HubZilla, you said you wouldn’t mind answers if they were offered. You also seem to recognize that there doesn’t appear to be any objective proof of God; therefore we’re left to depend on subjective proof. It’s then a matter of whether or not you’re willing to accept that instead.
My answers then, or those of anyone else, are only based on opinions formed from subjective proofs and reasoning. That being said, anyone is free to agree or disagree with anyone else’s opinion, or to form their own. So take them as no more than one man’s views.
You first mentioned the desire that God appear to you to prove Himself. If He did, it would be a subjective experience and one which you would find hard to convince others to believe. Also, does He have to appear to you on a great cloud which fills the sky surrounded by millions of angels, or would you accept a more subdued appearance? Perhaps like Moses’ burning bush experience? If you requested a more personalized manifestation, perhaps He would respond.
You next mentioned that you would have a lot of questions to ask in order to determine if He was even worthy of being followed. No problem. God isn’t afraid of questions. In fact He prefers that people follow Him from a basis of informed consent; He isn’t looking for a blind obedience that goes against logic. So keep asking questions until you’re satisfied.
As to why the Bible seems contradictory, that gets at a fundamental issue of what the Scriptures actually are. Just take a look at the other thread currently under discussion in the GD forum, “What’s the most fundamental contradiction in the Bible?”
Let’s start with a hypothetical situation: Mr. A goes to see a movie. He then talks about it to Mr. B and learns that Mr. B has not seen that movie. Mr. A then proceeds to describe the movie to Mr. B as best he can. Of course he is not able to relate everything he has seen, so he tells about the things in the movie with which he identified and understood. Mr. B in hearing Mr. A’s recounting of the movie has some idea of what Mr. A saw, but it is not complete. Mr. B then learns that Mr. C has also seen the same movie. So he has Mr. C tell him about it also. Mr. C’s description is obviously about the same movie, but since Mr. C has a different personality, background, and understanding, he is going to relate different aspects of the movie and the details will be somewhat different. In this hypothetical situation it is easy to see how and why there are differences in the stories of Mr. A and Mr. C even though they’re talking about the same movie. Right?
Now move to the Bible. It is not a single writing by a single author. It is the collected writings of dozens of authors written over many centuries. What is more, it is not the case that God dictates His message while a prophet writes down word for word what is said. Imagine: God, “In the beginning …” Prophet, "Wait, wait. Does beginning have one “g” and two "n"s or is it two “g"s and one “n”?” God, “In the beginning, I …” Prophet, “Wait. When you say “I”, do you mean yourself, God, or “I” as in me the prophet?” It is more like the prophet sees a movie, a vision, then describes it as best he can in his own words. He is, of course, going to be limited by his experience and writing ability. His understanding of the message is also going to be affected by the culture he is from. This helps explain why much of the Bible is male-centered; virtually all of the prophets came from male-dominated societies, so that is the bias with which they related the message they had seen.
Viewed as a recapitulation of a vision they’ve been shown, told in their own words, the discrepancies in the Bible are now understandable as stemming from the limitations of those who are relating the messages. This explains the need for understanding who the messenger was, what his culture was like, and who the message was directed toward primarily. Perhaps you’ve heard biblical scholars talk about this and wondered why it was such a big deal. Well, it affects the understanding of the message.
It also helps one see through the prophet’s limitations and better understand what the message actually is if you are able to compare the writings of more than one prophet on the same subject. You then get a more complete picture because you are seeing it from the perspectives of two or more different people. But this is precisely where the discrepancies stem from: different people’s take on things. The advantages of different slants and highlights can be seen in the four gospel stories of the life of Jesus. By having the views of four different people from diverse backgrounds, you are able to see many more facets of His actual character than if we only had the account of one writer.
This reply is already too long and I’ve only addressed the first third of your OP. So I’ll stop here for now. I can continue later, if you’re interested. But this will give you something to start with.
