What is prime reality?
Prime reality at its most basic phase is simply just what is supreme in the grander scheme of the world. Some say it is God, some say it is humanity, and some say it is nothing at all. It is almost laughable that we have no answer this question. We have no scientific evidence to support our opinions either way. With that being said, using basic ideas of logic we can shed light upon what must be true. In my opinion, God must be the beginning of all of this that we know as creation. To illustrate, I give this example…if you have a grandfather clock unassembled on top of a staircase and you proceeded to push each piece off at the same time; it would be ridiculous to think that it would land in place perfectly and be set at the proper time. Even to think it would come together at anytime in the future without being assembled by an intelligent being would be ridiculous. This clock is the world that we know and without the creator of it all, it would have no way to come into fruition. Another example would be an illustration of an uncaused causal series. In the world we have endless movement, but all this movement cannot run in an infinite loop because there would be no origin. Especially, if everything was all based on another thing moving. This would point us to an idea that there has to be some kind of unmoved mover, to begin the entire process. These are just two points that really help us to make and illustrate the point that God is not only the creator of everything we can perceive, but also that he is indeed the realest.
What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
What is a human being?
To answer the question of what a human being is we must first separate spirituality from science. A healthy human being has a structure normally consisting of one nose, two legs, two arms, two ears, two eyes, and so forth. We know from the studies that human beings somehow have identical genetic coding as apes, which clearly raises a point that our human form is not the reason and definition of human being. The definition some would give also would say that human beings have ability to express emotions. Obviously, we know that animals have the same ability of showing love toward their children, owners, and other animals just as we humans have. Therefore, it shows that having the ability of showing emotions such as love, hate, anger and etc does not define us entirely as human being.
Having all these reasons in mind, we know the definitions and meaning of human being, but still our definitions does not entirely differ us from other beings on the earth. Scientifically, human beings are different from other beings on the earth by their genetics. However, what truly makes a human being unique from other beings is their ability to think rationally, make relationships, and connections. Human beings have unique superiority over other beings on the earth. We are not only able to think rationally, which other beings can not, but we are able and have the power of using that knowledge and implementing those thoughts to reach the highest level of accomplishment and success. We as Christians believe that the one true God created man in his image and likeness, which is what gives us these extremely special abilities. God not only gives us life, but, he also creates the opportunity for us to have free will and not to operate as if we were just robots.
What happens when we die?
Death is an issue that we all face no matter what our personal beliefs are so, “What Happens When We Die?” is one of the greatest questions of life. Generally we are very reluctant to think of our own end. Death is a great equalizer and no matter what or whom you are in life, eventually we all have to face the reality of dying. Is death the end of our consciousness and existence? In spite of hundreds years of research, Science cannot prove when or where life began or what happens when it all ends.
I have seen metaphors to express life and death, but here is mine that I created. Our body is like a section of electric cord. It gets hooked up to electricity, and the electricity goes into it. The electricity is our soul, and our soul is in our body for a period of time. This period of time ends when the cord is hooked up to a load, or something to use the power. So the beginning is when we get plugged in, and the end is when the current flows through us, but that's not good enough for me. I need to know what happens after it hits the load. I can't explain what the load or component that uses the electricity is. So, we need a load, that load is lets say a family. So you live your life to pass it on to your family, but if that's it why do we exist at all?
Though we may die, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, shall live” (John 11:25). The Bible says that all those who have died, both righteous and wicked, will be raised to life in one of two resurrections. The righteous will be raised to life at Jesus’ second coming. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). According to this verse, the righteous do not go to heaven when they die. They remain asleep in the grave until Jesus returns and raises them to everlasting life. This idea, is what gives us as Christians hope. Even if this life is for nothing we should do it right. But knowing that we have faith in God we let him lead and just follow his light to what we hope can be an everlasting life in him.
Why is it possible to know anything at all?
How do we know what is right and wrong?
Every generation and every society requires that we change morality to fit the times, right? Well, that is the way that the large majority of people in the world operate. It is interesting that most Christians would tend to disagree with statements in a generic sense, but then turn right around and live life as if they were true. We have a way of carving out exceptions for ourselves in life.
Stealing is wrong, unless we are a bit tight on our budget this month and need to steal a little bit from God to get by. Hatred is wrong, unless it is toward that person who is creating havoc in our lives. Cheating is wrong, unless it gets us that promotion to a place where we can help stop all of the cheating going on by others. Lying is wrong, unless it is just a small harmless lie. Living with someone outside of marriage is wrong, unless we really love the person we are with and plan one day to get married. “Unless”, The word we use to carve out exceptions for ourselves regarding morality.
Relative morality is such a prominent part of modern society that most people, even Christians, take it for granted that things must be that way. However, biblical teachings do not allow for relativism in morality. There is such a thing as right and wrong and Christians are pushed by God to do what is right.
One of the big problems we face in understanding this matter relates to how we understand morality in relation to God. Most people think of morality as a set of rules about what we can and cannot do. God’s moral requirements are not a list of rules. When communicating about morality we cannot help but express them as the do’s and don’ts when morality is not a list of rules. It is a description of the character of God. Things are right because they match up with his character. Things are wrong because they do not match up.
So, for a Christian, we do things or don’t do things because we want to get ourselves closer to the image of Christ, not because there is a rule. For example, I want to be like Christ so I don’t cheat, lie, steal and so on.
What is the meaning of human history?
When someone believes in spontaneous generation of life, it’s impossible to assign
meaning to anything. However, we as christians believe we were created and placed in time
according to God’s plan, which would be revealed as history played out.
We believe that man’s end goal is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That goal was
almost lost immediately, when Adam and Eve sinned. That disobedience resulted in both
physical and spiritual death and a cursed earth. Ever since, God has been using history to reveal his plan of salvation and restoration.
Christianity rests on the history of the Bible and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ as an real, physical, divine person who left eternity and entered history. Historical
evidence shows to be true all the way through. I have pointed to some of the major evidences both for the Bible’s reliability and Christ’s resurrection in my past essays. In addition, archeological discoveries have never contradicted Biblical history. Cities are where the Bible says they were customs, cultures, leaders have been shown to exist as they have been said to by archeological study. Not everything in the Bible has been confirmed, but nothing has been refuted. When you consider how much data has been uncovered in the past hundred years, it is impressive but not a surprise.
More than anything else, it is this solid trail of evidence that has convinces me that my
faith in the God of the Bible is not wrong in any sense of the word. A worldview founded on the historically proven truths of the Bible is the only one that can successfully answer the hard questions in life.