How can Man "Forget" God?
We "drifted," we "ignored," we didn't "forget."
August, 2018
Looking at a biblical view of history, some wonder how it's possible for humanity to have "forgotten" God. If the generations of Adam and Eve, or Noah, had such obvious contact the Creator, how was it God needed to "reveal" Himself to men like Abraham centuries later? How can humanity "forget" God, let alone so quickly?
The answer really just a subtle change in how we word the question. The problem was never that everyone had "completely forgotten" God. The problem was the people had "drifted away from" God. We can see hints and echoes of God's influence on mankind, even in the histories of those other civilizations. Even in a modern sense, we can still see how people have a habit of veering away from the truth in favor of what they prefer.
A great example of this are the flood stories found in many ancient mythologies. Our parent website gives more details on this phenomenon. Briefly stated, the fact that diverse cultures share a vaguely similar story strongly suggests that they are all looking back at the same, true event. The problem is not that the event did not happen, it's that cultures tend to adapt the story to fit their own preferences.
We also need to keep in mind that God was not totally silent, or missing, during the years between Adam and Eve, and Noah. Or between Noah and Abraham. There were those who honored God and obeyed, while most of the world chose to ignore God and do their own thing. That, more than anything else, is why the rest of the world seems to have "forgotten" God. What was really happening was mankind drifting away from the truth, and slowly re-making God in their own image.
A somewhat more modern view shows how this is possible. Romans 1:18–25 explains how people "suppress" the truth of God because it conflicts with their preference for sin. As a result, their thinking becomes "darkened," and they replace worship of the true God with worship of men and animals and idols. Even today, we can see how new cults and heresies pop up, despite all that God does to promote His truth through the written Word and faithful teachers.
The way mankind faded from belief in God to sin prior to Abraham is just a sad fact of our nature. God spoke directly to Adam and Eve—they still sinned. Their children heard first-hand about God, and were still wicked. By the time of Noah, God felt the need to reset the entire human race through the flood. Once again, all of humanity had first-hand knowledge of the truth, and they still drifted. God's communication with Abraham wasn't the end of a long period of silence, it was simply a moment of special and particular communication with one man.
I'm from the United States, which (culturally) has a hard time remembering how the nation was founded, and why—because it conflicts with other priorities. With that in mind, it's not surprising to see that ancient people could lose sight of the God who created man. When generation after generation lives without much concern for the truth, they are naturally going to fade further and further from it. Civilizations which arose during the period leading up to Abraham were the end result of that kind of spiritual apathy.
-- Editor
