Saturday, March 7, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For Truth and The Meaning of Human Life: The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For T...
The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For Truth and The Meaning of Human Life: The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For T...: The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For Truth and The Meaning of Human Life: The Existnce of Good God Part (3 of 3) Suffering ... ...
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For Truth and The Meaning of Human Life: The Existnce of Good God Part (3 of 3) Suffering ...
The Courage to Think For Yourself The Search For Truth and The Meaning of Human Life: The Existnce of Good God Part (3 of 3) Suffering ...: Part 3(3) Suffering(The Existence of Good God) What does it all have to do with evil and suffering in human life? Actu...
The Existnce of Good God Part (3 of 3) Suffering www.dpl21.com
What does it all have to do with evil and suffering in human life? Actually all people consider suffering, pain , torture , war as evil and all this evil is done by man. To a great extent this creates the misery of living together in the society of sinners and it takes away the certainty and stability of life. The suffering coming from the natural causes like diseases, old age, sickness and death are also part of the evil confronting man after his fall and rebellion against God. It all has to be accepted as part of growing in this life towards complete absolute trust in God no matter what happens. Only this strong faith in God in spite of misery and tragedy will make man strong enough and acceptable to God who is love Itself.
Leo Tolstoy one of the most talented Russian writer in his fifties experienced a deep doubt about the meaning of life and felt a growing desire to commit suicide . He was hiding any guns and knifes visible around afraid that he will kill himself . He says that the desire for ending his life became more powerful than his joy of living. He learnt from the simple peasants who lived in poverty but were happy to exist and live. Tolstoy concluded that life no matter how difficult must be meaningful.
Man according to Christianity has an immortal principle (soul) and therefore death is not really such a great tragedy and horror as it may appear in the eyes of an atheist. For a Christian death is a transition from this life in space-time, into eternity.
The Judgment implies not only eternal salvation in heaven but also the possibility of hell. One cannot say much about the judgment of God. All knowledge about it comes from the teaching of Christ who very often mentioned the reality of judgment and man’s eternal destiny. For many there appears the difficulty to reconcile the loving and forgiving God with existence of hell . Hell is existence in complete isolation from God and others in eternity without possibility of any change. This seems to many absolutely unacceptable and too cruel, it seems ridicules and absurd part of Christian teaching. How can God who is love and who wants salvation of all men throw someone into hell knowing human limitations and mistakes even when the sinfulness is clear like deliberate murder, torture , exploitation of others and even intended extermination of millions of innocent people. After all when Christ was dying on the cross did He not pray to the Father: “… forgive them for they don’t know what they do?.. All this is true. However one should not approach the problem of hell on emotional level only but try to see facts as they are. Suffering is the very center of the human condition in a world of fractures, conflicts, dichotomies and tragedies. Suffering is therefore inscribed into the very core of human existence. This fact is recognized by most religions of the world and also stressed by the ancient writers like Sophocles in the story of The Blinding of Oedipus. In Buddhism, which some consider a religion, life is suffering and the human soul is gradually liberating itself from it through a number of reincarnations until it attains the state of complete bliss in Nirvana.
In Christianity man’s condition is infected with evil mainly of man’s own doing. Man is a person and therefore responsible before God for his acts. The objection against existence of hell is based on the unimaginable decision : I want to go to hell and be eternally miserable ! Nobody consciously would make such a decision because he would have to be his own enemy and in love with misery rather than happiness . However every day hundreds of small decisions are made. Those decisions accumulate through a lifetime and they form the character of the person and the direction of life. If therefore man is completely dedicated to the values hostile to the commandments of God and lives in this way for longer time he becomes completely alienated from God. When a person dies in a state of hostility towards God there is a possibility of eternal loneliness and that is hell.
Christ, the Son God became man to show human beings how to live in such a way as not to end in this final rejection. People do not willingly choose to go to hell but man cannot escape from decision making for to decide not to make a decision is a decision also. God respects human freedom even when it becomes evil. The following Christ’s parables illustrate possibility of hell
1.The parable of the dragnet, 2. The parable of the great feast and 3. The parable of the last judgment ( which is not only a parable but a description of fact).
