The (Non)Hiddenness of God

Patrick Reany

You either get control of your lusts and feelings of entitlement or they will
get control of you. -- Ilfinor

6/3/2023 (month/day/year)

On his YouTube video dated 5/23/2023, Mike Winger, published a video titled 'A powerful
argument against Christianity'. Apparently one of Mike's Christian viewers wrote to him about
this, saying:

The hiddenness and silence of God is causing me doubts. Is there any advice or help you
can offer such as that God is silent now because revelation has been completed with the
New Testament? Thanks.

Winger will answer this from the perspective of how he thinks an atheist views this 'Hiddenness
of God'. I intend to reply to it more from the perspective of a Christian in doubt of his faith.
I want to make some preliminary statements before I present Winger's reply. But before I give
even that, I want to state a little about myself.

Who am I? My name is Patrick Reany. I am not an apologist. I am just a believer in Jesus, who has
gotten the victory through Him over my prior lusts of the flesh. If you want to know even more
about me as a believer in Jesus, please see my other writings on this website (http://www.advancedmath.org)
under the Christian link. These include essays and even many Christian novels that explain
how to get saved and then get the victory over sin (Galatians 5:16). And, while we're at it,
how to have Jesus manifest Himself to you. Jesus is not silent to His own. In fact, He
can be quite vocal (through the Holy Spirit) to even non-believers. Whoever has a conscience
has heard His voice in some form. [John 16:8]

And besides answering some of the technical points of this topic, 1) Is this so-called Hiddenness
Property of God really all that powerful? 2) Is it the result of the Christian Canon (The Bible)
being set down centuries ago? 3) Is it even possible for God to stop manifesting His presence and
authority in and over the earth (therefore they are without excuse)?

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor
language, where their voice is not heard. --- Psalm 19:1-3

And

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse: --- Romans 1:20

I'm here to warn you, folks, that if you haven't yet gotten the victory over your lusts, and
you haven't yet experienced Jesus manifesting Himself to you, as He, in fact, promised to do
[John 14:21], then it's all your fault. The degree to which you have not gotten your personal
victory over sin through the power of the Cross is directly proportional to the degree that you
ignore, misinterpret, or twist the most important scriptures of the New Testament. The one
thing you must not do is to just settle for the Christian lifestyle presented to you by virtually
all the so-called Christians around you. Chances are, they're not real believers. Going to
church won't make you a believer in Jesus anymore than standing in your carport will make
you a car. You have to read the Bible for yourself (especially the New Testament). You have
to follow the commandments of Jesus for yourself, even if no one else in the world is doing
so. That's the kind of commitment one needs to make to be saved and to be an overcomering
while in the flesh. That's the kind of commitment that truly honors the sacrifice of the Cross.
If you intend to set yourself up to be only as good as the Christian next to you, you'll be only as
good in the eyes of Jesus as the Christian next to you. Jesus said:

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the
honour that cometh from God only? -- John 5:44

It's a risky thing to risk your placement in eternity on the self-indulgent doctrines of modern
-day 'believers', so-called. If you think that you can obtain salvation without obedience,
you're wrong.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
-- John 14:21

Did you notice that? Jesus said that He would MANIFEST Himself to His true disciples. Jesus is
not hidden to His true followers! He is also not hidden to all the people of this world. Jesus claimed
that if He be lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him. Well, lifted up [John 12:32] He was on a cross
and so the Holy Spirit is indeed in the world drawing all men unto Him. The problem is not God.

The problem is that men do not usually want to be drawn to God -- because they have to sacrifice
too much of their own goals in life to obey God's plan for their lives. That's why the few that are
willing to be true followers of Jesus are said to be hid with Christ [Colossians 3:3]. Ironically, it's
not God that's hidden, it's the believer, who has sacrificed the temporary, materialistic goals of this
present life, for the better and eternal goals and rewards of Heaven. And since these motivations
are often hidden from others, and since the power of the Holy Spirit in us that delivers us from the
bondages of sin works invisibly, our lives are 'hidden in Christ' -- not that we fail to confess and
honor Jesus in our lives. But why? Because believers are motivated by commandments from
on high, to get rewards in the future -- in the New Kingdom, when Jesus returns to earth to
set up His Kingdom for a 1000 year rule.

