Science and The Creator (Who Am I? Part 8)

The Fusion of Science and Religion. Reason and logic applied to questions of our existence. Famous Scientists who believe in a Creator of the Universe. Examining the Creator and the Creation

This is part 8 of a series on Who Am I?

Man’s Search For Meaning

Sumer of Mesopotamia

Unearthed in Mesopotamia, in the ancient ruins of the communities of Sumer (3500-3000 BC), are the oldest written records still existing that have been discovered to date.

From these earliest times, humans have pondered earths mysteries, wondered about our existence, and if there is purpose in what we do each day?

We also have mused on life’s meaning, attempting to come up with answers. It was true in Sumer–it is true today.

Ancient Sumer

It was learned that the people of this community worshiped the god “Utu” among other gods. Utu was the god of the Sun; representing justice, morality, and truth in their civilization. (1)  

Gods and Deities

In Sumer, they created different gods to support these personal beliefs. This made sense of the world they knew and had to survive in. The people of Sumer had deified the powers of the natural forces of the world about them; creating names, images, and stories of gods to account for the processes they observed in nature.

Sumer Deities

Therefore, they worshipped these forces as gods, realizing their dependance upon them, such as the sun, moon, stars; the weather, the seasons— all supported as Deities, in support of their success in their personal survival and strived for happiness. They desperately relied upon the powers of nature in the growing of their crops, the fertility of their union, the success of their personal endeavors to prosper and survive. Believing these critical forces they relied on were controlled by gods – who could be prayed to and worshipped; helped the people have hope something was looking out for them and could be appealed to for help.

But there is another point here I think we can discover – and it also relates to our times. 

Do we believe in God, merely because we think we need him? Or do we believe in God, because we see in the circumstances about us, something requiring an explanation?

Universal Constants

No matter what people might believe, this world is here, and it goes on. There is a science and a power behind it, regardless of how we choose to live our lives, or what we choose to believe. Our beliefs do not affect the truth of it in the least. The “Truth” (as we have discussed) “is what is”, whether we see it and attempt to understand it or not. Our science and knowledge are not responsible for and did not create the powers of the world or the universe. Our science, is our attempt to define, explain, and understand the life and the powers that were already here –and going on.

Even if we refuse to acknowledge, or ignore, or even lie about the truth of the reality behind the natural world; or try to deceive ourselves so we don’t have to recognize it; THE TRUTH OF THE POWER AND LAWS OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND UNIVERSE DO NOT REVOLVE AROUND US! IT IS WE WHO REVOLVE AROUND THEM!

This world and its natural forces and laws, and the life upon its surface was here before us. It is the reason we exist; and it will be here long after we are gone. If someone wants to know the “TRUTH OF EXISTENCE”, it is up to them to start from a point of honest questioning.

Thus far we have reasoned through the questions of science and the human experience, and even looked at some religious teaching that has helped define the foundations of who we might be? and what the truth of existence is? We have contrasted theistic and atheistic possibilities – to help discover logically and reasonably what the truth is. We have examined the question: If life comes from a creator or random chance?  We have examined if life has meaning; or no meaning but what we make of it; or assign to it?

If we have learned one firm fact, or inescapable conclusion from the facts… it is that INTELLIGENT DESIGN WAS BEHIND OUR CREATION, and THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE on this unique planet we call earth. 

But what about beyond the earth? Are there broader proofs in the universe?

Gravity and the Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton was the central figure of science for the 17th century, and master of mathematically theory; inventor of calculus, and credited with the discovery of gravity and the laws of motion, which is only a partial list of his accomplishments.  At the age of 23, he discovered the three laws of motion, Inertia, Force, Action & Reaction.

It is curious to me that he was spoken of during my elementary education as an atheist. Science, I was taught, is the abandonment of God for proper scientific reasoning. Today, as the greater body of Newton’s work has come to light to be better known, those claims are refuted. Today, as more people have educated themselves, and Newton’s full body of work has been reexamined, it is clear he was no atheist.

Sir Isaac Newton

Newton believed in an active, and personally involved Creator. Newton had well-formed views on the subject of man’s origins.

In his work, Principia, Newton addresses his beliefs on the creation of the universe:

“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being….This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God…or Universal Ruler” (2)   -Sir Isaac Newton

Why would Newton say this, if “natural science” is as Modern Science claims, a refutation on God? It is because Newton was not conditioned to begin his scientific studies with his mind already made up about Gods existence. He was willing to let the facts he was uncovering speak for themselves.

Modern Science today has no interest in supporting truth, but it has proved it is the exact opposite. It has been put in place to support an agenda, which is anti-God. We have let those facts speak for themselves. Whenever the true science, as we have been able to demonstrate, supports intelligent design –it is ignored and covered up. Professors won’t even go there, and entertain such a discussion. By not acknowledging these points of truth, they turn science into a political tool in support of atheism, not truth.

Newton’s advance mind impacted the world in his time, with discoveries and conclusions of which still hold up today, as they are at the heart of true scientific mathematical relevance and theory. In his works on gravity and the laws of motion, he saw in all of this: order, and deliberate intelligent design behind the universe.

Living also before Charles Darwin, Newton knew the arguments for a self-existent universe which Darwin was to embrace; but rejected them.

“Blind metaphysical necessity [materials and energy that make up the universe], which is certainly the same always and every where, could produce no variety of things. All that diversity of natural things which we find suited to different times and places could arise from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being, necessarily existing.” (3)  –Sir Isaac Newton

It was clearly Newton’s belief, that metaphysical necessity (things of and pertaining to life’s existence and the nature of reality,) required intelligence as the “cause” of ordered things. That a blind guide– such as a self-existent force, lacking intelligence or awareness and intellectual capacity, could not produce the variety of life we find in the world, or produce the order of the universe.

Newton found that there was order in the movement of Bodies in space, and their movements were exacting and predictable in mathematical calculations. This did not support a chaotic system of abstract confusion, and mere chance. It was evidence that some power had taken the chaos and ordered it into balance, and structured harmony. As if for a purpose!