The dragnet catches all kinds of fish, and the fishermen make a selection. The bad fish are thrown away .
In the story about the great banquet a rich man sends his servants to his friends with an invitation to come. But all of them find excuses not to come. One says that he bought a piece of land and he has to inspect it. The other says he bought a pair of oxen and must try them and the third one says he just got married and therefore he cannot come. The Lord of the banquet gets angry and tells his servants to invite anyone and everyone so that his place will be filled with guests. However when the Lord of the banquet observes one who is not dressed properly for the feast he orders his servants to throw him out. There is nothing wrong in buying a piece of land, a pair of oxen or to get married. The excuses however show that the invited friends do not value much the invitation nor do they show respect for the Lord of the banquet. The usual activities of the day are more important for them.
In the story of the last judgment ( Mt. 25) the judge , Christ himself ,divides all people into two groups. The group of “ sheep” on the right. Christ turning to those on the right says : come you blessed of my Father and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from all eternity – for I was hungry and you fed me , I was naked and you clothed me , I was in prison and you came to me. And the people ask: “ Lord when did we feed you, or clothed you or visited you in prison? Christ answers : ? “...Whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did it to me....”
Those on the left are rejected.
They did not show any love or concern for others and when they asked the same question : When did they not do service to Him? They receive the same answer: “Whatever you did not do to my brethren you did not do to me.”
The services mentioned by Christ are
not necessarily very spiritual in nature
: food and clothing are very material services and it does not matter to whom one serves them. One simply helps the
person in need without any gain for oneself.
It does not matter who the person
is or what position he has in the
society.
In the parable of the compassioned Samaritan
the same truth is stressed. The merchant did not know the wounded man
lying in the ditch . It was not his relative, but on the contrary as a Samaritan he was an enemy. He not only
took care of him but
he took him on his beast and
brought him to the innkeeper , paid money for the care of him and promised
that additional expenses he will pay on his return. .
God is always ready
to accept anyone if he honestly
and sincerely tries to turn away from evil.
The father of the prodigal son was waiting day by day and
searching with his eyes the horizon until one day he saw still far away the
son coming slowly back to him.
He did not say anything but full of joy
embraced his son and told servants
to give him the new robe, sandals and a ring on his finger. There was feasting
and singing. The older son who was in the fields heard the music
and asked what is going on. He
was told that his brother returned and
father was extremely happy to have him back. The father knew only one thing : This son was lost and
he is found again, he was dead but is alive. It is proper to celebrate such a
joyous event. To the proud
Pharisees thinking
themselves to be very good people and
having God’s favor already, Christ said that publicans,
tax collector and prostitutes will be first in heaven. Why ? Because they repented of their sins and
therefore the first will be last and the
last will be the first. God’s judgment
is not very much like human
judgment.
Man therefore is his own quasi-creator of his own future
and destiny . Imprisoned in his sinful
attitudes man needs help and
liberation from his condition. This is
salvation brought by the incarnation of the Word becoming Man. Christ calls Himself often The
Son of Man, because He suffered as the Son of Man and was identified
with humans. He became the Savior and Liberator from human bandage and slavery. Every action of God towards man
is always a gift of freedom in
some form or another
.
Evil is
always parasitic on good . Every
being is
good because it is being and evil
is always some reduction of being. Evil does not have any meaning by itself. It is always a
limitation of good required by the
nature of the being involved. That is why
Thomas Aquinas calls evil: privation of good . Human life from the Christian view point is a great opportunity to learn to
know God and strife
towards Him within a difficult
human situation infected with evil. The
personal God in Christ became
identical with human beings in
all except sin and lifted
sinful man to the level of
childhood in relation to God.
That is why the most important
prayer in Christianity begins with the sentence : Our Father who art in heaven… A Christian
does not pray
for himself only but always for
his brethren. Suffering and evil are part of
the human fallen condition but they also
can be meritorious, conciliatory
and saving as long as they are accepted
in faith and loving obedience to God. Humans live in an unpredictable and dangerous universe .
