George Frodsham has posted more questions on his Help with God blog. This time, he asks, “Why is God bad at marketing?”
Reading some of your answers, one thing I have discovered about religion (and perhaps Christianity in particular) is that it is very personal. This means that everyone has different opinions and interpretations of almost everything. There are very few people who believe exactly the same thing. I realise that these differences are only skin deep, and the underlying beliefs (the basic beliefs we discussed in my previous posts) are the same, but it still makes you think. The fact that there are so many interpretations shows one thing: Christianity and the messages of the Bible are ambiguous. So why doesn’t God make things clearer for us?
Please do not jump to the obvious response – ‘what right do you have to question the way God works’? I have been told this before, but I remain unconvinced by those who say that but cannot provide an answer to my questions. It is human nature to question beliefs and knowledge, and I belive that it is very important to do so.
I have always assumed that God wants us to believe in Him. Indeed if He loves all of mankind, then he should want as many people as possible to believe. If this is the case, why does He do such a terrible job at promoting Himself? Those of you who believe and find your belief unquestionable, have you never wondered why so many people aren’t believers? There are about 4.5 billion non-believers. Assuming that Christianity is ‘the one true religion’, why are so many people missing out on it? Here are the reasons I can think of:
Education about Christianity is not wide spread enough.
It is easier to find God (or think that you have) through other religions
God only reveals himself to certain people
Christianity is difficult to believe in, and those with a sceptical mind don’t think that there is enough evidence for it
The Devil has corrupted 4.5 billion people so that they will go to hell (through reason 2?)
4.5 billion human minds are too corrupted to believe
In reasons 1 through 5, I have to think that God isn’t doing a very good job of getting people to believe in Him (assuming He wants us too). Being God, shouldn’t he be able to solve these problems without completely revealing Himself? He should be able to do it without us even noticing a difference. As for those of you who liked reason 6, isn’t it a sin to think that you are superior to 4.5 billion other human minds?
To compound this marketing problem, God also fills the world with ‘tests of faith’, which have been prominent throughout human history as we make discoveries. The whole ‘test of faith’ thing doesn’t make sense to me, and I have only ever heard it when a believer is unable to provide an explanation for something that goes against their beliefs. All I have said is with the assumption that God wants as many humans as possible to believe in Him. So I ask you these two questions:
Does God want us to believe in Him?
Why is He so bad at getting people to believe (yes, 2.1 billion people is a lot, but it also means two thirds of humans will burn in hell)?
George, I still think it’s great that you’re asking all of these questions. One question I have for you: What is your motivation? You’ve already stated that you’re not asking these because you’re seeking God.
You are right when you state that Christianity is very personal. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone can have their own personal opinions and interpretations. I love the way Eugene Peterson put it in The Message, “We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word” (2 Peter 1:19-21, emphasis mine). The personal aspect of Christianity comes from how relational it is.
There are tons of doctrines and dogmatic leaders out there who insist that everything they believe is the right way to believe. Unfortunately, none of them are completely right. Humans are fallible beings. And, for the most part, those doctrines have no bearing on salvation. A friend of mine says it’s kind of like those relationships that end because of something like the toothpaste, the TP or the toilet seat. Those sorts of things aren’t deal breakers at all, but some people let the little things build up until they become huge problems.
And I don’t think God has done such a bad job promoting himself. Look back in history. Adam walked with God in the garden and he still chose to disobey God. The Israelites saw God’s power day after day, his mercy and kindness, and they still chose to rebel against God. God provided their food and their water. He parted water so they could walk on dry ground. He healed them. And they still chose to disregard His ways. It’s not so different today. The biggest difference being that we don’t have the physical manifestations of God on a daily basis the way they did. But then, we don’t need them either because we have everything we need to know laid out for us in the Bible.
Update: I found the answer to my question concerning George’s motives at The Sincerity of Questions.
Tags: Christianity, Help with God
I’ll answer his 1-5 about myself because I feel like it. (Came here through your post on BE forums and I promise I won’t unleash the fires from my forked tounge)
1. Growing up with Jesus in anus sums this up.
2. Looked into other religions during my beginning to grow smart phase, found most of them if not all very similar and found just as many problems as I soon found with Christianity.
3. If this was so then god plays favorites giving an unfair disadvantage to billions of people, and you can look it up where it says “God loves everyone equal” and I’m sure you’ve heard everyone has a chance to find god.
4. I was from birth a firm believer in Christianity and never skeptical, even now My Grand Dream involves things that would not be considered sane or realistic or even possible by anybody except religious crazies.
5. The devil is an excuse and as far as I can tell the manifestation of all evil doesn’t actually do anything because humans attribute anything bad with him anyway. ( and bad happens to be perspective) If the minds are “corrupted” as you say, it is a result of humans themselves and saying it is the devil is an excuse and an attempt to establish the whole Zorastrian concept of GoOd vs. Evil. (an early basis for Christianity, it was a religion in ancient Sumer Civilzation)
6. The “corruption” is perspective anyways and you are trying to say soemthing caused the corruption. Only humans could create this “corruption” of whcih you speak (which in othe rperspectives would be called “enlightenment” among other things. Unless of course you buy the bs that human minds can be corrupted even before birth.
On a last note, your post about the guy who wants a terrorist attack, as I expect of you you did not even attempt to ponder it with an open mind and choose to instead use your own bias to pass judgement without a second thought. Did you even seriously consider what he was trying to say? Of course not, you read it clear, but you saw it like (unimportant)—I want Terrorist Attacks!!!——(unimportant)—(I cannot read English)
Let me just give you a famous quote by me, “The one who answers most learns the least”
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