Thursday, August 31, 2017

The "Just In Case" Philosophy

Given that we don't know that anything about life is real, it can be easy for people to have serious doubts as to whether God exists and whether our choices matter. Some people ask why we should bother wasting our lives, serving a God who may not even exist. My answer to that question is "just in case."

The way I see it, there either is a God, or there isn't. If there is no God, we can assume that there is no afterlife (almost all religions believe in both, if they believe in either), and even if there is an afterlife, it won't be filled with the eternal rewards or punishments we might expect to receive from a God. If there is no God, then righteousness would have no eternal rewards and wickedness would carry no eternal punishments. In essence, if there is no God, then what we do doesn't ultimately matter.

But what if there is a God? We haven't (and probably can't) prove the existence of God, but we haven't/can't disprove it either. If there is a God, then we can safely assume that everything matters. In that case, both sin and righteousness would have eternal consequences in addition to the temporal ones, making it of incredible importance that we keep His commandments.

To recap: If there is no God, then being righteous and being wicked would each have no eternal consequences, but if there is a God, the eternal consequences of our actions are significant. We may no be able to prove that God exists, and some people seem to be more than willing to take their chances, but I know that, without any conclusive proof one way or the other, there's a chance that God does exist and that what we do does matter. That's why I think it's wise to serve God, just in case He exists.

1 comment:

motherof8 said...

"Just in case" is good reasoning to my mind - to begin with, but I believe that we can know that there is a God. He will and has manifested Himself to those who EARNESTLY seek and are willing to listen and obey. He does not submit Himself to photos, fingerprints, and other earthly scientific measurements, but those who have gone to Him and received His Spirit do KNOW. Some have seen Him. Most have not, but have felt His spirit and power. I have felt His love. God is real. The philosophies of men may want us to doubt or think otherwise, but they are not as wise as they think. They are clever, but be careful. They can be clever tools of He Who Wishes You Not To Believe even in himself because if you believe he is real you almost have to believe God is real.