Here is an example:
Suppose that we could speak with an embryo in his mother's womb and that you would tell him that the embryonic life is only a short one after which follows a real, long life. What would the embryo answer? He would say what you atheists answer to us, when we speak to you about paradise and hell. He would say that the life in the mother's womb is the only one and that everything else is religious foolishness.
But if the embryo could think, he would say to himself "Here arms grow on me. I do not need them. I cannot even stretch them. Why do they grow? Perhaps they grow for a future stage of my existence, in which I will have to work with them. Legs grow but I have to keep them bent toward my chest. Why do they grow? Probably life in a large world follows, where I will have to walk. Eyes grow, although I am surrounded by perfect darkness and don't need them. Why do I have eyes? Probably a world with light and colours will follow."
So if the embryo would reflect on his own development, he would know about life outside of his mother's womb, without having seen it. It is the same with us. As long as we are young, we have vigour but no mind to use it properly. When, with years, we have grown in knowledge and wisdom, the hearse waits to take us to the grave.
Why was it necessary to grow in knowledge and wisdom that we can use no more? Why do arms, legs and eyes grow on an embryo? IT IS FOR WHAT FOLLOWS. So it is with us here. We grow in experience, knowledge and wisdom for what follows. We are prepared to serve on a higher level that follows death.
When an engineer has built a bridge, the fact that a cat can pass over the bridge is no proof that the bridge is good. A train must pass over it to prove its strength. The fact that you can be an atheist when everything goes well does not prove the truth of atheism. It does not hold up in moments of great crisis.
I believe in God like I believe in the sun. Not because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.
:mrgreen:
Suppose that we could speak with an embryo in his mother's womb and that you would tell him that the embryonic life is only a short one after which follows a real, long life. What would the embryo answer? He would say what you atheists answer to us, when we speak to you about paradise and hell. He would say that the life in the mother's womb is the only one and that everything else is religious foolishness.
But if the embryo could think, he would say to himself "Here arms grow on me. I do not need them. I cannot even stretch them. Why do they grow? Perhaps they grow for a future stage of my existence, in which I will have to work with them. Legs grow but I have to keep them bent toward my chest. Why do they grow? Probably life in a large world follows, where I will have to walk. Eyes grow, although I am surrounded by perfect darkness and don't need them. Why do I have eyes? Probably a world with light and colours will follow."
So if the embryo would reflect on his own development, he would know about life outside of his mother's womb, without having seen it. It is the same with us. As long as we are young, we have vigour but no mind to use it properly. When, with years, we have grown in knowledge and wisdom, the hearse waits to take us to the grave.
Why was it necessary to grow in knowledge and wisdom that we can use no more? Why do arms, legs and eyes grow on an embryo? IT IS FOR WHAT FOLLOWS. So it is with us here. We grow in experience, knowledge and wisdom for what follows. We are prepared to serve on a higher level that follows death.
When an engineer has built a bridge, the fact that a cat can pass over the bridge is no proof that the bridge is good. A train must pass over it to prove its strength. The fact that you can be an atheist when everything goes well does not prove the truth of atheism. It does not hold up in moments of great crisis.
I believe in God like I believe in the sun. Not because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.
:mrgreen: