists, since despite his irregular appearances the Israelites still required faith in God—even when he was in their midst (e.g., in the story of the parting of the Red Sea, with God as a pillar of fire in their midst the Israelites still struggled with faith in God). And the reason is because faith that God exists is redemptively pointless. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder" (James 2:19). God has no vested interest in people giving their intellectual assent to his existence. God is invested in redeeming (saving and sanctifying) his lost sheep, which requires a good deal more than people agreeing that he exists. There are those on this very site who have said that if God was made unequivocally real to them, they still would reject him.
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
