I have here for you a parable to work as analogy

Here is a parable, though it really is more like an analogy, because I’m not trying to write a story with a beginning and end, but help you to better understand the issue. This is a parable about what modern unbelievers or those of weakened faith are like.

A man lives in a wonderful old elegant mansion that was built by one of his ancestors. He delights in the house and it provides for his every need. It is well and beautifully placed on the land and it weathers every storm.

The ancestor left many documents of how he constructed and paid for the mansion, such as blueprints, letters of agreement, correspondence, and bills for materials and labor that were fully paid. His ancestor lived before the time of cameras and photography, and so there are no pictures or paintings of him. Yet among the documents are letters from his many friends and merchants, all of whom praise him and his honesty, reliability and truthfulness.

One day a believer comes to visit the man to have tea. While the man serves the tea the believer praises the home and admires its many graces. She then comments what a wise man the ancestor must have been, filled with foresight and care for his family, his descendents, and his integrity in all things. She is surprised to see the man is frowning, rather than being proud of his ancestor. She asks him why. The man replies, “I am very angry at my ancestor. Just because this house exists and there are all these documents testifying to him, why should I believe that he was a good man, or that he even existed?”

The believer is astonished at the man’s reaction and “viewpoint.” She is actually speechless at what to say to such obviously distorted, bitter and erroneous “logic.” And so she said to the man, “What could your ancestor have done to make you believe?”

The man replies, “The ancestor should have built the house right in front of me while I’m alive so I can see and believe with my own eyes.”