Seeing is Believing

Have you ever seen the Loch Ness monster? I have not; even when I was on the shores of the loch over the course of several days. I also stood in the waters lapping on the stony shores of that massive lake, and I kept watch with a keen eye. Nothing! Somehow I still believe that the Loch Ness monster exists or has existed, and has been seen by people over the ages. Does the fact that I have never seen the “monster” categorically conclude that the monster does not exist? No.

The experience related above is exactly the same for all of us when it comes to questions about our spirituality and about the existence of the ONE true God. No living being has ever seen God and this, for many, is sufficient proof for the non-existence of God. We work on the assumption that “if I cannot see it, it is not real and therefore does not exist”. This is a shortcoming of the human “empirical principle” which states that evidence for the existence of something is based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic. Basically, the empire of human science says: “seeing is believing”, and nothing else will be accepted.

The empire of human science is exemplified by the Apostle Thomas who doubted that Jesus Christ had resurrected and appeared to others (see John 20: 24-29). The Apostle Thomas is cited as saying “unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe”. In other words: “unless I can see and touch the object in a physical way, my mind will never be able to comprehend, and therefore I will never believe”. This statement says more about the nature of Thomas and the scientific empire than it does about the object at the centre of the conundrum.

Doubters (operating from an empirical platform) are, in my opinion, deficient on a mental or, more specifically, cognitive level. By this I do not mean that they are “brain damaged” to the point of not being able to function as a normal, healthy human; I mean that they are unable or unwilling to use the power of their consciousness in a way that enables them to explore and understand non-material phenomena without having to see the phenomena.

I am quite certain there are things in the universe – “out in space” – that no human has ever seen or experienced. That does not mean that those things do not exist. But let’s bring it closer to home, and actually expose the absurdity of the empirical principle: Albert Einstein developed arguments and theories on travelling at the speed of light, and on black holes, and space folding on itself (Einstein-Rosen bridge) – these are mere theories. No human has ever travelled at the speed of light, or entered a black hole, or passed through a “wormhole” in space. Yet we accept it. Furthermore, it seems that if we do not accept it, we are just not as smart as the scientific elite who support it.

So here’s the issue. According to empiricism, spiritual phenomena – essentially non-material and generally invisible to the human eye – cannot possibly exist (despite many people having actually experienced them), but scientific theories of things that essentially are not real and have never actually been seen or experienced by humans do exist and are entirely plausible and should be believed.

Am I to accept that I am delusional because I believe in the spiritual; because I believe in the ONE true God even though I have never seen it? Should I just passively assume the label that I am “deranged” because the empirical status quo says that God is not real? Am I to take judgement on what is real or not from an establishment that constructs theories (essentially just suppositions or ideas) and promotes them as reality?

I do not have to see to believe; the reality of the entire universe is around me before my very eyes every day and I do not have to prove any of it. Whether my tiny human mind approves of it or not does not stop it from being – the entire universe exists even if I am not in it. How arrogant and ignorant must I be to think that the universe only exists and can be proven because I exist in it?    

In closing I leave with these words (attributed to Jesus Christ) from John 3: 11-12 “I tell you most solemnly, we speak only about what we know and witness only to what we have seen and yet you people reject our evidence. If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world, how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?”


Image: Loch Ness, Scotland, UK. Copyright - Michael Beaton

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unanswerable Question

Image
If God created the universe, then who created God? This question baffles even the most “genius-level” scientific minds of our time. It is such a perplexing question that many people find it easier to simply become atheists and proclaim God does not exist. But even then, with their simple way out of acknowledging God, how do atheists truly answer even the scientific conundrums like how big is the universe, or where do atoms and their subatomic particles of protons, neutrons, and electrons come from, or why do subatomic particles exist in their particular configurations? If subatomic particles come from the “big-bang” (another overly simplistic explanation that tries to negate the existence of God), then where did the “big-bang” come from? Where did the material that enabled the “big-bang” come from? It is impossible to get something from nothing, so where did the primordial “something” come from? Of course, the “genius-level” minds of our time will tell me that I’m being naïve; that I a...
Read more

It's a Mad World

Image
Recently I enjoyed re-watching one of my favourite films: Groundhog Day (starring Bill Murray). The film is such a joy because it provides a message of optimism and makes us realise that the choice is ours for a life of hope and fulfilled living. The world we live in is increasingly meaningless, and there are many reasons for this, with the major reason – in my opinion – being humanity’s inclination to forget and ignore its spiritual origins. We have arrogantly come to think that everything we have in life is self-determined; that we are masters of our own universe and fate. The only thing we need for a fulfilled life is money, and the more we have the better we can live. So our lives become driven by work, which gives us money, which enables us to buy whatever we want. Not surprising then that we fulfil the words from the book of Job: “Is not man’s life on earth no more than pressed service, his time no better than hired drudgery? Like the slave, sighing for the shade, or the workman ...
Read more

Babylon the Great

Image
In my book “Transcendence” I talk of Babylon the Great as it is expressed in the ancient sacred texts (in particular, see the Biblical book of Revelation). Babylon the Great is treated through symbolism and refers to the world we live in – the earthly empire of the Fallen. Symbolically, Babylon the Great refers to a famous whore who rides a beast with seven heads and ten horns. At length in my book “Transcendence” I describe and explain this symbolism. For the purpose of this article, there are three important things to focus on from the symbolism: 1. What is the beast? This is the system of “governance” on the earth, including those who lead that system. The seven heads of the beast represent empires or ages on earth, while the horns represent kingdoms and rulers through those ages. 2. Who is the famous whore?  She represents the people of the earth – the wealthy “power brokers” and their followers – who are led by the beast and who ride the beast and keep it going. 3. What does t...
Read more