Who Can Tell Us?
Who can tell us what the purpose of life really is? Well, if you were to visit a machine designer and saw him working on a complicated piece of machinery that you did not recognize, how could you find out what it was for? The best way would be for you to ask the designer.
What, then, of the magnificent design we see all around us on earth, such as in all living things, down to the smallest living cell? Even the much smaller molecules and atoms inside the cell are wonderfully designed and orderly. What, too, of the marvelously designed human mind? And what of our solar system, and our Milky Way galaxy, and the universe? Did not all these awesome designs require a designer? Surely he could tell us why he designed such things.
Continued-Next time: Did Life Originate By Chance?
11.27.2004
11.24.2004
The Effect
What is the effect of so many different ideas by scholars and religious leaders on the question of life's purpose? Many respond as did an elderly man who said: " I've been asking why I'm here most of my life. If there's a purpose I don't care anymore.
Quite a number who observe the profusion of views among the world's religious conclude that it really does not matter what one believes. They feel that religion is just a diversion for the mind, something to provide a little peace of mind and comfort so that one can cope with life's problems. Others feel taht religion is nothing more than superstition. They feel that centuries of religious speculation has not answered the question about life's purpose, nor has it improved the life of the common people. Indeed, history shows that this world's religions have often held mankind back from progress and have been the cause of hatreds and wars.
Yet, is it even important to find the truth about the purpose of life? Mental-health professional Viktor Frankl answered: "The striving to find a meaning in one's life is the primary motivational forec in man.... There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life."
Since human philosophies and religions have not satisfactorily explained what the purpose of life is, whre can we go to find out what it is? Is there a source of superior wisdom that can tell us the truth about this matter?
Continued-Next time: Who Can Tell Us?
What is the effect of so many different ideas by scholars and religious leaders on the question of life's purpose? Many respond as did an elderly man who said: " I've been asking why I'm here most of my life. If there's a purpose I don't care anymore.
Quite a number who observe the profusion of views among the world's religious conclude that it really does not matter what one believes. They feel that religion is just a diversion for the mind, something to provide a little peace of mind and comfort so that one can cope with life's problems. Others feel taht religion is nothing more than superstition. They feel that centuries of religious speculation has not answered the question about life's purpose, nor has it improved the life of the common people. Indeed, history shows that this world's religions have often held mankind back from progress and have been the cause of hatreds and wars.
Yet, is it even important to find the truth about the purpose of life? Mental-health professional Viktor Frankl answered: "The striving to find a meaning in one's life is the primary motivational forec in man.... There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life."
Since human philosophies and religions have not satisfactorily explained what the purpose of life is, whre can we go to find out what it is? Is there a source of superior wisdom that can tell us the truth about this matter?
Continued-Next time: Who Can Tell Us?
11.21.2004
What They Say
Confucian scholar Tu Wei-Ming said: "The ultimate meaning of life is found in our ordinary, human existence." According to this view, humans would continue to be born, struggle for existence, and die. There is little hope in such an outlook. And is it even true?
Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Nazi death camps in World War II, observed: "Why are we here? is the most important question a human being has to face.... I believe that life has meaning in spite of the meaningless death I have seen. " But he could not say what the meaning of life was.
Editor Vermont Royster stated: "In the contemplation of man himself...of his place in the universe, we are little further along than when time began. We are still left with questions of who we are and why we are and where we are going."
Evolutionary scientist Stephen Jay Gould noted: " We may yearn for a 'higher answer - but none exists." For such evolutionists, life is a struggle for survival of the fittest, death ending it all. There is no hope in that view either. And, again, is it true?
Many religious leaders say that the purpose of life is to lead a good existence so that at death a person's soul can go to heaven and spend eternity there. The alternative offered for bad people is eternal torment in hellfire. Yet, according to this belief, on earth there would continue to be more of the same unsatisfactory existence that has prevailed throughout history. But if God's purpose was to have people live in heaven like angels, why did he not just create them that way to begin with, as he did the angels?
Even clergymen have difficulty with such views. Dr. W.R. Inge, a former dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, once said: " All my life I have struggled to find the purpose of living. I have tried to answer three problems which always seemed to me to be fundamental: The problem of eternity; the problem of human personality; and the problem of evil. I have failed. I have solved none of them."
Continued- Next time: The Effect
Confucian scholar Tu Wei-Ming said: "The ultimate meaning of life is found in our ordinary, human existence." According to this view, humans would continue to be born, struggle for existence, and die. There is little hope in such an outlook. And is it even true?
Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Nazi death camps in World War II, observed: "Why are we here? is the most important question a human being has to face.... I believe that life has meaning in spite of the meaningless death I have seen. " But he could not say what the meaning of life was.
