Nubialy
New Member
We all know that some people, and even groups, ignore or trample on elevated morals, but the majority do not. From what source do the moral values found in virtually all areas and in all periods come? If there is no Source of morality, no Creator, did right and wrong simply originate with people, human society? Consider an example: Most individuals and groups hold murder to be wrong. But one could ask, Wrong in comparison to what? Obviously there is some sense of morality that underlies human society in general and that has been incorporated into the laws of many lands. What is the source of this standard of morality? Could it not be an intelligent Creator who has moral values and who placed the faculty of conscience, or ethical sense, in humans?Compare Romans 2:14, 15.
Another facet of human consciousness is our ability to consider the future. When asked whether humans have traits that distinguish them from animals, Professor Richard Dawkins acknowledged that man has, indeed, unique qualities. After mentioning "the ability to plan ahead using conscious, imagined foresight," Dawkins added: "Short-term benefit has always been the only thing that counts in evolution; long-term benefit has never counted. It has never been possible for something to evolve in spite of being bad for the immediate short-term good of the individual. For the first time ever, its possible for at least some people to say, Forget about the fact that you can make a short-term profit by chopping down this forest; what about the long-term benefit? Now I think thats genuinely new and unique."
Other researchers confirm that humans ability for conscious, long-term planning is without parallel. Neurophysiologist William H. Calvin notes: "Aside from hormonally triggered preparations for winter and mating, animals exhibit surprisingly little evidence of planning more than a few minutes ahead." Animals may store food before a cold season, but they do not think things through and plan. By contrast, humans consider the future, even the distant future. Some scientists contemplate what may happen to the universe billions of years hence. Did you ever wonder why manso different from animalsis able to think about the future and lay out plans?
The Bible says of humans: "Even time indefinite [the Creator] has put in their heart." The Revised Standard Version renders it: "He has put eternity into mans mind." (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We use this distinctive ability daily, even in as common an act as glancing in a mirror and thinking what our appearance will be in 10 or 20 years. And we are confirming what Ecclesiastes 3:11 says when we give even passing thought to such concepts as the infinity of time and space. The mere fact that we have this ability harmonizes with the comment that a Creator has put "eternity into mans mind."
Many people, however, are not satisfied fully by enjoying beauty, doing good to fellowmen, and thinking about the future. "Strangely enough," notes Professor C. Stephen Evans, "even in our most happy and treasured moments of love, we often feel something is missing. We find ourselves wanting more but not knowing what is the more we want." Indeed, conscious humansunlike the animals with which we share this planetfeel another need.
"Religion is deeply rooted in human nature and experienced at every level of economic status and educational background." This summed up the research that Professor Alister Hardy presented in The Spiritual Nature of Man. It confirms what numerous other studies have establishedman is God-conscious. While individuals may be atheists, whole nations are not. The book Is God the Only Reality? observes: "The religious quest for meaning . . . is the common experience in every culture and every age since the emergence of humankind."
From where does this seemingly inborn awareness of God come? If man were merely an accidental grouping of nucleic acid and protein molecules, why would these molecules develop a love of art and beauty, turn religious, and contemplate eternity?
