TAKEAWAYS:
The human quest for understanding the origin and nature of the universe has led to various religious and scientific explanations. While science relies on observations and measurements to explain, religion often offers anthropomorphic representations of gods to make the concept relatable to human understanding.
Throughout history, different religions have presented diverse narratives of creation and divine beings, all aimed at guiding human behavior, fostering cooperation, and creating a sense of community among adherents. However, these religious beliefs can sometimes lead to conflict due to their exclusivity and differences.
Exploring the universe's origins and searching for answers about existence remain ongoing pursuits for humanity, driven by curiosity and a desire to comprehend the fundamental questions about our place in the cosmos.
What does Klaus do with the agnostic problem? That something does not come from nothing. I.e., where did matter, time, space, and the universe come from? How did it all come to be at all? Why is there something and not nothing? This question is the big one. - MICAH
RESPONSE FROM KLAUS LUEHNING:
So far, in the history of humankind, and before there were only molecules, there was the Big Bang, an infinitesimal something that exploded and became our world and universe, so far as we can measure it. Our conscious observations and measurements have gotten us this far. It is assumed, generally, that continued curiosity and devising methods of measurement will be helpful to get us further to your answer. In examining the last 13.8 billion years, the age of our universe measured by our sense of time, forward and backward, more insight has become clear, yet there is the question, “Is this the answer?” The infinitesimal beginning of incredible density may be the collapse of the previous “universe,” cycling through infinite time. Some of us are more comfortable with an anthropomorphic representation of the “god” that is responsible because it fits into the understandable cycle of life on Earth.
Our available models of “god” seem mostly human-like representations of older men with a scowling yet kindly glance at our measly selves. We cannot conceive of a “life” nor “being” that is not like us, and a quantum of energy may be the “brains” behind all of it; but yet, it is something we have already devised for our understanding of how stuff works, not “its.” I submit that it is not Jesus and his other two manifestations, Buddha, Allah, or any of the other tales of creation. They are human tales and representations to try to answer, convince, reward, guide, foretell, and control human behavior for the sake of all adherents to that “faith.”
As a political method of getting cooperation and congeniality around a forgiving deity, it is functional, yet because of its exclusivity, it can also be contentious and deadly.