Editor Vermont Royster stated: "In the contemplation of man himself...of his place in the universe, we are little further along than when time began. We are still left with questions of who we are and why we are and where we are going."
Evolutionary scientist Stephen Jay Gould noted: " We may yearn for a 'higher answer - but none exists." For such evolutionists, life is a struggle for survival of the fittest, death ending it all. There is no hope in that view either. And, again, is it true?
Many religious leaders say that the purpose of life is to lead a good existence so that at death a person's soul can go to heaven and spend eternity there. The alternative offered for bad people is eternal torment in hellfire. Yet, according to this belief, on earth there would continue to be more of the same unsatisfactory existence that has prevailed throughout history. But if God's purpose was to have people live in heaven like angels, why did he not just create them that way to begin with, as he did the angels?
Even clergymen have difficulty with such views. Dr. W.R. Inge, a former dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, once said: " All my life I have struggled to find the purpose of living. I have tried to answer three problems which always seemed to me to be fundamental: The problem of eternity; the problem of human personality; and the problem of evil. I have failed. I have solved none of them."
Continued- Next time: The Effect
11.16.2004
Conditions More Difficult
Many doubt that life has a purpose when they see that living conditions have become more difficult. Throughout the world more than a billion people are seriously ill or malnourished, resulting in the death of some ten million children each year in Africa alone. Earth's population, nearing 6 billion, continues to grow by more than 90 million a year, more than 90% of that growth in developing countries. This constantly expanding population increases the need for food, housing and industry, which brings further damage to land, water and air from industrial and other pollutants.
The publication World Military And Social Expenditures 1991 reports: "Every year an area of forest equal to the whole surface of [Great Britain] is destroyed. At present rates (of clearance) we shall, by the year 2000, have removed 65% of forests in the humid tropical zones." In those areas, according to a UN agency, 10 trees are cut for every 1 planted; in Africa the ratio is more than 20 to 1. So desert areas increase, and each year an area the size of Belgium is lost for agricultural use.
Also, this 20th century has had four times as many deaths from war as the previous four centuries put together. Everywhere, there is a rise in crime, especially violent crime. The breakdown of the family, drug abuse, AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and other negative factors are also making life more difficult. And world leaders have not been able to provide solutions for the many problems plaguing the human family. Thus, it is understandable why people ask, what is the purpose of life?
How has that question been addressed by scholars and religious leaders? After all these many centuries of time, have they provided a satisfactory answer?
Continued-Next time: What They Say
Many doubt that life has a purpose when they see that living conditions have become more difficult. Throughout the world more than a billion people are seriously ill or malnourished, resulting in the death of some ten million children each year in Africa alone. Earth's population, nearing 6 billion, continues to grow by more than 90 million a year, more than 90% of that growth in developing countries. This constantly expanding population increases the need for food, housing and industry, which brings further damage to land, water and air from industrial and other pollutants.
The publication World Military And Social Expenditures 1991 reports: "Every year an area of forest equal to the whole surface of [Great Britain] is destroyed. At present rates (of clearance) we shall, by the year 2000, have removed 65% of forests in the humid tropical zones." In those areas, according to a UN agency, 10 trees are cut for every 1 planted; in Africa the ratio is more than 20 to 1. So desert areas increase, and each year an area the size of Belgium is lost for agricultural use.
Also, this 20th century has had four times as many deaths from war as the previous four centuries put together. Everywhere, there is a rise in crime, especially violent crime. The breakdown of the family, drug abuse, AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and other negative factors are also making life more difficult. And world leaders have not been able to provide solutions for the many problems plaguing the human family. Thus, it is understandable why people ask, what is the purpose of life?
How has that question been addressed by scholars and religious leaders? After all these many centuries of time, have they provided a satisfactory answer?
Continued-Next time: What They Say
11.14.2004
Is There A Purpose To Life?
Sooner or later, nearly everybody wonders what the purpose of life is. Is it to work hard to improve our living conditions, to provide for our families, to die after perhaps 70 or 80 years, and then to be nonexistent forever? One young person who felt this way said that there is no other purpose in life than "to live, to have children, to be happy and then to die." But is that true? And does death really end it all?
Many in both Eastern and Western lands feel that the main purpose in living is to acquire material wealth. They believe that this can lead to a happy, meaningful life. But what of people who already have material wealth? Canadian writer Harry Bruce said: "A baffling number of rich people insist they are not happy." He added: "Polls suggest a terrible pessimism has infected North America... Is anybody happy out there? If so, what's the secret?"
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter stated: "We've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning....Piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose." And another political leader said: "I have for several years now been engaged in an intensive search for truths about myself and my life; many other people I know are doing the same. More people than ever before are asking, 'Who are we? what is our purpose?"
