(part 1 of 3): Who Made Us?
At some point in everyone’s life comes the point where you ask yourself the big questions: „Who made us?“ and „Why are we here?“
So who made us? Atheists speak of a big bang and evolution, while others speak of God. Those who answer, „I don’t know“ are atheists in every way, not because they deny God’s existence, but because they fail to confirm them.
So, the Big Bang may well be able to explain the origin of the universe, but not the origin of the primary dust cloud or primary mass. This cloud of dust (which, according to the theory, has gathered and condensed and then exploded) must have come from somewhere. And after all that, it contained enough matter not only to form our galaxy, but also the billions of other galaxies in the known universe. Where did it all come from? Who or what created the original cloud of dust?
Similarly, evolution can explain the fossil record, but it is far from sufficient to explain the quintessence of human life – the soul. We all have one. We feel their presence, we speak of their existence, and occasionally we pray for their salvation. But only the religious can explain where it comes from. The theory of natural selection can explain many of the material aspects of living things, but it fails to explain the human soul.
No one who studies the intricacies of life and the universe can deny the Creator’s handwriting. [1] Whether people recognize these signs or not is another matter. The whole point is: when we see a painting, we know that there is a painter. When we see a clay pot, we know that there is a potter, and so on. So when we look at creation, shouldn’t we know that there is a Creator?
The theory that the universe exploded and then evolved into a balanced perfection through a series of random events, and the theory of natural selection are little different from the suggestion that sooner or later, if you drop bombs on a junkyard, one everything will be mixed up and a perfect Mercedes will be created. In the color and the model that our hearts desire.
We know one thing with certainty: without a controlling influence, all systems degenerate into chaos. The theories of the big bang and evolution claim the opposite: namely that chaos becomes perfection. Wouldn’t it be more sensible to conclude that the Big Bang and evolution were controlled events? That is, controlled by the creator?
The Arabs tell the story of a nomad who found an exclusive palace in an oasis in the middle of an otherwise impassable desert. When he asked how it was built, the owner replied that it was shaped by the forces of nature. The wind shaped the stones and blew them to the edge of this oasis, then hurled them until they were shaped like the palace. Then he blew strands of sheep’s wool together into carpets and wall hangings, blew wood together to furniture, doors, window sills and sanded them and scattered them into the right places in the palace. Lightning strikes melted the sand into glass panes and pressed them into the window frames. And they melted black sand into steel and bent it into a fence and a gate with perfect alignment and symmetry.
When we stop rolling our eyes, we get to the point. Obviously the palace was planned and not built by accident. Then what (or rather: WHOM) should we trace the origin of things of much great complexity, like the universe or our lives?
Another classic argument for atheism focuses on what people understand as imperfections in creation. These are the „How can there be a god if this-and-that happens?“ – arguments. The things under discussion can be anything: from natural disasters to birth defects, from genocide to grandmother’s cancer. That is not the point. The point is that you deny God because you perceive the injustices of life and conclude that a divine being has not planned our lives to be anything but perfect and has established justice on earth.
Hmm … is there no other opinion?
We might as well suggest that God did not create life on earth to create paradise on earth, but rather as a test, the punishment or reward of which will be given to someone in the next life, in which God exercises His ultimate righteousness. To support this concept, we can ask who in his worldly life suffered more injustice than God’s darlings, the prophets? And from whom do we suspect that he will occupy the highest ranks in paradise, if not those who have preserved true faith in the face of worldly hostility?
I hope that with this consideration we will come to the answer to our first “big question”. Who made us Can we agree that we are creatures and God is the creator?
If we cannot agree on this point, there is little point in continuing. But those who agree: let’s move on to “Big Question” number two – why are we here? In other words: what is the meaning of life?
Footnotes:
[1] To this end, I warmly recommend reading the following book and leaving aside the author’s religious preferences A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson.
(part 2 of 3): The Meaning of Life
The first of the two big questions in life is: „Who made us?“ We discussed this question in the previous article and (hopefully) used „God“ as the answer. Because we are creatures and God is the creator.
Now let’s turn to the second „Big Question“, which is: „Why are we here?“
So why are we here? To become famous and amass wealth? To make music and babies? To be the richest man or woman in the cemetery, as we are jokingly told: “The one who dies with the most toys wins”?