Jesus has given each of us a slew of commandments, either by His mouth or through the writings
of the Apostles. If you're not committed to obeying Jesus at every turn, you're not pure of heart,
and you won't see God (Matthew 5:8). That's the bad news. The good news is that it's all your
fault, not God's fault or doing. Just repent: Do what God requires of you and you will then find
victory over the lusts of the flesh and Jesus will then manifest Himself to you, as He promised
He would do!

First, I think that Winger's reply is good, so far as he took it, but there are many points he
didn't address that I think he should have.

The following is Mike's response (very much edited for brevity). Winger seems to be replying
to someone who inquired of him, whose name is also 'Mike', or he uses his own name to describe
others talking back to him.

The hiddenness of God is simultaneously a philosophical argument against God’s existence
--- or at least against God's love. And, on the other hand, it is also a very emotionally heavy
and influential argument.
The hiddenness argument goes something like this: If God really loves people and He
wants them to know Him and He wants them to follow Him, then He would make efforts
to reveal Himself to those people. Right? So if you had a sincere non-believer, a non-believer
who was sincerely looking and searching for God but not finding God, that would perhaps
prove that He doesn't really love them and want them saved.
Because, look, they're sincere, and they're trying, but they're not finding, so there
must be some fault in God, because their motives, intentions, and methods are right. This
is the Divine Hiddenness thing -- so God’s hiding from this person --- this hypothetical person.
There's a few ways to poke holes in this argument, okay? Logically speaking, I think.
One is to challenge how much sincerity is really going on in this person, while they
believe they're sincere. I'm not saying they’re knowing being deceitful about how sincere
they are in their searching of God --- there can be lots of things going on in the heart of
a human, where they feel they’re sincerely looking.
I've seen atheists who bring a 'divine hiddenness' argument, and the way they do it,
it's as though the argument was an afterthought to their atheism; and they say to me how
sincere they were. I’m not saying that every atheist is like this. I’m just saying one way
that this can play out. They say, like, ‘Hey, I'm gonna spend a little time like really praying,
really getting to church, even, really maybe sing worship songs, as a way of later being able
to say, ‘Hey, I sought the Lord; I really tried. And that confirms my atheism one more time.'
Perhaps the agenda here was a way of proving themselves right about God all along. This
is entirely possible. This is how human psychology seems to work.
What I'm suggesting is, Divine Hiddenness requires a certain kind of person that may not
exist. Against this is quite a number of people who suggest, and they give their testimony
that they did seek the Lord and they did find Him. They did cry out to God, and He did
answer. They did open the Word of God; they did start praying; they did start attending
church or something like this, and they started seeking the Lord, and their lives were
radically transformed. And everyone of those testimonies would seem to be an argument
against this Divine Hiddenness thing.
The problem with the Divine Hiddenness argument, though, is not the logical aspect of it,
'cause I can easily say, 'Hey humans have all sorts of layers of desires and wants; we may
be sincere one level but insincere at another. We might be in bondage to sin. Our blindness
right now in seeking God might be due to pass sins we've committed that brought us to that
blindness, so we might be actually reaping the blindness of our own decisions, and blaming
God for that inability to see Him.'

Okay, back to me, guys. If you attempt to approach God through Jesus by appending a little bit of
Christianity to your already busy life, then you will probably end up in hell. To become a real
Christian you have to be All-In. Jesus warned His followers how hard it is to follow Him with a
pure heart. He warned us to count the cost. But before we can count the cost, we have to know
exactly what that cost is, right? God has warned us that it's all too easy for someone to claim to
be a 'sincere' follower of Jesus, yet have a heart far from Him.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me. --- Matthew 15:8

You can't really think that merely attending church or singing a few worship songs or saying a
few insincere and superficial prayers to God is going to make a real difference in your lives,
do you? If you want God to take notice of you for real, give your entire life to Him, come what
may! If you've stolen, stop stealing. If you've been lazy, stop being lazy. If you tell lies and
willingly believe lies (or even political conspiracy theories) stop doing that!!! Jesus will send
all liars to hell! Being in the 'right' political party won't save you. Attending a church of the
'right' preacher or evangelist won't save you either!

