My argument is that a person’s answers to the great questions of life are greatly influenced by their perception of God; however, essentially everyone’s perception of God is based on an incorrect perception of His Word. Arguably, even if you perceive that there is no God or any proof of His existence, your perception is also the result of an incorrect or nonexistent perception of His Word. Consequently, everyone’s perception of themselves, their purpose, and their future either lacks understanding or is at least misguided; and the only way for anyone to gain a correct perception of their existence is by first adopting God’s intended perspective when approaching His Word. You were told to perceive the Bible as depicting an image of a young woman, and I am arguing that you should at least consider the possibility that God intended you to perceive a different image. Notably, if you do adopt a different perspective, then your understanding of life will also change dramatically.
Obviously, any attempt to understand life is not a feat accomplished by an idle mind, and changing your current understanding will likely require an even more thoughtful process. Notably, Paul refers to the process as the renewing of the mind, thereby depicting that something old is being replaced with something new. Which should beg the questions; what are the old and new things, and what is the process of renewal? Perhaps you should also consider how the old thing was created, and how to engage the renewing process that God apparently instilled in everyone. Perhaps you should better appreciate an amazing aspect of your life; the power of your imagination.
In this chapter, I will discuss how your imagination creates an understanding, and how understandings are communicated and understood by others. I will also argue that, when creating your understanding of life, you allowed your imagination to consider information from the wrong sources. Arguably, everyone perceives a different understanding of life based on their unique considerations; however, what if God intended His Word to be the only source of information regarding your understanding of life? What if God wants all of us to reconsider our original understanding of life, and to engage the power of our imagination to thoughtfully consider His perspective of our life? Notably, your understanding of life will not change unless you first imagine the need to change; and then, only by devoting the necessary time for your imagination to consider the change.
Living life with your imagination
Before I discuss how you create an understanding of life through the power of your imagination, I want to consider briefly how you live life with your imagination. Because, your imagination, with all its thoughts and ideas, is arguably the battlefield for the spiritual war that is occurring in you now and into the next life.
I define our imagination as the function of the mind that builds a series of images depicting something being done. The fascinating aspect of imagining something occurring is how closely related it is to actually doing the action. Everyone has seen an athlete going through their routine in their mind as practice, and I recall studies of basketball players who improved their free throw accuracy by spending time imagining the act. Notably, I suspect many addicts acknowledge that just imagining “acting out” causes a physical reaction; and, I dread to consider, I suspect murderers and rapists also feel sensations when they imagine the act in advance and after. Importantly, Jesus states clearly that just imagining adultery is actually doing it in the heart, and consider how Jesus and John correlate murder with just being angry towards another person. If you can imagine doing an act, perhaps you are not far from actually doing it.
Certainly, our mind’s ability to build images with its imagination is clearly a powerful force; a force in our life that arguably exists in the spiritual realm. Interestingly, our imagination is even active when we are unconscious, such as when our dreams are perceived as reality. I laugh when I consider how often I have woken myself by literally kicking an imaginary ball, and I suspect many people have been awakened in a sweat that was caused by their imaginary images. Apparently, drugs can significantly impact the force of our imagination, such that a series of images has a more powerful perception of being real. So, in some sense, we have the power to imagine our own versions of a reality, and perhaps that is what everyone attempts to accomplish with their own imagination in their private moments.
The root of sin?
Notably, Paul describes in Romans 1 how man is ultimately given over to a debased mind, so perhaps the power of your imagination is literally at the root of your sinful nature. Perhaps your every sinful act of word or deed was originally conceived from an imagined sinful thought. Which should beg the question; if you want to understand life, then what is the source of that sinful thought within your imagination? Arguably, the root source of every thought is spiritual and not material; yet, like the alien with only an external picture, you were born blind to your internal spiritual nature. Therefore, if you cannot imagine your spiritual nature, then presumably you cannot understand the nature of sin. And, if you cannot understand sin, nor understand why you do what you do, then what confidence should you ever have in your understanding of life?
