“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?”
― Epicurus
I played a game of chess once against a guy who won me in six moves, yes, six moves. Then he had the audacity to ask me after that, “Another game?” Who in their right minds would say yes, well I didn’t and to date have never played against the guy, but his time will come though, not just yet, they say patience is a virtue. Anyway, here’s the twist to the narrative, what if you were – omniscient? This would simply mean that you have the capability of knowing exactly how the game would end, either with you as the winner or not. Come in capability number 2, over and above being omniscient let’s say for argument sake that you were also omnipotent. This would then give you the capability of manipulating the outcome of the game to ensure that you are victorious. Add on capability number 3, you are omnipresent, meaning you can play multiple chess games at the same time anywhere in the world. This would also mean that you can transcend time because 3 a.m. in London is not 3 a.m. in Sydney, anyway am digressing here a bit, forgive me.
As long as your god makes sense to you, that is all that matters.
I will also beg your forgiveness and ask you to think with an open mind, just for a bit (at least for those who are not open-minded). Now that you are all knowing, all powerful and time and space, you cannot lose a chess game or multiple chess games for that matter. I am thinking from a layman’s point of view so feel free to correct me if I stray too much from the path (whichever that path may be). You might be asking yourself where I’m heading with this but therein lies the rub. If God is all these things and more, doesn’t he already know how this play called life will end or if it will? More importantly, when this play began He must have known that Eve would partake of the fruit and so on and so forth, that He would send his son, He would raise him from the dead after 3 days et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
With all these odds stacked up as they are, do we really have a chance on this chess board called life or are we just actors in a play who have been given a role to play and deviation from the script is unimaginable? One tends to think that we are more of guinea pigs in this intricate lab we like to call life and if not then there is a chance that we could, just maybe, overcome the “Master Scientist” and take over our own lives. Have the right to control our own destiny. But then again we would probably create the possibility of raising another entity that will control us because think of it, 7.7 billion of us thinking independently and wanting to forge our own path in life – it would be utter chaos. Daddy tells mummy to do one thing but mummy says no and does it her own way, not to mention their child who as all children think, that the folks aren’t with it, they don’t know what life’s about therefore clearly can’t be given the chance to purport that they know.
So, is God an idea or does He really exist? Where is He? How did He come into being? Is He a necessary idea to keep some form of order in life? And, if so who came up with the idea?
To the first question, I can answer yes, and in both senses. Society cannot survive without some semblance of order, however, you decide to define this order. When it comes to God, the moment an individual tries to engage the supernatural logically the whole argument starts to implode on itself. Logically two fish and five loaves of bread cannot be able to feed 5,000 people or an individual to be raised after being dead for 72 hours. Today people have been miraculously healed after being diagnosed with terminal illnesses, some happenings cannot be explained using fact or science or logic, they just happen. Some people call it magic, others deny it happened, others call them miracles, others say it’s mysticism. They will most likely be attributed to a greater being than ourselves, one not on the same plane of being such as us mere mortals.
Ever wondered if the Bible is God’s message to mankind, why did it have to end at Revelations. Has He stopped inspiring people to tell us what His will for us is in the Bible? I like the Apostle’s Creed, towards the end it says;
…I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the Life everlasting. Amen.
What I like about this is that it is not stating as fact. The person saying the prayer is reaffirming that they ‘believe’. This implies faith. If it was fact then it really does not matter whether one accepts or not, the fact of the matter will still stand.
Human beings, I would like to believe have this innate sense where they can be able to differentiate between good and evil. Having said that, I do believe there is a Supreme Being, a Creator. Who or what this entity is, I cannot clearly explain to you. What this Creator is to me, might not necessarily be the same thing to the next person, therefore our relationship is personal and I do not need anyone else to define that to me.
“Religion is like a pair of shoes…..Find one that fits for you, but don’t make me wear your shoes.”
― George Carlin
MBC
mybrokecompass 