Existence of God
The greatest universal subject
of debate among the most learned and enlightened mind in the world is probably
the “Existence of God”. Scientific and religious are the two types of minds
considered the most enlightened, because one brings about changes, progress and
prosperity in the world through experimentation and their inferences; while the
other brings joy, peace and hope through faith. Although, both have some
dependencies on the other to sustain their theories; there seems to be an
unspoken war of philosophy going on between them.
According to science, the universe
emerged millions of years ago during a massive explosion known as the “Big
Bang”. However, even science fails to contemplate on what was there before the
universe or the empty space. The Big Bang theory implies that even space or
time didn’t exist before the Big Bang.
Some 13 Billion years ago out of nothing a point/singularity explosion
occurred releasing an enormous amount of heat energy triggering a staggering
expansion forming space and time, and ultimately the universe as we know it.
On the contrary, most religion
(Christianity for reference) says the universe was created by God; a heavenly
being that exist before anything else, but it also fails to explain time
beyond/before the existence of God. In Christianity, God is also referred to as
a word or an entity of unknown color, shape or size. According to popular religious belief God
created the Heavens which include all and everything we know of, out of
nothing. Note that when I say Heavens instead of Heaven, I am simply trying to
acknowledge the theory of multiple/parallel universe in science and the
different levels of spiritual dimensions as per some religions (e.g. Buddhism).
One very interesting thing I
always pondered on is both Science and Religion implies that the universe was
created or formed out of ‘nothing’. Science says, space and time began with the
big bang and religion says when there was ‘nothing’ God existed. So what is
actually “NOTHING” If it is not even empty space or time??? Honestly, never
thought I would have to someday Google the word ‘nothing’ to know its meaning!
Well, No matter whether or not,
science and religion are correct; no matter how farsighted their scholars
endeavor to be, the simple fact is, what caused or created the universe will
remain suspense to the most learned of all wise man, until the end of time and
space, and beyond if it goes on. Unless of course, religion could elaborate
where God came from, where he exist before time and space or the esteemed
science prove where the Big Bang took place if there was no space!
I do not seek to explain,
solve or understand the ambiguity of how universe came into being. I for one
neither embrace science nor religion to all its authenticity. The vast expanse
of the universe can never be measured; neither with science nor with human
imagination. Unless we can measure universe or find its edge, we cannot fathom
what is beyond. And without knowing anything about what is engulfing our universe
there is no way to find out how, why or what created the Universe. The size of
the universe is infinite and you don’t need a doctorate in cosmology to
understand it, if you can define what empty space is!
The focal point of the above
argument is not about who or what created the universe but whether God does
exist? If God does exist, is there any material evidence to sustain the claim?
Does science accept the existence of God? And to have a meaningful debate, we
must free our minds from any bias, prejudices and be neutral in thinking. That
is the only way to get to a rational conclusion or else it would all be
fictional. So now assuming we are all neutral in mind, does God exist?
Let me be incredibly honest
and blunt with what I have to say on this, “I don’t know. But I believe, yes! God
does exist, just not as we know of or we ever might be able to know as”.
Now, I am neither a scientist nor a theologian to articulate the subject with
accurate reasoning. But it doesn’t take a stack of degree certificates to express
something that you believe in or logically visible to everyone, does it? If you
were reading something about this same subject written by a theologian or a
scientist you would have been on a roller coaster ride of words and terms from
both theology and science. Examples and anecdotes along with references of Theories or Bible verses would have confused the hell out of you; all just to
sustain a simple claim, Does God exist? While in the end both would wind-up stuck
at the same point of how the universe came into being. Because as stated
earlier, what caused or created the
universe will remain suspense to the most learned of all wise man, until the
end of time and space, and beyond if it goes on. Unless of course, religion could elaborate where God came from, where
he exist before time and space, or the esteemed science prove where the Big
Bang took place if there was no space!
So now why do I believe God
exist?
Note that I didn’t state, “God
exist” but I said, “I believe God exist”. As I stated earlier, I don’t intend
to prove or make a statement on the existence of God. I just wish to convey the
motivation that makes me believe in the existence of a supernatural entity
responsible for all other things coming into being. I discussed the notion of ‘the
creation’ (universe) because, to prove the existence of God, elucidation of the
same is imperative. But Alas! Both fail to give an insight to their root. Creation
itself is a dead end to this mystery.
Now it is crystal clear that
the creation cannot be ascertained either religiously or scientifically. There is no way one can prove the existence
of God, at least not in a way to prove the existence of God and get the
verdict in favor of it in any court of law under the established norms of
acceptable evidences. It all wraps up to how you perceive the world and what
you believe. Our question, if God exist, is more of a philosophical nature than
religion based or scientific. Since we don’t have the luxury of access to the
roots of science and religion, we just cannot conclude the debate no matter how
far we stretch our points of views.
I believe in the existence of
God because of the fact that the world has a design. The universe has a design.
