When the Sun goes out , will our existence have been futile?

Introduction

I used to think that our existence was rather pointless - even the Sun dies and all of us with it -and was in my 30's before I surrendered before the weight of evidence and personal experience and accepted that there is indeed an entity we call God, or Allah, The Great Spirit etc. . I have been fortunate to work nearly 20 years with a close-knit bunch of fellow scientists, many of them highly esteemed PhDs with global reputations. And many of them believe in a Creator, in part because of the evidence of design they see in the structure of the universe. The 'fine tuning' required for us to be here seems so unlikely that it suggests a Designer, otherwise there might have to be a vast number of universes each with subtly different combinations of physical laws - in which we happen to be in the one in a hundred trillion that works. Frankly that's even more unlikely than the existence of a Designer, though I accept that future science may bring new understanding that renders some of our concepts of God as obsolete.

Belief in a supreme Being does not mean that you are rather dim, or need a crutch, or can't face reality. It's a rational response to the evidence around us. To go further and to claim that we can know the Designer, interact with the Designer, and even transcend the limitations of our earthly existence is a harder step. I have been fortunate to meet sincere and humble people from most faiths, though the majority I have met have been Christian, Buddhist, neo-Pagan or Muslim. All of the monotheist faiths (the Big Three from the Middle East of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; Sikhism, higher forms of Hinduism etc.) are as one as far as the reality of the existence of God, and presence in doctrine of some form of final judgement goes, but they differ in specific areas, and within each there are a great many flavours. Most Christians would rightly not regard Mormons as fellow Christians. Jehovah's witnesses follow the Arian heresy that dates back to the earliest days of Christianity. Orthodox Christianity never needed to go through the Reformation, as they had avoided the misconduct and worldly behaviour of the Western Church. In Islam, for Wahhabi Muslims the Sufi orders are far too liberal, for Shi'ites the Sunni Muslims are heretics.

So does any faith have an exclusive hold on truth? I would say that many faiths have aspects of the truth, the fullness of which is probably beyond the ability of our limited intellects to comprehend. But we can catch glimpses - St Paul said that for now 'we see through a glass darkly' - and one day all will be revealed. There are schools of thought within Islam that are far more advanced in theological understanding than most Westerners realise.

I consider that Jesus of Nazareth is the person through whom the nature of the Creator has been most fully shown to humans. Jesus was far from a stuffy, vestment-clad clergyman! He hung around with the sort of folk that most modern churches wouldn't let though the front door. He wasn't 'ordained', didn't have a theology degree, yet had a powerful understanding of God, who he called 'Abba' - Dad in modern parlance. But others have had the shock of the encounter with the Divine. Muhammad undoubtedlly encountered the awesome experience of the presence of God, in Arabic known as Allah (The God) , and for 23 years he struggled to form the words that came into his head into the form that we now call the Qur'an. Whilst it differs from the previous scriptures, can we deny the source? The Logos flows through all, and it will be encountered in new ways. Who knows what wonders await as we explore the universe!

So what is the way forward? Humanity will continue to evolve new ways of trying to understand God. Standing still leads to stagnation, decline and fossilisation, bad news for organised religion. I think that the mystical forms of Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and other more recent traditions will survive far into the future.

August 2008

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Faith and Science

The rise of non-Catholic Christianity was accompanied by a great flowering of science as the shackles of church power were released, the knowledge of ancient Greece and medieval Islam was translated into Western languages, and humans were free to explore once again the natural sciences. This led to the dominance of the West in the last few hundred years, and the gradual eclipse of the Islamic world which used to be ahead, but allowed the dead hand of the clergy and tradition to stifle progress.

There is a strand of Protestant Christianity that has a hard time coping with science, but thankfully the situation in Europe is not as bad as it is in the USA. Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians usually cope well with facts such as the great age of the Earth, whereas fundamentalists still cling to the myth of a six-day creation a few thousand years ago.

Rev Dr. John Polkinghorne KBE FRS is one of the greatest living writers and thinkers on science and faith - see http://www.starcourse.org/jcp/, and the FAQ's at http://www.starcourse.org/jcp/qanda.html

US readers may find the 'Reasons to Believe' website, or the American Scientific Affiliation of help.

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Christianity links

Some Christians maintain the Unity of God, others insist on a Trinitarian doctrine. At the very least all would agree that in Jesus Christ God was revealed in an extraordinary and dynamic manner.

Although prayer comes first, I've learned much from reading the Orthodox Church Fathers, Fr. Bede Griffiths (http://www.bedegriffiths.com), C.S.Lewis, William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel, and I'm a big fan of Fr Richard Rohr (see http:www.cacradicalgrace.org/).

Although nowadays I rarely take part in Quaker worship, for many years the Quakers provided our family with a spiritual home - see http://www.quaker.org.uk/

I have been learning more about Orthodoxy, and Fr Gregory Hallam has a very good website aimed at absolute beginners at http://orthodoxchristianity.orgfree.com/

In my village the main church is St Annes, of the Church in Wales - the Welsh branch of the Anglican communion. Numbers are dwindling fast as the congregation ages, and the UK Anglican church continues to lose its way.

Here are some links I've found of value in recent years. I don't agree with everything they say, and of course I may myself be badly mistaken..

http://www.new-life.net/faq.htm

http://www.markdroberts.com/

http://www.britishorthodox.org/

http://www.israelsmessiah.com/

In nearby Swansea the Community of St Zakaria and St Elizabeth is an Orthdox Christian community within the Ecumenical Patriarchate - see http://www.orthodoxchurch.co.uk

Orthodoxy is the oldest of the existing Christian traditions, and one of the few churches that has been growing rather than declining. My love of Greece has played a part in wanting to learn about the Orthodox way, though I should add that all is not rosy within Orthdoxy - there are closed minds there as much if not more than within the more recent denominations. Traditionalists are highly resistant about endorsing change, modern scholarship, ecumenical activities or interfaith fellowship.

The Friends of Mount Athos was set up in 1990 by those who share a common interest in preserving and enhancing the spiritual tradition of the Athonite monastic communities. I was welcomed as a new member in June 2008.

An interesting link here that looks at near-death experiences - some fascinating testimonies at http://www.near-death.com/

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Islam links

I think that Islam is about to make the same difficult transition that Christianity made back at the Reformation by 'reopening the gates of ijtihad'. Who knows where these studies might lead in the long term? How will Islam evolve following the critical analysis of the Qu'ran? Will the West adopt Islam in increasing numbers as the results of scholarship paint Muhammad in a more positive light? Can Christians learn from Islam about the centrality of prayer, the importance of traditional family relationships, and the proper value of caring for the environment? Will Muslims pay more respect to the teachings of the previous prophets?

There are thousands of Muslim websites, easily found on Google, so just a handful here..

The best single Muslim website I know for a wide range of links is Bab Salaam - the page is extremely comprehensive: www.babsalam.co.uk note that as of 6/6/08 this site unfortunately appears to be down.

Sister Batool and colleagues at the New Muslims Project work hard to help British converts understand their new faith.

Turkish writer M Fethullah Gulen makes a strong case for Islam being a religion of peace, progress and harmony. See http://www.fethullahgulen.org/ or http://en.fgulen.com/

Christians and muslims share so much, and for the sake of the world we must learn to live together in peace. We believe in the same One God. Prayer, study and mutual respect can help us to overcome these difficulties.

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