There are many tragic accidents, sudden reversals, diseases aging and
dying. This is not a static and quiet universe.
Christ never promised an easy life
for those who will decide to follow Him,
neither did He promise that all
people will accept His offer of salvation. That is why Christ
stressed that anyone who decides to be His disciple would have to carry his own
cross in life.
The parable of the sower makes it clear
that the word of God is
very often falling on an unfruitful
ground : on a shallow ground
where there are no conditions for strong roots and the
word is wasted. In many situations the word is
neglected or simply forgotten.
(a) There is mental laziness some people
are so lazy that they refuse to think.
Socrates found this out. He wanted to
make man think , and he went about the
streets of Athens with his questions until man
thought of him as an nasty gad-fly and because they did not want to
think they sentenced him to death.
Tennyson in the poem the Lotus Eaters tells
the story of the sailor’s Ulysses who came to the island where the Lotus flower grew , Who ever ate that flower never wished anymore to make any
effort but desired only to lay and sleep. In that land there was always afternoon.
But we are thinking creatures and
not to think is to shut the mind to
God’s truth.
(b)
There is mental arrogance: the man who thinks he knows everything already
and he has nothing to learn it’s attitude of the Pharisees who believed they knew already all and they did not listen to the message of
Christ
(c) There is mental fear. It is the
attitude of those who deny the existence
of God not because they are convinced that God does not exist
but they don’t want him to exist . In Christianity it is always necessary to think things out. It is not easy to be a
Christian but unless we go on to think
things out, whenever some storm comes
our faith will collapse.
Jesus was telling
man to count the cost of following
Him. Mathew Chapter 10 describes what does it mean to be a disciple . The good
ground on which the word falls is the person who (a) understand the
word that is he not only hears what is said but tries to comprehend it’s meaning . (b)
the good ground is the person who accepts the word and keeps it . It
becomes a part of his thoughts and life
and (c) the good listener holds to the word.
Nevertheless when the word falls on a
good ground it produces fruit thirty,
sixty, or hundred percent. The good
ground is the person who develops strong belief and
incorporates the meaning of the word into everyday life. Such person
becomes the light of the world
and the salt of the earth. The
basic vocation of the new man in Christ is to be a witness ready to pay any price in any situation in life no matter how hard
it may be. Physical death loses it’s
sting because for the Christian death is a transition
from the life in space and time ,
suffering and frustration into
eternal presence of God.
Christianity
is a religion of resurrection
which is the central promise of Christ for all those who decide to follow His
teaching . The destiny of man is eternal life
as participation in the life of the
Holly Trinity.
When Christ was teaching, his
brothers and mother wanted to talk to Him. Christ refused and
said those who listen to the word
of God are His brothers , sisters and mother. The Son of Man completely
identified himself with humans
Conclusion
The answer to the problem of existence of evil and the good God can be
summarized as follows: God is the Creator of the universe which is
precisely constructed, and in the process of which life , consciousness , personality and humans
as moral agents appeared. All this was good, there was no evil at the beginning (compare the first chapter
of Genesis.) Human beings
were given God’s directions for their
lives. However they were
free to choose obedience and loving relationship to God or to choose their own way and
their own destiny .
Humans
rebelled against the plan of God.
Evil , deception, lies and murder entered the history of humanity. This
evil gradually became part of the nature of man
who became literally a slave of
evil and hostile to God and His fellow humans.
God
did not change the plan for man and gradually
in different times and circumstances liberated man from physical slavery ( the Egyptian slavery of
the Jews) and spiritual degradation and
emptiness.
In proper time
God became human in the person of Christ of Nazareth, who as
Son of God, and also Son of Man through His complete loving obedience to God, the Father reconciled the fallen humanity with God and offered through His suffering
and death a new possibility of eternal life for man as a glorified image of His Maker . Christ’s
sacrifice proved that God is Love.