Continued-Next time: Conditions Are More Difficult
Sooner or later, nearly everybody wonders what the purpose of life is. Is it to work hard to improve our living conditions, to provide for our families, to die after perhaps 70 or 80 years, and then to be nonexistent forever? One young person who felt this way said that there is no other purpose in life than "to live, to have children, to be happy and then to die." But is that true? And does death really end it all?
Many in both Eastern and Western lands feel that the main purpose in living is to acquire material wealth. They believe that this can lead to a happy, meaningful life. But what of people who already have material wealth? Canadian writer Harry Bruce said: "A baffling number of rich people insist they are not happy." He added: "Polls suggest a terrible pessimism has infected North America... Is anybody happy out there? If so, what's the secret?"
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter stated: "We've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning....Piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose." And another political leader said: "I have for several years now been engaged in an intensive search for truths about myself and my life; many other people I know are doing the same. More people than ever before are asking, 'Who are we? what is our purpose?"
Continued-Next time: Conditions Are More Difficult
11.10.2004
A Marvelous World
Under the rulership of God's Kingdom, survivors of the end of the present system of things will be ushered into an earth cleansed of wickedness and suffering. God-given instruction will be provided for mankind, and in time "the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea." (Isaiah 11:9) This upbuilding, positive teaching will result in a truly peaceful, harmonious human society. Thus, there will be no more war, murder, violence, rape, theft, or any other crime.
Marvelous physical benefits will flow to obedient humans living in God's new world. There will be a canceling out of all the bad consequences of rebellion against God's rule. Imperfection, sickness, old age and death will be things of the past. The Bible assures us: "No resident will say: 'I am sick.' "Moreover, the Scriptures promise: "At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as the stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness." (Isaiah 33:24; 35:5, 6) What a thrill it will be to enjoy vibrant health every day-forever!
Under God's loving direction the inhabitants of that new world will use their energies and skills in building an earth-wide paradise. Gone forever will be poverty, hunger and homelessness, for Isaiah's prophecy states: "They will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating." (Isaiah 65:21, 22) Indeed, "they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble." - Micah 4:4.
The earth will respond to the loving care of God and obedient humans. We have these Scriptural assurances: "The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron...In the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain." (Isaiah 35:1, 6) "There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow." - Psalm 72:16.
What about the billions of people who have died? Those in God's memory will be brought back to life, for "there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15) Yes, the dead will be restored to life. They will be taught the wonderful truths regarding God's rulership and be given the opportunity to live forever in paradise. - John 5:28, 29. By these means, Jehovah God will completely reverse the awful condition of suffering, sickness and death that has held mankind in its grip for thousands of years. No more sickness! No more disabilities! No more death! God "will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things [will] have passed away." - Revelation 21:3, 4.
That is how God will end suffering. He will destroy this corrupt world and usher in an entirely new system of things in which "righteousness is to dwell." (2 Peter 3:13) What good news this is! We desperately need that new world. And we will not have to wait long to see it. From the fulfillment of Bible prophecies, we know that the new world is at the door, and God's permission of suffering is nearing its end. - Matthew 24:3-14.
Under the rulership of God's Kingdom, survivors of the end of the present system of things will be ushered into an earth cleansed of wickedness and suffering. God-given instruction will be provided for mankind, and in time "the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea." (Isaiah 11:9) This upbuilding, positive teaching will result in a truly peaceful, harmonious human society. Thus, there will be no more war, murder, violence, rape, theft, or any other crime.
Marvelous physical benefits will flow to obedient humans living in God's new world. There will be a canceling out of all the bad consequences of rebellion against God's rule. Imperfection, sickness, old age and death will be things of the past. The Bible assures us: "No resident will say: 'I am sick.' "Moreover, the Scriptures promise: "At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as the stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness." (Isaiah 33:24; 35:5, 6) What a thrill it will be to enjoy vibrant health every day-forever!
Under God's loving direction the inhabitants of that new world will use their energies and skills in building an earth-wide paradise. Gone forever will be poverty, hunger and homelessness, for Isaiah's prophecy states: "They will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating." (Isaiah 65:21, 22) Indeed, "they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble." - Micah 4:4.
The earth will respond to the loving care of God and obedient humans. We have these Scriptural assurances: "The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron...In the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain." (Isaiah 35:1, 6) "There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow." - Psalm 72:16.
What about the billions of people who have died? Those in God's memory will be brought back to life, for "there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15) Yes, the dead will be restored to life. They will be taught the wonderful truths regarding God's rulership and be given the opportunity to live forever in paradise. - John 5:28, 29. By these means, Jehovah God will completely reverse the awful condition of suffering, sickness and death that has held mankind in its grip for thousands of years. No more sickness! No more disabilities! No more death! God "will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things [will] have passed away." - Revelation 21:3, 4.