Mathematics are deliberate, and sequential; the exact opposite of chaos.  For these basic cosmic materials to come into a state of order, and to be constructed into “a variety of things” as Newton calls them, they must reasonably have been acted on by intelligent processes to be ordered into different more complex forms “suited to different times and places”.

Similarly, the raw materials of this earth will remain in their natural state– unless acted on by intelligent humans. It requires an intelligent being to turn clay into pottery, metal ore into tools shaped for our use; wood into homes and furniture; or animal skins into a belt to hold up our pants, or shoes for our feet. As I have pointed out earlier: our modern-day cars, cell phones, and all intelligent inventions are evidence of intelligent life. Scientists themselves would declare this so, and they do!

Similarly, Newton suggests, I find order and deliberate mathematical theory of sequential precise measurements and events, in the heavens. These systems of order in the heavens can be marked by mathematical calculations. The earth, in particular, needed this consistency to function as it does to produce its ordered seasons, like clockwork each yearly cycle, as it revolves around the sun providing a stable atmosphere so life can exist, and even thrive.

The moon, in its exact size, shape, and precise distance from earth, provides a miraculous counterweight to the sun, helping the earth maintain a consistent speed and distance from the sun, as it helps to support and cradled it. Keeping earth from being overpowered and drawn closer to the sun, or preventing earth in being overcome by the suns gravitational pull, which could cause the earth to wander into a wobble in its rotation, drifting away from the consistency of its centered equator, and effecting our polar regions to change their axis center, creating violent weather conditions on earth. (4) (5)

It is also significant earth has only one moon, unlike other planets. Multiple moons or even two in conflicting orbits, could have pulled earth off this delicate counterbalance, preventing or destroying any life here. Another item in the list of lucky coincidences that just happened to take place so this earth could function properly and work the way it must- to support life. This lengthy list of necessary coincidences just keeps growing and growing – as our science advances.

Our Moon, like so many other needed specific requirements for life existence, turned out to be the exact size, distance, and orbit as a companion to earth, to make it a hospitable place to allow and support abundant life.

It takes intelligence to produce intelligent things. Mathematics and mathematical formulas come out of reason and intelligence, and a consistent process that is guided by a superior intellect. Complex diversity: which life is, could only be explained by “a Being necessarily existing”, with deliberate intent to take control of inanimate things and order (organize) them to become animate. This cosmic order in Newton’s mind, denotes a creator on a much grander scale.

“It is the dominion [the control over the universe and its properties] of a spiritual being which constitutes a God… And from his true dominion it follows that the true God is a Living, Intelligent, and Powerful Being; and, from his other perfections, that he is Supreme or most Perfect.

He is Eternal and Infinite, Omnipotent and Omniscient; that is, his duration reaches from Eternity to Eternity; his presence from Infinity to Infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be done… he constitutes Duration and Space.” (6)   –Isaac Newton

The Laws of Relativity

Generations later came Albert Einstein. Spoken of today as an atheist among the scientific circles, but Einstein, himself, declared he was no Atheist.

“There is harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognise, yet there are people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me to support such views.” (7)        –Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Einstein did not embrace belief in a personal God, who was actively involved in our daily lives. He felt organized religion was not based in sound science. He saw God more as an intelligent energy and Spiritual substance.  His statements in this regard, is what atheist’s use to claim- he too- was an atheist.

“I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.” (8)

Einstein found his religious philosophy most closely connected to the views of Spinoza.

Baruch (de) Spinoza lived from 1632 –1677. He was a Dutch philosopher living in Amsterdam, Holland, and is considered one of the great thinkers of the Enlightenment period.

“We must, indeed, all expel anthropomorphic representation of the divine.” (9)

Baruch Spinoza

Anthropomorphism is the act of assigning or suggesting the characteristics of humans to an animal, a god or an inanimate thing. (10)

This is what Einstein felt was the issue with organized religion, in assigning human concepts to the infinite. Spinoza’s belief that this was inappropriate, was closer to Einstein’s concept of what God would be, a non-human entity. And that we as humans, looking at our own needs, insecurities, and thoughts– have passed them onto the Divine nature of God. That this tendency is reflected in religious development and thought down through the centuries as humans have expanded the traits and characteristics of God to include our own native reality as beings.

In this fashion, he spoke many times of God as a Spiritual Being he believed existed; which was the power behind the universe, but not necessarily a force directly tuned in and connected to human existentialism, (those issues we face in the course of our existence).

He believed a supernatural power or spirit must permeate space and time, for he saw evidences of order and mathematical certainty within these universal laws.

“Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.” (11)

–Albert Einstein

He believed the only explanation for such complexity – was an intelligent force, far more advanced than humanity; which explained the harmony in the things he discovered related to physics, and the reason behind such a calculated broad universal creation.

“In this universe, there are countless planets, and each of them follows an orbit while revolving around their axis. God reveals Himself in the orderly manner of what exists!” (12)

-Albert Einstein

Spiral Galaxy

In his discoveries, he had a similar awakening to what Newton had, that there is order in natural planetary law.  In his Theory of Relativity and Quantum Light Theory he was able to mathematical calculate his beliefs before he could prove them. He felt this was proof that universal creation was the outcome of intelligence in operation throughout the universe.

“We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations.”  (13)        –Albert Einstein

Einstein did not see a conflict between science and a belief in God; he saw it as an informational gap, needing to filled. That science only lacked the development to comprehend and provide an explanation for Gods power and abilities.

“… Science today cannot prove the existence of God, because science is not yet developed enough, it is not because God does not exist.”  (14)  –Albert Einstein

Although Einstein saw fallacy in organized religion, he also believed it held merit for mankind; and did push the human race towards a higher sense of personal morality and integrity. He particularly pointed out the virtues of the Judea-Christian religious philosophy.