Interestingly, the embryo of this entire effort was regarding the matter of sin. Sadly, I had realized that religion itself was the cause for all misunderstanding of sin, so I began to record my arguments against the typical perceptions of the nature of sin. At the time, I had no idea that my effort would lead to an argument against most religious beliefs, yet I still believe that religion’s misperception of sin is one of the great deceptions that prevents the correct understanding of life. And, if you imagine that sin is a choice made by a free will, then your imagination has been greatly deceived. That insidious deception imposed by religion upon your imagination will be discussed later; however, the remainder of this chapter will discuss how the power of your imagination impacts your understanding of life, and perhaps your future life.
Thought life
A person’s life is typically described by their words and deeds; however, would you describe yourself by just what you said or did in your lifetime? Notably, while others may clearly hear you or see what you do, no one else can perceive what you think. Only you know what you think, and that “thought life” is perhaps as much of your life as your words and deeds. Arguably, if every word or deed is first conceived in your mind, then your thought life gives birth to every moment of your “temporal” life. You thought first; thereafter, you said or you did.
Of course, you may claim that you do many “thoughtless” things, and we do learn how to operate in an “autopilot” mode, so fortunately we do not have to consciously consider every moment. Presumably, as you matured both physically and psychologically, you considered your prior thoughts, observations, and experiences to create an understanding of life that has allowed you to operate “unconsciously” throughout most of your life. And, since our unique experiences and observations influence our understanding of life, everyone’s particular “autopilot” for their life is unique to some degree. Yet, since everyone typically shares a common understanding of a scientific concept, should not everyone share a common understanding of life?
Building an understanding of life
Notably, our understanding of life is typically created early in life, but what information was used to build that understanding? Also, while children study the empirical sciences to learn how the observable world functions, when do they learn how the unobservable world functions? Perhaps, beginning early in life, our experiences and observations naturally caused us to engage our imagination to consider at least the first two questions of life. At some point, when we were mature enough to devote sufficient time for our imagination to consider our thoughts, we eventually developed a deeper understanding of life and death. Certainly, that understanding may change somewhat over time; however, perhaps everyone strives to imagine a steady understanding of reality that comfortably explains their experiences of life and death. Arguably, no one is at peace until they have imagined comfortable answers to the three great questions of life, so perhaps everyone relies on the power of their own imagination to give themselves rest.
Perhaps a distinguishing characteristic of the nature of man is both the desire and the ability to imagine answers to the three questions. While many animals may have feelings and desires, it is difficult to imagine that a dog ever considers what is the essence of being a dog, or its purpose in life, or what happens after it dies. Notably, I recognized this striving of man’s imagination to explain life when, upon visiting men in prison, some of the men shared extensive writings on their philosophy of life. Which indicated to me, at least anecdotally, that without the distractions of life, man will seek diligently to define a reality that explains life’s experiences. Yet, it became apparent that their insights were primarily based on their experiences and observations, rather than their understanding of the Word of God. And, as expected, they each depicted a different perception of reality, such that they each expressed their own unique understanding of life. However, should anyone have confidence in their own understanding; because, if everyone has a unique perception of reality, can anyone confidently claim that their particular understanding is absolute truth? These questions regarding knowledge are debated in the study of epistemology; what can be known, and how can we know it?
Perhaps the fundamental questions of life cannot and will never be answered empirically. Presumably, man has considered these questions since the beginning of time, yet man’s observations and experiences have been insufficient in providing definitive answers. Arguably, while science will advance in its quest to research the observable world, science will never be able to shed light on the unobservable world. Consequently, man must rely on logic to attempt to explain the unobservable world; and invariably, those attempts must consider whether a supernatural agent can or does impact the answers to the questions. Therefore, the questions of life often begin with whether God exists; and, if He does exist, then how does that fact influence our understanding of life.
God’s existence and His role
If I recall correctly, my childhood journey towards an understanding of life started with the question of the existence of God, and the logic argument of intelligent design was perhaps the basis for my belief in God. My belief in an all-powerful God also answered the difficult question of how something could be created out of nothing; however, that belief also caused confusion and uncertainty. Because, while I could imagine the existence of a supreme being, I realized that I had no understanding of His nature. Sure, God created me, and maybe I could imagine that He was a good God; however, I was oblivious as to whether He played any further role in my life; and if so, what is His role? Is He just someone who will be the ultimate judge when I die? And if I went to heaven, why should I care to be with Him? I believed in God; however, He was an unknown God, and imagining an unknown judge is a scary thought if you think about it.
