If God exists, why isn’t the fact more obvious?
It’s a common question, one I’ve asked and heard many ask. And with good reason, right? If there were a God, it only seems reasonable to expect that we should have no reason to doubt it.
But maybe the matter is not as simple as it appears?
After all, the nature of reality, it would seem, is the more fundamental a thing, the harder it is to appreciate in experience.
Take gravity. One of the fundamental forces of existence, its influence present every moment of every day on every object. And yet in all of human history, it wasn’t until just 4 centuries ago that we finally we were able to identify it. And even that required no less than the mind of a genius.
Take our fundamental biological functions. Our breathing. Our pulse. When all is going well, we aren’t even aware of them. In fact, our awareness of these functions is, more than likely, an indication that they are dysfunctional.
Take our eyes. They represent one of our fundamental means of engaging reality, and we use them pretty much all of our waking lives. And as a result, we can never see them firsthand — only secondhand, with the help of mirrors, or portraits.
Our experience is not enough to apprehend reality.
Other things are required. You need powers of reason. You need some imagination. And sometimes, you even need genius.
And if indeed there is a Being who is the very foundation of reality…
None of that might be enough.
And anyway, how would you recognise something bigger than reality except it appeared within reality? How could the immaterial be observed except it became material?
But if it did become material, one could just as easily argue that it’s only a part of matter, anyway.
In the end, it all still comes down to faith, doesn’t it?