The Absurdity Of Life Without God

Our lives seem to cry out for significance and meaning. I know many people who are either atheists (they don't believe that God exists) or apatheists (they don't really care if God exists). Most people I know are just concerned with making ends meet, being happy, and just making it through life. 

Now all of that seems just fine on the surface, but we're not here on this blog to stop at those questions, shrug them off, and get on with our lives. No. We're here for something much more. We want to know the truth...no matter what that entails. And to find the truth, we must keep asking questions until we get to the heart of the issue we are trying to understand. That may lead us to other questions, but we want to know it all.

So the question remains: Is this all that we're here for? To live our 70+/- years, acquire stuff, enjoy it while we can, try to do some "good", try to love some people, don't be a jerk, and then die? If that's all there is to it, then in the grand scheme of things life is pretty pointless.

Some of history's greatest thinkers followed the logical consequences of the absurdity to life if there is nothing past this existence. This brand of philosophy is called nihilism: the belief that there is no ultimate meaning, or that any perceived meaning is illusory.

So is it true? If God doesn't exist, is life really meaningless? I think so. At least ultimately, I think so.

If God does not exist, then there are serious consequences to that notion.

1. This life is all there is. If God doesn't exist, then I don't see any reason to think that our "spirit" lives on, there is any such thing as reincarnation, or anything else like that. No, it would seem that you just die and cease to exist. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, and like a puff of smoke, all that remains is the memory in the minds of those who once knew you.

2. The universe is destined to die out as all of the useful energy is spent and dark matter eventually sends space repelling from itself faster than the speed of light. Most scientists agree that this is the inevitable fate of our universe at some point in the distant future, way past the time that humans have gone extinct on this tiny, insignificant space rock. If this universe is all there is (and there's no scientific evidence to support that other universes exist), then the cold dark reality of a future dead universe is staring us in the face. But, we'll all be gone by then so it's more ominous to think about than any actual consequence we should be worried about.

3. Our actions ultimately have no consequences. This touches on objective morality a bit, but even if we assume that objective morality exists apart from God, it still means nothing in the end. Any good or bad that we do while alive will soon be forgotten as the remaining humans die off and the sun eventually expands to engulf the earth and burn it up. It's not that people won't act like it matters at the time, and it certainly will seem like it matters, but in the end it was just a momentary situation and ultimately meaningless from the perspective of the universe.

Now I've had some atheists tell me that nihilism isn't the default position to take as atheists. But I really don't see why. I mean, if this life is all there is, then whatever strides we've made during our lives was just a means to numb the pain and realization that death was approaching and that all our actions would be forgotten in the heat death of the eventual collapse of the known world.

If this is bumming you out, I'm sorry. My point is not to make you come to the conclusion that life is meaningless, but rather think about what it means if you think that life isn't meaningless! I think we could actually make an argument for the existence of God this way:

1. If God does not exist, then life is meaningless.

2. Life is not meaningless.

3. Therefore, God exists.

Of course this would be a pretty weak argument if you've come to the conclusion that life really is meaningless. And depression is a horrible reality in our culture today. But this would certainly be a reasonable argument for someone who think to himself, "No. It can't be. I really feel as though my life has significance and meaning." Well, then it follows that God exists.

But what if you've come to the conclusion that maybe God exists or maybe he doesn't, but I'm just not sure about this "life has meaning" business. If you can come to believe in God, then you should certainly be able to come to the conclusion that life is full of meaning. And we could rephrase the argument this way:

1. If God does not exist, then life is meaningless.

2. God exists.

3. Therefore, life is not meaningless.

I've never really seen anyone develop these types of arguments before, so I'm ready to be ripped to shreds by some more sophisticated philosopher types. But I think I think I've made my point. And what we need to do from here is examine more evidences for the existence of God to see if it's really true.

More than a year ago, my good friend Boss sent me this video and it sent my head spinning. Ever since watching that video, I've been on a non-stop quest to learn more about what I already thought to be the truth. Because I think I would agree with the first premise of the argument, then I would really want to know if the second premise is true. If the second premise is true, then we have a great hope in front of us to find out about God and to see if he's revealed Himself to us and find out if He wants us to come to know Him. And I think that's the case.