“The highest principles for our aspirations and judgments are given to us in the Jewish-Christian religious tradition. It is a very high goal which, with our weak powers, we can reach only very inadequately, but which gives a sure foundation to our aspirations and valuations.” (15)

– Albert Einstein

It is clear, Einstein believed there was no other reasonable or logical conclusion to explain what we see in the universe; and which can account for things we witness on display–except in the handiwork and intellect of an all-powerful God. That any scientist who would look upon such things (and was being honest), could not reason otherwise.

“Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.” (16)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            – Albert Einstein

That is what our most celebrated Scientist of the 20th Century declared; and that evidence still stands today as well as his own testimony to it!

Creator, and the Creation

As a part of learning and comprehending existence, and to comprehend that which we find around us in this world, it is necessary to understand two states of condition. The relationship between the Creator and the Creation.

The Universe

What is the Creator?

The Creator is a self-functioning independent intelligent force; capable of reason, comprehension, knowledge retention, assessment, problem solving, construction, experimentation, improvement, planning, and execution. The Creator does not rely on any outside influence to exist or create. The Creator is self-contained, self-sustaining; and can direct external materials and forces to its will.

What is the Creation?

The Creation is the outcome of the will and skill of the Creator. It is not self-sustaining, it is not self-functioning, unless the creator has made it so; for it is not a work of itself– but of the creator who designed and created it.  It is not capable of building itself, or replacing its missing parts, because it cannot operate beyond its design and level of capacity or intelligence. It can only do what it was designed to do, for it does not have life in itself. Without the Creator, it would not exist, and it cannot continue once it has run down, and its parts cease to function.

If you attempt to examine the creation, and attempt to understand its working parts, systems, and function, (being an intelligence creature yourself) you may be able to notice and discover much it is capable of. But when it comes to duplicating it, we have run up against an impassible wall. Billions of complex parts that were carefully engineered and that work together in a way our limited science has not been able to repeat or replicate. It is too far beyond us.

To explain how it came into being, you must credit the creator who created it; for with millions of years of speculated human existence, accumulated knowledge and growth, we still are only scratching the surface of its complexity. Yet those who lead our science community still want to believe this was the outcome of chance forces coming together. In an attempt to explain the unexplainable, they have assigned to a word “evolution” the powers of a supreme creator.

“It is important to note that the information written on DNA molecules is not produced by any known natural interaction of matter. Matter and molecules have no innate intelligence, allowing self organization into codes. There are no known physical laws which give molecules a natural tendency to arrange themselves into such coded structures.” (17)

As is demonstrated here by Hubert Yockey, a Ph.D. in Physics, DNA molecules and matter alone cannot explain life. Their order of arrangement is not a natural occurring phenomenon.  They do not have the capability in themselves to exist. They follow a complex program placed withing them they did not create. Some external power and influence outside of them is the only explanation for their existence.

Yet Modern Science has wished to suggest a concept called “Evolution” created all life. Evolution is merely a word. It is not a system, an intelligence, or a factory that can organize or create anything. It has no creative powers, and no intellectual capacity. It is a word, meant to encompass a system, based in a theory, that we know with modern science has been proven false, and cannot explain life. How did the DNA get its information? How was matter organized? WE DON’T KNOW! DNA has shown us the miracle of life, but not the method of how it was actually accomplished.

“That organic evolution could account for the complex forms of life in the past and the present has long since been abandoned by men who grasp the importance of the DNA genetic code.” (18)

Dr. John J. Grebe

Grebe firmly makes the point, once the DNA had been discovered, and genetic engineering was found to be behind how life was constructed, Darwin’s organic evolution was proved to be outdated and a fraud. It has no explanation for a logical system that could produce DNA.

To look to the creation for all the answers, when you find a level of intelligence involved that far exceeds your own, shows a complete lack of understanding or admission of the facts.

The creation can only yield the sum total of what it is, what it does, and what it was designed to be. All life therefore eventually dies, and can only exist within the limitations of its design. We can leave the creation (planet earth) and enter space in our space crafts, but we must return or die. To find these perfect and precise conditions of biological existence– we would need to look for another carefully constructed world; operating on these same principles of creation. So far this has been impossible to find.

We should all stand humbled by these facts, and desire to understand that Creator; to who’s eminent power we owe our very existence.

These truths were not lost on Albert Einstein, who said:

“My religiosity consists of a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit, …That superior reasoning power forms my idea of God.” (19)

“My God created laws… His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking but by immutable laws.” (20)

We all have the capacity within ourselves to be creators on a simpler scale. We learn by our own discovery what it takes to create. That a level of experimentation, acquired intelligence, and skill is needed in the long process behind our earthly creations.  Once this creative process has yielded a successful result, we can realize by our own intellect and experience that things just don’t magically create themselves.

Dr. Michael Denton shares:

“The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.” (21)

Famed researcher and astronomer Fred Hoyle was credited with saying:

“Supposing the first [organic] cell originated by chance, is like believing a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.” (22)

Sir Isaac Newton credited the existence of the universe as only being explainable, through the operations and involvement of a superior creator acting on his creation:

“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being” (23)  

Our Solar System

Both Newton and Einstein, and many other men of education and science, could see this truth— and have declared it. And understood they were observing the workings and science of a God with capacity far beyond them, who used logic and reason in the creation.

“There is an author which transcends the material and the matter of which these [DNA] strands are made. The author first of all conceived the information necessary to make a cell, then wrote it down, and then fixed in it a mechanism of reading it and realizing it in practice so that the cell builds itself from the information…” (24)    –Chemist, Dr. Wilder-Smith

The relationship of Creator and Creation is as basic as existence itself. It is at the foundations of this world, and the known universe.

When we talk of human kind, and what man has created, we don’t get confused about the relationship of Creator and Creation. We look at man and his intelligence, and we look at the creation of man –and there is no comparison. The one could not exist without the other.

