My Insights Into My Faith
God
Existence of a God
In today's scientific and secular world, religion is often seen as a shelter exclusively for the weak. Many educated, middle-class people believe that their education and ability to earn a decent living in society is enough to make them a complete person. My guess is that for this reason atheism is flourishing. "Who needs religion?" these people ask. I have heard many different comments stating that religion is good if you have emotional/family problems. You could depend on it to recuperate. To finish off that statement, it is natural for us to assume that once you do get back up, religion is then useless. If you are reading this on the internet now, chances are that you fall into the educated, middle-class category. What is your perspective on religion? Do you believe that religion is something humans made up to comfort themselves? |
Let's start with the existence of a god and his relationship with this world. The main question would be: Is this universe an accident that occurred out of nowhere or did a supreme being give it its existence? In my mind, it is close to impossible believing that the universe is an accident. Yes, we all know the universe was created from the Big Bang, but why and how did the Big Bang even occur? How did it occur out of nothingness? Before time and space was created, what else was there to start all these trillions and trillions of atoms moving? There must have been something above and beyond that made it happen and I call it God.
The Odds
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I am now going to talk about the mathematician Blaise Pascal. For those of you who have taken probability, you probably recognize this name because he is the inventer of probability. Pascal was also a devout Christian who tried to finish an apology for Christians before passing away at the age of 39. In his work, Pensées, he talks about faith in God in terms of probability. His aim was to prove to the intellects at the time that believing in God was by no means an intellectual suicide as many viewed it. It was not only that, he was trying to prove that NOT believing in God was the most irrational decision a person can make. Here is his argument. There are basically four outcomes to this game of faith.
- You believe in God and God exists
- You believe in God and God does not exists
- You don't believe in God and God exists
- You don't believe in God and God does not exists
| Wager | God Exists | God Does Not Exist |
| For God |
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| Against God |
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The table basically explains everything. In short, you can't lose by betting in God. And if you look around, you can easily tell that a lot religious people live more happily than others. That alone should convince you that there is something religion can provide.
How Did It All Start?
Now, which religion is then the right religion? And you are right; Pascal didn't take this into account in his "faith wager". To name a few, there is Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Which religion holds the ultimate truth? Each claim that they possess the way of the truth and by not believing in it, you will be condemned. And if God was such a supreme being, why doesn't He reveal himself to the different cultures so that everyone can believe in one God?I think these questions are among the hardest questions. But here goes! If there is a supreme being, namely God, the only way we would know of his existence is through His revelations to us. In antiquity, most religions were some form of polytheism, a religion of many gods, surrounded by myths and legends. These were human's first attempts to explain their existence. However, the revelations of the one God have to begin in one place and time. I believe there is some truth to all religions that believe in one god. Since God is so far beyond the understanding of humans, the simple acknowledgement that there is one god is the first step towards the truth. It is also ingrained in human nature to understand that this supreme being is ultimately good. I am sure that whenever you tell even a white lie, your conscience tells you that it is wrong. That is an example that we are made in the image of God.
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As different cultures develop, their notion of God becomes distinct from another culture because of their differences. When the two cultures meet, their differences in thinking and behaviours also create a difference in their belief in the one God. For example, both Christians and Muslims believe in one supreme being as a God. They, in fact, believe in the same being because there can only be one supreme being, although in a different forms as depicted by different religions.
Jesus Christ
I will now talk about the basic Christian belief. Because of human's fall from grace, a salvation is needed. Humans will never be able to obtain salvation because of original sin and their constant failure in avoiding sin. Since God's love for humans is even incomparable to a parent's love for his child, He can't go on to see his children destroying themselves. The only way to save them is through someone above humans, someone who is free of sin, and the only answer is Himself. It was not enough to send a prophet to save humans because the prophet, as a human being, is in the same way condemned for his own sin. So, two thousand years ago, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, incarnated in a human body to save the human race. He was not to become the military leader that would lead the Jews against the Roman Empire, nor was He to come to be praised and worshipped. He came to save. Jesus' life on Earth was the epitome of God because He is God. His coming had two main messages. First and foremost, Jesus came to save humans from eternal damnation. He gave them a way of reconciliation to God. Second, he came to show us the truth, God that is. By living humbly and justly, He was the perfect archetype for us. Since Jesus is one with God, he exemplified perfection in human behaviour. |
If you think about it, the Judeo-Christian belief of the Messiah (the Saviour), is not in conflict with other religions. The concept of original sin and human imperfection can be something upon which can be universally agreed. If the supreme being is ultimately good, then the coming of Jesus is then not so difficult to accept. Then, why doesn't Jesus come at a different time or place? Why does it have to be two thousand years ago in Israel? And the only response I can think of to this question is "why not?" There had to be a time where the human manifestation of God had to take place. God had selected the Jews to be the chosen race, not meaning that Jews will be the only ones to be saved, but will be the ones that will "host" Jesus in His lifetime here. Since we live in a world full of limitations of time and space, Jesus can only be born in one place at one time. However, the salvation of the human race is not limited to those who lived two thousand years ago, but to all of us. Maybe God had foreseen the expansion of the Roman Empire that would benefit the early Christian Church and that could be why He had chosen that time. No one knows for sure, but Jesus' arrival at that time has resulted in a religion with 2 billion followers.
Human Progression
If you look back in human history, there is a steady progression of humans towards the truth. In ancient times, most cultures lived in a polytheistic community, using myths and legends to explain their existence. And now, the two major religions (Christianity and Islam) in the world believe in the same God. An analogy Pope John Paul II once used was streams flowing into a river that flows to the ocean. The little streams are the different religions of the world and they will eventually converge together towards the truth, which is God.One last word to atheists: With my past encounters with atheists, I have realized that most are not familiar with religion at all. I do not know whether it is because of arrogance or simple laziness that atheists do not believe in the existence of God. I believe that anyone who makes the effort to find the truth will arrive at God. There are many things science and mathematics can explain, but it will never be able to explain God. Be brave and find out for yourself who God is.
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Posted: December 21, 2001