God and Natural Laws

Journal Mr.Intel's Journal: God and Natural Laws 1

Journal by Mr.Intel on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @11:11AM

Here is a thought provoking thread. Cosmosis tries to tackle the eternal question of man: "Where did it all start?" Assuming you believe in God, the question is analogous to "Where did God come from?" I want to focus on one quote in here, but I will try to answer this question to the best of my mortal limits. Since I have moderated in the thread and cannot post there, I will do so here.

No matter how you try to explain the origin of any laws, none of the theories can account for the cause of those laws. From this, I concluded there can be no fundamental laws.

First, let me get one thing out on the table before we tackle this issue. Man has basically two methods available to him to understand the universe and answer fundamental questions like these. Empirical and Transcendental thinking.

Empirical thinking is also termed scientific thinking. It was conceived of by Aristotle, who was known as the first scientist. Empirical thinking is based on logic, fact and testability. It has given mankind a wealth of understanding about things that affect our mortal selves. We own much of our technology and comforts to Empirical thinking. It is based on the idea that truth exists everywhere but must be verified. The key to empiricism is testability. This means that all truth is relative to the tester. As more people verify a certain theory, that theory becomes more universal and less relative. However, Aristotle himself scoffed at the idea of universal truth. Empirical thinking is well suited for answering questions like "How does this machine work?" and "Why do birds fly south in the winter?" It fails miserably when trying to answer questions like "What is it that makes humans self-aware?" and "Where did the universe come from?" Great empirical thinkers are such people as Darwin, Newton, Einstein and Rousseau.

Transcendental thinking is based on the notion that all truth is absolute. Truth exists inside of each person and life is the process of discovering this latent truth. Furthermore, my truth is the same as your truth and any disagreements are a product of us not yet having found the same truths. This type of thinking actually came about before empirical methods. Aristotle was a student of Plato who was a student (purportedly) of Socrates. Plato and Socrates are the best known transcendental thinkers. Since then, there have been a wealth of philosophers who have expanded on the ideas generated by these great men. My personal favorite is Immanuel Kant. His notions on enlightenment (hence the icon) are nicely married to the religious principles I espouse. Truth is implanted within man and can be discovered through education, meditation and study. Truth does not have to be logical to be true and there does not have to be a method that describes or explains it with any certainty. Nevertheless, transcendental moments in the lives of man are fact and cannot be easily discounted. So called miracles, paranormal events or other unexplained mysteries may not be resolvable with science, but that does not make them any less true. What breaks down is our ability to apply science to events that are not scientific. Just as empirical thinking has many flaws, so does transcendental thinking. It can explain the origin of the universe, the purpose of life and what happens to man when he dies. It is ill-equipped to answer questions pertaining to science and logical thought.

The problem then is not which method one should choose to think with, but which one answers any given question the best? To answer our question, I will use transcendental thinking and follow the path of truth, not the path of testable fact.

Laws are boundaries that apply consequences to those who cross over them. The severity of the consequences are directly proportional to the law that is broken. For example; causing damage to your neighbor's house carries with it the punishment of restitution. But if you kill your neighbor, how do you restore his/her life? Therefore, the punishment may need to be as severe as the loss of your own life. This is known as 'justice'. I believe strongly in justice and claim that it is the only power that is greater than God.

What was that? Yes, I said that there is a power higher than God. It is this simple little thing called justice. You see, even God cannot brush aside justice for whatever ends He desires. He is bound to justice because it is justice that gave Him His power. Here is a quote from an ancient prophet that explains this further: "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God."

Justice is a two-way street. It doles out punishment and blessings. It does so based on the actions, intents, thoughts and words of the individual. We each work out our own mortality before God. He judges us on how well we have done, but in the end, it is justice that determines our fate. That is the beauty of Jesus Christ's atonement. To quote another prophet, "[Jesus] Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice."

This is called mercy. Justice demands that if you sin (break the law), a punishment must be inflicted. Alternatively, if you keep a law (i.e. by not breaking it) you are entitled to a blessing. Another quote: "Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement" There is a punishment and a happiness attached to every law. When you keep the law, you are blessed, when you break it, you are punished. There may be a delay in the execution of the blessing or punishment but they are inescapable. Mercy is something that diverts the punishment from the offender to someone else.

The absolutely wonderful beauty of God's plan for mankind is that He allows for our mistakes. Because of Jesus's death and suffering, the punishment can be claimed by mercy and not inflicted upon the sinner. Last quote: "But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God." If we repent of our sins, justice is satisfied by mercy. Mercy comes about because of Jesus and justice is immutable or God would cease to be God. Finally, note that here is where I get the notion that God's power is tied to justice. If the works of justice are destroyed, God would cease to be God. God cannot interfere with justice, except through mercy. This means that no matter how much He loves us, He cannot simply snap away our sins and save us. We have to qualify for the protection of mercy. But that is another discussion.

So we come back to the origin of the law. I have already explained in truth that God is subject to the law. Now I will try to explain how there can be something before God, who is both eternal and without beginning or end.

I believe that God was once a man as we are now. Furthermore, that man can become like God because we are His literal children. However, as He changed from a mortal to an immortal being, He also acquired His current attributes of omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. God is eternal because He is only subject to one law: justice. All the laws of physics, corporeality and all the perceptions of our existence don't apply to Him. Because of this, time cannot restrict His movement and it loses all meaning for Him. This is difficult for us to understand and our minds cannot easily move beyond this boundary. Basically, once God became God, all notion of a beginning to the universe (and consequently the end of it) became irrelevant. It doesn't matter for us who started it all or where it precisely began. What matters is that we are on this earth to grow and discover truth. That discovery does not end at death and eventually, we will have the opportunity to progress infinitely as God has.

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