1984 & A/S/K revisited

[Undeceived]

The belief He responds to requires a state of mind: a repentant one. You are only going to look for God if you want Him to exist. If you believe you are self-righteous, you are not giving God the chance to forgive you. You remain filled with sin and in fear of His judgment. You do not want Him to reveal Himself, because the God you know will judge you. So God will withhold from revealing Himself through revelation for two reasons: 1) He respects your desire; and 2) He wishes to give you time to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Revelation requires the entering of the Holy Spirit into your mind (which is why we say He gives you faith). The Holy Spirit can only enter if you are pure. If not, His holiness will destroy you. Therefore it is impossible to know God unless you recognize you are a hopelessly sinful person and want to change.

But to whom would we desire to repent, and why would we recognize the authority of "sin", if we did not already believe in god?

Once one realizes their guilty sinful state, they see that the Bible describes exactly their predicament. Sin need not have authority. All the person needs to do is be disgusted by it and to see the flip-side--love, which is demonstrated perfectly in Christ.

He revealed himself plenty in the OT, why did he disappear before cameras (and significant scientific knowledge) came about?

If God revealed Himself physically today, unrepentant people's hearts would still be unrepentant. Half the Hebrews saw the Pillar of Fire and the parting of the Red Sea and turned right back around and crafted golden idols. The Old Testament is partly a record of what doesn't work. Hebrews with repentant hearts followed God, but the others didn't. Today we have a new way to receive revelations: Jesus speaking, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 14:26). With the Holy Spirit, repentant people learn the Message of Christ, while unrepentant people (who would reject it anyway) are left in the dark. Yes, there is a suspicious division. But God has always allowed unbelievers a "way out" of learning His mystery. In OT times, demons were more active, and so were the number of fake "gods". People (like half the Hebrews) could choose to follow another divinity. Today, unbelievers decide to follow presupposed science religiously. They are mirror images of each other. But the truth remains.