God Matters

My parents have told me that when I was young, I once told a woman in our church, “Your fat.” But apparently in an attempt to soften the harshness of the statement, I went on to console her: “But you’re not as fat as your husband.” Children are interesting creatures. One thing I find fascinating is that from simplicity of children come some of the most perplexing questions about life, questions that sometimes the only answer one can give is to say, “now that is a good question.” It is these guileless ones who have asked questions that all of us deem worthy of consideration, such as: What is time? Why can’t people leave each other alone? Or where did the world come from? These are, as we say, “good” questions because they bring up perplexities that we feel a very strong desire to resolve in our minds.
So, to introduce the subject of this book, I have a “good” question: “Does anything really matter?” Or to state it more precisely, “Does anything truly, inherently, or actually matter in the context of the reality in which we live?” Now at first this may appear hard, if not impossible to answer, at least in an objective sense. In reality, though, the question itself alludes to an answer because it implies that the answer matters (which is why the question is being asked in the first place). In fact, all “good” questions, including this one, assume that there is some issue of importance that actually matters. If nothing truly mattered, then there would really be no reason to ask questions in the first place. Therefore, the fact that people ask questions and that we think they are “good” enough to be pondered implies that certain things do indeed matter.
Now it may seem to some that my answer is insufficient, and I do intend to show more extensively why I believe certain things about life truly do matter. However, at the outset it needs to be pointed out that it is contradictory to make any argument against this proposition because to argue that nothing truly matters assumes that the issue itself matters enough to merit an argument against it.
This is what is puzzling about certain people who claim that there is no transcendent purpose or inherent meaning to life. They spend so much time trying to prove their point as if it really matters. But if there is no ultimate meaning to life, and nothing ultimately matters, then there is no reason to try to prove anything. So from their standpoint, there is really nothing worth arguing about.
The fact is, however, everyone cares about certain things, even people who think that life has no inherent meaning or purpose. That, after all, is why they argue, because they care about what they and others believe. But here again, the word “care” would have no meaning if nothing truly mattered. I “care” about my wife and children because they matter to me. People “care” about their houses, money, food, health, and so on because these things truly matter to them. You are reading this book probably because you “care” about finding out what I have to say. (Then again, you may already be losing interest in what I am saying because you really don’t care.)
Now the reason I have brought up this question of whether anything really matters is because it seems that many people have become skeptical concerning life and its meaning. My conversations with others have led me to believe that there are a lot of people who would like find answers to deep questions about life, but because of the pervading mindset of our time, they have come to the conclusion that these questions can never be answered with any sufficient amount of certainty.
Our time is unique in history, particularly because of the surge in scientific discovery and technology over the past few hundred years. Scientific progress has accomplished much for humanity by uncovering the intricacies of the world in which we live, utilizing this knowledge to develop some of the most incredible devices ever conceived, and devising means with which to help people to live longer, healthier lives. I am most respectful and grateful toward science and the advances that been accomplished through it.
There is a downside to all of this, however. Our “scientific” mindset has led us to believe that we can only be sure about certain things, namely, anything that is scientifically explainable. Therefore, people tend to be sure only about the things endorsed by mainstream science and are often reliant upon scientific verification before they will accept something as fact. This leads them to believe that it is impossible to know the factuality concerning non-physical (i.e. spiritual) matters. A person’s faith, therefore, is simply a matter of opinion, and there is no way to know the truth about matters outside of the physical, observable realm of life because science is unable to prove it. As a result, it is often believed that a person must separate science and faith, that they do not coincide. Science, therefore, is considered something to be universally accepted as fact, whereas religious beliefs are considered something to be personally accepted as opinion.