That is how God will end suffering. He will destroy this corrupt world and usher in an entirely new system of things in which "righteousness is to dwell." (2 Peter 3:13) What good news this is! We desperately need that new world. And we will not have to wait long to see it. From the fulfillment of Bible prophecies, we know that the new world is at the door, and God's permission of suffering is nearing its end. - Matthew 24:3-14.
11.07.2004
God's Sovereignty Asserted
Once and for all time, this tragic experiment in independence from God has demonstrated that rulership by humans apart from him can never succeed. Only God's rulership can bring happiness, unity, health, and life. Moreover, Jehovah God's infallible Word, the Holy Bible, shows that we are living in "the last days" of human rule independent from God. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Jehovah's toleration of this and of wickedness and suffering is nearing to its end.
God will soon intervene in human affairs. The Scriptures tell us: "In the days of those kings [human rulerships now existing] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom [in heaven] that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people [never again will humans rule the earth]. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [present rulerships], and it itself will stand to times indefinite." - Daniel 2:44,
The vindication of Jehovah God's sovereignty by means of the heavenly Kingdom is the Bible's theme. Jesus made this his foremost teaching. He said: " This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:14
When God's rulership replaces man's rule who will survive and who will not? At Proverbs 2:21, 22 We are assured: " The upright [who uphold God's rule] are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked [who do not uphold God's rule], they will be cut off from the very earth." The divinely inspired psalmist sang: "Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more... But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The righteous themselves will reside forever upon it." - Psalm 37:10, 11, 29
Next time: A Marvelous New World
Once and for all time, this tragic experiment in independence from God has demonstrated that rulership by humans apart from him can never succeed. Only God's rulership can bring happiness, unity, health, and life. Moreover, Jehovah God's infallible Word, the Holy Bible, shows that we are living in "the last days" of human rule independent from God. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Jehovah's toleration of this and of wickedness and suffering is nearing to its end.
God will soon intervene in human affairs. The Scriptures tell us: "In the days of those kings [human rulerships now existing] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom [in heaven] that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people [never again will humans rule the earth]. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [present rulerships], and it itself will stand to times indefinite." - Daniel 2:44,
The vindication of Jehovah God's sovereignty by means of the heavenly Kingdom is the Bible's theme. Jesus made this his foremost teaching. He said: " This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:14
When God's rulership replaces man's rule who will survive and who will not? At Proverbs 2:21, 22 We are assured: " The upright [who uphold God's rule] are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked [who do not uphold God's rule], they will be cut off from the very earth." The divinely inspired psalmist sang: "Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more... But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The righteous themselves will reside forever upon it." - Psalm 37:10, 11, 29
Next time: A Marvelous New World
11.04.2004
The Main Issue - Sovereignty
When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they challenged his sovereignty, that is, his right to rule. Jehovah could have destroyed them and started over with another couple, but that would not have settled the issue of whose rulership is right and best for the people. Granted time to develop their societies according to their own ideas, humans would demonstrate beyond any doubt whether rulership independent from God could ever bee successful.
What do thousands of years of human history tell us? For all those centuries, people have tried many kinds of social, economic, political, and religious systems. However, wickedness and suffering have continued. In fact,'wicked men have advanced from bad to worse.' especially in our time. - 2Timothy 3:13.
The 20th century saw a peak of scientific and industrial achievements. But it also saw the worse suffering in the entire history of the human race. And no matter what medical advances are made, the law of God still holds true: Humans separated from God -the source of life - gets sick, grow old, and die. How clearly it had been proved that humans cannot direct their own steps.'
Next time: God's Sovereignty Asserted
When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they challenged his sovereignty, that is, his right to rule. Jehovah could have destroyed them and started over with another couple, but that would not have settled the issue of whose rulership is right and best for the people. Granted time to develop their societies according to their own ideas, humans would demonstrate beyond any doubt whether rulership independent from God could ever bee successful.
What do thousands of years of human history tell us? For all those centuries, people have tried many kinds of social, economic, political, and religious systems. However, wickedness and suffering have continued. In fact,'wicked men have advanced from bad to worse.' especially in our time. - 2Timothy 3:13.
The 20th century saw a peak of scientific and industrial achievements. But it also saw the worse suffering in the entire history of the human race. And no matter what medical advances are made, the law of God still holds true: Humans separated from God -the source of life - gets sick, grow old, and die. How clearly it had been proved that humans cannot direct their own steps.'
Next time: God's Sovereignty Asserted
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