Monday, November 30, 2009

Is There a Final Question?

In the world of physics there always seems to be one more question.

John Dalton talked in terms of billiard balls, then people asked, "What's inside?"

Through a plethora of people we now have super hadron colliders... still searching for the next (last?) particle.

Always seeking, never finding the end.

Isn't that the quest for knowledge, though? And vision?

How about eternity? No end in sight!

Where do those semi-obtuse thoughts take you? Anyplace interesting?

30 comments:

  1. Knowledge we wil never get to the point where we can say i know all the answers to everything. because that would be God, As God as a omniscience being he knows all, and us as human beings as created thing of his we cannot know all. and for some people that might difficult to understand or accept. For me if we knew everything we wouldn't need God. Plain and simple

    God is used to help us learn, teach us, teach us about ourselves because we don't know everything and I believe God created it so we could never know everything. This is so we can seek answers from him. God being the omnipotent being he is.

    People continually seek to spend years arguing to prove God doesn't exist because there is not a answer for this. He does not exist because there is not a answer to prove this. Well in my opinion that does not goes against the existence of God but for it. It proves he created us so he is more powerful than any of our questions. Just seek him.

    Because in my opinion God created brains for us to think and challenge and to learn its almost as in my opinion its people fighting to see whom is the "alpha dog" I know this is weird terminology but i feel its truth. People can't help to believe somebody more powerful can even create things that in our brains seem unfathomable. Such as eternity.

    Especially with eternity, eternity is something that can never be measured, because its un meaursable. Which as humans seems completely outrageous something that does on forever. Well whats forever? How long is forever well its forever no time limits. Well if God is all powerful then isn't he powerful enough to create something that is not fathomable to an created thing?

    there are things we are meant not to know and things we can know but knowledge should bring us closer to God, asking him the questions not asking questions against him. God is indescribable, and instead of questions shaking our faith I feel that we should seek answer from the one who created all questions instead of us God being indescribable is something that explains the answer to every question to me, simply he is more powerful more good more knowing more sovereign than my brain can even fathom. Instead of asking the last question, I just stand in awe of his glory and say Thanks instead of Why?



    JMG

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  2. Everyday I find myself asking more questions that I had the day before. It is for this reason, I am always on my feet. I am a firm believer in Christ and the sacrifice He made for me, but sometimes I do have questions that cannot be answered. It is by my faith that I know that God's words are true and keep me a faithful servant of him daily. I think it is important for us to ask questions. Even if we don't et an answer right away, or even ever..We are thinking. I think a lot of society just goes with the flow and adjusts their thoughts to fit others and I do not want to be this type of learner. I want to ask questiosn for myself, even if that means I will be searching all my life for the answer.

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  3. I agree with Victoria, that as humans we are always searching for answers but sometimes not able to find them. But just because we can not find the answers does not mean we should not be searching and stretching our minds. JMG said in theirs "there are things we are meant not to know and things we can know but knowledge should bring us closer to God". I agree with this because I think God wants us to stretch our minds and learn how to learn, so that we will be able to learn about his complex character!

    In your post, you said "always seeking, never finding the end". This stood out to me because I feel like this in my life sometimes, that the more I seek God and learn about Him the more I see I need to learn about Him and about myself. It's almost like the closer I get to God, the more I see how far away from Him I really am and how much I need to grow in my faith. But faith is what gives me hope! With all of the unanswered questions in our lives, faith is what gives me hope, and I hope you reading this as well! God is incredible in the fact that he allows us to learn and stretch our minds so that we can learn more about Him!

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  4. After reading this post, this verse came to my mind: Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings."

    God created us so that we can't know everything. He concealed matters from us, but it will only benefit us if we seek them out. We may not know all of the answers, but I think as long as we continually seek, it teaches us to rely on Him and helps us to always seek HIM. When I am trying to figure something out, I go to God for help and it improves my relationship with Him. If i already knew all of the answers, I would not be dependent on Him.

    I think it is awesome that we can't know everything, because if we did, life would be boring. Discovering new things is exciting. I love learning something new that I find interesting, and I love when I am in conversation with someone and they can tell me something new. I can't imagine what life would be like if we all knew everything. We get to see God's glory in being limited because we can be in awe of His omniscience.

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  5. I like the track JMG is on. As we continue to ask questions, we find ourselves on a never ending quest for knowledge. The fact that we cannot answer everything points to an endless, or eternal amount of knowledge. This actually points to God! The fact that there is a reason to believe in eternity (limitless knowledge) means there is also a reason to believe in God. God and eternity are two concepts that cannot be truly understood by man but are essential to the Christian faith. Because we will never run out of questions, we can actually conclude that eternity, and therefore God, exists.