Notably, some within religion emphasize the aspect of having a “relationship” with God, however, can anyone truly claim to have a relationship with someone who does not communicate with them? Presumably, anyone can imagine that they are talking to God; however, should anyone imagine that they are hearing directly from Him? Importantly, does God give any indication that we can hear Him say anything other than His Word? So, should anyone add words to God’s mouth? Consequently, if I am imagining having conversations with God, does that mean I am actually forming a “personal” relationship with Him, or am I forming an imaginary relationship in my own mind? Obviously, we can imagine many things, but does that make any of them real? Notably, I am not saying that we do not make relationships with the voices in our head; however, I will argue that God is definitely not one of those voices.
Presumably, everyone “hears” thoughts in their head as part of their self-talk; however, what thoughts do you imagine as being the voice of God, and how do you know that you are not hearing the god of this world? Frankly, given the biblical fact that God does not speak to us beyond His Word, are you not likely forming a relationship with the god of this world, your particular Baal? Therefore, is religion being wise by encouraging you to imagine a relationship with God; or, is religion being an unwitting accomplice to a deception by the god of this world? Arguably, there will be a time and a method to draw near to God, however religion does not understand that timing nor the meaning of drawing near to God.
Obviously, it would be invaluable to understand the sources of your thoughts, so do you think God wants you to understand the nature and motivations of those sources? Where do you think God would provide that deep understanding? Arguably, until you can imagine how God’s Word depicts the nature of man and how we partake of His divine nature, it will be impossible for you to understand the various voices in your head. And without that understanding of yourself, how can you know whether you are forming a relationship with a divine being or with a god of your own making?
Regarding again the existence of God, one other realization that I have in retrospect is that while it is difficult to explain how something was originally made from nothing, should the lack of information ever be considered sufficient reason to believe in a supernatural agent? I now question whether I should have simply pointed to the presumed existence of an invisible supreme agent as being the answer; because, while the various “logical” arguments for the existence of God are perhaps good points to use in a debate, do any of those arguments provide any meaningful insight into the nature of God? Sure, I can win debate points by demonstrating why a perfect eternal supreme being must logically exist; however, even if that assertion is proven, does the assertion result in meaningful answers to the questions of life, or does it just create more things to debate?
Perhaps Jesus agrees with the premise that if you do not know the nature of God, nor understand His role in your life, then imagining an unknown God is a far worse condition than not knowing whether He exists (Matt 23:15). Therefore, if no one has access to information that provides a meaningful understanding of God, then perhaps everyone must be violating the second commandment by imagining their version of an unknown God. Notably, stating the attributes of God does not reveal His plan to use those attributes, so that general information of Him does not provide meaningful information towards an understanding of my life. Sure, Jesus loves me; but, so what? What “meaningful” information does that fact provide me if I have no knowledge of what His love will do for me during my entire eternal life? Notably, again according to Jesus, perhaps sharing a vague understanding of the afterlife is far worse than not sharing any understanding.
Obviously, an understanding of God’s role in my life must provide a meaningful answer to the last great question of life; what happens when I die? Interestingly, while I hear many debates about the existence of God, there seems to be less debate on the question of life after death. Apparently, since man’s wisdom cannot explain the nature of our consciousness, no one can prove that it ceases to exist when the material body dies; therefore, there are hypotheses being considered to explain various possibilities of a continued “spiritual” existence. Yet, can our empirical sciences ever prove how our life continues in any sense after death? If not, then perhaps man can logically argue for the existence of consciousness after death; however, similar to the matter of God’s existence, would that not be just another unknown condition that results in confusion and more debates?
So, if man’s wisdom cannot explain the unobservable world by providing meaningful information of God’s nature and His role in our lives, which includes an understanding of our life after death, then how can anyone attempt to answer the great questions of life with any confidence? Arguably, everyone must answer those questions to achieve a peace of mind, yet I suspect many people sense that everyone is blindfolded while we each grope around our portion of the elephant. Presumably, most people have determined that we are destined to endlessly debate the answers, so many people just give up searching for meaningful information. Consequently, they accept that much cannot be known about life, so they live their life through an autopilot that was created by their experiences. Hence, we have a world in a sad condition; a world full of people who lack knowledge of themselves, and people who have been misguided in their understanding of life because of their past experiences. Is there any source that can provide reliable information such that we can simply yet deeply understand the unobservable world in our effort to imagine the answers to the great questions of life?
