mine. This is the question that made me stop and think - I mean
really think about it. If there is no God, then where did we come
from? Perhaps, that’s the very question that the ancients asked
themselves - and perhaps that started all religion - the question of
existence - who created us? The easiest answer is well,
God. There has to be some source - some God - from where we all
came from. Otherwise, how did we become what we are now?
But then, was it God who created man? Or did man create
God? Many religions all over the world has its own creation
story. Different stories and different ways but they all point to
one fact - that God created man. However, with the inconsistency
of the creation stories among different religions, the thought of “man
creating God” becomes more real. How then you would say did man
create God? By this I mean that man - in the middle of all his
questions - has to find an answer but not finding any answer, decided
to create an answer and the easiest answer would be the idea of having
a creator - a God who by his (or her) powers created man. With
such an answer, most men dared not question because of the fear that
their creator might get mad at them and ruin them.
Where does the rain come from? The thunders and lightnings?
Who rules the seas? The earth? The air? I find it
funny that before, when man had no idea about the moon, that they
worshipped the moon as the God who governed the night. But now,
the divine status of the moon has been reduced to simple a satellite
that revolves around the earth. That before, the planets were
worshipped but now they are explored and studied. That before,
men pray to the gods and goddesses for rain but now, we simply seed the
clouds to bring us rain.
Perhaps soon, we will find an answer to our very own existence and
perhaps soon - God will no longer be needed because we already know.
And so now I find myself walking between two paths - the path of faith
and the path of logic. One says, believe, the other says,
know. One says don’t ask questions, just believe while the other
says, ask everything you can ask for through it you will know. I
know that sooner or later I must decide which path to take as the gap
between the two gets wider and wider and wider for each passing
day. And when that time comes, there is no turning back.
Maybe you find yourself in much the same situation as I am in right
now. Or perhaps you have answers. Either way, I will love
to hear from you. If you too are asking the same questions as I
am, then perhaps you can join me in my quest. Or perhaps you can
run your own adventure and just tell me what you find. The fact
and the truth here is that we are all seeking for answers. In a
modern age when only a few remain unanswered - somehow we have this
feeling that sooner or later we will KNOW.
You can reach me by phone or email… or you can post your comment below.
- Mike Lopez
July 15th, 2006 at 8:14 am
I hope this post is not late, try watching UNTV37, Ang Dating Daan. You may attend and observe their services. Attend their Mass Indoctrination, where you can learn a lot. Visit their website as well at http://www.angdatingdaan.org
Lots of people (including me) from all walks of life found what you have been looking for.
God Bless.
July 17th, 2006 at 2:43 am
Oh, Ang Dating Daan again? Please stop promoting him because as I said he’s nothing more than just a self-contradicting preacher who asks his people for money and denies it at the same time.
August 16th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Logically, we cannot prove (explicitly) the existence of God through sheer reasoning for (I think) it can be both proven and unproven.
First, our knowledge depends upon people or things we accept as reliable. If we think that the bible is reliable in this complex debate then we cite passages from it but if we inquire to scientists and philosophers our views will surely differ. If we think that God exist or not basically depends on the sources we consider as reliable thus we tend to follow those views held by people we consider as authority in a certain subject.
Second, if we try to prove God’s existence we will always come up to hanged arguments for we cannot deny that God is unperceivable and thus proving something w/c is unperceivable is quiet impossible for we reason out base on phenomena that we “experience”. But if we consider that God after all does not exist, we will still be cut short for wherever we go, there is always harmony and things everywhere around us seems to be like products of an “intelligent designâ€.
According to St. Thomas Aquinas that everything has a “cause†and all those cause bring us to a “being†who is by itself is “uncausedâ€. This uncaused being is God. Yet according to Bertrand Russell, this argument is invalid for if everything has a cause then God himself must also have a cause. For God is a being, a being is a thing, and the first proposition states that “everything†has a cause, so God must also have a cause. People vary in their views and opinions regarding this matter…
But, according to Blaise Pascal: If I believe in God and there is no God, I lost nothing; if I don’t believe in God but God exists, I lost everything.
August 16th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Hi AL,
I’m quite amazed by your explanation. In fact, ever since I wrote this post, I came into more or less the same reasoning as yours. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Mike
August 17th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Thank you too for appreciating. Its nice to share thoughts especially on these subjects. I myself is still puzzled regarding this fundamental question in life. I initially came out with answers like: maybe there is god because man chooses to have one. man is constantly bothered by his reflections of what would happen if he’ll die ( even I myself trmbles before the thought of total self annihilation). Life is fragile and most certainly, it comes only once…
Belief in god is a subject that anyone including authorities like priest, ph.d people, freethinkers and the like, tackle. If you want to know more about it you must also be open-minded and accept all facts whether it will come from an atheist or theist because optimism requires us to show and present our faith to everyone in order for us to know and understand more.
God, if he is God, must be infinite in nature and incredibly grandiose that a human mind should be incapable of comprehending all of His being. I believe in God but I do not believe blindly. Thank you again!!!
August 17th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Hi AL,
I too believe in God and like you, I don’t believe blindly. I ask questions and I ask plainly. I don’t hide nor do I fear what people would think about when I ask questions. Some think I think and ask too much, some even condemn me, and yet some appreciate my questions and thoughts. One thing I always bear in mind is that to understand an infinite God, one has to have the broadest mind possible.
One things for sure though, as long as there are unanswered questions in man’s life, God will always have a place in the minds of people.
And about death, I’m glad to say that I’m not afraid of dying not because of some belief on life after death, I just learned to accept the facts - that we all come and go in this world whether or not God exists.
Mike
December 28th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
If just by human reasoning, its null.
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Hi,
posted your blogs may 28, 2005 and i read same this very day after lunch may 2,2007. Yes, i am on the same path as you…i am a catholic.but somehow i have all this questions in my head…..
I decided to be on “top of the rabbits hair” in any way i can..And somehow find the answer too..
Initially i am leading to believe that GOD is AM.