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  6. Looking back at the history of science, it is incredible to see all that has been discovered. Putting oneself in the place of someone alive only a hundred years ago, yet able to look at the things science has given us today, would be mind blowing. Looking at the leaps science has made in recent history alone beg the question "where will it take us in the next century". While some obsticals that inhibit the path of science seem unsurmountable, there will always be someone with the drive and determination to overcome them. This is the type of mindset we must have in our own lives. There are many questions about our faith that seem, to our puny minds, impossible. Yet, although we will never know all the answers, we must keep struggling to uncover all that we can. There is never a place for complacency in regards to our intellect. We must keep striving to learn more, or our very satisfaction with what we already know will limit our ability to learn more. As Einstien said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality, It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

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  7. This quest for more and more knowledge has been characteristic of man throughout history, and I do not believe it will ever cease. Though mankind has made tremendous bounds in gaining more and more information and making advances in various fields, including science, mankind will never see a day where there is nothing left to learn. I do not believe it is possible for the human race to ever know everything.

    Though it can become extremely frustrating at times to be faced with so many unanswerable questions, it is precisely this that leads to the need for faith. If we knew everything, we would not need to trust or believe in God.

    I, like most people, like to know as much as possible. I am uncomfortable with situations lacking a concrete answer or any type of proof. Working through this helps me with my faith walk. I often find it difficult to trust God when I cannot see what lies ahead, and sometimes find it hard to see God present at all in a situation. Learning to cope with the fact that i cannot and will not ever understand every aspect of even my own life forces me to surrender and trust that God knows His plans for me. The insufficiency of my own mind, and the human race as a whole is what draws me near to God. He is the only omniscient being, so where else do I turn?

    The only place that I can find comfort in those uncomfortable situations is God, so I am glad we do not know everything and that there will always be another question.

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  8. I personally can only bite of what I can chew. If I don't take one day at a time I can get ahead of myself and panic. I understand that there are questions I will never know the answers to. As long as I know where I am going when I die which I do and as long as I know that its great which it is then thats all I care about. If I am always seeking knowledge I may miss some of things going on around me, and forget to enjoy what I have here on earth even though it may not be that important. Constantly seeking knowledge seems like a stressful way to live

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  9. There's no end in sight. The church, and many people in the church like to think of Revelations as the definitive answer to the question of, what will be the end? I, myself, spent about a year studying the book of Revelations trying to figure out an ending. But the funny thing is, the more you look, the more questions come up. The more questions that come up, the harder it is to find an ending. I'm going to make a blanket statement here and go out on a limb by stating, that Revelations, nor any other Biblical text gives a conclusive answer to when and where and how the end will happen. Personally, I think that God does this for a very specific reason. That very important reason being that he doesn't want us to dwell on the end! If that's all we ever thought about, then we wouldn't live in the present. We wouldn't have actions that correspond to our actual character. Many Christians think of heaven as their reasoning behind their actions. Personally, I have a problem with this. I don't think that God calls us to act the way he told us to so that we can get to heaven. I believe that he told us how to live so that we could live in a way that honors him, and shows respect to the people around us. Thoughts of heaven, the end, Revelations, hell, the future, distract from the selflessness of the actions that God has called us to. Those acts become an attempt to keep our own slate clean because we are thinking about OUR rewards in the future, rather than how rewarding it is in the present to be living in a way that is pleasing to God.

    Cassie Gahm

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  10. The idea of eternity and the concept of complete knowledge are mindboggling. I find that there will always be another question in the world that has not been answered,and just like eternity itself there is an endless amount of possibilities in this world and I dont believe all of them will ever be figured out. With that said, there will always be a new question about science or a new problem that needs to be fixed and answered because God created this world. Now if God created this world, then there is no possible way that us lowly humans would ever completely figure out every detail that a perfect God placed in this world.

    Eternity is a hard word to think about, which I ultimately believe is the point because God is not something easy to comprehend. By even using the word eternity, we as humans and as Christians are putting God in a box. There is no way we can comprehend what God is capable of and who he is. So if this world is created by a GOd we can never fully understand, then we should not expect the science and physics of this world to be any different.

    The idea that one person can never find all the answers to this world, since there is always another explanation or question needed, gives me hope that there is one God who is greater than all of this, who formed the earth and made it so every human gets a chance to be searching for truth and knowledge. In other words, the possibilities are endless in science just like in eternity.

