I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, I pray that God comforts her, you,and your family. A girl at a near by christian highschool died last spring of brain cancer a few months before her graduation, she donated alot of money to christian charaties to help the hungry in africa. Also a dear great grandfather of mine died of lung cancer (and other ailments) when I was eight, he use to have a shed of trained pigeons, and I do remember they were quite awesome. But do know what was the kicker, they didn't know he had lung cance until he had to have surgery on his lungs, then he died and it was too late. I can't overly relate with what your going through for I haven't had many relative die of cancer yet, but I'm only fifteen. I did have a step brother who died of meningitis, he was only seven (and way nicer then my other step brothers). Below is my opinion, I'm just stating my point of view on the meaning of life and why religon is good for everyone. No need to argue with me. I'm devoted Christian,kinda, so yes I beilieve in God and Jesus And I do believe being a christian helps enhance life by little bit, maybe a lot. Knowing that there is a God watching over me makes me feel better everyday (especialy when I'm going through hard times). I went through some hard times when I was younger. In fact If I wasn't raised to go to church and learn about Jesus (that is the one good point about my strange messed up life, I have a chance to go to church), I wouldn't be here anymore. I just don't see a point to my life without my savior watching over me and promising that everything I believe in and do is not for granted, Jesus reminds me that I have a reason to be here, even when I don't know what the reason is. One Question that you should ask yourself (don't post it on the boards because it could start and argument, and I don't want that) What is life without God? Is it just a game where who ever has the most money or has had the most enjoyment wins? You decide for yourself what God means to you, I'm only here to suggest a good option.
I admire people who question their beliefs. There is nothing worse than the blind leading the blind. But I would have a serious problem with someone in a position of considerable religious influence and leadership whose job is to help people with their faith yet doesn't even have their own sorted out yet. I think it's important to ask those big questions no matter who you are but especially so if you are religious. But if I were attending a church, I would want to be led by a priest who has answers or at least is able to help me ask the right questions. A priest who doesn't know where to turn himself is a bad priest. You should only be in a position of religious power if you are 100% certain you subscribe to and agree with the beliefs and viewpoints of that religion.
Please understand me, I've not posted this thread for anyones sympathy. I have enough of that in the real world with friends & family. I'm merely wondering what people think with regards to the original post.
I personally have no problem with such a reconciliation. It seems to me the problem arises when people sub-consciously smuggle God into our universe, as if he lived IN it or were part of it and subject to scientific laws. He isn't, any more than I am subject to the laws of the world I created in the book I am writing. I create the characters, animate the book, I give it form, but I am not IN the book in the same way my Characters are. I am outside it, other than.(Not a perfect analogy but I think it makes the point.) God creates a material universe subject to physical laws. Why should it matter what method He used to create it, whether it was the big bang or some other phenomenon we have no concept of? The fixed ways in which matter interacts is just what makes miracles (an occurrence that defies natural laws) possible. Supernatural, outside the natural laws. That's why the Incarnation is such an astounding thing. The infinite made finite, the immortal taking on mortality. (I wont go into the creation debate, whether it's a literal six days, the "day-age theory" or any of the other ideas floating around. I'm not sure it's all that essential.) God and Science aren't mutually exclusive. Science doesn't (or shouldn't, at any rate) have anything to say about the spirit. It deals in the quantifiable, the testable. I do not believe that God wants blind sycophants. Jesus told his disciples to be as innocent as doves, but as wise as serpents (Matt 10:6). Paul tells the Phillipians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. The Bereans searched the scriptures to discover whether or not the things Paul preached were true. Questioning, pondering great matters, thinking and reasoning are things that we do so that our faith is grounded solidly. Events happen in our lives that can bring us to places of doubt and that is the real testing of what we have believed. It's then that we find our footing, think critically about what has brought us to where we are, question and PRAY. After coming through such an ordeal you will not only be more qualified to help others through their own valleys, as Cog suggested, but you will have been tempered in the hands of the Master Smith, a sword worthy of being used (to borrow from C.S. Lewis.) If you haven't already and you have any inclination, I would suggest reading Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis. He tackles the issues you are dealing with directly and thoroughly. Finally, as a Christian, I just want to let you know that you can fall, you can lapse, but you can NEVER be left behind or cast aside. Nothing can separate you from the love of God.
"I think, I am" - Descartes Cogito, from which he is able to "prove" the neccessarry existence of God. But there are also many philosophers who claim his argument to be circular. Faith and belief are merely tools of humans to interact with the physical world they reside in, they give us a place in the temporal order of the world of things. eg. the sun will rise tommorrow is essentially an rational belief based on empirical evidence, however we can never be entirely certain the sun will rise until the event has passed. We believe in it however, for it necessary to our survival. We are "things" after all, with the added benefit (or curse depending on your perspective) of consciousness. I feel your pain, I also recently lost my grandfather to cancer, who I was very close to after my father passed away when I was very young. Understanding your own nature is important, we feel it necessarily to believe in things, and understand the environment in which we live in, being inquisitive creatures. But some beliefs can be more verifiable when they are based on empirical observations. Religion does not require a follower to have any evidence other then faith, and ultimately truth it more important to me than anything else. However, regardless of whether you have faith or not, I think it is the experiences and actions of an individual during their lives that shapes them, and ultimately makes them a "good" of "bad" person. Kind of the like virtue ethics of Aristotle. On the issue of the big bang, it is actually more commonly referred to the big expansion nowadays, and it is difficult for us to think of a universe not governed by cause and affect. To us there must be some prime mover, an instigator if you will. The notion of infinity does not come naturally to us, we simply cannot comprehend it. That does not suggest that the universe, omniverse or whatever existed before what is here now had not been existence forever and will remain forever. Thats what I think anyways, I'm not a scientist or particulary intelligent, it's just what conclusion I've come to after doing my own readings. I used to be devout Muslim before becoming agnostic (you can never be certain of anything imo) in case anyone was wondering.
