Is God's silence significant?

[marco]

We wait for a period of time before pronouncing missing people dead. In the last two millennia we've heard nothing from God, but before that he did shout a few words from the sky, if reports are accurate.

Which is the most reasonable conclusion:
(a) God has died
(b) God never existed
(c) God acts in whatever way he wants and some humans can detect him.

[Peds nurse]

or are we simply not listening?

In that case listening must be a near on impossibility then. I went for a number of years crying out to God and listening hard for some kind of reply. Looking for some kind of peace or feeling of his presence. Never got it.

Hi OC!! It is always a pleasure to debate with you, my friend!

I had to go back and read what I posted...it's been a while! I do believe that there are times, when we don't listen to God, or at least this is true in several people's lives that I know, and in my own life. I am by no means saying that you lacked anything to hear His voice.

I hear the voice of God (not audible), all the time.

I too used to believe I heard God all the time (not audible). But that voice turned out not all it was cracked up to be on many occasion. Of course I always blamed myself for it. Making excuses to resolve God of any responsibility.

God's voice in my life isn't always comfortable. I can and do understand how sometimes people think it is just in our head, and although perhaps I lack the ability to explain it, I know His voice.

I hear him in the voice of my autistic child, who despite her circumstances, finds joy in things that others may not. I hear him in the laughter of children, in the songs we sing at church, and in the smiles of random strangers. I see him working, giving hope to the mourning, the depressed, the hurt, the homeless, and the hungry.

This is all very lovely Peds, but I can't help but feel like it's a bit of wishful thinking going on there.

I understand that OC, but I do believe it is perspective. If His people are echoing His voice, then can we not hear Him through that? Do we not sound like our parents at times? Just a thought.....

I hope you are well!

[Peds nurse]

If the voice of God (which many Christians hear), is a delusion, then 2.2 billion people today are delusional, not to mention all that have died since Jesus. Not to say that is proof it isn't a delusion, but it does make it highly improbable.

Actually I disagree. The human brain is prone to work this way. It is more likely to believe than disbelieve. It is more likely to trust than to distrust. Studies have showed that the mind has a tendency to want to believe in the supernatural and that it is special in the universe. So it's not surprising that so many are convinced they hear from God. It's just the way we are wired.

I should have some links to post here to back up what I'm saying, but I haven't got around to collecting any data. However watch a few documentaries on discovery channel about the brain and you'll see it is so.

Our brain is not wired to believe delusions. I also think that trusting is something that is learned, not just there. This is why so many children that I have taken care of do not trust anyone...they have never learned to do so. If you believe it is the way we are wired, to believe in God (supernatural), why is this so?

Same God, different messages which do not contradict the Bible.

On the other hand there are millions of instances of people claiming to hear from God who believe in completely different things. Just look at this site here and the varying differences in beliefs between theist members, yet they all claim they hear from God and have it right. Just look at all the denominations of Christianity and all the cults. It seems to me very likely that these people aren't really hearing from God but from their own minds.

There are also many theists here who come up with things "from God" that contradict the bible.

I understand the different denominations, and our interpretations of the Bible, but it doesn't mean that the voice of God doesn't exist. We can watch a movie, read a book on history, and even examine facts in a crime, but we can also come away with different conclusions. It doesn't mean that history doesn't exist, or that the crime wasn't committed, but rather, that we form opinions on what we read or even see, and hear.

If its human nature, then why would we need this debating site? There would be nothing to argue, because everyone would be on the same page...because we are all human (at least after I get my coffee in the morning).

I would think that this site should be proof that no one... no not even one person is hearing anything from God.

First we have to prove that God exists

[Willum]

Are we not hearing God, or are we simply not listening? I hear the voice of God (not audible), all the time. I hear him in the voice of my autistic child, who despite her circumstances, finds joy in things that others may not. I hear him in the laughter of children, in the songs we sing at church, and in the smiles of random strangers. I see him working, giving hope to the mourning, the depressed, the hurt, the homeless, and the hungry.