    KV

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  11. We must remember that God is all-knowing, omniscient, and man is not. So man's pursuit of knowledge is never going to end. Science is an ever expanding field, as every day passes man discovers new wonders in the universe. Mankind are never going to fully understand all things but this will not stop us from searching out new wonders. This also applies to our spiritual walks we as Christians will be in ever pursuit of Christ-likeness

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  12. As a human being on this earth, I am always going to be searching for more knowledge about any thing and every thing. That is just how we are programmed. We just want to know more. I always want to know more so that I can tell others and let others know how much I know about something because I may be able to better someones life with the knowledge that I know. Being able to help someone understand something and help them try to figure out what they are doing is something that drives me. If I am able ot make a difference in someones life with the knowledge that I know then I have done my job here.

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  13. Well, knowlege is something that we should always be looking to gain and improve. Nobody knows everything and never will. God knows everything and he take care of all things. The search for the next thing is obvious and nescessery, because we need to improve as human beings. In terms of God, we have no sight but we believe it, we know that he is with us and care about us. He loves and has mercy over us and that's all we need to understand.

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  14. I have always been enthralled with knowledge and wisdom. Always wanting to learn something more through others or just through personal research. I question some things which i do not understand, but as victoria said, i am to trust the Word of the Lord because He is God. In my times of misunderstanding and confusion, I find the best. For it is in those times i seek God the most and trust in Him despite my lack of understanding. Although i desire more knowledge and wisdom, i don't desire it to the point where it overtakes my entire mind...because God has said we are to have a sound mind. And I feel that being overwhelmed with knowledge and wisdom only decreases the amount of God's guidance in our lives.

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  15. Christians claim that there is a God who is omniscient. There is a need for humanity to hope for a being that knows everything, because of the fear of the "unknown."

    I noticed a few things while I read this prompt. The first thought was in regard to the "quest" for knowledge and the thought of it being never-ending. I guess the real question is whether or not you believe knowledge has an "end." Maybe knowledge exists and part of its existence is that there is no end.

    Just because you dont reach the "end" doesnt mean that the journey to the "end" has no purpose. Sometimes the things you learn during the journey can be more rewarding and valuable than the end itself.

    just some thoughts

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  16. I agree with Brian's thoughts on this. It is the process of pursuing knowledge, rather than the attainment of that knowledge, that captivates us. For some reason we were made this way. I remember as a kid playing with Legos, it was always building things that kept me occupied. There was a sense of satisfaction in completing a battle ship or airplane, but playing with the completed creation was never as fun as the act of making it. I still do not understand why it is that the process is more fulfilling than the outcome. I suppose that this being the case, it is fortunate that there is a seeming unlimited amount of knowledge to be pursued.

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  17. From James Staniland,
    That is a great thought and very true. where does the end of thought begin? it doesnt end it just keeps going. in the case of the billiards ball it is interesting how they have made a new ball and i also always wanted to know what was in the middle of a ball like that. There are so many people in the world using there brains for so many good ides and future inventions and in the ways of physics maybe possibility of life in places we never would of imagined. With eternity no one person knows when the end is in site besides the one and only God knows and when and how it will all happen. Eternity will never be discoverd until the end of your life happens and you experiance the wonders of eternity. Its all amazing stuff!!

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  18. Well I think that when we think of eternity and how it relates to what we know (or don't know) then we have to really question why we look. We keep finding new things and we can assume that there's always more or we can just accept what there is and assume we've reached the new 'end'. But what if there really is an end some day? we will have discovered any range of new parts of the universe or unraveled new mysteries, but eventually we're going to get tired and not want more answers. And there also might not be any more new answers at some point and we might be left with no comfort for our efforts to obtain (barum-bam-bum-bum) more knowledge.

    I think it partially relates to our need to always surpass ourselves. We want what we can't have, and we seek to learn more than those who came before us. Eternity is something we struggle with especially because as humans we are not immortal and we are bred with the understanding that we only have our lives to learn and discover and surpass others - and even then it's all pointless, we could gain everything, but we would still die and lose it all.

    I just think it's something to think about when we consider ourselves in relation to the universe we are looking at and our rather insignificant part in it.

    But all in all...Eternity is the bomb. It started with a Big Bang.
    You don't have to believe that, but it's funny.

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  19. Knowledge is always evolving. There is no way that we are able to comprehend let alone learn everything there is to know in this universe. God has created this universe to be way to complex for a human mind such as hours to comprehend. God is the creator, he is the only one that is all knowing. We can only look to seek his knowledge through scripture, and through the world that he has left behind for us.

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  20. If we already knew everything, then their would be no desire for learning and exploring. We would already be satisfied. I think its a gift that we get to keep searching and seeking out new things. We have an entire universe to explore, if we already knew what was out their NASA would be out of business! - NIcole Damon

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  21. "Always seeking, never finding the end."
    I like this phrase. Though as a college student I wish that I knew everything then I wouldn't have to study for all these blasted finals, but I do admit that life wouldn't be life if this was the case. If I knew everything I wouldn't have the relationships I have now, the joy of discovery, the ability to be humble and the ability to look up to others. I'm truly grateful that I don't know everything and that I can experiment or even make mistakes and learn from them. Though when I get lazy I wish for all knowledge, I realize that I would rather be wise, not know everything, and have a joyous life rather than know everything and have no joy in life.

