We don’t have all the answers

May 31, 2007

A Coherent Worldview « Minds 2 Mentes

The author of this blog, Krista posted the above link to her blog in a comment here regarding my reference to Zacharias and the four basic questions of life. On her post, this explains the gist of the four basic questions of life:

“Ravi Zacharias spoke about the requirements of a coherent worldview. He said there are 4 questions a worldview must answer: the questions of origins, meanings, morality and destiny. The question of origins deals with how life came about. The question of meanings deals with the question of why life came about. The question of morality deals with questions of what is right and wrong and how we know the difference. The question of destiny deals with the question of the ultimate destinations of life.”

Four very valid questions. It’s quite obvious that many people think about these four questions and not get any answers, and subsequently try and find the answers. Krista continues, and says:

“Everyone has a worldview. The question is, is your worldview coherent? Does it answer the above questions? If you chose to believe in a certain system, be it religious or non-religious, it must answer these questions in order to be relevant, and it must be relevant in order to be correct. You may have an answer to the question of destiny, but if you do not have an answer to the question of morality then your worldview has a hole in it; there is then something about the way you look at the world that doesn’t make sense, because you have not provided an answer for one of the basic questions of life.

“What is your worldview? Is it coherent? And does it satisfactorily answer these questions in a way that makes sense and reflects reality? If not, it may be time to look for a new way to look at the world that is logical and realistic.”

Yes, everyone has a way they see life, however does their “worldview” need to be coherent? Life is confusing. Why does a worldview need to answer those four questions? Perhaps we are here to get a better understanding of those questions, and the answers aren’t merely found in a scripture. Your faith tells you the answers you have are correct. Why MUST a worldview answer those questions? I am asking anyone, not just the author of the particular blog. How does having an answer, which may be correct for all four of those questions make the answers defintely correct? Why must a view answer those immensely difficult questions to have relevance? Relevance to what? A worldview with logical, or relevant answer to those questions does not mean it is correct.

I could say we came into existence because an alien race far, far away (really far away), created the life on our planet including the human race; then we exist because it was an experiment to see how various species especially those with two legs, who can be conditioned, with an ability to think somewhat logically, but with no idea of their origin, will progress; we know what is right and wrong because we have been given the ability to use our brains, conscience and the analysis of experience (ours and others’) if we can merely break away from some of our conditioned ideas in our minds; and we will ultimately die when our heart stops and our brains stops functioning, and then, there will be nothing but silence. Now, I must admit, it’s not from an old scripture, and it’s flawed, but I’m sure, given the time, I could twist it enough so that it makes enough logical sense to oppose other answers to the four questions. To use your terms, it reflects reality as much as the heaven and hell idea where our actions and good lives really mean nothing if we don’t accept THE single doctrine. And it’s as coherent as the idea that some almighty entity – God – created us. Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s correct.

I can’t see how answering those questions validate a worldview any more than a worldview that is searching for those answers, or even a worldview that disregards those questions. Having answers that may or may not be correct does not validate anything. It’s your faith that allows it to be relevant and correct for you, and then your faith that suggests to you that the answers you have are absolutely correct for everyone. These ideas are definitely interesting to explore.