What Are We Doing Here, Man?

This could be an explosive blog. It might be read by something like four people, or perhaps many more. The norms of our day are worth questioning, with eternal implications, and my intent is to shine light on the truth, mixed with some humor and spice. Ultimately, I want to point to true life.

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Some say there is no truth. With a straight face. And pause for effect.

Well, if that is the case, and if one can get past the fact that they just used words and spoke, out of a body breathing air, and that they were heard and were actually, really, having a conversation with someone, all various implied truths, then they have … declared a truth. Wait, but. Oh, there is no logic, because there is no truth, right? Logic would have to exist and that would be a truth.

I had a professor, at a prestigious institution, that taught logic. He held that there was no truth. Interesting thought. Wait, is the presence of a mere thought, the fact that it existed, a truth? He told me that it was mere semantics to call the declaration that there is no truth, itself, a truth.

People can believe a lot of different things. Someone might believe they are Napoleon from 200+ years ago. Someone might believe they could swim from South America to Europe. But, they are not and cannot. Someone might believe they could not eat or drink water for a year without any intervention, but they would be wrong and die. Belief and opinion are not enough. There are operative truths and constraints.

Now, I think the typical person would admit that there are truths, actually. As in, yes, 1 plus 2 does actually equal 3, and English is a real language. But, as soon as potential truths start infringing on perceived freedoms of decisions, many people get very guarded. There is fear of the unknown, and there is a deep desire to be in control. It feels safer, and better, to cling to something like relative truth. As in, your truth is true for you, and my truth is true for me. In some sense, this line of thought appears to work pretty well for a while in many areas of life, until it doesn’t. If a man decides that he is actually a woman and wants to start playing women’s sports, and if a woman in that league thinks that is unfair and wrong and that only women should be able to play in the woman’s league, something has to give. At least one of them is wrong in some sense. The two supposed truths cannot logically coexist.

“What is truth?” A famous man named Pilate asked this about 2,000 years ago.

Some say, well, I think only science can determine truth. A lot of very smart people have said something along those lines recently. It sounds nice and defensible. It sounds reasonable. Science has certainly helped humanity discover many, many amazing things. Well, what if science, the scientific community, is massively, utterly wrong on some things? Is it not an assumption, a belief, that science alone can determine truth? What about all of the paradigm shifts in scientific thought over the centuries? Remember when scientists thought that the earth was flat and thought that the sun moved around the earth? What if the scientists had never conducted the experiments and theorized to change those conclusions? Would the earth be flat and would the sun move around the earth, based on the science?

Most of science is still based upon the scientific method. It is an assumption, a belief, that the scientific method is the only way to uncover truth. Interesting, though, that there sure is a lot of truth that the scientific method relies upon to come to its conclusions, right, like how 1 plus 2 equals 3 —- is that testable by the scientific method? There is a lot of science that relies on numbers and calculations.

Even science relies upon non-testable assumptions. It relies upon a certain philosophy, the philosophy of science. One cannot really test, using the scientific method, that the scientific method is the only way to uncover truth. Although, see the previous paragraph for an obvious example of where it fails.

So, if truth exists, and if relative truth has limitations, and if science alone cannot uncover all truth, what then? How can we discover more truth, and in particular, material truth? As in, what if truth was so vast as to be unknowable in full in our lifetimes – – what truths would be worth seeking and knowing and aligning our daily decisions around? What truths, if any, could reveal why we are here at all? What are we doing here, man?

Those are the questions likely beyond science, of philosophy and religion.

So, one could reasonably start with the major religions and philosophies of the world, throughout time. Ones that have endured and ones that have had dramatic effects are prime candidates for further exploration.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Mormonism – – maybe the starting points.

Let me break it down further, though:

• Judaism — pointed to a Messiah and relied on a key sacrificial system that is now defunct; modern-day followers are literally not able to follow their beliefs presently; one God; stretched back to near the beginning of mankind.
• Christianity – – based upon someone who claimed to fulfill Judaism and claimed to be the Messiah; the human calendar was literally based upon the founder; one God; the founder claimed to be God, claimed to die, and claimed to be resurrected from the dead
• Islam – – based upon one man who claimed to have heard from an angel in the wilderness, 500+ years after the founding of Christianity; one God; main religious text, Quran, refers to the main religious texts of Judaism and Christianity as valid and claims that they were doctored over the years.
• Hinduism – – something over 300 million gods; one of the world’s oldest religions
• Buddhism – – some general belief in gods but not the focus; mostly self-reliance
• Mormonism – – founded less than 200 years ago by one man who claimed he had visions; relies heavily on the main Christianity text as valid in its original form

And, there are obviously other possibilities and even sub-categories of the above religions, but, I would submit to you, that, on your journey, please start with the claims of Jesus in Christianity. If true, that would mean all of the other religions are not worthy of your pursuit. It is the only major religion with a founder claiming to be God, with miraculous signs and wonders and the changing of history to provide further confirmation.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”  John 14:6 ESV

You eat and sustain enough for another day.

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’”  John 6:35 ESV

You drink and sustain enough for another day.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”  John 4:13-14 ESV

Many think that religious truth is constraining.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”  John 8:31-32 ESV

This truth will set you free. Both for the one who already believes – lean into it further, and for the one who does not yet believe.

If you are wandering and trying to find your way:

Jesus says “I am the way.”

If you are seeking and trying to find answers:

Jesus says “I am the truth.”

If you are feeling the emptiness of all the shiny things that the world pursues:

Jesus says “I am the life.”

And, if Jesus is not who he says he is, after claiming to be the truth — the truth – – he would not be a good teacher at all, as many claim, but would be a liar. There is no in between.

The truth calls to you. Pursue the truth.