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Come Now; Let Us Reason Together
I really worked hard at trying to avoid the political frenzy of this election cycle. However, I must say, in the words of The Borg, “Resistant is futile.” You would have to be a Star Trek fan to understand what the Borg is. After hearing some of the political candidates’ speeches, I observed a common theme in them all. Each candidate claims they can bring the country together and remove those things that divide us. If elected, they will heal the nation and restore the faith of the American people. Wow! This I gotta see.
Can we really ever live in perfect harmony together? The short answer is, “Yes.” However, there is a great chasm of issues that must be crossed to reach this desired utopia. Therefore, our desire for social harmony is possible; however, it is highly improbable. The Bible speaks of the maxim which ask “How can two walk together unless they agree?” (Amos 3:3). In order for us all to “get alone” we must all agree.
Professor Daniel Robinson of Georgetown University in his masterful lectures on “The Great Ideas of Philosophy,” outlines four essential questions of the human existence. They are:
1. How do we come to know anything?
2. What kind of being are we?
3. What kind of life is the right kind of life to live?
4. How should we be governed?
These introspective questions are brief in length; however, their answers fill untold volumes of books and are the subject of intense debate. The first question, “How do we come to know anything?” has biological, and psychological references, which I will not attempt to address here. The question “What kind of being are we?” is the key to answering the other questions.
There are two categories of understanding. One category called “evolutionist” believe that all life came into being by the random change, and through billions of years of small changes, we have evolved into our current human form. The Greek, Protagoras (ca. 490– 420 BC) summed this up in his maxim, “Man is the measure of all things.” If this declaration is true, then our long odds of reaching harmony just increase exponentially. If man has evolved from unintelligent substances, then man has no responsibility to anyone, not even himself. Then, the answer to “What kind of life is the right life to live?” can be simple answered by saying “What ever I feel like.” This explains why we have constant human conflict. People are doing what they feel is right for them and if others get in the way, Oh well! One of the principles of the evolutionist theory is the “survive of the fittest.” This principle states that in order for the evolutionary process to work, the weak must die so that the strong can survive and reproduce. The evolutionist view demands everyone to be selfish based on our biology. Therefore, if two people argue over who gets the last piece of chicken, and one kills the other, then this is a good thing because the weak one dies and the strong one lives on to reproduce other strong offspring. Don’t laugh; this is serious.
The second category called “creationist” believe that some form of intelligent being brought all forms of life into existence. There are many concepts as to who or what this intelligent being is. However, most believe in a supreme being or god that created humans and all life on earth. From this theory, we can develop an answer to “What kind of life is the right life to live?” The right kind of life is the life that our god desires for us to live. Since our Creator is intelligent enough to create us, then it can determine how we can live in harmony together. Problem solved, right? Wrong. The creationists have an additional challenge; how can we know the character of this god and how it wants us to live? This is what gives birth to religion. Religion is “an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine [the concept of god].” Where the evolutionist theory creates conflict on a biological level, the creationist theory creates conflict on psychological level.
Now, we come to the final question, “How should we be governed?” The pure evolutionist must conclude that human need very little, if any, governance. Any restriction on human behavior is an assault on the biology in humans to reproduce the strongest of the species. The creationist must first ascertain their Creator’s purpose for creating them and then establish a government that supports that purpose and restrict any behavior that conflicts with that purpose. How does this play itself out politically? It is a valid and valuable question to ask any candidate for public office, “What kind of being are we?” Their answer will reveal great incite into how she or he will approach the challenges in our society. Even if the candidate gives an answer as a creationist, you then must ask her or him to describe the character of their god. In my opinion, this is where most Christian fail. Christian hear a candidate say they believe in god and assume their concept of god and the candidates concept of god is the same. There are similar attributes in the gods of Islam, Hindu, and Christian. However, there are fundamental differences that make these concepts of god irreconcilable.
Let me close this article by saying, Protagoras statement that “Man is the measure of all things.” does hold credible weight. Mankind certainly does determine the worth (measure) of all things. Each person makes unilateral decisions on value, worth, and ethical determination. Combine this with the fact that no two humans are intellectually identical. Conflict arises in every area of life: family, society, political, and personal. How can we get alone together and avoid conflict and war when many of us are at war within ourselves? The picture I have painted seems to guarantee we will always have human conflict. Not so fast! It is the purpose of this newsletter to make the argument that there is a source, a force, and a course we can undertake to answer the perplexing questions and reach the desired harmony within society. It is my belief that the God whose character is revealed in the Holy Bible if understood and obeyed can bring about a harmony in human. When He made His character into flesh and blood in the form of Jesus, the angel announced the reason for His arrival. “Peace on earth, good will toward mankind. (Luke 2:14)”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), Copyright 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles
Can’t We All Just Get Along?