Man
is free and can reject
the offer of eternal happiness given freely to him by God. God respects human freedom even when man
rejects Him definitely for eternity. Man after Christ’s coming has
the power and the ability to conquer
evil thoughts , intentions and
actions. However he does not have to .
The evil which man produces by his hostility to God and other humans is
existentially final. The
above is addressed to
people who are passionately
interested in truth and have the
courage to face reality no matter what
and are also ready to pay the cost of being witnesses to God’s love.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The Existence of Good God (Part 1a of 3) The Problem of Evil -L.Figurski www.dpl21.com
There is no question that the most ancient and the greatest obstacle to belief in God is the existence of evil. When it is said “the problem of evil” it sounds abstract, but suffering and evil is as real as the existence of the universe. Evil seems to be omnipresent and far more powerful than the good. Suffering and hardships, man’s inhumanity to other heartbreaks and unjust social structures, hunger and widespread poverty, and other acts against humanity lead people to the conclusion that God does not exist. One must simply be an atheist. Where is God? Why God does not care? If God exists then why He does not help? The history of this world is an inconceivable story, of suffering and death indicating the absence of God. The question must be analyzed on the existential and logical level , but one must remember always the emotional , personal and concrete experience of evil in individual lives.
Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book: “ When Bad Things Happen to Good People” gives a vivid illustration of possible reaction to evil when it is experienced on personal level. Although it is impossible to agree with his conclusion , one must acknowledge the fact that abstract analysis of evil, it’s existence and concrete personal experience are two different ways of approaching the question. When unexpected tragedy strikes in personal life humans simply lose their balance and accuse God of extreme cruelty and unnecessary evil which seems to be absolutely incomprehensible. This is how people become atheists usually for personal emotional reasons. Very often the problem seems to be beyond solution because of false notions such as : the concept of being , the notion of God , the nature of man.The plan of God relative to man and the freedom of the human being facing God, the universe and God’s relationship to man. For the atheist the problem of evil does not exist. The atheist rejects any notion of God and also any human privileged position within the context of the evolution of the universe. The atheist simply has no problem here . The universe is somehow self-existing, something happens in it, passes away and that is all. An atheist does not expect anything. Any kind of existence beyond the space-time is rejected. Man is one of the billions of entities of the universe. There is nothing extraordinary about existence. The human being is thrown into existence. He does not know why he/she exists, and what for does he exist. Life seems full of misery: aging , sickness, suffering and death. Life is finally blown out like a candle. One could say that man pops up into existence , exists for a short time and disappears. According to the atheist this is how the things are. Do not ask why, what for, do not complain or curse life and misery because there is no point of asking such questions and there is nobody listening. The universe is neutral to what happens, how it happens and why it happens. The immense spaces of the cosmos are empty and indifferent to man.
This attitude is a dogmatic and unproved assumption of those who do not bother to justify it in any way and accept the views of atheism even if it violates and neglects the most fundamental principles of logic and experience.
The problem of the existence of evil is only a serious problem for a believer in God. Not only of any god like the pantheistic god, or the deistic god or even a god who is on the same level as the evil god like the Persian notions of Ahriman and Ormuzd. The God of Judeo Christian theism is radically different from any other. This is why the theist faces the obvious seemingly unsolvable situation, as below:
1. God exists .
2. God is all good and omnipotent.
3. But evil both natural and man-made exists too.
Conclusion: (a) God cannot exist.
(b) Either He cannot abolish evil, then He is not omnipotent, or
(c) He does not want to abolish evil then He is evil too.
