Dear Atheist,
I salute your independence of thought, and logical approach to life.
Unfortunately you have been misled, uninformed, deceived.
Deception to be effective, cannot be obvious, hence this letter to open thinkers.
Nothing can be new to a closed mind, but if you are secure in your conclusions, why not consider a new concept, annuit coeptis if you will.
Fairly certain it was Bob Dylan who once observed: “It’s not where it’s at, it’s where it’s not at you gotta know.”
So let us examine what God cannot be. First, God cannot be limited. The most basic description must include the quality of being infinite. This is something of a problem for humans, since our conceptions are primarily based on sensory perception and inferences drawn therefrom, which are inherently finite.
You may wonder why God cannot be finite. This would invite the possibility of more than One. If you observe system engineering, some systems are stable and naturally self stabilizing whereas others tend toward dissolution. Since the universe has an observed long age, there must be some principle to longevity, rather than discordant pieces tending toward destruction.
Even in the material world, we observe conservation or unity of phenomena. Take for example, boiling distilled water at sea level. It is at the same temperature in South America as in Asia. Therefore there must be some consistent principle.
So too with numbers. Even vastly large numbers, such as the number of atoms in the visible universe, exhibit consistency and large numbers can be calculated repeatedly with verifiable results. Consider computer algorithms to manage vast amounts of data, there is consistency. It is not as though there are different parts and pieces everywhere which vary with no predictability. Two raised to the third power is always eight. Using binary digits, they are always one or zero. So consistency implies One Principle, not two or more.
I think the atheist’s disbelief arises from the fallibility of human conception. There have been many, many, conceptions of Deity throughout history, and many clearly fallacious.
But is there such a thing as Truth?
We have touched upon the verifiability of mathematics, music is another. Harmony is an observable phenomenon, vibration levels, octaves and so on.
The interesting, and not so easily seen impediment in understanding Reality, Truth, God, Life as it Is, arises from our observational bias which introduces error.
Error is a variation from the mathematical ideal, such as an aberration in the contour of a telescope lens, where a small imperfection is magnified when resolving distant images.
Our mental processes are subject to error. In fact, we can be so wholly deceived as to believe, experience, and be absolutely convinced of something completely false. Typical examples are the rotundity of the earth “no it’s flat!” The earth revolving around the sun, “No that contradicts the Bible you’re going to prison!”
These are but two examples.
Is it possible to know for oneself? Absolutely. (Pun intended.)
Human thought will not do it, but silence can.
“Fear not. Stand still and see.”
Most thinkers are likely to scoff at the notion of inward silence as unproductive and unworkable, yet nothing could be further from the Truth.
It’s like describing color to the blind, sound to the deaf, Love to the atheist, it’s there, but unknown, because the perceptive mechanism is flawed.
There is an “off” button for thought. Why must one continuously follow one thought to the next? Cannot we be inwardly silent for a short while?
We can.
It usually takes some practice to overcome the habit of allowing one thought then another to dominate our mental awareness.
Abraham Maslow once observed that children often experience “peak” states of joy spontaneously.
I was not one of those. Misery was my default. The world seemed joyless, painful, disappointing. My fifty plus year search ended with fruition, which to explain would be a book not a blog post, still, it is possible to understand and experience the ever presence of infinity here and now.
Paul Tillich as quoted in Arduous Huxley’s “Perennial Philosophy” defined God as the “absolute Ground of all being.” Mary Baker Eddy, whose primary work was dedicated to “sincere seekers for Truth” listed the unified synonyms for God as “infinite, divine, supreme, Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.”
So those are clues.
The arrogance of infidelity places the individual at the center of the universe, when while this may appear to be so, in Reality we are subordinate to the Whole. The question is to discover its nature and present Reality as fact rather than fiction.
Rot in a box, or eternal Life here and now, the kingdom of God within. Hmmmm.
Sincerely,
Daniel