How is it that you know that what you are hearing from these sources is a message from God? It seems to me that what you describe is an act of pure imagination. You imagine that you hear the voice of God in these various things.

According to the Bible, God talked to His people directly, and then through prophets, through His Son, Jesus, and now through the Holy Spirit, given to His people. We are His voice, and although I personally, don't speak loudly often enough, I pray I speak often.

Yes, so many people claim to speak for God: prophets, apostles, Jesus himself (although we have nothing directly from him), and so many others since claiming inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If this is truly the word of God, then God is the author of a confusing and contradictory cacophony.

That does seem to be a problem, since God (the Trinity) was destroyed in the 1400's. She must be listening to something else...

[alexxcJRO]

[Replying to Peds nurse]

First we have to prove that God exists yet you claim God's voice in my life isn't always comfortable and I know His voice.

Q: How is this coherent thought process?

Your not making any sense. Your killing my brain.

[Peds nurse]

[Replying to post 44 by alexxcJRO]

Hey Alex.....sorry that my humor got in the way of your thought processes.

[alexxcJRO]

[Replying to post 45 by Peds nurse]

Be careful with your jokes in the future.

[Peds nurse]

[Replying to post 43 by Willum]

I live in America. The people who live here are it's voice. We represent our country, however faulty or superbly. I do know that the US is a piece of land, but that isn't my point. Different voices represent our country. Not everyone agrees, not everything is true. There are laws in place which govern our country despite our interpretation of them. People's confusion doesn't mean that America' s laws or the government doesn't exisit.

[McCulloch]

Only the spirit of man can hear the voice of the Lord. Those who hear Him are used as His servants to write and speak every word formed in their minds. This is how God reveals knowledge to us.

Or not. There is absolutely no way to know if what you say is correct, nor is there any reliable way to determine who, if anyone, is truly His servant.

[OnceConvinced]

Our brain is not wired to believe delusions.

Actually it very much is. If you watch some documentaries like "Brain Games" and "Mind control freaks" you will see just how easily the mind is fooled. How it is inclined to believe things that aren't real and how it can see what it expects to see, blocking out reality.

Brain Games actually gives you tests to do that proves how easily your mind is fooled and how it blocks out certain information and gives you a false view instead. The tests prove to you yourself just how deluded your brain can be.

I am often shocked while watching that show and doing the tests at just how easily the mind can be tricked to believe something that is false.

I also think that trusting is something that is learned, not just there.

I always found with my children, the trust was there by default. You'll find it's DISTRUST that is the thing that is learned.

This is why so many children that I have taken care of do not trust anyone...

That is because they have learned to DIStrust. The adults in their life before you have let them down. Now you have the tough job of building that trust back up again. What you are doing is REBUILDING trust.

they have never learned to do so. If you believe it is the way we are wired, to believe in God (supernatural), why is this so?

It's not so. Children start off trusting implicitly their parents. Just look at a newborn baby. It's distrust that is learnt. A child that was very trusting to begin with has been burnt by those it trusts and so has learnt to distrust people.

Don't you have kids of your own Peds? (I can't recall if you have said so or not). Surely you would have seen that your own children were totally trusting of you when they were born. They have become less trusting of people as people have let them down. That is why as we become older we become more cynical and distrusting. We have been let down way too much.

I understand the different denominations, and our interpretations of the Bible, but it doesn't mean that the voice of God doesn't exist.

I see it as damning evidence he doesn't exist. If the holy spirit was real we'd see more unity.

We can watch a movie, read a book on history, and even examine facts in a crime, but we can also come away with different conclusions.

Not if you have a supernatural entity ensuring that you are getting the correct conclusions. Christians claim to have the Holy spirit as an entity which helps them understand and interpret scripture correctly. If that were the case, then we would have most Christians coming to the same conclusions.

It doesn't mean that history doesn't exist, or that the crime wasn't committed, but rather, that we form opinions on what we read or even see, and hear.

Indeed, however it is damning evidence that all they are seeing is things through their own perspectives. It is damning evidence that there is no god or holy spirit guiding them.