We All Have A 'Religious Nature'
Some claim that the existence of God, or 'religious things' cannot be argued from logic. But logic must apply to all things, including God. It must, since He claims to be the author of reason, not of confusion. Now be careful, and do not confuse ‘reason’ with ‘scientific proof,’ and never assume that a 'finite' person can fully understand the nature of one who is 'infinite'!
Logical analysis flows from experience. It makes sense that if there is a Creator, then the things we experience and observe in the world are there for specific reasons, and we should be able to analyze them to help fulfill our pursuit of truth (what reality is), and find the nature of that Creator. Consider the following descriptions of an analysis of 'what makes sense' within Christianity:
In the "GENERAL REVELATION" (the creation all around us) God communicates His existence, aspects of His nature, and many of the ways He is related to the world, to everyone. Included in general revelation is the pattern of human moral obligation. Sources of general revelation include the entire order of created reality, whether physical or nonphysical, human conscience, and the pattern of human history.
The Christian tradition recognizes another type of revelation, called "SPECIAL REVELATION." These are specific details provided by the Creator, given to us so we can answer the questions that we think up when we examine the general revelation. Examples of God's special revelation include the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. These sources refine our awareness of God’s concern for humanity and reveal His plan for reconciling Himself to us, including any conditions He expects them to meet. (Adapted from R. Douglas Geivett and W. Gary Phillips, Four Views of Salvation in a Pluralistic World. Pg 216.)
Lets pursue these thoughts with a little more detail, and identify the 'practical' aspects if these concepts, to see how it fits into our daily lives. In addition, this will describe why Christianity can be considered 'revealed' to us by God the Creator. See if this discussion sounds familiar to you:
Everyone wants to make sense of our existence and of reality in general. This is our religious impulse.
We feel we have some kind of moral significance to our lives, though we find it difficult to determine for sure what it is, and even more difficult to follow. In other words, down deep we want to do right, but we have a hard time figuring out what to do, and a much harder time actually doing it!
We have lots of troubles that face us in our lives that keep us from being 'happy.' Things such as sickness, betrayal, limits to our willpower, war, and even the ultimate disappointment in life - death!! These problems seem to bother us and impede us our entire life.
We realize that we, as well as the world around us are amazing creatures when we consider our design and functions. We discover that the world we live in seems to be especially fitted for our existence and use, despite its astonishing complexity. We also realize that there is much more to us than that which seems physical - we call it our soul. This is the aspect of ourselves that is aware, that considers to have free will, emotions, love, and can act in ways that seem right or wrong. It seems to be more than just the 'physical' world around us that someone can test or measure.
Despite our complexity and wonder, we are still concerned with the dark sides of ourselves and of the world, and would like to eliminate them if possible.
When we consider all of the above items, we sometimes wonder 'why.' Why do we, in fact, why does the whole world exist at all!
We intuitively know that everything must have a purpose and a beginning, even the universe.
We reason that if the universe (including us) had a beginning, it must have had a cause.
If we wonder about causes for a little while, we realize that everything had to start somewhere. Therefore the cause of the universe must be uncaused - by definition it must be something that is not created.
That original cause must be a personal being in the sense that this being is aware of its self, make decisions and have purposes, and yet must have capabilities that far surpass ours.
We find that we have many desires that we cannot satisfy on our own or through things or other people, including the desire to know the meaning of the universe. We feel that if there is a Creator, we know we are estranged from it, and would like to understand it more.
We notice that satisfying relationships can happen, and they happen when we open ourselves to each other. Our feelings of estrangement from our creator are frustrated in that we do not know how to overcome the problem of being separated from it, so we look for a means to achieve this relationship.
We may wonder that maybe the creator is also feeling estranged, and considering its superior nature, may reveal to us somehow the means to reconcile the estrangement.
This discussion has followed what is in nature - the GENERAL REVELATION - whether it be inside us, or around us. So General Revelation now leads us to look for a SPECIAL REVELATION, meaning one that is specifically put in place to reach us and give us our answers. Again, follow this pattern of thought:
We are looking for a special revelation that will answer and fulfill our questions. We feel that this special revelation must be compatible with what is revealed in the general revelation.
The message must answer the issues that prompt the desire for the special revelation in the first place.
The message must be corroborated independently, to validate itself when compared to other messages that may be false or misleading.
Considering the requirements for providing answers, and being corroborated, let's consider the answers from traditional Christian belief (we'll compare to the others later).
'God' is revealed as the great Creator, with personal attributes, who takes an interest in the universe and for our estranged relationship.
The reason for the estrangement, as well as a means of reconciling it are presented.
The issues are corroborated by special revelations spreading over 1500 years, by over 40 different persons in 3 different continent.
Proof of the good news is validated in these historical documents by the occurrence of supernatural events, most notably a resurrection from the dead.
Adapted from the work of R. Douglas Geivett and W. Gary Phillips, Four Views of Salvation in a Pluralistic World. Pg 218 – 227
So- It is not illogical to believe that Christianity fulfills an inherent need. It combines both experience with emotional needs as discovered through our daily lives. Now since the claims of Christianity are compatible with what we are looking for from the General Revelation, we can continue our pursuit into the validity of these claims, which if proven, will confirm Christianity as TRUTH!!
We can also compare the claims of Christianity against other claims - if they do not appear as logical as Christianity does, then we will conclude that indeed Christianity is THE TRUTH!
So, we can conclude that we all (all people, at all times and at all locations in the world) have certain logical issues to answer (our religious impulses). We will summarize them as follows: 1) We all have beliefs that govern our lives - is there a 'right' one? 2) We have a desire for meaning 3) We have a need for love and relationships 4) We would like to escape suffering and death, since they are not desirable to us 5) We feel there is something bigger than ourselves, that we are a part of something large 6) We know, by intuition and experience, that we cannot achieve true happiness and inner peace by our own actions. We are ALWAYS frustrated by something getting in the way of our 'desires'.
Keeping these issues in mind, lets confirm why we should even be considering these things.
WhyIBelieve.Org Ministries Copyright Pending 2002 M. Sutherland |
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