We would not look for the truth or answers in the study of the creations of man alone, to learn how they were constructed. We would also study the method, science, and technology humans developed and invented to build their creations. This is the whole purpose we have Universities and Trade schools and Apprenticeships; to pass on the knowledge of how to create. We would never be able to figure out how to make a cell phone or an automobile simply by suggesting they created themselves, and looking to find a way to explain how they put themselves together. We know that would be a foolish concept.  But when it comes to ourselves or the biological creation, and the universe– suddenly Modern Scientists use different reasoning, and want to ignore the clear intelligence and complexity of biological life. Those currently educated and who we have hired and tasked to fill the seats of higher learning suddenly become blind to these facts; and spend endless time and money chasing an impossibility. They live in a lie of their own making to avoid giving credit to the Creator.   

Why? Because they are not interested in proving Gods existence. They want to be in the place of god, making all decisions and living life with no restrains over what they can or cannot do. No moral fetters to require an expectation of them to obey laws and commandments that will restrict the way they wish to believe and live. They want to shape society to live within their illusion, and keep us supporting a system that worships and follows them.

We are all free to believe what we wish. The mind is free to believe. But the facts of what we know, show the argument and reason behind this existence stands on immutable laws and science—which we are but learning. Yet this knowledge and power was being wielded in the universe before we, or this earth and solar system, were ever conceived.

We are but a creation, of a creator we are trying to understand.

To be continued . . .

_______________________________________________

Sources:

1. Utu, Wikipedia, (as of June 8, 2021) Utu – Wikipedia [Under Ancient First Writing]

2. Christine Dao, Man of Science, Man of God: Isaac Newton ;Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Institute for Creation Research Website: http://www.icr.org/article/3859/

3. Christine Dao, Man of Science, Man of God: Isaac Newton ;Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Institute for Creation Research Website: http://www.icr.org/article/3859/

4. NASA Website Earth’s Moon, Overview | Earth’s Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration

5.Mysteries of the Moon revealed – including how it stops our planet wobbling and why it’s spinning away from us | The US Sun (the-sun.com)

6. Sir Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica, 1687

7.Did Einstein Believe in God? – bethinking.org Einstein in a conversation with Hubertus zu Löwenstein, in Löwenstein’s book Towards the Further Shore (London Victor Gollancz 1968), p.156

8. Did Einstein Believe in God? – bethinking.org In 1929, Einstein was asked by Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein whether he believed in God. Einstein responded by telegram.

9. Spinoza’s Philosophy Summary (the-philosophy.com)

10. www.yourdictionary.com/anthropomorphism

11. Did Einstein Believe in God? – bethinking.org Quoted in H. Dukas and B. Hoffman, Albert Einstein – The Human Side (USA Princeton University Press 1981)

12. God Existence According to Albert Einstein, https://thebl.tv/culture/gods-existence-according-to-albert-einstein-and-his-last-wish.html

13. What Einstein thought about God, the Universe, science and religion (zmescience.com)

14. God Existence According to Albert Einstein, https://thebl.tv/culture/gods-existence-according-to-albert-einstein-and-his-last-wish.html

15. This article appears in Einstein’s Ideas and Opinions, pp.41 – 49. The first section is taken from an address at Princeton Theological Seminary, May 19, 1939. It was published in Out of My Later Years, New York: Philosophical Library, 1950. New York Times Article

16. Did Einstein Believe in God? – bethinking.org Quoted in H. Dukas and B. Hoffman, Albert Einstein – The Human Side (USA Princeton University Press 1981)

17. Hubert P. Yockey, “Self Organization Origin of Life Scenarios and Information Theory,” Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 91, No. 1 (July 7, 1981), p. 13.

18. Dr. John J. Grebe, physicist, “DNA Complexity Points to Divine Design,” Science & Scripture, Vol. 3, No. 3 (San Diego: Creation-Science Research Center, 1973), p. 20 (p. 20 “No scientific evidence has shown the slightest chance of one code mutating to another.”). ORIGIN OF LIFE—Does evolutionism supply the answers? – ChristianAnswers.Net

19. Albert Einstein, The Quotable Einstein, ed. Alice Calaprice (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), pp.195-6. https://www.bethinking.org/god/did-einstein-believe-in-god

20. Einstein in conversation with W. Hermann in Hermann’s book Einstein and the Poet (USA Branden Press, 1983), p.132; https://www.bethinking.org/god/did-einstein-believe-in-god

21. Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler and Adler Publishers, 1986), p. 264.

https://www.bethinking.org/god/did-einstein-believe-in-god

22. “Hoyle on Evolution,” Nature, Vol. 294, No. 5837 (November 12, 1981), p. 105.

https://www.bethinking.org/god/did-einstein-believe-in-god

23. Christine Dao, Man of Science, Man of God: Isaac Newton ;Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Institute for Creation Research Website: http://www.icr.org/article/3859/

24. Arthur E. Wilder-Smith in Willem J.J. Glashouwer and Paul S. Taylor, The Origin of Life (PO Box 1167, Marysville WA 98270-1167, USA: Eden Films and Standard Media, 1983) (Creationist motion picture).

Who Am I ? Part 3

Who Am I? Part 3, A search for meaning and truth in life. Asking searching questions about our existence. Darwin’s theories of Evolution and Natural Selection, early Modern Science and how it was shaped and progressed.

This is part 3 of a series on Who Am I?

All Life Began in a Primordial Pool Of Chemicals -Modern Science

A Process

Why have I taken this circuitous route about discovering one’s self and answering the question, “who am I”?  Why not just come right out and say it, this is who you are!

Because the truth of something is multifaceted, it is not one thing; it is usually a sequence of things, and the existence of life on this planet is certainly that. What we have come to learn about, who we are? Is the accumulation of thousands of years of learning.

Science and Religion Mediums of Truth

There is what you might call a simple scientific explanation to this question. There is also a simple theological explanation to this question; but I have frankly struggled with both of them. Both seemed to have unanswered questions and far stretching speculations that appeared to come up short. But I do believe the truth of our existence is found within both! But so is much error!

