Brandon: Do you believe in God?
Ander: Well… No, I don’t.
Brandon: Why?
Ander: There is no such thing as a God, I can’t see him or
feel him. I rather put my trust on what I know to be truth or have seen to be
truth.
How about you? Do you believe in God?
Brandon: Yes, I do.
Ander: Why so? Haven’t all the books you've read or
knowledge you've gained from high school or university taught you to rely on
logic rather than trusting in things which are false and baseless?
Brandon: I do agree with you that school has taught us to
think and be logical in our thinking. But just because we have acquired the
ability to reason, doesn't mean that we are right.
Ander: Oh really? So what have you learnt from all the
science textbooks which you've read in school? Don’t they provide a better
source of evidence and knowledge to rely upon rather than on mere faith,
believes or feelings to help you tell right from wrong or the truth from the
false, and vise versa?
Brandon: Despite what
we have learnt in school, don’t you agree that mankind have not and will never
obtain a full understanding of everything that occurs in the universe?
Ander: I disagree with you. We might not understand
everything yet, but someday we will.
Brandon: What makes you think we will? Have we till date,
know what’s out there beyond our universe? Have we even clearly understood how
our human brain works? As our society change and as we gain in knowledge, haven’t
we only realized how much we don’t know rather than how much we know?
Ander: I agree with you, that we might never discover all
the answers. However, does it mean that we give up and stop pursuing knowledge,
understanding of the world and what is truth from what’s not?
Brandon: Nope. I agree with you, we should not give up. Instead, the pursuit of truth is of utmost important for the progress of humanity. However, that
does not erase the fact or overrule the argument that we might never truly
understand ‘everything’.
And hence here is where God apply, the notion of the
supreme-being who created the world, who knows every bird and every tree, every
river and every creek that exist in this planet.
The notion that amid the chaos and uncertainty, there is a
form of order that regulates and controls the destiny of the world and each of
us.
Ander: Right…. And what hard evidence does this ‘believe’
stamps on? Haven’t you heard that the ‘fool’ is someone who simply believes in
an answer provided for questions that they can’t answer rather than relying on
their own pursuit of the truth?
Brandon: I do agree with you to some extent. However, if you
hypothetically treat God as a factual being and that he has provided you
answers to questions which you will never truly be able to answer, and so
happen that these answers are true. Nonetheless, no matter what… you just do
not believe in these answers, doesn't that make you the ‘fool’ instead?
Ander: Hmm…. Interesting thought…. Than it depends on what
our faith is based on then? I base my faith on logic/reasoning/science, while
yours on God/religion?
Brandon: Yes. I guess you can put it that way. However,
please do not get me wrong, I do not refute science. In fact I embrace it and
see it as a source of truth and knowledge, similar to how you do. However, the
key difference is that I rely on God to explain what can’t be explain and teach
me values/wisdom/knowledge which I might never discover/understand by myself.
In addition, you are actually no different from me. Don’t
you realize that you also have a ‘God’ in your life?
Haven’t you realize that the
determination and confidence in your argument must be based on your faith in
your personal believes of what is truth and what is false?
Since neither of us can provide conclusive evidence whether
or not God exist or not, haven’t we placed our faith in our personal believes
to either support or refute the notion of God? In that sense, your own logic is
your ‘God’, it being the object of your faith that provides you the confidence to
refute God.
2 Corinthian 4:18 - while we do not look at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
For those who have grown up with the privilege of becoming educated
from the well refined education system of the modern/post-modern world.
How often have we become so confident and prideful that we think
we know everything?
That we think we can reason everything?
That we think we can always tell the truth from the false,
all the time?
Well, in some things we may. But in many things I have come
to terms that we truly truly truly… can’t.
We have to acknowledge the foolishness of our pride and
humbly recognize our lack of ability in understanding/knowing everything. We
have to not just be confident in what we know, but also always be mindful that
there are many things we will never know or fully understand. Such as the
limitation of man…
Google and read ‘What is Man?’ by Mark Twain. It has always
been such an endlessly thought-provoking piece. At least, for the humble me…
