[[Not so much easier, as necessary. That which we can find easily, even in our more misguided moments, is too simple, too base. That which is worthiest of our faith must be sought, usually with difficulty, and is never entirely found.]]
Great points Python-
[[Your very question, whether there is “Proof that God exists” suggests you accept proofs as the Gold Standard of existence.]]
They do? I assure you that you are mistaken abotu what I believe and accept. you have misinterpreted what I have said and why I said it.
[[That very suggestion is a dangerous concession to the faithless secularists, and should be avoided.]
I was asking how the accusations by the faithless that “IF ONLY” God would show Himself instead of being so hidden- could be fleshed out- It is not a mistake or unscriptural or irreligious to wonder and seek and philosophise, and many great scholars who were quite close to God have undertaken just such questions- and remember, Christ didn’t rebuff Thomas when Thomas demanded proof.
Allow me one more attempt to find words for my intuitions. I react with a bit of annoyance, as if to something that is confusing or misleading, to attempts to prove matters of faith. I have much the same reaction, from what I can tell, to arguments for intelligent design. I say this even though proofs and reasoning have been my stock in trade for a half century now.
In both cases, they feel like "reaching across the aisle" to me (in the pejorative sense commonly applied to "moderate" Republicans like McCain.) Meeting the faithless on their ground does little to inspire them to see your faith.
One does not arrive at faith by proof or persuasion.
Sure, we each will have doubts, perhaps in the manner that St Thomas had them. But if we distract ourselves too long building sand castles of logic and rhetoric to assuage those doubts, our faith will be fleeting, washed away in the next tide, because it was constructed of the wrong substance, in the wrong place.
Perhaps I am being too harsh. And certainly I, who depending on how one reads the dictionary definitions is an outright atheist (see my freeper profile for more detail here, if you like) ... certainly I am in no position to characterize your faith. Sometimes, being an outsider in an unusual position, I can catch perspectives that others miss; sometimes I couldn't hit the broad side of the barn with a sawed off shotgun if I was standing inside the barn.
So if something I say seems useful, you're welcome to use it. But if not ... best to stay out of any empty barns in which you find me sporting a shotgun.