The Hiddenness of God

one of the chief I guess arguments against Christianity is the hiddenness of God and we talk about Christianity being a personal religion that God personally cares for each individual how do you take into account if you have a I guess an old age view of the universe how do you take into account only the small light that's given to each individual particularly think about and Farkle folk maybe faraway cultures from biblical times and and it seems like the knowledge grows out over time and now we're quite privileged but it seems that there were many many years where things were quite dark okay your question on the hiddenness of God which is of course quite a big issue on which theologians and philosophers have weighed in for those of you who have not heard the term you suddenly wrestled with the idea I remember getting a letter once from a young man in Washington who said why has God made it so difficult to believe in him and the what he was positioning was the fact that I don't just see him in some open and obvious ways that I would like to see him and you know people sometimes when they raise these questions wonder whether Christian apologists don't think of these things they don't struggle with these things they don't wrestle with these things we absolutely do we absolutely do but I want to give you two or three lines of approach on how to address this number one that while you never have that sense where at every juncture and at every time you wanted God to show up in some obvious way he has actually shown up in that obvious way you never seem to have that as a very constant experience you have just enough experience either in your life or from observing somebody else's where you see that only the supernatural only God could have explained what it is that's happened in this instance let me give you a couple of illustrations of this last week I was in Williamsburg and the day before there just before I went and spoke there there was a gentleman who had asked if I could see by would come and visit him he was a retired minister he was in his 70s the last 30 to 35 years of his life it all began with an episode where he slipped and fell for no explainable reason at all a few days later he stumbled again and by the time he was getting used to walking once more he said something is not right I'm not able to hold my balance they discovered some kind of a spinal problem that was deteriorating went on from there to a wheelchair and then to be carried about in a stretcher and now for the last 7 years he has been bedridden in his home there in Williamsburg the only thing that works is from here and above nothing else works he's a prisoner in his own body and as I stood by his bedside along with my colleague fighting the tears away watching how terrible a situation it must be where you cannot even move a hand of your own and he with his head propped up he said to my colleague and myself my colleague is here tonight he said you know Ravi in the last eight years of my life the less able I have become the more clothes I have sensed God coming to me and the more productive I have been in creating a series of Bible studies for 780 series of studies for Bible colleges and seminaries all over the world and by the time we finish talking with him our I was wiping the tears away from my eyes and wondering how I could ever be in a situation like that and say the things that he did when you have lived a life that walks closely with God you find out that physical debilitation with all of its hazards is not the ultimate destruction the ultimate loss in your life and mine a woman who was totally disabled wrote he giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater he sendeth more strength when the Labor's increase to added affliction he added his mercy to multiply trials has multiplied peace when we have exhausted our store of endurance when our strength has failed at the day's half-done when we reach the end of our hoarded resources our father's full giving has only begun his love has no limit his Grace has no measure his power has no boundaries known unto men for out of His infinite riches and Jesus he giveth and giveth and giveth again the largest the largest number you could please allow me to stand I have serious back issues myself the largest number of men and women in the Middle East today who are coming to Christ by the tens of thousands are coming to Christ because of a vision or a dream in which God has intervened in their lives the countries have banned the gospel from coming in I had one man in a country I shall leave unnamed my wife and I were there meeting with him he told us that for seven years and brighter that he was in Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq he said I knew how to do two things make false passports and kill people without feelings make false passports and kill people without feelings and I started to have this dream about Jesus every night every night every night what not not one night not to national three nights not one month or two months not one year not two three years and he said then this man sitting next to me after my mother told me to leave the country lest I get killed I escaped to this country and after seven years of dreaming that dream every night he said to me do you think God is trying to say something deal he said I've become a follower of Jesus Christ he said I'm planning to go back to Iraq and tell the story I said how you planning to get back he said I make passports I said don't even think of it ladies and gentlemen for every one person whom I tell you God seems so hidden I could tell you stories as I travel how in enormous ways he will reveal himself to you and the test I want to give you is this you go to bed tonight and I'll get on your knees and ask Jesus Christ to be so he claims to be to reveal himself to you in one way or the other and I'll tell you sooner or later he will make himself known till a point will come where you will say there is no other explanation for what's happening other than that he is on my trail you'll find it that he's not hidden he's quite reveal you

Channel: Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Views: 608,156

Rating: 4.8540039 out of 5

Keywords: Ravi Zacharias, RZIM, Apologetics, Jesus Christ, Hiddenness of God, ASU, Arizona State University, Question and Answer, Q & A

Id: j_dt9_iAhJI

Length: 7min 23sec (443 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 23 2010

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

not compelling at all.

he blathered on, and didn't say anything significant

[u/Securitron]

He suggests a "test" to the audience towards the end of that clip. I tried it in earnest over a decade ago. Nothing happened.

[u/FerociousImbecile]

Your definition of "engaging" has been confused with "facile".

The story about the paralyzed guy is idiotic.

[u/Praxis8]

These anecdotes are not the way to engage an atheist community. It's a lot of emotional appeal and confirmation bias. More likely than not, atheists got here through skeptical inquiry.

[u/delanger]

Nope...found it rambling and fatuous. But I can imagine for a believer it must be great. A seemingly intelligent man with a microphone agrees with me. I must be right.

|Edit| Also, his test at the end...at some point, something will happen that you will be able to interpret as a message from Jesus??? "at some time" "In one way or another" That is insulting to your intelligence. Cos if you ask for something specific at a specific time (which I'm sure Jesus should be able to manage) it won't happen.