Our knowledge of God begins with the surprise that something exists. It is the Leibnizian question : why is there anything at all rather than nothing. The existence of any being must be somehow intelligible to the human mind. From analysis of a finite being the mind moves to the idea of contingency and causality. There must be one being which is self-existing that is existence is it’s very essence . This way the mind arrives at the existence of the Prime Mover , the First Cause, and Designer of the Universe. This is the philosophical notion of God. The problem of God’s existence must be separated from the problem of the existence of evil in the world. Those are two separate questions. Quite often the distinction is not acknowledged . People say “… if evil exists God does not exist…” The idea is the following: An all good and Omnipotent God cannot allow any evil whatsoever to exist. This conclusion does not follow at all. God is Omnipotent, immaterial absolutely transcendent and perfect. In Himself God is completely infinitely happy and therefore He did not create the universe, for any other reason, but only to share in some form his goodness with His creatures. Being good is always the very root of any perfection and value of any kind. Nothingness does not exist therefore cannot be known or created in any way. Even the minimum degree of any perfection or value must be good and the product of good. Therefore God being infinite is infinitely good and His creation must be good. This is why St. Augustine expressed the question very simply: “…If God does not exist why so much good, and if God exists why so much evil?...” God’s perfection and His Omnipotence enable God to create all finite beings “… out of nothing…” This expression however must be properly understood. It means that nothing existed, but God the creator alone. The power of His creative word was enough to let existence be given to what was not existing. God is completely happy in Himself and in absolute independence and freedom . It follows that God did not have to create a universe. He did not need to call non existent entities into being . Ultimately there is only one reason why God called the universe into existence: to share in some way His happiness with His creatures. The personal God let persons be. God being good cannot intent directly evil in any form.
3This brings the analysis to the important question : what is evil?
Thomas Aquinas defined evil as lack of perfection which ought to belong to some being. For example a stone has no vision because the stone has no power to see and therefore it is not evil but absence of vision in a human is evil because normally vision belongs to the human nature. Being is first in existence and evil is parasitic on a being which is in itself good, but limited and deprived of some perfection. It follows that God by creating finite beings did not intend evil, however by creating humans, He indirectly allowed the possibility of abuse of freedom given to man. Freedom of choice is the expression of the nature of man created as a person capable of own choices.
Without free choice humans simply would not be human beings. They would be manipulated things only. As such there would not exist any moral value or responsibility of any kind . Freedom of choice gives man independence and self-determination. Man can reject God’s offer and ignore God’s directions. This is the essence of sin and spiritual decay. It is a positive rebellion and rejection of God. In the first Chapter of Genesis there is the story of the rebellion against God. Sin and evil became part of man’s existence destroying his relationship to God, to other people and also making man a slave of sin. Evil seems to be more attractive , more effective and far better in practice than the directions given by God. Evil becomes all pervasive and omnipresent. This is visible in all aspects of human existence , all social systems , even within the closest human relationships in families. As mentioned above evil is parasitic on the good. It destroys man himself and brings death, moral corruption.
Moral evil can be compared to leprosy. It attacks the spiritual life of man and deprives the person of the ability to recognize the difference between moral evil and moral good. Man recognizes clearly the difference between moral evil and moral good but with time and repeated silencing his conscience he loses the ability to feel the difference of moral activities and he continues to live quite often in complete blindness to the obvious evil in which and with which he habitually lives day by day. Moral values simply become unimportant and considered nonexistent. What remains is self-centeredness , self-interest and the competition by all means in the fight for survival and material gain.
Once this happens man is practically enslaved by the power of evil and becomes accustomed to it. Evil becomes normal way of living. It is now a habitual way of thinking and decision making and creating temporal idols in human life. Man loses the ability and desire for change because change requires an awakening to evil governing one’s life. It requires strong and deliberate decision to begin a new life in freedom and according to the plan of God. But that is exactly what man does not want because he does not want to surrender to God’s will. Freedom of choice is like double edged sword. It can cut both ways. However it is the greatest gift given to human’s by the Creator. Man is an image of God.
God cannot create evil in any way . God is goodness itself . By giving man freedom of choice God created the possibility of manmade evil . This is why human beings are afraid of their own great calling: to be eternal participants of divine life as chosen children of God who is Omnipotent Love.
