Why does Jesus not make himself obvious today?

[marco]

Jesus promised to be with us till the end of the world. Many claim they speak to him and he offers guidance. But the lessons they learn seem to be no more substantial than the footnotes in some good advice book and less penetrating than a university course in moral philosophy. No more miracles; no more public displays. It's as if he really did die with no resurrection.


Would we expect a real Jesus to offer clear evidence of himself today?


Even if there is no Jesus around, is it still a good, comforting thing for some to believe he is?

Are there any dangers in believing Christ is around today?

[JJ50]

One would have thought if the guy had actually resurrected he would have stayed down here on Earth so people had no doubt he was still alive.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

He will. But you might not like it when he does.




JW

[marco]

One would have thought if the guy had actually resurrected he would have stayed down here on Earth so people had no doubt he was still alive.

The reply would be: Our ways are not God's ways. Apparently he went "to prepare a place" and it's taken him two thousand years so far. Some place! Perhaps heaven has problems with builders too.

But on the serious side, a sizeable section of humanity believe Jesus IS. One cannot dispute invisible existence detected only by the sensitive radar of piety. That suggests Jesus is not interested in conversions, just in comforting his own flock, who know his voice. Can one argue against this?

[marco]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

He will. But you might not like it when he does.

Ah, for divine certainty! It is wonderful how extrapolation and guesswork can change into conviction - becoming the stuff of faith. Do we have any instances of Jesus ever presenting himself in modern times apart from attendance at RC masses?

[bluegreenearth]

He will. But you might not like it when he does.

Ah, don't you just love passive aggressive threats of violence from an omnipotent but divinely hidden god against defenseless human beings for the crime of applying intellectual honesty, logic, and critical thinking to the only reality they are able to reasonably investigate. Nope, there is nothing psychologically damaging about that message at all. I can't imagine why anyone would think your god is anything other than merciful.

[Tcg]

He will. But you might not like it when he does.

Ah, don't you just love passive aggressive threats of violence from an omnipotent but divinely hidden god against defenseless human beings for the crime of applying intellectual honesty, logic, and critical thinking to the only reality they are able to reasonably investigate. Nope, there is nothing psychologically damaging about that message at all. I can't imagine why anyone would think your god is anything other than merciful.

The empty, but clearly damaging scare tactics, do get old. It is truly a shame when people are driven by such unfounded fears.

My hope that the bold presentation of them, as we have seen here, will help some realize the emptiness of the claims they are intended to frighten people into accepting.

Hopefully, their unsupportable nature will come clearly into focus and they will be discarded.


Tcg

[1213]

…Would we expect a real Jesus to offer clear evidence of himself today?

It is said:

"He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"
Luke 16:31

I believe the same is today, Bible and its message is enough. People who don’t receive the message now, don’t receive it in any case.

[bluegreenearth]

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[bluegreenearth]

…Would we expect a real Jesus to offer clear evidence of himself today?

It is said:

"He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"
Luke 16:31

I believe the same is today, Bible and its message is enough. People who don’t receive the message now, don’t receive it in any case.

That's all fine and dandy if the unfalsifiable claims in the Bible are true, but what will it mean if those unfalsifiable claims turn out to be false? Would it mean people who don't receive the message are wise to be skeptical? Would it mean people who are persuaded by the Biblical message are gullible? This possibility must be considered along with the possibility you are currently biased towards.