How amazingly the earth is distanced from the sun, the right composition of
elements in the earth’s atmosphere making life possible on it. How the earth
revolves around the sun resulting in night and day. Everything is so well planned and perfectly
synchronized. The life cycle of plants and animals in which the young ones
replaces the dead, grows up and eventually dies paving way for another. The water
cycle in which clouds precipitates as rain; rain falls as water on earth and
evaporates as vapor back into the clouds and repeats the process. There are so
many wonders happening in front of our eyes everywhere which cannot be just by
chance or coincidence. It is amazing to know that almost all that we have
achieved so far is because of the information contained in the smallest
particles and molecules that our scientist deciphered over the centuries.
My Inference is that, without
a doubt, if there is a design there has
to be a designer. If there is a planned action there has to be a planner. And
if there is information, there has to be someone preparing, gathering, creating
and providing. Consider a mobile device, a smart phone. When you
deliberately or accidentally press delete button while on any file you get a
prompt question, “are you sure?” or something similar as “yes or no?” The
spontaneous response is to make sure you are not making a mistake. Someone
programmed the phone software in such a way to help you avoid making mistakes.
Similarly, our mind is programmed with consciousness and conscience so we don’t
do something wrong. Every time we are going to do something wrong, we may be
alone but we realize in our conscience that it is wrong and we feel uneasy; or
fear, anticipating the probable unpleasant consequence. We feel shy to be naked
in public coz we know it’s not the right thing to do. Who do you think did the
programming on you? If you have a conscience, someone must have given it to you
isn’t it? There are thousands of standing instructions in our mind we call them
as instinct reflexes. Who do you think planted them? God of course!
If we look carefully there
really are broadly only two types of things in the universe; the Godly and the
Worldly. Godly things are those which are not visible to the naked eye but
accessible to our heart and mind. While almost all of the visible things are
worldly. And the worldly things include religion, holy books, even the
religious ceremonies and occasions. While Godly is what you feel, how you feel,
what you believe and most importantly how you live your life. If you are a
religious fanatic, you are either inarguably offended or angry at me right now.
But believe me, I mean no offence to
anyone and suggest that you stop reading at once, to save yourself from the
humiliation that comes with you explaining what makes your religion the real one
or your God for that matter, while the other ones as unreal.
According to Wikipedia there
are 4200 religions in the world with a combined world population of
approximately 7.6 billion as of march 2018. There possibly cannot be any one
true religion in particular or true God among them while the rest be false
religion or false God.
In terms of Christianity, just
imagine God saving and giving eternal life or salvation only to a handful of
people (only good Christians) while the rest like the sands on the seashore
pushed down the pit!!! I mean the Bible claims God is the loving father to
everyone and loves everyone the same. It also says he is an all knowing and all
doing God. Why would he let his children sin to deserve hell when he can make
them do all that is good and go to heaven? Oh I forgot, freewill… well who do
you think designed freewill in the first place? Even a layman can reason with
that if properly educated with worldly facts. Therefore God is one and only one,
who no one knows of exactly. There is no false religion or false God but just
faith and hope of his existence in the form of religion.
We can argue on the subject
and I can come up with pages of research and facts to show that religion is
just a concept which eventually would convinced you too, but that is not my
intention of writing this article. All I want is to share my belief in a
layman’s understandable manner that God does exist but just not as we know of. In
fact, I believe that even religion is far from the truth of God’s reality.
Religion is a concept created by man to give hope in despair and to help live a
proper harmonious social life. Religion is in fact, just an institution of the
knowledge of good and evil. Religion is
all about hope, love and faith, and has nothing to do with reality of God in
whatsoever way. Many would disagree with me but as I said, it’s on the
individual what to believe.
Unlike Richard Dawkins, Sam
Harris or Stephen Hawkins, I am not an atheist; an atheist doesn’t believe in
the existence of God but I do. I do have a religion passed on to me and
inherited from my parents and their ancestors. I am a Christian by religion and
I do love its teachings. What the Bible teaches is very helpful in our life, it
teach us how to live happily, hopefully and peacefully. In fact, I would
recommend everyone to read one of the holy books for its rich wisdom and
knowledge. It is just that I fail to imagine my religion being the right one
while all the others being wrong. I just cannot believe that the rest of the
world would rot in hell….
As for why I think religion is
just a concept I’ll need to write a whole new book, so till then …
We are just too tiny a factor
in the equation to understand God. God does exist, just not as we know of or we
ever might be able to know as. Man is yet to find out all the digital
value of “Pi” forget about finding
out who and how the universe was created, or let alone finding out God. In Hindi
they say, “Dhund ne se bhagwan bhi mil jata hai”. If you search carefully even
God can be found. Come on, step out of your world of proverbs and phrases into
reality and find out all the numerical values of “Pi” first, it’s something you men
have invented yourself so you just might get lucky or maybe try to define the word “NOTHING”!
Ultimately,
whether or not God exist is an individuals’ choice, an instinctive belief. You
can Google the World Wide Web and read all the scientific and religious theories
for years and yet you will end up getting the same conclusion as I arrived at. The
answer really depends on you and the ability of your magnificent mind to deduce
from life. You and I have very limited time in this world let’s not waste a
second wondering about things beyond our imagination (clearly). When we die,
which is inevitable, we are bound to find the answer to all these things even
about God if there is anything to know at all. Just make the most of this life
and live to the fullest. Remember, no one has ever been to the other side and
back…
Just be
good, do good and there is God…
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