It has become a process of sifting through ideas to find the truths and separate the error.

Reason; The Truth Guidance Mechanism

We all possess a gift, and a capability that naturally occurs within us. It is the gift of reason. Some call it common sense, or insight. It is all of these. I have found it is a tool with far more importance to us than it would seem at face value. I believe this human capacity of reason is absolutely required to learn and believe anything. It is what we engage when personally deciding to take anything into our belief system. It must pass the muster of our own judgement, and our own sense of reason. This sense and ability to reason can grow and become stronger the more we use it, and the more it becomes informed with truth. This ability is part of the answer that lies behind who we are. We will investigate this more later.

Investigating Who We Are

We are going to look at the foundations of Modern Science and their explanation of life. I am not going to go into great detail on these concepts because that is not necessary here; but to hit the main points so you have a foundation on which to gain perspective and understanding of the modern scientific theory of life’s existence. This is necessary to begin to build an understanding of who you are.

Modern Science

Modern Science suggests: no God was involved in the building of the universe, or the accumulation of space-matter into our earth or the planets of the solar system. All of the universe and the solar system to which we belong was a natural occurring phenomenon and process.  According to Modern Science, our earth was formed (1)4.5 billion years ago. After the earth was formed, as it was cooling, (2) water vapor that was present in the atmosphere began condensing and falling to the earth as rain, which created pools where chemicals existing in earths raw matter on her surface came together in certain combinations. Within that pool(3) lightning struck and ignited those chemical combinations present, turning them into chemical compounds that are the foundation of life. These chemical compounds over time combined into a living cell. This new living cell or cells springing to life began to replicate (as cells in our modern world have been observed to do), which began a cycle that over millions of years of time evolved into the first simple microbial life forms we find fossilized in the oldest most ancient rocks on earth. Those microbial forms later evolved into more complex life, and those life forms also continued to evolve into the life we see today on this planet.

Where Did These Ideas of Modern Science Come From?

They have existed for centuries; but arrived at a new epoch when Charles Darwin, a scientific enthusiast, studied the naturalist philosophies of the time; and making his own observations, was convinced life advanced through small consistent adaptive changes to its environment. He suggested a new idea, the theory of “Natural Selection”.

In his theory, Darwin believed “that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers — all related. Darwin’s general theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic (undirected) “descent with modification”. That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. In a nutshell, as random genetic mutations occur within an organism’s genetic code, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival — a process known as “natural selection.” These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation. Over time, beneficial mutations accumulate and the result is an entirely different organism (not just a variation of the original, but an entirely different creature).” (4)

The Theory of Evolution

Darwin studied the domesticated breeding that was being practiced in his day, to create refined and improved advances in species of cattle, dogs, horses, and other livestock, observing the wide variety of diversity that had come out of such methods and experiments. He concluded that if these breeding techniques could create breeding lines of superior and improved, better, stronger, more successful animals; this same process also demonstrated the advancement of life through genetic breeding. And not only would these laws apply to controlled experiments; this natural genetic force for change could also be applied to the natural world; and explain how life itself evolved. And that the most superior species would by their strength and superior gifts, win out over lessor forms; improving the species. Not only that, but if this process continued over millions of years (with species evolving to improve, change, and even diversify into limitless life forms) that these same genetic forces could result in the propagation of entirely different species.

This theory of Natural Selection; that nature through this bio-organic process would explain the advancement of life on this planet; would effectively dismiss the concept of a God creator, revealing life came about through a logical, incremental, natural process; and not under the hand of a supernatural being.

This theory was presented to the world in 1859, when Charles Darwin published his book, “On the Origin of Species”.

“By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favored competing explanations which gave only a minor role to natural selection, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. Darwin’s scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.” (5)

But this theory of Natural Selection, still did not offer a solution to how the first life came to be. How inanimate dead matter, could spring to life. As a solution to that question, Darwin suggested the following:

But if (and oh what a big if) we could conceive in some warm little pond with all sorts of ammonia & phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity etcetera present, that a protein compound was chemically formed, ready to undergo still more complex changes…” this, Darwin suggested, might have been the beginning of the formation of life on this world. (6) 

Oparin and Haldane Hypothesis

These ideas were adopted into the naturalist community, which was small at the time, but did not capture large public support. Fifty-three years later in 1924 Aleksandr Oparin (a Russian Scientist) expounded on this idea, “suggesting that the organic compounds (in the natural environment) could have undergone a series of reactions leading to more and more complex molecules if they were exposed to an energy source such as lightning or ultraviolet light. He proposed that the molecules undergoing such changes formed colloid aggregates [naturally forming dual interspersed substance combinations] or ‘coacervates’, in an aqueous [water base] environment”. (7) That this could be part of the process with which life on this planet formed.

In 1929, the English biologist J. B. S. Haldane (unaware at the time of Oparin’s theories) proposed a similar premise, furthering Darwin’s original hypothesis, which was compatible with Oparin’s theory.

“Haldane outlined how organic chemicals could build up in water, ‘[until] the primitive oceans reached the consistency of hot dilute soup’. This set the stage for ‘the first living or half-living things’ to form…” (6) These combinations gathered together perhaps in chemical combinations called coacervates. “At some point a kind of ‘oily film’ was produced that enclosed self-replicating nucleic acids, thereby becoming the first cell.” (9)

The idea that life formed in a primordial soup of organic chemicals became known as the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis.

This theory began to gain a following, and garner support in the universities up through the 1950’s.

Harold Urey, a Noble Prize winning scientist in 1934, (10 ) “became interested in the chemistry of outer space, [and] particularly what went on when the Solar System was first forming. One day in 1952 he gave a lecture and pointed out that there was probably no oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere when it first formed. This would have offered the ideal conditions for Oparin and Haldane’s primordial soup to form: the fragile chemicals would have been destroyed by contact with oxygen.”

