The logical conclusion of believing there is no God is that nothing matters.
Because without a Creator for creation…everything…is…meaningless.
Like this “shooting star” life of ours…
not there…then ablaze…then gone.
It’s far better to believe…
no matter how weak or doubtful the faith is…
than the alternative.
A Psalmist, wracked by doubt because of a defeat of King David, asks God not to be too long in rendering justice. He knows of the shooting star and asks God to…
Remember how brief life is. (v. 48)
It’s true.
Just look at family lineage we can know…
grandparents…
and their offspring…
and their progeny (us and maybe siblings)…
and the children of theirs…maybe yours…
and then, the kids of those kids.
That’s maybe two hundred years or so…and counting.
It’s such a huge amount of accumulated time. No?
No.
You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. (James 4:14)
It is all meaningless…
if there is no God.
Believing there is no God is faith.
Believing there is a God is faith.
One of the two is a misdirected faith.
And only one makes logical sense.
Our faith makes logical sense.
Still, I know how much it can feel that this is all there is.
But it’s not logical to believe that this is it.
That’s why people push that illogic down…
and fill the void with other stuff…
because the illogic of believing there is no God…
is a dreadful thing to consider.
When there is either doubt…or no faith…
there is no “meaning of life”.
But then…some things…
are just a matter of what’s easier to buy…
and a matter of which thing has better PR.
Faith may need better PR…
but it is the only logical choice.
PR makes flower arrangements of facts…
moving the pretty petals to the front…
and hiding what we don’t want to see.
It’s a package of trickery, a manipulation of truth.
Doubt is the feeble, lesser…but easier to buy package.
Atheists and Agnostics avoid the question…
but the question itself can’t be removed.
Blaise Pascal once said of atheists and agnostics…
When you die you either don’t exist,
or you sit before a God demanding justice.
You could consider it, or you could just eat a cookie.
I have to ask…
We all do…
Do we (I) want the logical truth…
or do we just want the cookie.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ll skip the cookie! Our faith DOES make logical sense and there is no meaning to life when we push God away.
Beautiful post as always, Craig!
but Martha, so many people don’t – most people don’t skip the cookie. It’s easier to not make a decision that it is TO make a decision. It goes not just for this – but for everything. But…NOT maaing a decision IS making a decision – and it IS “faith” – but misdirected faith. Thank you Martha, and God bless and keep you my friend.
You are right without the Creator nothing is meaningless………. without God nothing has any meaning. This is what I wrestled with back in college (when I was suicidal for the first time) and you would think the Christian counselors would be helpful on a campus like that but I felt that the little faith I had was barely hanging on by a thread at the time. I ended up stopping talking to them and talked with a pastor instead.
Faith is faith even if it is misdirected.
I chose faith in God, even if it was hanging on by a thread at the time. I am so grateful for that decision and the relationship with God that has bloomed and grown through the years.
Katie, I get the “faith hanging on by a thread” thing – I’ve been there so many times – but really – choosing not to believe IS believing – just believing the wrong thing. God bless you my friend!
within all of us lies both the heavens and the earth. this results in doubt, in grief, in less then love. love of self. love of creator. love of creation. it can be hard to grapple through and some, spend their whole life on this journey. each belief does carry faith. great point.
Tara, thank you, that might be one of the deeper comments I’ve ever had – there is so much in it. We ALL have so much in each of us – and there is a constant battle, whether we acknowledge it not – and every belief – even disbelief, IS. belief. Thank you very much. And God bless and keep you.
this is good stuff here, craig.
amazing.
Rachel, I really do consider that high praise coming from you – having read you – knowing your words – well – it just leaves me grateful. Thank you Rachel, and God bless and keep you.
sometimes i think it takes greater faith not to believe in than it does to…i dont know that there ever is a lack of faith, we all have it in something if nothing else than ourselves….some interesting ponderings today sir..
You know what Brian, I’m kind of thinking it takes just about the Same amount of faith. Before I believed in Our Lord. I might have believed in anything – in some ways it was kind of who got to me first. And our Lord knew who was going to get to me all along. Thank you Brian. God bless.
Blaise Pascal is one of my favorite philosophers. Such insight and such faith.
He WAS a thinker – his Great Wager – that one got me the very first time I heard it – and it’s a GO TO to in moments of doubt. God bless you, and thank you.
I’ve never heard this quote before, a good one, and a good post!
First of all, I’m sorry for replying to your comment more than 2 weeks after you left it. But this journey back the 170 hours with no sleep – from where I was – to where I need to be – from the “there and nowhere.” to the “here and now”. It’s not an overnight trip. And the “there and nowhere” continues to invade. Continuing to blog has been a good first step, talking to people and doctors, another good step, and going back and replying to all these comments – that’s another step. Soon I’ll be reading blogs I heart again and I’ll be visiting you. One step at a time. And about Pascal’s quote – I HEART that quote – he was a thinker that guy. Thank you Elizabeth – and God bless.