Science is considered to be matters of proof and objective observation, while religion is considered to be matters of faith, and belief without proof.

Still, I've noticed that the early writings and histories of most major religions describe multiple cases of prophets and others most definitely providing hard proof. Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with collossal "miracles," supernatural events that would have made the hardest atheist into a believer if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Leaving aside the fuzzy historical accuracy of these events*, and simply thinking along speculative lines, what does it say about God that he has no trouble stopping the sun in the sky, raising the dead, raining fire on cities, and all the rest, to make a point about his existence thousands of years ago, but seems to think that blind faith is a virtue now?

In the Old Testament, there are battles between the hosts of Yahveh and other civilizations with other gods. There is no question of the reality of God in these issues. Pharoah never tells Moses "I don't believe in your invisible God." Pharoah has his nose thoroughly buried in the reality and power of the Hebrew God, and I'm sure I wasn't the only kid who wondered in Sunday school how many clues does one one Egyptian ruler need?

There are countless people healed, water turned to wine, you name it. In those days, laughing at a prophet's bald head could get you eaten by bears. I didn't even know the Middle East HAD bears. A reasonable man in those times would have to be an idiot to be an atheist, and yet the entire Bible is filled with people who refuse to toe the line in the face of these things.

Want believers nowadays? A voice from the sky: "Okay, humanity. Here's the Twin Towers back. See you at your local place of worship."

I'm sure hundreds of theologians have beaten this question to death, and come up with perfectly reasonable answers. I can't think of one.

Every time I look at you
I don't understand
Why you let the things you did
Get so out of hand
You'd have managed better
If you'd had it planned
Now why'd you choose such a backward time
And such a strange land?
If you'd come today
You could have reached the whole nation
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication

--Judas, with just a few of some very good questions in "Jesus Christ Superstar"

*Actually the simplest answer to the questions posed in the rest of the post is that none of these miraculous events ever happened. But what fun is that? Besides, for theologians who believe they did, the problem is still there.