The Stanley Miller Experiment

Stanley Miller, a doctrinal student in the audience later approached Urey with the idea of carrying out an experiment to prove the Oparin and Haldane hypothesis.

 Urey at first was skeptical, but assisted Miller in carrying out the experiment.

“The set-up was simple. Miller connected a series of glass flasks and circulated four chemicals that he suspected were present on the early Earth: boiling water, hydrogen gas, ammonia and methane. He subjected the gases to repeated electric shocks, to simulate the lightning strikes that would have been a common occurrence on Earth so long ago.”

“Miller found that ‘the water in the flask became noticeably pink after the first day, and by the end of the week the solution was deep red and turbid’[opaque]. Clearly, a mix of chemicals had formed.”

“When Miller analyzed the mixture he found that it contained two amino acids: glycine and alanine. Amino acids are often described as the building blocks of life. They are used to form the proteins that control most biochemical processes in our bodies. Miller had made two of life’s most important components, from scratch.” (11)

The experiment and its results were published in the Science journal in 1953 and became the most famous experiment of evolutionary science to date.

Modern Science was on its way, it believed, to solving the mystery of life.

To be continued. . .

_______________________________________________________________________

Sources and Notes:

1. How Did Life Arise on Earth? By Ker Than September 01, 2016 https://www.livescience.com/1804-greatest-mysteries-life-arise-earth.html; Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old, and for much of that history it has been home to life in one weird form or another.

2.The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, Article by Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began Eventually the Earth cooled enough for water vapor to condense into liquid water, and the first rain fell. Before long Earth had oceans, which were hot and rich in carbon-based chemicals.

3.The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, Article by Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began [T]here was once a small body of water, filled with simple organic compounds and bathed in sunlight. Some of those compounds might combine to form a life-like substance such as a protein, which could then start evolving and becoming more complex.

4. Discover Website: Darwin’s Theory Of Evolution (darwins-theory-of-evolution.com)

5.Charles Darwin: Charles Darwin – Wikipedia

6. The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, Article by Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016  http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began

7. Origin Of Life: Twentieth Century Landmarks, Copyright Chris Gordon-Smith 2003, https://www.simsoup.info/Origin_Landmarks_Oparin_Haldane.html.

8. J. B. S. Haldane, Wikipedia, Encyclopedia J. B. S. Haldane – Wikipedia 

9. The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, By Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began

10. The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, By Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016  http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began

11. The Secret of How Life began on the Earth, Article by Michael Marshall, 31 October 2016 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began

Who Am I? Part 2

Who Am I? Part 2, In finding out “who we are” we need to find out what sources can be trusted to find that answer. We must learn how to come into contact with Truth. The Truth brings trust, and finding Truth requires certain mental abilities and perspectives be developed.

This is part 2 of a series on Who Am I?

Finding Trust

To find truth it is also necessary to discover trustworthy sources. It is very difficult to trust, especially once you feel trust has been broken. But trust can be gained one piece at a time, one idea at a time; seeing the reason and beauty behind things that can be regarded and counted on to remain consistent or constant… and worthy of your trust.

Gaining trust and finding truth go hand in hand. It requires being introduced to new ideas, new concepts, learning things you have never heard of before. To find truth, you have to learn, and you have to become aware.

New truth can take a period of adjustment. It can be a new twist on something you had already believed, but adding additional insight that requires an adjustment; or it can be something completely foreign to you; and it takes time to fit it in to your belief system and find out how it links up.

Sometimes an idea is so big and complex you are not sure what to do with it. At times like these you can run into a barrier, and it can be difficult to get past it. Sometimes, things catch you completely off guard. Some truths are very hard to understand. It either bothers you and you want to reject it outright; or it sounds like maybe it is true, but you can’t accept or deal with it at face value. I have experienced this many times, and still do. Some truths take time to be considered, looked at from every angle; pondered on… to work out all the details, before they can be wrested. If you find yourself learning a thing, and thinking it sounds like it might be true, but it also has some difficult or even disturbing elements to it, that is ok. Just let it alone for a while, and come back to it later.

Often, over time, things have a way of working themselves out in your mind. But sometimes you find there is something wrong, or there are true and false ideas mixed up together, and you sort them out. Going through this process helps you to find truths are interconnected, and begin to verify and validate each other, even though at first some of them seem to be in conflict.

This allows you to build trust that there is a truth out there to be found, and that you are actually finding it along the way.

Finding Answers

When I was 21 years old, I had one of these moments where I had serious questions and doubts about myself and my life’s direction, down to the core of everything I believed. There did not seem to be any satisfactory answers to several of my questions. I could not find the answers, hope, or a way forward, and was not sure what I should do.

Earlier, when I was 19, I had been told by a man I greatly admired that I should always be thinking a new thought, I should never reach a point that I just became satisfied… and stopped learning. That I should always be seeking out new knowledge and information to improve and expand myself and challenge myself.

I took that advice to heart because it seemed reasonable to me. Because of that advice, I have always had a book at my bedside to study. I always take some time before the day is over to read, and open my mind to some new ideas someone is sharing. I now own and have read many books, listened to many lectures, listen to many voices and still do. Learning is a process that can become contagious, and valuable, and now I find there are many books at my bedside at the same time, there is so much I want to know and learn. The internet, today, is also a most valuable resource I did not have in my earlier life; and another place we can search out truth.

This has been the most valuable advice; and one of the most rewarding exercises I have ever experienced.  It has been a blessing to me over my lifetime with figuring out what this life is all about, and getting the answers to my questions. I often chose books about things I was troubled over and needed more insight; or more information to come to clarity, or a solution in finding an answer I just didn’t have.

I love to study history, and how events earlier in time came to be; and what motivated those people to do what they did. These people changed the world in their times, and to a large extent this has affected all of us in the future.