God’s Word
As you should expect, I will argue that God’s Word is the only source of information regarding the unobservable world; however, what do you imagine is the purpose for God’s Word? That question is at the root of my argument, because how you answer that question will greatly influence your particular understanding of life. Importantly, do you imagine that God is even trying to provide you an understanding of life? Notably, I am not asking if you believe whether God is telling you “how” to live your life; but rather, do you imagine that He is trying to provide you a simple yet deep understanding for “why” you do what you do? Also, I am not asking whether God is giving you a vague understanding of your future; but rather, do you imagine that He is trying to provide you a simple yet deep understanding of your life after death. Arguably, if that information does not come directly from the mouth of the creator, how can anyone ever be confident in their understanding of life?
Religion argues that the purpose of God’s Word is to explain the creation of this world, how to live in this world, and how to survive a future judgment. I will argue mostly otherwise; yet, even if all three assertions were true, would any of those answers provide any meaningful understanding of life? How does information regarding the creation of the observable world and the rules for proper behavior in this world provide any meaningful insight into an understanding of the unobservable world? Notably, it was fascinating to realize that religion perceives that God is not even trying to provide an understanding of life, so its inability to provide meaningful answers to the three questions of life should not be surprising. Consequently, if the purpose of God’s Word is not to reasonably explain the spiritual nature of man, nor provide any meaningful insight into life after death, then what confidence can anyone ever have in their particular understanding of life? Religion, with its perception of the purpose of God’s Word, can certainly influence a person’s understanding of life; however, even religion itself admits that it cannot provide any meaningful understanding of life.
For instance, consider God’s commands to love Him with our whole heart, and to love our neighbor as ourself. Religion will parrot those commands, so you might be influenced to try to live a better life; however, are you being informed in any meaningful way? Instead of blindly accepting those commands without understanding, I argue that you should be asking religion two questions. First, how can we accomplish either command if we do not understand ourselves, nor why we do what we do? Because, unless we understand the forces within us that are preventing us from exhibiting that perfect love, how can we be expected to fulfill those commands? Second, even if we understood those forces, does God provide an understanding of how those forces can be overcome such that we can exhibit perfect love? Religion tells you to imagine that God gives believers the Holy Spirit to enable them to overcome the evil in them; however, religion provides no meaningful understanding of how to employ that resource. Instead, religion can only suggest vague guidance, such as “walk” in the spirit, or “submit” to the spirit. Yet, if you tell a new convert that they now have the ability to exhibit perfect love, but you do not provide any meaningful guidance of how to accomplish that task, then is it up to that new convert to try to determine how they should walk or submit? Consequently, while religion is certainly influencing that person’s understanding of life, is religion providing a meaningful understanding, or is it just placing a huge yolk upon the person?
Notably, religion can recite many theological terms, yet religion can provide no meaningful understanding of any of those terms because it cannot find the understanding in God’s Word. Presumably, God does not explain His trinitarian nature, nor what it truly means to be made in His image. Presumably, God does not explain the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, nor describe the inheritance that is being stored in heaven. Ask a million Christians the meaning of being “born again” or how and when their “sanctification” occurs, and you will likely get a million different answers because everyone must create their own understanding. Notably, their answers will typically be based on what they read in a commentary written by some “wise” person, and not solely from a clear understanding of God’s Word. Arguably, religion is influencing many people’s perception of God; however, religion is not providing any meaningful understanding of the nature of God. Consequently, everyone is left to imagine their particular version of an unknown God, such that everyone imagines their own version of reality.
Ultimately, I am pleading that you “reimagine” the purpose of God’s Word; because, you should expect that your loving Father would provide meaningful information about the forces and the voices in your spiritual life, and His plan over time to deal with those forces. Arguably, you must agree that no understanding of life can be deemed complete without an understanding of both your spiritual nature and your eternal destiny; so, either you believe that God wants you to understand life, or you believe that He wants you to remain in darkness about yourself. Consider, if religion believes that you only need to “trust” God, and that any additional “knowledge” is not required for your salvation, then why does God repeatedly and emphatically state otherwise? Consequently, which god are you listening to; and, which god more likely wants to keep you in darkness about essential knowledge of yourself?