Summary of the above points: 1.God did not create evil but only good. 2.Man as a creature of an all good God was created also good because he is called the image of God. 3. Human freedom of choice is necessary condition of being a person. 4.Freedom of choice involves the possibility of choosing evil. This is the very condition of true freedom. 5. Man rebelled against the will of God, chose disobedience, and became infected with evil, hostile to God, and to other humans losing the clarity of vision of his own nature and destiny . 6. Evil and sin multiplied and became man’s habitual way of living. The image of God became disfigured, tarnished and poisoned, infected towards sickness unto death.(S. Kierkegaard) 7. Only God can liberate man from the deadly slavery of sin. 8. God is the God of freedom and liberty and He respects the freedom of man, even if man turns against Him and can opt for eternal loneliness without God. 9. God desires the salvation of all men from enslavement to evil.
The real question is the co-existence of evil and God . Usually the problem is formulated as follows:
1.If God exists evil cannot exist.
2. Evil does exist.
3. Therefore God does not exist.
Existence of God is evidently proved by the nature of the universe and the demand of the First Cause , the Intelligent Designer of the universe and the First Mover of the dynamism observable in the world. Those proofs are metaphysically certain on their own , independently on other problems. Therefore the problem of God’s existence is separate from the fact of the existence of evil. The real question is whether God and evil can co-exist. The answer to this problem of co-existence of God and evil is in the affirmative, yes God exists and evil exists too. Why is this so?
God being all good cannot directly create evil but since He wanted to have free and responsible persons He opened the possibility of choosing evil. This explains why evil and God co-exist. So the first part of the syllogism : if evil exists God does not exist is false.
It can be asked why did God create the universe and human beings at all. The answer seems clear: God did not have to create the universe at all because being God, He is perfectly happy and did not have any need to create. The motive for creation can only be love. God wanted to share His own happiness with conscious , responsible free persons capable of loving answer to his love and participating in some way in His divine nature even for eternity . Man’s personality and his free choices are the necessary conditions for fulfilling the vocation to be a living image of God. Man is a responsible creator of his destiny because it depends on the way he responds to God. This is the burden of responsibility for one’s own free decisions. Responsibility is understood as real burden and everyone must try to grow up towards being responsible for his own decisions and actions. By decision and action humans shape their own character . Sadly enough history of humanity shows the depth of man’s depravity. One would not exaggerate by saying that it is written in blood and horror. The depth of human depravity makes man far worse than other animals. The saying of Thomas Hobbes ”homo homini lupus” – man is the wolf to the other man remains painfully true.
The concept that this life here and now is destined for human happiness is a misunderstanding. The problem of coexistence of God and evil has it’s roots in
If looked upon in the above described way the world seems to be a very difficult place to be born into and there are those who accuse God of cruelty and unloving despotism and hostility to man. In Dostoyevsky’s book “The Brothers Karamazov,” Ivan , the brother of Alyosha says the following: “If in this world which you think God made even one small child suffers and cries then the world is not worth living and I myself give the ticket back.” There is seemingly too much pain and disappointment in this world and many people lose their faith in a loving and good God . When suffering and pain become overwhelming some commit suicide. As discussed before, God is all good and God cannot directly create evil , and He did not . Evil originated in the hostility and rebellion of man against the plan and commandments of God. The Will of God seems to be an intrusion, and a burden from outside. It seems to suffocate man and his imaginary independence Briefly speaking God is not wanted. For many people God has no place nor meaning in their lives , they live as if God does not exist, and they do not bother even to know anything about God , His existence and His plans for humanity . The fascination of pleasures of this life and their successes in this or that area and the constant hunger for entertainment of all sorts does not leave much time for deeper reflection and search for truth. Man becomes deeper and deeper alienated from God and other people and does not even question the fundamental issues of existence. The evil perpetrated by humans in history is beyond any description. But man does not want to accept the obvious fact of the evil done by man and the responsibility for it . Man blames always either God other people , the circumstances of his life or anything else but himself. The Grand Inquisitor in his accusations against Christ whom he recognized in the streets and ordered to be arrested for creating a tumult gests more and more excited and finally he completely dumbfounded by Christ silently kissing him shouts: Go away ,go away and never come back, never! The Grand Inquisitor could not forgive Christ that He gave freedom of conscious to men.God respects human freedom. Man is endowed with immortal soul and destined for eternal life.
