Is God Dead?

In days gone by it is recorded that the Lord took an active role in shaping history and the lives of individuals. In the Bible we read about the exploits of Moses leading the Jews from captivity in Egypt into the promised land. The Bible tells a tale of an active god who spoke audibly from the sky, parted the waters, made bread rain from the sky and sent plagues to inflict the enemies of his people. These things, so it says, were done right out in the open so that everyone could see. Much later the Bible records the story of Jesus and again we see divine action, such as walking on water, turning water into wine and the grandaddy of them all... rising from the dead. It is written that the miracles of Jesus were done for the benefit of those who witnessed them so that they would believe in him. (John 10:25). Certainly, if you take the Bible seriously you cannot claim that putting on a production is beneath the Lord. Just read about the showdown between the prophet of God and the priests of Baal.

1 Kings 18:21-40

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”

Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

So what has happened? Why has God, whose ways we are told are unchanging, gone silent on us? Certainly the world could use a sign. Recent trends suggest that religion is starting to fall out of favor... in western Europe the majority of people claim to be atheist, and according to recent pew poll 25% of young people (18-29) in the USA are certified unbelievers... which is quite remarkable considering that less than 10% of all Americans share this unbelief. If God would only show himself in a clear and irrefutable way I bet these trends would be reversed. Imagine what a fools we unbelievers would feel like if one night the stars in the sky rearranged themselves to read JESUS IS LORD.

You see, the problem (for me at least) with all the religious stuff is that I don't believe it. I cannot force my brain to accept things that it rejects. I do not believe that Joesph Smith ever had golden plates nor do I believe that Mohammed spoke with angles or that Jesus rose from the dead. I don't believe it because it appears that these types of things NEVER happen... ever. Even in the holy roll'en, faith healing, pentecostal churches where people give testimonies to the healing power of GAWD you never hear of GAWD healing an amputee...it is always really unimpressive stuff like healing back pain.

The God believed in by Christians could, if he wanted, revel himself and put an end once and for all to religious controversy. Controversy that leads to violent conflict and suffering all over the world though out all of human history right up to today. In the modern age of cell phone recorders and youtube a true blue miracle would go viral in no time and honest doubters would convert on the spot. But for one reason or another it doesn’t happen. You already know why I think it doesn’t happen but I am curious of your reasoning... Christians, where is God?