You are viewing a single comment's thread. View all
1
bluewhiteandred on scored.co
6 days ago1 point(+0/-0/+1Score on mirror)1 child
I'm still thinking about this, may probably create a separate post at some point but I can continue what I was researching in this comment
Given the scientific materialistic movement, previously Christian or non-Christian philosophers and theologians might have mused about life having a "teleology" or purpose. There is the famous "watchmaker's argument for God's existence" where if you found a random watch on the ground, you might suppose there was a being (a human) who built the machine with a purpose (to tell time). Hence they also argue when we observe humans and the created world, it looks like it has a purpose (to love God) created by a Being (God) with intent.
With the advent of a belief that the world "simply exists", there is not thought to be any designer (God) with intention or a purpose behind the Creation. Hence life has no inherent purpose (nihilism). We come in to existence and try to create a purpose ("existence precedes essence" - existentialism). The modern dominant philosophies therefore literally believe there is no purpose to life (which emotionally can create depression in people, as a feeling of pointlessness, or frustration, as there is no "goal" to achieve as the world is ultimately "goalless"). With no purpose, people frequently adopt the "purposes" of "evolution": achieve more, make more money, "grow" (yet these often do not satisfy, like the woman's complaint - they are "means" to a more ultimate purpose or "end")
In contrast, traditional Catholic teaching for example in the Baltimore catechism asserts that life has a "fixed" purpose: man was created to "know God, love God, and serve God".
Some of the things with religion suggest a transcendence of the material purposes which seem to have no "ultimate" grounding. For example, the sacrament of baptism is supposed to remove the stain of original sin "for eternity". It is not the achievement of winning some competition, which is forgotten tomorrow, but is a state that exists "forever". I think something of these "infinite" actions are desired.
Humans are also finite and incapable of "achieving" these "infinite" things of God. Jesus on the Cross redeems mankind in a kind of "infinite" way; the debt of sin that man cannot ever repay is repaid. So humans are "satisfied" with participation in some of these "infinite" acts of God, while as humans we can only try to otherwise "achieve" things that are temporary and unsatisfying. A human may "participate" by baptizing a person, using the "limited" rules of following the proper matter, form, and intent of the sacrament. Yet God brings about an "infinite" effect upon the person that transcends the materials used to confer the sacrament.
Hence there is this desire for a "transcendence" of the finite material existence with an experience of the "infinite mystery of God's actions" which are "beyond" these unsatisfying material struggles that many people are undergoing. The person with emotional upsets in this direction may not have any "participation" in these "transcendent realities". (They may also simply be undergoing psychological distress, which could be a separately treated issue with some practical remedies that are less involved with religion and philosophy)
Given the scientific materialistic movement, previously Christian or non-Christian philosophers and theologians might have mused about life having a "teleology" or purpose. There is the famous "watchmaker's argument for God's existence" where if you found a random watch on the ground, you might suppose there was a being (a human) who built the machine with a purpose (to tell time). Hence they also argue when we observe humans and the created world, it looks like it has a purpose (to love God) created by a Being (God) with intent.
With the advent of a belief that the world "simply exists", there is not thought to be any designer (God) with intention or a purpose behind the Creation. Hence life has no inherent purpose (nihilism). We come in to existence and try to create a purpose ("existence precedes essence" - existentialism). The modern dominant philosophies therefore literally believe there is no purpose to life (which emotionally can create depression in people, as a feeling of pointlessness, or frustration, as there is no "goal" to achieve as the world is ultimately "goalless"). With no purpose, people frequently adopt the "purposes" of "evolution": achieve more, make more money, "grow" (yet these often do not satisfy, like the woman's complaint - they are "means" to a more ultimate purpose or "end")
In contrast, traditional Catholic teaching for example in the Baltimore catechism asserts that life has a "fixed" purpose: man was created to "know God, love God, and serve God".
Some of the things with religion suggest a transcendence of the material purposes which seem to have no "ultimate" grounding. For example, the sacrament of baptism is supposed to remove the stain of original sin "for eternity". It is not the achievement of winning some competition, which is forgotten tomorrow, but is a state that exists "forever". I think something of these "infinite" actions are desired.
Humans are also finite and incapable of "achieving" these "infinite" things of God. Jesus on the Cross redeems mankind in a kind of "infinite" way; the debt of sin that man cannot ever repay is repaid. So humans are "satisfied" with participation in some of these "infinite" acts of God, while as humans we can only try to otherwise "achieve" things that are temporary and unsatisfying. A human may "participate" by baptizing a person, using the "limited" rules of following the proper matter, form, and intent of the sacrament. Yet God brings about an "infinite" effect upon the person that transcends the materials used to confer the sacrament.
Hence there is this desire for a "transcendence" of the finite material existence with an experience of the "infinite mystery of God's actions" which are "beyond" these unsatisfying material struggles that many people are undergoing. The person with emotional upsets in this direction may not have any "participation" in these "transcendent realities". (They may also simply be undergoing psychological distress, which could be a separately treated issue with some practical remedies that are less involved with religion and philosophy)