God’s plan cannot be frustrated by human evil . God did not give up on humanity and revealed His will and plan for humans.
Man in his rebellion against God is enslaved in his own evil and is inclined to worship human made idols which temporarily may fascinate him only to lead to final frustration. The concept that this life here and now is destined for human happiness is a misunderstanding. The problem of coexistence of God and evil has it’s roots in
the fundamental vision of life, the nature of the universe and the meaning and destiny of human life. The adequate solution of the problem is given in the context of Christianity in a very special way. Human life can be understood adequately within the Christian dogma. The basic errors and distortions enter when life is conceived as the time from conception to the moment of physical death. In such view that is all man is given. It is all of his existence . Eternity existed before man’s birth, he lives for a short time without any direction or meaning of his life and he dies forever. This creates the anxiety and the fear which dominates his life. Man is not certain practically of anything at all. He does not know what the others will do to him and subconsciously as Thomas Hobbes said, …man considers everyone else as potential enemy against whom he must arm himself and he is not even certain how much time is left for him before the inevitable death. Man does not put his hope in God but in whatever he can accumulate of material values , popularity , power over others and climbing the social ladder . In everything he does he wants to be first and he would eliminate anyone in the fierce fight for survival. Objective moral values in such existence are obstacles to his success. They would limit his self-adoration and pride. Consequently man creates his own values which make it easier for him to dominate others. The language of such people becomes completely devoid of any moral good or evil . Instead words are used completely morally neutral such as like productive, effective progressive, scientific and so forth. Man greedily acquires many things not because he really needs them but to impress others with his possessions and show that his material goods are far better and more valuable than those of others. For example he would buy an expensive new car not because he needs one, but to feed his vanity. Life becomes a constant competitive effort to outshine others. It is deprived of honest , true human relationships and it becomes selfish , short and finally ending in death.
This is the evil created by man himself in his falsely understood nature of life which becomes one dimensional , horizontal and ultimately frustrating . The evil described above is not only situated in the very soul and spirit of man , but according to the Bible, nature itself, that is the world in which man lives is also affected by the fall and hostility. According to the words of St. Paul: It is yearning for liberation. The universe follows it’s own ways of development from the beginning and becomes also a dangerous place to live in : diseases, old age, all kinds of suffering and the inevitability of death are all part of the human experience.
If looked upon in the above described way the world seems to be a very difficult place to be born into and there are those who accuse God of cruelty and unloving despotism and hostility to man. In Dostoyevsky’s book “The Brothers Karamazov,” Ivan , the brother of Alyosha says the following: “If in this world which you think God made even one small child suffers and cries then the world is not worth living and I myself give the ticket back.” There is seemingly too much pain and disappointment in this world and many people lose their faith in a loving and good God . When suffering and pain become overwhelming some commit suicide. As discussed before, God is all good and God cannot directly create evil , and He did not . Evil originated in the hostility and rebellion of man against the plan and commandments of God. The Will of God seems to be an intrusion, and a burden from outside. It seems to suffocate man and his imaginary independence Briefly speaking God is not wanted. For many people God has no place nor meaning in their lives , they live as if God does not exist, and they do not bother even to know anything about God , His existence and His plans for humanity . The fascination of pleasures of this life and their successes in this or that area and the constant hunger for entertainment of all sorts does not leave much time for deeper reflection and search for truth. Man becomes deeper and deeper alienated from God and other people and does not even question the fundamental issues of existence. The evil perpetrated by humans in history is beyond any description. But man does not want to accept the obvious fact of the evil done by man and the responsibility for it . Man blames always either God other people , the circumstances of his life or anything else but himself. The Grand Inquisitor in his accusations against Christ whom he recognized in the streets and ordered to be arrested for creating a tumult gests more and more excited and finally he completely dumbfounded by Christ silently kissing him shouts: Go away ,go away and never come back, never! The Grand Inquisitor could not forgive Christ that He gave freedom of conscious to men.God respects human freedom. Man is endowed with immortal soul and destined for eternal life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)