WHAT UNIVERSE DO WE LIVE IN?

Maybe the question above has occurred to every reader of this blog. Or maybe there are a sizable number of readers who never considered it. In fact, it would not surprise me if there are billions of people who are living their lives in a day to day, hand to mouth existence without raising their head above the trenches. In reviewing my own life I think that I wanted to live in ignorance: I did not want to be burdened with thinking any further than what was required (at least, in my mind) for daily existence. I grew up in "the Church" and even thinking about the possible non-existence of God was forbidden by all authority, including myself.

I vividly remember that time I first started questioning my beliefs. It was a knock on the door-literally. The Jehovah's Witnesses had come to town and decided I was worthy of salvation. Maybe I sound a little bit dramatic. I really don't mean to. Instead I sincerely believe this was the first time I was challenged to think about what I believe, and much more importantly, why did I believe it. I had had discussions with other people regarding general outlines of what we did and did not believe, but most of these discussions were between friends and therefore we felt very uncomfortable asking probing questions regarding others' beliefs. As you probably know, the Jehovah's Witnesses do not feel at all uncomfortable questioning your beliefs. It was just what I needed. As I have always said, in order to develop muscle you must work against a weight. It looks really impressive to lift dummy barbells. But in reality, that is simply going through the motions. It builds nothing.

We delved into issues that were both fundamental and esoteric. We both agreed as a starting point that there was a Jehovah. But was there any other being that could be described as a God? What was the nature of Jesus? Did he have a spiritual component? Did he even have a physical component? I realized as we started the discussion I had many opinions that were deeply held. What I did not have was, first of all, scriptures telling me whether those opinions were correct and how the facts I had fit into a philosophical framework that would organize my thinking. In approximately 8 weeks of intensive study with the man who I came to respect, but found I agreed with very little, I was able to find those scriptures (where they existed) and began an understanding that I continue to construct even today.

It's probably an overstatement to say we agreed on very little. Actually, we concentrated our discussion on those issues where we disagreed rather than celebrating the issues we agreed on. It seems to work that way in life, doesn't it? My wife and I probably agree on 99.9% of our worldview, but the best discussions, the loudest, most lively discussions, in fact almost all of the discussions are about the things we vehemently don't see eye to eye on. But after all, if you are attempting to learn new things, then continuing to repeat that which you already know, without applying it to those things you do not know, is really just slapping yourself on the back.

I hope that if I came away from those discussions with anything it was that other people do not believe the way I do: this is just the way the world works. It was only a short step from questioning whether my practices were logical to questioning whether a belief in God was logical. God has given me the power to consider, accept, or reject just about anything in this world. It is called passing judgment. But that judgment is only for myself: I can find no grant of power from God that even hints I can pass judgment on anyone else. Instead, God allows all of us to disagree with one another. In some cases we will disagree on almost everything, and in every case we will disagree on at least something. If we apply Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, it would appear at least one of us is wrong, if not both of us. My duty is to determine for myself if I am following
God's will, and if I'm wrong to change.

As I said, your mind is exercised if it is forced to reconcile two opposing positions in a logical, reasonable manner. But just like physical exercise, we have not increased our strength if we refuse to exercise. In the mental realm, this exercise is often deflected by tried and true methods. Some of us will say that this argument comes from a person or group that has been discredited in some manner. Or we will refuse to consider the contradictions by truisms that actually sound quite liberal and open minded, such things as, "If you believe it then it is true for you!" or, "We all come to God by different methods." Other people believe that the search for truth is only done by ordained people, and the rest of us are in the right if we follow whatever authority we have somehow accepted. In all of these cases, we have avoided having to do the work by closing our mind in some manner. And if all of us sin (I John 1:8) then we will remain in that sin if we close our minds to what may be the truth.

When I asked the question what universe do we live in, many people may have thought that I was going to discuss whether our universe was planar or elliptical, or other cosmological questions that have been asked through the ages. But the much more important universe is the universe of our mind. I am not saying that if we believe something is true it becomes true for us, or that all opinions are just as valid as any other opinions. I am saying that we are condemned to being wrong if we cannot respectfully and logically analyze opinions which we sincerely believe to be wrong. John said, in language that leaves little room for interpretation, that we all sin. If I cannot respectfully apply analytic tools to my opinions and contradictory opinions alike, how can I find and remove that sin from my own life? A world of closed minds must imprison us in a false universe, one which must fail in providing us with all the true comfort or necessities.

I work hard not to fall prey to the temptation that so commonly afflicts educated people: to believe that people with closed minds are in any way inferior to myself. Instead, they have been overtaken in a temptation of their own, and one that I understand so well having had that particular problem myself. It is natural that people seek comfort; comfort in living, comfort in working, and especially comfort in thinking. The reasons why we close our minds are varied and as complicated as any other motivation for something we do. Sometimes its like horses in a field. If one horse begins running, the other horses fall in behind it. Or we sometimes are so proud of having thought through a particularly difficult problem that our ego rebels at now saying that was wrong. Or we may give the solution of a problem to an authority figure without further examination. Of course these motivations apply to atheists as well as religious people.

I think it is particularly sad that it is easy to find people in the religious world who have closed their mind to any alternate interpretation of the Bible, of God, or of doctrines surrounding them. They will discuss any number of topics, but when you find the door that is closed they will do their utmost to avoid analyzing that issue. Then every once in a while, just to make sure that you know where they stand, they will make a little joke that belittles people who oppose their favorite belief. If you attempt to use that as an opening to engage them on the merits of the position, they will deflect the discussion by saying it was a joke, or no one really believes that, or any number of other evasions. The argument they implicitly make is that all reasoned persons already accept their beliefs, and that discussing the opposite position is itself inherently unreasonable.

Jehovah, speaking through Isaiah, called on all of us to reason together. Even though we all live by faith, that faith must be examined through the lens of reason. This post has gotten rather long, but I hope that in my further posts, we can find where we have closed our minds, and summon the courage to examine the reasons which support the existence of Jehovah and His word, as well as reasons that may argue against any such God as Jehovah. As I said before, I hope you have good days in front of you.