No, there has to be more than that in life. Let’s think about it. Let’s start with you. Take a look around. When you are not living in a cave, you are surrounded by things that we humans have made with our own hands. Now why did we actually do these things? The answer, of course, is that we did things so that they served a purpose for us. In short, we do things to serve us. So, why did God make us, if not to serve Him?
Our purpose is therefore to serve God. We receive this message both from the prophets and from the scriptures, but nowhere more clearly than in the Holy Quran, the holy book of Islam:
“And I (God) created the Jinn and the people for nothing other than Me to serve.“ (Quran 51:56)
Which brings us to the next point: If we recognize our Creator and that He created people to serve Him, the next question is: “How? How do we serve Him? ” No doubt this question should best be answered by the one who made us. If He created us to serve Him, He expects us to function in a certain way if we are to accomplish our goal. But how do we know what God expects from us?
So let us consider: God gave us light with which we can find our way. Even at night we have the moon as light and the stars for orientation. God gave the animals other orientation systems that are best suited to their circumstances and needs. Migratory birds can even orient themselves on cloudy days with polarized light. Whales swim through the oceans by “reading” the Earth’s magnetic fields. Salmon come back from the open ocean to spawn and recognize their place of birth by their smell, can you imagine that? Fish sense distant movements with the help of pressure receptors on their side lines. Bats and the blind river dolphins “see” the sound. Certain marine organisms (the electric eel is an example of high voltage) generate and sense magnetic fields that enable them to „see“ in muddy water or in the darkness of the ocean depths. Insects communicate using pheromones to find the trail to the feed and then back home. Plants feel the sunlight and grow towards it (phototropism); their roots feel the weight and grow into the earth (geotropism). In short, God has given guidance to every element of His creation.
Can we seriously believe that He would not have given us guidance on the most important aspect of our existence, namely our Raison d´être – the meaning of our life? That He would not have given us the tools to achieve our salvation? Plants feel the sunlight and grow towards it (phototropism); their roots feel the weight and grow into the earth (geotropism). In short, God has given guidance to every element of His creation. Can we seriously believe that He would not have given us guidance on the most important aspect of our existence, namely our Raison d´être – the meaning of our life? That He would not have given us the tools to achieve our salvation? Plants feel the sunlight and grow towards it (phototropism); their roots feel the weight and grow into the earth (geotropism). In short, God has given guidance to every element of His creation. Can we seriously believe that He would not have given us guidance on the most important aspect of our existence, namely our Raison d´être – the meaning of our life? That He would not have given us the tools to achieve our salvation? no instructions given? That He would not have given us the tools to achieve our salvation? no instructions given? That He would not have given us the tools to achieve our salvation?
Of course not. Through revelation.
Let us think in this way: Every product has special features and rules. Instructions for use are included for more complicated products whose features and rules are not intuitive. These instructions for use are written by the person who knows the product best, which is usually the manufacturer. A typical guide begins with warnings of improper use and the possible consequences, followed by a description of how to use the product properly and the benefits it will bring. Then it also contains special features of the product and instructions for faults and how to remedy them.
How is that different from revelation?
Revelation tells us what to do and what not to do and why; it tells us what God expects of us and shows us how we can improve our shortcomings. The revelation is the ultimate directions for use for those who want to use us – ourselves.
In the world we know, products that do or exceed their job are classified as successful, whereas those that do not. .hmm … let’s think about it. Any product that fails to meet manufacturing standards is either repaired or, in hopeless cases, recycled. In other words: destroyed. Ouch. Suddenly, this discussion becomes frighteningly serious. Because in this discussion we are the product – the product of creation.
But let’s catch a breath and think about how we deal with the various objects that fill our lives. As long as they do what we want, we’re happy with them. But if they no longer serve their purpose, we want to get rid of them. Some are brought back to the store, others are donated to charity, but they all end up in garbage sooner or later that is buried or burned. Accordingly, an underperforming worker … is fired. Now relax again for a minute and think about it. Where does this euphemistic expression for the punishment of the underperforming come from? Hmm … whoever believes that the teachings of life can be translated into the teachings of religion could now spend a day working in the field.
