THE NATURE OF FAITH

by Moriah
[ 73407.515@CompuServe.COM ]

Knowing that God exists does not preclude faith. Faith is not the belief that the proposition 'God exists' is true. Lucifer knows God exists, and yet, Lucifer doesn't have faith in God. Faith is better defined as a trusting relationship. E.g., when your best friend promises to help you, you have faith in your friend that they will come through. That is the faith that religious folks talk of. They take God's existence as a fact, and then put their trust (their faith) in this God.

Or, to look at it another way. Did Moses or any of the prophets lose faith when they encountered God? Certainly not, rather, their faith grew.

Now, in modern society when atheism or agnosticism occurs among a significant minority of the population, the question of whether there is a God does become a stumbling block to faith.

So, the angels don't conceal themselves because of the fear that humans would lose faith if they were to prove God's existence by their own existence.

There are other reasons:

• Told by God to not interfere (too much). That should be sufficient for any angel not on the road to Falling.
• Why does God forbid it? There are only educated guesses. The best is that interference reduces Free Will. The humans should be as self-responsible as possible (God wants friends to love, not organic machines to command). Also, it's hard for a human to resist celestials because they are celestials. How many people would be able to say 'no' to a divine being in celestial form asking from us a favor? (Other than you reprobates?)
• Interference causes Disturbance in the Symphony. It's not natural. That should also make any good angel pause before changing the course of the lives of mortals.

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Elizabeth McCoy <arcangel@prismnet.com>
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