Bible
Study: Wisdom 13, 1 to 9. And Luke 17, 26 to 37.
According
to our First reading this morning, IGNORANCE of God is FOOLISHNESS of the
highest order. This is because as long as we have eyes to see and minds to
reflect, what can be known about God is self-evident. “All men were by nature foolish
who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed
in knowing him who is.!” Wisdom 13 verse 1. St. Paul also takes a clue from
this very verse when he noted: “For what can be known about God is plain to
them, because God has SHOWN it to them. Ever since the creation of the world
his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly
perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for
although they knew God they did not honour him as God…” Romans 1:19-21
After
reflecting on the above, the great intellectual colossus, St. Thomas Aquinas, came
up with five solid proofs to show that beyond every reasonable doubt, God
actually exists. These five proofs are also called five ways or five arguments
of proving God’s existence. They are:
1,. The Proof from MOTION. We observe motion all around us. Nothing
moves on its own without something first making it to move. Whatever is in
motion now was at rest until moved by something else, and that by something
else, and so on. But if there were an infinite series of movers, all waiting to
be moved by something else, then actual motion could never have got started,
and there would be no motion now. But there is motion now. So there must be a
First Mover which is itself unmoved. This First Mover we call God.
2., The Proof from EFFICIENT CAUSE. Everything in the world has its
efficient cause--its maker--and that maker has its maker, and so on. The coffee
table was made by the carpenter, the carpenter by his or her parents, and on
and on. But if there were just an infinite series of such makers, the series
could never have got started, and therefore be nothing now. So there must have
been a First Maker, that was not itself made, and that First Maker we call God.
3., The Proof from NECESSARY VS. POSSIBLE BEING. Everything we see
around us depends on something else for survival hence they are called
contingent beings as against necessary beings that do not depend on anything
else. For instance, cars and trees and you and I are not necessary because there
is a time before they come to be when they are not yet, and a time after they
cease to be when they are no more. If everything were merely possible, there
would have been a time, long ago, when nothing had yet come to be. Nothing
comes from nothing, so in that case there would be nothing now! But there is
something now-the world and everything in it-so there must be at least one necessary
being. This Necessary Being we call God.
4., The Proof from DEGREES OF PERFECTION or BEAUTY. We all evaluate
things and people in terms of their being more or less perfectly true, good,
noble, beautiful, and so on. We have certain standards of how things and people
should be. But we would have no such standards unless there were some being
that is perfect in every way, something that is the truest, noblest, and best.
That Most Perfect Being we call God. In other words, what Thomas Aquinas says
here is that when you see something very beautiful, you think you have seen the
most beautiful thing on earth only to be amazed with something even more
striking and you just open your mouth and wonder. If we continue to go up the
ladder of beautiful and more beautiful, we would reach a final point which
nothing else can be found to be more beautiful and that final point is God.
5., The Proof from DESIGN. As we look at the world around us, and ourselves,
we see ample evidence of design--the bird's wing, designed for the purpose of
flight; the human ear, designed for the purpose of hearing; the natural
environment, designed to support life; and on and on. If there is design, there
must be a designer. That Designer we call God. The human body can be described
as a machine with every single organ working in perfect collaboration with
another, someone must have arranged them and given them their functions and
that great designer is God.
Truly, anyone who tries to say God does not exist or acts as if he is
not sure, is very foolish. And this foolishness is seen in the idolatry that we
find around us; rather than worship God who made these beautiful things, people
turn to worship the things themselves. As the book of Wisdom asserts: “If
through delight in the beauty of these things men assumed them to be gods, let
them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty
created them.” Wisdom 13, 3. When you see a very beautiful girl or handsome boy
for instance, what should first come to your mind is to sing praise to God
because this beauty is a reflection of God’s beauty. Rather than lust after a
person or try to use that person for personal gratification, we should turn our
focus to God and begin to imagine how beautiful he must be.
In our Gospel passage, Jesus makes us understand that we do not know the
day or the hour when we would be called to give an account of our lives. So
every minute we have right now, we should use it well to serve God and prepare
for heaven. Whether or not God exists should no longer be an issue or an excuse
as some people claim, they say since God has not come down to show himself to
them, they would not pattern their lives according to his commandments. How
foolish they are! Heaven is real. God truly exists so get ready!
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, may I offer my very life in service to you and whenever you choose to
call me, may I be found worthy of heaven. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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