Seriously - what is the meaning of it all (life)?

[Shann]

Obligation.

You're obligated to provide for your family and you're obligated to those you work for and who work for you.

 

[UffDa]

 

[YayILikePie]

I've always liked Kilgore Trout's reasoning. Here's an excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions.

There was a message written in pencil on the tiles by the roller towel. This was it:
What is the meaning of life?
Trout plundered his pockets for a pen or pencil. He had an answer to that question. But he had nothing to write with, not even a burnt match. So he left the question unanswered, but here is what he would have written, if he had found anything to write with:

To be
the eyes
and ears
and conscience
of the Creator of the Universe,
you fool.

 

[dangreco]

For me, answering questions like this begins by addressing the question of where the universe came from.

Every theory regarding the origin of the universe falls into one of these categories:

1 - it existed forever
2 - it never existed
3 - it was created without a Creator
4 - it was created by a Creator

As best I can discern, there is no scientific or philosophical support for 1 or 2.

The question for me is then whether it is more plausible that the universe created itself from nothing without a cause, or whether it was created by an uncaused first cause (what we call God). That is to say, is it plausible that once upon a time there was no time, space, matter or energy (the stuff that makes up the universe) and that the entire universe sprang into existence from that nothingness without a cause.

In an age of relative scientific enlightenment, for me it strains credulity to the breaking point to assert that nothing caused something, i.e., that the universe sprang into existence by itself. It would be as if I asked, "where did that basketball come from?", and someone answered that it created itself. Except that the universe is vastly, incomprehensibly more complex than a basketball, and thus vastly less likely than a basketball to have created itself and then magically caused itself to function.

If I ask somewhere where universe came from, they might say the big bang. I then ask what caused the big bang, and maybe they say a singularity - an infinitely small point of space-time. I then ask what caused the singularity, and eventually it becomes clear that this line of thought leads to an infinite regression of finite causes. The real question is what started it.

Contemporary culture would opine that nothing started it. That it just started by itself.

Since we recognize that every effect must have a cause equal to or greater than itself, I cannot accept the common notion that the universe created itself out of nothingness. When I look at plausibilities, I am inexorably led to the conclusion that there must be an uncaused first cause - God.

This is not based on mere faith in the inerrancy of the Bible, which I have, but on reason and evidence. Much more could be said, but I won't.

Having concluded that God must exist, the next question for me is "who" is that God and what is the nature of God. By asking "who", I am attributing human characteristics to God, but that is how we mere humans have to handle these questions. Without writing a thesis on the subject, I believe it can be demonstrated that God is real, that the Bible is divinely inspired and contains literal truth about Him, and that Jesus has the credentials to support his claim of being God incarnate.

Amen. I agree 100%. Christianity is not a blind faith at all. The purpose for man's existence is to bring glory to God, and to enjoy His presence forever.