So, what was the outcome of that 21 year-old, with those critical questions of my youth? Over time I was able to get every question answered, because of this study I was encouraged to do. Some of my answers came in a short time, some after several years; one, in particular, did not come for about 34 years.  It continued to elude me. Finally, I began to understand the reason behind it. Some time I will share it with you.

Also, through this study, many new questions were raised and answered for me.

Running Away From, or Avoiding the Truth

The worse thing to do, is nothing with your mind; to not do anything valuable to develop or inform it. To allow troubling ideas or concerns to just sit and do nothing about them; but be disturbed and injured by them.

Some attempt to silence the pain or unanswered troubling questions in their lives with harmful substance use and abuse; thinking you can run away or hide from them; or nullify their effects. Some indulge in drug use merely for recreational purposes and to have fun; but the outcome is the same… because this becomes a problem you now have to deal with.

This causes the inner conflicts and unanswered questions to become lodged in your mind and life.  You can’t work them out, and you can’t be at peace, which brings on suicidal thoughts and despair. I have known this kind of pain and emptiness too, but I have also found there is always a way out.

Trust is something that is real! Trust and faith, can lead us to the search for answers and truth. It can untie the knots in our minds, and provide solutions to troubling questions– which can melt away the pain; and can heal old wounds.

Trust and belief can lead to purpose and meaning in your life. The truth “can” set you free!

The Trick of Life

One critical thing I learned I want to share with you.

I came to learn (several years after that confusing and lonely time in my life), the reason I was not able to receive the truth then… and find my answers, was because I was missing critical information– and necessary life experience I lacked. My mind was not yet prepared for the answers I was seeking.  

Only by gaining that life experience (that as a young 21 year-old I did not possess), was I able to step outside that youthful mindset, and realize larger questions and answers were now available to me to unravel the mystery I felt inside. 

Had I allowed the sadness and misery to overtake me, and ended it all, I would never have existed to find these answers, and this truth!

I could now see far beyond that earlier, limited view! And realized because of my inadequate experience at this early age in my life, I had mental barriers beyond which I could not see, which would not be a problem in the future– but were very real to me at the time; and almost insurmountable.

The fact is, this is a process (we come to understand), will follow us throughout life. As we continue to learn and advance, the scales continue to fall from our eyes, giving new insight–as we search to remove barriers that remain with us. We should be constantly learning, and constantly progressing and overcoming, that which seems insurmountable in or lives.

This is “The Trick of Life”: “we think we see, because we can see”.

But that is not the truth! Maybe at the time it seems it is; but that is not the end of existence or the only vision we are capable of.  

If we don’t stop there, but we climb to greater heights (gaining knowledge and experience) we can look back at where we were, and realize we were in a valley with hills and mountain walls all around us restricting our view, which we could not see beyond at the time; but because we keep learning and climbing, we can now see beyond those hills and mountains to a greater vision of the world with much more landscape that has come into view.

We realize there is so much more to the world than we could see at the time. Because we have left that limited vantage point, and kept moving forward, we came to learn life is far more than what we had known it to be. And with this greater knowledge and experience comes greater sight, and expanded vision. 

So, the truth is, “who we are” is what we can see now… but it is also what we will come to see and know in the future, if we keep moving.

That is why two people with different experience looking at the same set of problems have different insight.  One is still in the valley; the other has climbed over the walls to understand there is more than what is currently in view.

The lesson is, that if you keep climbing, and don’t give up… only then do we find the truth… and keep on finding it.

Gaining Perspective and Wisdom

The longer we live, and the more we travel and experience in this journey of life, the more we can see, and the more we will know: to provide insight and wisdom going forward. With this valuable perspective and acquired knowledge we can look to and draw from, it gives us strength to endure in those dark times that come into all our lives.

Guidance Through Faith, and Positive Action

One of the most powerful truths I learned, is if we ask for help from above (God), and keep doing all that comes into our hearts and minds, there is always a way forward. We just need to keep going, and working at ourselves (to become better people) and solving the challenges we face.

And like a train moving down the track about to come to the end of the line where there is no more track… we just keep laying out new track before us… taking us somewhere; (not exactly sure where that is yet), but the future is a brighter place if we are holding to the truth we have, and keep moving… we will find the way forward.

Knowing What Life is, the Difficulties Become Manageable

Life never becomes perfect, or pain free, or free of challenge; that is the nature of this life for everyone.

But the lights did begin to come on, and purpose and meaning did come into my life to beat back the darkness and keep it at bay. Never gone, but under control!

I can make you this promise; those who will seek… will find. But liberation is not found in lies. It is the truth that sets us free.

The Truth is Born of Our Expedient Need

In examining the question of “who we are”? I believed: “truth” must hold the answer to all we face in life, good and bad.

I believed: it can’t be the truth, if it can’t satisfy our needs or help us. If it can’t bring meaning to our struggle, and answers to life’s tough questions.

I have since found those beliefs to be justified. The truth can satisfy and begin to comfort and complete us, and answer the questions of this life! The issue that is difficult: is this is a slow process, because we need to grow into these truths by our searching and becoming more educated and aware; and we will all grow and learn at different rates, because we are different; and have different abilities and strengths.

Usually, our greatest growth comes through our own suffering and struggle; causing us to rise above.

We will learn precept upon percept, a little here, and a little there; adding more and more, a piece at a time… until we complete the picture of truth.

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”  -Isaiah 28:9&10 Holy Bible, (KJV)

Finding out “who we are”, is the journey to the truth of life itself.

To be continued . . .    

Who Am I? Part 1

Who Am I? Part 1, There is no more important question we can ask, than ” who Am I?” It is at the foundation of the meaning behind our life, and what we belief and how we live. It affects everything we do. Knowing who we are, sets the course of our existence.

Who am I?

There is probably no more important question we can consider and ask ourselves, than this.

It is an inevitable question; it is something any living, thinking person will wonder. Who am I? and where did I come from?

Is there actually an answer to this question?

