I felt like writing. Do you feel like reading?
This concerns the predominantly Western religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam do not quite apply as they are in a sense integral to life in their particular contexts.
God is Dying
In an age where religion is no longer needed it shall cease to be. That time is now, if God has not died already he is surely terminally ill.
All matters of life relate to, contribute to, and are products of survival. All that aids in the continuation of life processes of an individual is valuable and thus replicated; whether consciously like the tool or genetically like the trait.
There was once a time, in the not so distant past where religious ties and loyalties would unite men, each one of these weak – forming a great amalgamation of believers. Such a community was labeled, in the case of my article, ‘Christianity’ and it was with this system of beliefs that all of identical faith would together destroy the competition. Prospering together. Surviving together.
[These opposing sides were also banded together by faith and simply sought a better existence, however they and their families were slaughtered by the warriors of Christianity].
But. Modern technologies saw to the sustainability of humanity and the destruction of the ‘holy’ through scientific revelations of what was once the sacred and attributed only to be known to the almighty himself. How did life begin? It must have been through intelligent design, there is no other possibility? Wrong! We now know many possible origins of life. Then how do we and all animals exactly suit our environment, we were made to be at one with it? No! Although not necessary ‘answered’ in terms of certainty this area is answered through the multitude of answers we now have. Evolution and natural selection for starters. The last universal question is “When did the universe begin?”. This too is another virtue of Christianity and the Genesis chapter. But as time ticks and the sand falls likewise will occur. With the introduction of the large hadron collider and other theoretical sciences the answer or at least an approximation of an answer will be revealed by the men in white. God is Dying. Slowly but surely, God is Dying.
Prayers are sent, are prayers received? No longer content, should we believe?
Prayer - Instigator of miracles or a pointless demand?
What would happen if we get down on our knees and pray to God in this way:
Dear God, almighty, all-powerful, all-loving creator of the universe, we pray to you to cure every case of cancer on this planet tonight. We pray in faith, knowing you will bless us as you describe in Matthew 7:7, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:24, John 14:12-14, Matthew 18:19 and James 5:15-16. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
We pray sincerely, knowing that when God answers this completely heartfelt, unselfish, non-materialistic prayer, it will glorify God and help millions of people in remarkable ways.
Will anything happen? No. Of course not.
This is very odd. Jesus makes specific promises in the Bible about how prayer is supposed to work. Jesus says in many different places that he and God will answer your prayers. And Christians believe Jesus — according to this recent article, “54% of American adults believe the Bible is literally true.” In some areas of the country the number goes as high as 75%.
If the Bible is literally true, then something is seriously amiss. Simply look at the facts. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
If “every one who asks receives“, then if we ask for cancer to be cured, it should be cured. Right? If “our Father who is in heaven gives good things to those who ask him“, then if we ask him to cure cancer, he should cure it. Right? And yet nothing happens.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says:
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
If “nothing will be impossible to you“, then if we ask to cure cancer tonight, cancer should disappear. Right? Yet nothing happens. Note that if we take the Bible less-than-literally here, the statement “nothing will be impossible to you” becomes “lots of things will be impossible to you,” and that would mean that Jesus is lying.
Then there is the vast plethora of paradoxical questions;
So can God create a stone that is so heavy that he cannot lift it? Either he can or he can’t.
If God can’t, then he isn’t all-powerful. If God can’t create a stone that he can’t lift, then there is something that he can’t do: create the stone.
If God can create a stone that is so heavy that he can’t lift it, though, then he also isn’t all-powerful. If God can create a stone that is so heavy that he can’t lift it, then there’s something that he can’t do: lift that stone.
There is, therefore, no way of answering the question
There is significant evidence for both existence and absence. For example Epicurus’ logical musings: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
Probably the most well-known of God’s incommunicable attributes are what have become known as the “omni” attributes – omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. However, none of these words are actually mentioned in the scriptures, but are in fact Latin derivatives used to identify the theological constructs pertaining to God’s power, knowledge and presence. It is because of this that these attributes of God have been misunderstood by many people – both Christians and non-Christians. People’s understanding of God’s power, knowledge and presence seems to be limited to their understanding of the words “omnipotence”, “omniscience,” and “omnipresence” respectively. But I wish not to defend it at this point in time.
And those I frequently ask myself about life purpose;
For what purpose does a predetermined experiment hold?, for what reason does is life created only to face inevitable destruction?, for an energy that is all, knows all and controls all, what point or reason lies in the existence of its creation or even itself?
When the question, journey and answer are already known, before the question is ever asked, such an existence in it self has no purpose. And we think our “lack” of purpose is harsh.
I feel empathy towards such a being. For a God would surely end its own absurd and uninteresting existence.
Just some things to think about. Some days I argue for the existence of God. Today, however, I do not. Without pressure there is little improvement.
I am but a religious man who is skeptical of his religion. I am creating pressure.
The existence of ‘God’ is debatable, but this cannot be demonstrated or refuted.
Love Shen
Tags: evolution of religion, god is dying, God is Dying In an age where religion is no longer needed it shall cease to be. That time is now, if God has not died already he is surely terminally ill. evolution of religion god is dying logic rational paradoxical questions, rational, religious question, Shen
God is Dying. 