Let’s consider, contrary to the perception of religion, that God’s intent for His Word is to provide meaningful information of the unobservable world inside you. So, while we certainly have a desire and the powerful ability to imagine many different realities of life, our goal should be to perceive the specific reality that God wants us to imagine from His Word. Arguably, everyone has created an “old” understanding of life that must be replaced with a “new” understanding; therefore, our minds must be “renewed” through the power of our imagination, such that we perceive and understand the images as God intended. So, how do we reimagine our understanding of life with God’s Word as the only source of information?
Think and imagine
Philosophers generally conclude that the ability to “think and imagine” is an advanced aspect of man’s nature compared to other living creatures; however, the source of our thoughts and how our mind processes them is a mystery. Yet, somehow, we are able to consider various thoughts and we transform them into images, and that process allows man to create perceptions of an imagined reality. Notably, that process of the mind involves both words and images; however, arguably it is the perceived series of images that create our understanding of a reality.
Being a scientist at heart, I find it fascinating how the power of imagination has advanced man’s knowledge. Notably, to understand Einstein’s theory of relativity, all you need to perceive are the thought experiments that he imagined in his mind. He didn’t need complicated mathematical formulas; rather he was able to develop a significant understanding of the world around us through a series of images. He had to use his intellect to logically consider the images, but it was the series of images that provided the means to understand and communicate the knowledge.
Consider your understanding of a math principle such as calculus. Assuming you know how to solve various equations, perhaps you can find the mathematical answer to a problem; however, does that ability demonstrate an understanding of the significance of the answer? For me, I realize that I never truly understood calculus until I suddenly perceived images depicting multiple small areas under a curve being measured and accumulated. Arguably, my ability to solve an equation did not demonstrate my understanding; instead, my understanding of calculus was demonstrated by the ability to first perceive a series of images, and then by the ability to correctly describe the significance of those images with my own words. Notably, my understanding of calculus was not overly sophisticated, but it was significantly deeper than just the ability to solve what I had previously considered an “abstract” equation.
Notably, this premise of how to demonstrate understanding is a standard technique used for effective communication. As I learned frequently in sales training and marriage counseling; in order to demonstrate understanding, I had to learn the feedback process of communicating back in my own words what I heard from the other person. Importantly, just repeating what the person said did not demonstrate an understanding of their communication; rather, I had to demonstrate not just the hearing of the information, but also an understanding of the information. Similarly, my understanding of Einstein’s theory would not be demonstrated by simply repeating his exact words from memory; rather, my understanding is demonstrated by the ability to first imagine his series of images, and then by communicating in my own words an understanding of them. Why is that process required to effectively understand any communication, and what occurs in my mind to enable that process?
Please note that I am not claiming expertise in academic psychology, but apparently our mind prefers the processing of images more than words. Perhaps the reason for this preference is related to the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words; perhaps images are more efficient and effective than words. And, in a sense, images do transcend language; they are language independent, and they do not require language to exist. However, we communicate with words, so the “sender” must translate his image into words, and the “receiver” must then translate those words back into an image for himself. Notably, the receiver is trying to “imagine” what the sender is communicating; and ideally, there should be a feedback process to confirm an understanding of the image. Interestingly, God’s Word provides no explicit images, only words; and there is no apparent feedback process to confirm our understanding.
Perhaps “abstract” concepts are difficult to communicate and understand because they cannot be easily imagined with known images. Notably, our imagination can be very creative with known images, but it can be difficult to imagine something clearly when you have not already experienced or understood it in some sense. So, imagine the difficulties of both the father and the fetus in communicating and understanding a world never before experienced by the fetus. Notably, the challenges are even greater when only words can be used to communicate.
Imagine trying to understand Einstein’s theory of relativity solely from a text book with no images, and then trying to confirm your understanding back to him in your own words. You would first have to imagine your own images of his words, and then be able to communicate your understanding using those images. Notably, Einstein and you are both working with images of the same observable world; so imagine how much harder the process would be if he was trying to depict images of an unobservable world. Also, you basically know what understanding Einstein is trying to communicate; however, do you basically know what understanding your Father is trying to communicate?
Next: Part 2