A Beginning Point

I have investigated this question at great depth. I have stretched and reached all my life to know who we are? And where did we come from? And, are we going somewhere after we die? Or is this all there is?

We are haunted by this question because it suggests the very context of life itself. It is the central point, the starting place from which we build.

What we believe about “who we are”, is at the heart of how we will respond to life–in all its forms.

Is There a Purpose?

It can be difficult to discover a consistent meaning to life with all that is going on down here, which seems to mostly revolve around our survival and how we get by.  The quality level of that survival can be all consuming. Does our existence actually mean anything? And can it be defined in some deep purposeful way? Or is it up to us individually to find and assign some kind of value to our life?

Our Belief System

Who we believe we are, determines how we will choose to react to everything that goes on around us; the way we will approach the decisions we make about where and how we spend our time; and how we believe we should conduct ourselves. Also, it determines our expectations; of both ourselves and of others.

Our Life’s Road is Our Theatrical Seat

Our personal viewing point (what we go through each day), is like sitting in a theater seat watching a movie play out.

Life brings experiences that teach, and reveal. We hope, we fear; we cry, we laugh; we try, we struggle; we fight, we triumph; we lose, we despair; and we witness others going through all of these same things before our very eyes.

Each of us, from our personal point of view, are watching and learning from others that we see. But we are also firsthand participants in the experience; navigating our way through relationships and collective activities to learn how to interact, cope and survive here. What we each experience has been called the facts of life. After all… these facts…are the substance of what life is made of.

But what we don’t realize, (as we are going through all of these experiences that run the gamut of feeling and emotion) is we often don’t value this experience as we should; and don’t always grasp deeper meanings that are there to be found.

We usually recognize these later. Often, years later looking back!

The future often defines the past, and what it has meant to us as we re-evaluate our own personal history, and what we have learned and gleaned from it.

All Experiences are not Equal

I have found many answers to questions about our purpose here over my lifetime in my studies and observations; but the quality of answers received have greatly depended on where I have chosen to place myself on the path of life.

Meaningful information that came depended on where, and with whom, I spent that time. Much of it came from great thinkers, people who also have questioned and sought truth who I did not have personal access to; but I read or listened to their words. Much of it has also come intuitively to my mind, by working through and thinking through these questions; by human-reasoning!  

I am fifty-eight years old, so I have had some time to live and to acquire a decent amount of experience. Yet, I still feel I am a youth in this process in many ways; because life (as it progresses), no matter how long we live, continues to provide new challenges.  

You are never done; and the journey always has more to offer. 

Those who have lived many years do have more time to acquire experience; but years of living, in and of itself, does not bring valued experience– providing meaningful answers or wisdom.

Our attitudes and feelings, our discipline in pushing ourselves to think new thoughts, and seeking new ideas by the exposure, study, and the acquisition of knowledge we willingly seek out, has the most impact to broaden our perspective, and to continue to hone us, and polish us; because it expands our own vision of the world when we consider viewpoints that do not naturally occur to us.

This stretching and comparison process, does broaden our thinking and our own personal perspective, and can lead to wisdom, and wisdom can lead us to truth.

Truth and Rhythm

I believe life has a rhythm, and a logic to it.

Truth builds momentum as you acquire it because truth is all related; it is not just a set of isolated facts. Truth is one set of facts involved in and connecting to other facts, each building and ending up related to one another… through the vast areas of our lives and this existence.

No matter where you live, or your economic conditions, truth begins to set a foundation, and grows in all directions to take in things as they are, things as they were, and things that will be. Whether conditions are positive or negative, good or bad, there are lessons to be gained within, which add to this foundation of experience and truth. When you converse with others and share experiences, there are always common understandings and realizations, even when your lives have been lived in different places or circumstances. There can also be great differences in how we view our meaning and purpose, depending on the cultural structure and beliefs from where you live in the world or within your personal circle. But even then, the similar struggle of existence brings shared understandings where we find agreement and relatability.

Truth must be Sought After

To find certain answers or deeper meanings and levels of truth you must put forth effort. Some answers can be hard to find, requiring an active search.  If you want the truth… you have to become fearless; because to possess it… you must pay a price. Why is this the case? Because the truth is not there to please you, and it does not answer to anyone. It is not ours to mold and shape into whatever we want it to be. You must be able to abandon beliefs you hold that may turn out to be incorrect, if they come into conflict with truth. This can be very hard for people to do, because our beliefs are what hold us together, and give our life its stability, and they undergird our worldview.

But within us… none of us really wants to be lied to. None of us really wants to be deceived. A new idea can be scary for all of us; but truth holds the greatest beauty, and meaning… because it is real.

The truth “is what is”; it can’t be changed or conditional upon our personal belief system or interpretation, this will not make a false idea true. If we try to hide from truth, we only lie to ourselves about it and try to pretend it is not real, so we don’t have to be responsible for knowing it, or our personal accountability to live in harmony with it.

The Truth is Freedom

So, if you are going to answer this question of “Who am I?”  You have to begin, by being willing to be open-minded to the truth, whatever it is.

But it is my belief, it is much better to know the truth, and live within it, than to attempt to run from it, and to live a lie; because the truth is true freedom!

Why is it freedom?

Because, it is an understanding and recognition of true reality as we discover it; and learning to live in harmony with it… rather than pitting ourselves against it. Until we do, we are not free– and we cannot be at peace within.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”   – John 8:32 Holy Bible (KJV)

Truth Must be Found by Each of Us Personally

I am not going to tell you what to believe. This is an exercise everyone must go through for themselves and reach their own conclusion. No one can be forced to truth; you must come willingly or you will not come at all.

“A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.” –Dale Carnegie

This website will be a place for sharing and expressing ideas, feelings, and knowledge of life’s experience. You will take away what rings true to you.

I, as well as other contributors, will share what we have come to believe and why. Feel free to question, to argue, to agree or disagree with whatever you wish. Being here is a choice.

To be continued . . .