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  22. Everyday is a new day that brings more uncertain things into my life. More questions, more people, more work; and it all gets jumbled up together inside and sometimes you don’t know where to begin. I can’t even begin to unravel how I feel and answer these questions I have because society is telling me to go faster and take more on, but I feel dissatisfied. I feel the only way we will ever even begin to know the answers if we slow down and seek God.
    Brooke Van Fossen

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  23. When I entered college, I thought that I would come out having "found" myself, knowing where I stand on all of the important issues, and have discovered more answers to the big questions in life. However, this is far from reality. I have found that by being in college, I have only discovered how little I know, and how much more there is to discover! At times this is discouraging - when I realize how big the world is, how much there is to know that I do not, how much I don't even know that I don't know.....etc. Sometimes it boggles my mind and I just feel small and insignificant. Other times, I feel encouraged and find joy in constant discovery and seeking. I like how "J Park" said that wisdom is more important than knowledge. This is really true. I will continue to put wisdom first in my seeking, hope that I will attain what knowledge I can in my lifetime, and take joy all the while!

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  24. I don't think that anyone will ever find all the answers to physics or science or math or anything like that because God created all of them and He created all of us but He is the only one that is all-knowing. He is never ending Himself and these subjects being his creations, I believe we will never know everything about them as He does.

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  25. I think this thirst for knowledge, whether it be spiritual or secular is something that is innately present in humanity itself. God placed the desire to learn and grow in every human being. I think the constant discovery of new technology is an amazing thing and the knowledge that it takes to develop these new technologies is a gift from God. From this desire to learn comes inventions that can help cure diseases, help oppressed groups, and make listening to music easier.

    While I am saying that technology is a blessing, it can also easily be misused. I believe that technology has both strengthened our connections with humanity and weakened them at the same time. While many people see inventions such as Facebook as the ultimate isolator, I see it as something that actually brings people together. I can't tell you how many friends I have regained contact with because I became a member of Facebook.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that the knowledge that humanity has that gives them the ability to create technology is a gift from God. Yes, it can be misused. When technology becomes a way to isolate others and is placed on such a high pedastal that it is considered higher than God, then it is misused. But if can see new technologies as a gift from God, then we can appreciate it for what it truly is, a gift from the knowledge God has given us.

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  26. People will always have a quest for knowledge. Humans are always searching for an answer to the next question, and there will always be questions. Although we are thirsty for knowledge, would that make us greedy? Shouldn't we be satisfied with all of the information that we do know?
    God has placed each and every one of us on this Earth for a reason, we all have a purpose and we all have working brains. People are meant to live their lives doing good deeds for others, not being greedy searching for more knowledge. Although God has given us the wonderful gift of thought, we cannot possibly know everything. God is the only being that can know everything about everything. We should be satisfied with all the information that we have attained, it is a gift from God.

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  27. When it comes to answering questions, I always feel that there never is an end to the questions. There always seems to be more questions. One of the questions that seems to keep the questions coming is why? Answering it always seems to lead to another why question. Only to continue, until we reach a point in which we do not know the answer because it is too complicated or too much for our mind to comprehend. I see this as a part of my faith, in which I believe that if we were able to explain everything in why things were the way there were, we would know as much as God knows, and then we would question why we need God. Not knowing things helps us to continue seeking God and who he is so in my opinion there is never a final question.

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  29. There is something beautiful to not always having an answer. I have a type A personality where I always have to be in control and have things planned out in advance. So, to know that there is always going to be "one more question" is quite relieving. I am definitely in a season of life where i am learning to let go and to let God. It is easy to put your faith in God in certain aspects of your life but to put your faith in him in every aspect is difficult. It takes prayer and the studying of His word. I agree with Joshua Sasaki when he says questions become so too for us to comprehend and I believe God made it like that on purpose.

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  30. I do not think there is a final question. We serve a big God whose ways are higher than our ways. There will always be something we can ask, learn about, and explore. There is something satisfying about knowing the answer to a question. Having knowledge and answers helps us to feel that we are in control, especially if we feel we have figured out the "last question" of a sequence. I think God purposefully never gives a final question so we can be reminded that we are not in control, He is. He uses that to draw us to depend on Him and to be in awe of His great beauty and wisdom. It is easy for us to worry and be frustrated when we do not know the answer, because we have no control over the outcome. Through those tougher times, God is refining us and drawing us near to Him.

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