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be
my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
--- Revelation 21:7-8

And then Jesus repeats and expands on His hatred of sin and in lying in particular.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. --- Revelation 22:14-15

Think very carefully about this: Are you one who tells lies and loves to listen to lies
(political or otherwise)? If you are, you better stop. Do you really think that Jesus will
give you a pass on Judgement Day when your excuse for making and believing in lies
is that you did it for God and country? If you do, then one of your biggest problems is
that you have the wrong idea of who Jesus really is, and of what He really expects of you.

Wherever a lie is, the Devil is; wherever the truth is, Jesus is.

If you are not getting the attention you think you need from God, then look to yourself. Don't
blame God. All the promises given to us for the Church Age will continue until the Church Age
is terminated. In my mind, that will occur sometime after Jesus returns to the earth. Until then,
Occupy until He returns [This is NOT a political message!!] Obey God. Have faith in the
promises of God, but remember that all the promises of God are contingent either on God's
faithfulness alone or upon our faithfulness as well. If we deny that God still does miracles
now that the Canon is closed, we deny the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Stop being
doubleminded! [James 1:8]. Either you're All-In with Jesus -- wherever that takes you -- or
you're not. Jesus manifests Himself to me and He will do so to you, if you align your goals
and actions with those He gave us to follow. It's just that sinple.

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory
of God by us. --- 2 Corinthians 1:20

And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?
therefore they shall be your judges. --- Matthew 12:27

Jesus faced the same problem of unbelief among the religous people of His day, even
in Israel. He scolded them for not casting out demons, and not passing that ministry onto
their children. Maybe they thought, Oh well, the last of the great prophets is dead, so
maybe God isn't doing His miracles through people anymore. That's just an obvious
excuse to get out of walking in faith to perform the miracles of God in this dispensation.
Just because the Canon is close doesn't mean that the Age of Miracles is over, or that
the charismatic gifts are done with, or that Jesus is finished manifesting Himself to us.
Lord forbid! Again:

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. --- Revelation 22:14-15

God has always looked for a people who would obey Him!

What follows is Jesus talking:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. -- John 14:6

Notice that Jesus did not say of Himself ... 'I am the way, the conspiracy theory, and
the life'. Satan has always loved to use conspiracy theories against the purposes of God,
and often aimed them directly at the weak followers of God: Did not Satan get Adam and
Eve to fall into sin by his conspiracy theory that God was withholding knowledge and
power from them? Did not the Pharisees claimed that Jesus was only able to cast out
demons because he was the agent on earth of the Devil? The only way to have a sound
mind in Christ is to feed it with truth. If you ever arrive at the state of having a sound
mind, you'd better work very hard to keep it that way. Going along with the crowd will
almost certainly destroy a sound mind. What effect do you think it will have on an already
unstable and degenerate mind, corrupted by lies and lusts?

Do you want to be saved? Do you really want to be saved? Even more than fitting into
this world of pleasure, pride, and indulgence? Then Love God, be kind to people,
never tell lies, control your tongue, love the brethren (if you can find any true belivers
in Christ)...

For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a
perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. -- James 3:2

Do you give alms to the poor, or are you stingy?

But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are
clean unto you. -- Luke 11:41

It's not easy to control our tongues, especially if we've lived a long time using
profanity and crude speech, and these days, hate speech towards others. A true
believer needs to speak with holy speech. Long established bad habits can be hard
to break, but they can be broken. Just show God right now that you mean to do it, and
repent if you slip up. The best way to get right with God is to repent. To repent we
need to change the way we think, talk, and act. Know what you have to do and not do.
Commit to the right course, regardless of hell or high water against you.

Jesus walked in holiness, going about doing good to others. We need to do the same. Do
not weaken or condemn yourselves by the entertainments you partake of. Be holy in
all things.

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him. -- 1 John 2:10.
.....
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
-- 1 John 2:15-17.

The very first manifestation of Jesus towards you, when you in all sincerity repent of
your selfish and sinful lifestyle, is to be delivered of the oppressive rule of sin over
your life through the lusts of the flesh. The second form of manifestations, generally
speaking, is that Jesus will visit you with blessings in the form of coincidences (this
is my personal belief, for it happens to me).

How does God manifest Himself to His followers? In many ways. By insight. By blessings
that seem to occur by happenstance or coincidence, but they only make sense if God is
behind them.

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him. -- 1 John 2:10.
.....
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace unto the humble. -- James 4:6