But that doesn’t mean that these analogies are completely invalid. On the contrary, we should remember that both the New Testament and the Old Testament are full of analogies, and Jesus Christ taught us to use parables in this New Testament.
So we should take this seriously.
No, I’m correcting myself. No doubt we should take this seriously. The difference between heavenly delights and the torments of hellfire is not for fun.
(part 3 of 3): The need for revelation
In the previous two parts of this series, we answered the two “big questions”: “Who made us?” – God. And „Why are we here?“ – To serve and pray to Him. A third question naturally came up: „If our Creator created us to serve and worship Him, how do we do that?“ In the last article I suggested that the only way to serve our Creator is to obey His orders, as we were told by revelation.
But many people would question my statement: „Why does mankind need revelation?“ „Isn’t it enough to be good?“ „Isn’t it enough for each of us to worship God in our own way?“
Regarding the need for revelation, I would like to make the following points: In the first article of this series, I pointed out that this life is full of avoidable injustices, but our creator is honest and just, and He does not just leave His justice in this life, but also rule in the hereafter. However, justice cannot be established without four things – a judge (ie, the day of judgment), a judge (ie, the creator), witnesses (ie, men and women, angels, creatures) and a code of law to judge ( ie the revelation). So how can our Creator speak justice if He didn’t prescribe certain laws in their lives? That’s impossible. If it were, God would act unfairly instead of fairly, because He would punish people for wrongdoing,
Why else do we need revelation? Let’s start with this: Without leadership, mankind could not even agree on social and economic matters, politics, laws, etc. Then how could we ever agree on God? Second, nobody writes the instructions for use better than the one who made the product. God is the Creator, we are His creatures and nobody knows the overall plan better than the Creator. Are employees allowed to set their own work plans, duties and wage rates as they please? Are all citizens allowed to write their own laws? No? Then how should we be allowed to write our own religions? If history has taught us everything, it is the tragedies that are the results when mankind follows their whims. How many have freedom of thought written on their banners and invented religions that gave them and their followers nightmares on earth and damnation in the hereafter?
So why is it not enough to just be good? And why isn’t it enough for each of us to worship God in our own way? Let’s start with the definition of “good”. There are already differences here: for some it means enormous modesty and to lead a clean life, for others it is madness and physical injury. We have a similar experience with the concepts of how we serve and worship our Creator. It differs the same way. More importantly, to get to the point, nobody can go to a store or restaurant and pay in a different currency than the one that the seller accepts. It’s the same with religion. If people want God to accept their ministry and worship, they have to pay with the currency that God requires.
Imagine that you are raising children in your house where you have set up “house rules”. Then one day, one of your children told you that it changed the rules and things were different now. How would you answer Most likely with the words: „You can take your new rules and go to hell with them.“ So let’s think about it. We are God’s creatures, we live in His universe under His rules and „go to hell“ God will most likely say to anyone who presumes to override His laws by inventing his own.
At this point, seriousness is called for. We should recognize that all joys are gifts from our Creator and require gratitude. If someone receives a gift, who uses it before saying thank you? And yet, many of us enjoy God’s gifts all our lives and never thank you for them. Or late. The English writer Elizabeth Barrett Browning spoke of the irony of the desperate human reputation in The Cry of the Human:
And lips say “God be pitiful,” And lips say, “God be pitiful,”
Who ne’er said, “God be praised. ” Who never said: „God, you are praised“.
Shouldn’t we be behaving well and thanking our Creator now for His gifts, and then for the rest of our lives? Don’t we owe him that?
You answered “yes”. You must. Nobody would have read this far without agreeing, but there is a problem here: Many of you answered yes, but knew that your heart was not in the Bible. Or maybe it is in the Bible, but not completely. You agree that we were created by a creator. You make an effort to understand him. And you long to serve and worship Him in the way He prescribes for you. But you don’t know how, and you don’t know where to look for the answers. And that is unfortunately not a topic that can be dealt with in such an article. Unfortunately, this topic has to be dealt with in a book.
On the other hand, there is good news that I have already written the book about this, the title is: The First and Final Commandment (soon available in a new edition under the title MisGod’ed). So if you like what you read here, I invite you to read what I wrote there.
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/die-groen-fragen-