| Why need God? |
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Someone said that man is the only creature on the earth who asks ‘why?’ And that is in fact true. Most people ask Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? And why am I here on earth? These questions cannot be answered without referring to a Supreme Being called God. Many would say that, man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms (Why I Am Not a Christian, editor Paul Edwards [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957], p. 107) There is no other reason for your existence. All you face is death. Dr. William Lane Craig give few major reasons why do we need God in his book Reasonable Faith, which we would like to discuss in the following lines. In fact it is not Dr. William Lane Craig along but many leading thinker/philosophers in the world thinks the same.
If there is no God and if man is the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms, both man and the universe are inevitably doomed to death which shows no hope of immortality. When compared to infinity, our time on earth is extremely short. That means our “life is just a momentary transition out of oblivion into oblivion.” What does this mean? It means that the human life is without ultimate meaning, value, or purpose.
If each person ceases to exist when he dies, asks Dr. Craig, “then what ultimate meaning can be given to his life?” “Does it really matter whether he ever existed at all?” Although one’s life may be seen important relative to certain other events, what is the ultimate significance of any of those events? It is meaningless for one to raise his/her children with much hardship, to go schools and colleges, spent time, money and strength for the betterment of family, society and countries. Every activity we fill our lives with is utterly meaningless. “If all the events are meaningless, then what can be the ultimate meaning of influencing any of them?”
If there is no God and immortality, why should one be good or bad in his/her life? What difference would it make one living as Hitler or Mother Teresa? One may live in every way he/she wishes to live, everything is possible. No one holds us accountable. Our good or bad character does not affect our ultimate life, for if there is no God, no ultimate meaning is possible. And if there is no God then there is no absolute morality, and if there is no absolute morality, then, morality is relative if morality is relative there is no such thing as right and wrong, and as mentioned above we may do/practice what we feel to do/practice.
What is the goal in life? Why do we live for? “Is it all for nothing?” To put it simple and illustratively, if there is no God human lives can be equated that of dogs or other animals. Great ancient philosopher and thinker, King Solomon, once wrote, “The fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All come from the dust and all return to the dust” (Eccles3:19-20).
But God can offer everything that Godlessness cannot offer… God gives meaning in our life: It is God who gives objective meaning in our life. Even if one believes that God is not necessary for human life to be meaningful, She/he needs to infuse a kind of meaning to his life/action, which assumes the necessity of meaning. Still then, he/she begs the question. Why our lives must be meaningful? And the answer is God alone. God is the Source of Values/Morality in Our Life: It is God who is the sources of morality/value. Godlessness cannot criticize social evils like war, rape, theft; killing, etc. just because they do not believe in the existence of God. If they do, it is so meaningless and illogical. As asked above, why one must be morally right? Where does the atheism (system that does not believe in the Existence of God) got its concept of right and wrong? Most atheist believe that social evils like war, rape, theft, killing, etc are wrong therefore must not be allowed. The answer is whether one like to believe in God or do not like to believe in God, there is a higher value/moral standard, beyond every human being, whose source is God alone. God gives Purpose of Life: It is God who gives purpose in our Life. Dr. Craig rightly points out; “Man cannot live consistently and happily as though life were ultimately without meaning, value, or purpose. If we try to live consistently within the atheistic worldview, we shall find ourselves profoundly unhappy. If instead we manage to live happily, it is only by giving the lie to our world view.” Can we imagine any game without any goal or purpose? Can you imagine any travel without any purpose? Can you imagine inventing new equipment/instruments without any purpose? We do all these with a purpose. Aren’t we? The ultimate purpose of our lives is nothingness if God doesn’t exist. Therefore, whether we like it or not, God makes our life Meaningful, God is the source of Moral basis and God gives purpose in our lives. copyright©youthindia.com |