The Visible Face of God

Summary

For a lot of people today, God seems invisible. You may know that the number of so‐called “nones” is on the rise in North America. “Nones” include atheists, agnostics, and others who mark the option “none” when asked what their religion is. One recent poll by the Pew Forum discovered that nones now make up 20% of the American population, up from 15% of the population in 2007. That’s
one in five Americans who claim no religious affiliation.

If you keep your ears open, you’ll hear anecdotal evidence beyond these numbers that even some people who appear to be Christian have grave doubts that God exists. Maybe you’ve met people—or maybe you yourself are one—who attend church, try to live moral lives, and give generously of their time and money, but who are not at all sure the universe contains a God. Did you know even some
pastors fit this description? Some pastors apparently nurse deep inner conflicts about the existence of God. Strange, isn’t it? I don’t personally know any such pastors, nor am I among them. But a website called The Clergy Project claims they have as members 515 active and former clergy who do not hold supernatural beliefs.