The need for a return to God is clearly evident in today’s deranged and dysfunctional world. It is a need, exceeding all others, that must be fulfilled in order to keep enemies of God from interfering with human life. Among them are men and women with top-heavy egos that make them apply their strength of mind and depth of soul to outplay the Creator instead of growing in wisdom.
To the charge that raising voices against the excess of human tragedy in today’s world for having dismissed God is “irrational,” my response must be that intellectuals of that persuasion, having lost their way to the truth, continue to omit from their thinking an essential reality. Expressed succinctly, it is that at the root of every knowledge – the basic assumptions and “givens” – is an “X” that can never be solved, ultimately requiring a leap of faith in order to proceed in any direction.
In his writings and lectures, mathematician and philosopher Jacob Bronowski made clear to fellow scientists and laymen that all rational systems, including mathematics and physics, have inescapable and permanent dead ends, beyond which it is impossible to proceed.
An overview of Jacob Bronowski’s Ascent of Man tells us that “we have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power,” in sync with the button-pushing ease of modern times and the de facto anti-human activity of amoral elites who consistently fail to touch people.
The voices calling for this urgent need are many; Here are a few:
First and foremost is the voice of Jesus Christ, whose teachings encircled the globe after his arrival, over two thousand years ago, and have been civilizing men and women and improving life wherever heeded and adopted.
C.S. Lewis: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” This points directly to the essence of the faith in Christianity and to its need in life. A short explanation, found here, includes the observation: “At first glance, this quote may appear simple, but upon closer examination, its deep meaning and profound importance become evident. Essentially, Lewis suggests that his faith in Christianity is not solely based on tangible evidence but also on the transformative impact it has on his perception of the world.” [My emphasis.]
G.K. Chesterton: A summary of Chesterton’s call for the need to follow God includes the observation: “The world, Chesterton tells us, is a strange and wondrous place, containing beauties far too deep for words, of which our jaded souls have sadly forgotten. We have taken beautiful things – like friendship, and true love – and have devalued them with the carelessness and monotony of modern life. But the ‘creeds’ and ‘rules’ of Christianity, says Chesterton, are really at heart a way of reminding us of the lost beauty of life: just as no one will guzzle well-aged wine by the bottle, but instead will savor it one glass at a time; so the Christian will not commit adultery, but will remain faithful to the one whom he loves. And so, in the paradoxical manner for which Chesterton is famous, he reminds us that the seemingly onerous rules of Christianity were not meant to devalue life and its pleasures, but instead to fill us anew with the true joy of living.” [From attorney Jordan Teti’s summary of Chesterton’s view of the Christian faith.]
John Lennox: This mathematician and philosopher of science connects the dots here for the essentiality of God to the world. In brief, he says, “I submit that, far from science having buried God, not only do the results of science point toward His existence, but the scientific enterprise itself is validated by His existence. Inevitably, of course, not only those of us who do science but all of us have to choose the presuppositions with which we start. There are not many options – essentially, just two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.
Solzhenitsyn: “To the ill-considered hopes of the last two centuries, which have reduced us to insignificance and brought us to the brink of nuclear and non-nuclear death, we can propose only a determined quest for the warm hand of God, which we have so rashly and self-confidently spurned. Only in this way can our eyes be opened to the errors of [the] unfortunate 20th century and our bands be directed to setting them right. There is nothing else to cling to in the landslide: the combined vision of all the thinkers of the Enlightenment amounts to nothing. Our five continents are caught in a whirlwind. But it is during trials such as these that the highest gifts of the human spirit are manifested. If we perish and lose this world, the fault will be ours alone.”
These voices for a return to God, out of the immense chorus of similar voices, testify to the urgency of bringing sanity back to our lives.
And here I include a word regarding the “proof of God’s existence,” the sticking point for nonbelievers. The best analysis of this issue is contained in the old aphorism: For believers no “proof” is necessary; for nonbelievers, no “proof” will ever suffice. I put the word “proof” in quotation marks because words and symbols cannot prove or disprove the existence of God.
I must add to the countless voices for a return to God, the unheard voices of the millions of infants that have been slaughtered by abortion, trashed or slain by all who, lacking respect for human life, have permitted the Culture of Death to freeze their hearts and twist their minds. They must live with the blood on their hands for having denied the right of “unwanted children” to breathe the common air of humanity. Their one reparation for such an evil deed is to repent and reform.
Finally come the voices, heard and unheard, of the millions who have sacrificed and paid with their lives for this country’s freedom from tyranny; and that includes all who continue to put their lives on the line for America. Whether or not their sacrifices connect to a larger human principle than devotion to homeland, their voices call for our deepest gratitude and for a return to our senses.
And what voices do we hear from those who hate America so much that they are willing to destroy it? I submit that they are voices of insanity, voices of evil, alarmingly echoed by religious leaders who continue to betray Christ and his disciples by following “the times” instead of the Truth, the Way, and the Life.
Anthony J. DeBlasi is a veteran and life-long defender of Western culture.
Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
