I believe that the gods of many religion choose not to show themselves because people must find them by "choice." If people did not have the freewill to choose which god they worship, how would the god who is being worshiped know that its subjects are sincere?

People have asked this question for as long as there have been gods! Believers will say "it's because he/she/it wants to be believed in by faith and have us seek after him/her/it". You're right though, I don't think that cuts it either. I think that is what believers tell themselves and others to try and avoid the painful truth that their god is imaginary... Bottom line is, you'd have to ask the god themselves what their reason is! You must go on a long journey, my son...

The apostle Philip asked Jesus the same question. Jesus replied "He who has seen me has seen the Father". Jesus is God come down to earth, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (supreme child) of all creation. All that Jesus is, is God. Jesus also refers to the same asking for proof when he tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. "There was a rich man 13 who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20 And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 22 When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and from the netherworld, 14 where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' 25 Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. 26 Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' 27 He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' 30 15 He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'" Look closely at verses 27 onwards. Here the rich man pleads for a new revelation so that his brothers will avoid his fate. Abraham says that they have the Old Testament to teach them who God is and what he expects. He then asks for an even newer revelation: someone going back from the dead. Jesus' answer: their hearts are so hart that they wouldn't even listen to someone from the dead ie Himself.

I don't know how many times this answer has been posted. The reason is because its called FREE WILL. People have the right to free will and believe what they want to believe, its that simple.

Because vanity is in the eye of the beholder.

God has shown Himself. He came to earth 2,000 years ago and most didn't believe in Him, in fact, they nailed Him to a cross! Even after Jesus rose from the dead, some of His disciples doubted in Him. (Matthew 28:17) Jesus cares about you and wants you to believe in Him. He created you with a free will to choose if you want to have faith in Him and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. I hope this helps you and that God is magnified. Thank you and God bless you!

Apparently he rather enjoys a several-thousand-year-long game of Hide & Seek... He refuses to stop and reveal himself, we have to count to 10 and go find him : P

We see the creator all the time--through the creation. Kind of like we cannot see electricity, but we see its work through what it manifests. I don't feel there is a "He"--that's our creation.

Good question. The idea that God would care so much about people believing in him at all is totally ridiculous, let alone the idea that he expects this to happen without sufficient evidence. I have a very hard time believing that the supposed creator of the universe is that childish and unfair. It seems more likely that the human designers of the various faith-based religions included this in order to discourage people from asking difficult questions that might undermine their authority.

Because he's embarrased to be shown up as lonely enough to be assumed to need the company of lesser beings

Douglas Adams summed it up well in "The Hitchhiker's Guide..." To paraphrase: In order for people to have Faith that God exists, there can be no tangible proof he exists, which would obviate the need for Faith. But without Faith, God is of no consequence. So, if God explicitly revealed himself, that would prove His existence to all, ending their Faith in God....and God would vanish in a puff of logic....;-D...

Possibly we could not cope with seeing him in any other form than we presently percieve him - but I honestly don't know and its a question I have often struggled with myself.

This question and my answer are similar to ones already on the Theology site. God does show up, in every human made 'in his image and likeness" (Genesis) but every major faith's holy ones say that- while many of their followers (maniacs, extremists, whether Christian evangelicals or Islamic zealots, bigots and haters of all stripes, and many political leaders, many of whom feed into that abuse of authentic Religion, and subvert genuine spirituality; then industry captains and others who have influence- celebrities, media personnel, fall into hubris, exaggerated pride which denies the human and uses people as objects, things, pawns, fodder for stupid wars, or as someone put it THINGS BECOME PEOPLE, POPLE BECOME THINGS" in that all-too-common scenario. idolatry replaces true worship of God, whom we honor only if we see God in the 'other" (humans) having first found God wihin ourselves, that 'divine spark," that sacred core, that 'little white stone on which Gd has written our name, knoiwn only to him (Revelation). The core teahcing of the Jewish-Christian faith is that every human is a saced icon of the Unseen God and he is quite present, and alive and speaks through his most vulnerable ones to those who listen.

Through adversity, we become stronger. If we didn't have the freedom to sin against God, the world would be perfect and no one would grow spiritually. If that were the case, no one would be prepared to receive the blessings of Heaven when they die. Bad things happen, not just to make the good things seem better by comparison, but also to temper our spirits and give us the opportunity to grow and learn.

It is easy to believe in something you know is there. There is no faith involved with that. The faithful are the ones who he wants, and it is a constant test of faith to believe when so many skeptics surround you every day. He will reveal himself again, as revelations explains, but it will be too late for the non-believers to just change their minds at that point.

She shows Herself everywhere. Deity is in everything. Deity IS everything.

He apparently likes to work in mysterious ways. Like the burning bush, too bad he dosen't burn bushes anymore Eh!

Believe it or not, it's not all about you. If God showed Himself, we would lose our ability to choose, ie, our free will. And since the whole purpose of this creation is to refill a Heaven depopulated by Satan's fall, a People who freely choose to love God needs to be collected. Consider God a moonshiner, and His People are the distillate, while the disbelievers are the watery beer. Maybe there's something to the Flying Spaghetti Monster's Beer Volcano after all... ;)

If he showed himself, that would rather force us to believe in him, wouldn't it? God doesn't want to force us. He wants to woo us. He wants us to love him for his own sake. Would you really want someone to love you because you forced them too? Of course not. We all want people to see us for who we are and love us as we are.

That is one question that I find myself asking these days. I think some people do and some don't. As for me, I like being surrounded by people and reminded of God, so I think of Him more than just a passing thought. Some people don't need that though. I don't really like all of the rules and guidelines that come with religion though because how do you decide which religion is right, or even if there is a right one? Sorry if I gave more questions than I answered, but I am in the same boat as this question.

No you don't. God does not require you to attend church, but it is a good place to learn and grow.

U can see him in the nature in every living being.U have to open your heart for that.

IMHO, because there isn't a Zeus-like God in the form of a white 60-year-old bearded Caucasian who would appear as a mile-high figure and speak in a voice of thunder. Nobody needs to believe in God without proof. Be still and look within to know the presence of the source of all creation.