Life Matters

Answering the question of where life comes from and how it comes to us is one of the most fundamental questions of – well – life. It really defines what kind of beings we are. It also defines the nature of our relationships and our value systems as we discussed at the end of the previous chapter. Considering the priority of this question I find the following statement from Wikipedia under the title “Origin of Life” quite amusing:

Origin of life studies is a limited field of research despite its profound impact on biology and human understanding of the natural world. Progress in this field is generally slow and sporadic, though it still draws the attention of many due to the eminence of the question being investigated. One plausible reason for the slow rate of progress is that it is difficult to obtain funding for research in this area, since practical commercial applications for the research are difficult to foresee.[1]

So it appears one of the main reasons we still have trouble with this question is that we need more funding for research. :) Of course there are many theories and ideas that are passionately promoted claiming to hold the answer to this question. My purpose in this chapter is not to try and answer that question but rather think about the impacts of various life source systems on the ability to build family treasures, strengthen relationships and help our children to have a healthy sense of their own value.

a. Western Christian Thought

Western thought is heavily influenced by the Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Plato stated “The soul of man is immortal and imperishable.”[2] A number of Christian church leaders in the first few centuries after the time of Christ were influenced by these views and introduced them to the church. If you notice the latest Catholic Catechism it states the following:

III. How can we prove that the soul of man is immortal?

We can prove that the soul of man is immortal because man's acts of intelligence are spiritual; therefore, his soul must be a spiritual being, not dependent on matter, and hence not subject to decay or death.[3]

Christians generally accept the immortal soul's presence with no fixed view as to when it becomes part of them. However, it has been a topic of dispute through the centuries. Creationism for example, states God creates a new soul for each at birth (Jerome, Calvin). Traducianism teaches that the soul and body are created by propagation (Tertullian, Leo, Luther). "I may use the opinion of Plato when he declares 'every soul is immortal'" – Tertullian.

The church became so keen on the idea that in 1513, The Lateran Council condemned to be punished as heretics those who “...assert that the intellectual soul is mortal”.[4]

There are a small number of Protestant churches that hold the idea that man is mortal and totally dependent on God for life.[5] This idea places life outside of man and something that he only possesses in a relationship with God.

b. Eastern Thought

If we look at eastern concepts of human life we observe the following from a Hindu perspective:

The greatest exponent of the philosophy of the Vedas, which is also called Vedanta, man is Divine.[6]

Many eastern ideas revolve around the concept of re-incarnation and the progress and development of the soul towards spiritual perfection and the release from earthly pleasures and pursuits. The followers of New Age ideas appear to combine western and eastern thought with the idea that man is divine or part of God.[7]

The concept that man is immortal or divine makes life something that is firmly inherent in man. It is something that we possess within ourselves. While ideas vary as to how we come into possession of that life, the essential theme is that life is a power that we inherently possess.

c. Scientific Thought

Modern science sees life as essentially a chemical process that occurred by chance. “Plausible pre-biotic conditions result in the creation of certain basic small molecules (monomers) of life, such as amino acids.”[8] From this perspective science offers us the idea that life is accidental and random but it is something that we possess chemically and in that see it is something we possess inherently but carries no notions of divinity or immortality.

d. Comparing Life Source Models

It is interesting to observe that the place where life originates is the place we typically refer to as ‘the divine’. Summing up the various life system concepts, we can express them in three basic ideas. Man has life in himself or has the capacity to produce it himself; or he receives it as a one-time package from someone who can produce it; or he receives it moment by moment from someone who can produce it.

We can summarize this in the following chart:

If we place these three models in a diagram, it could look something like this:

e. Impact of Life Source Views on Relationships and Value Systems

With reference to these three life systems let us explore how they might affect the nature of relationships and value, the secondary ingredients of building a family treasure of memories.

i. Potential Impacts of Believing Man is Inherently Divine (Model 1)

Let us firstly look at a life system where it is perceived that life originates within man. Notice the following diagram:

If we perceive that life is inherent in man, self will naturally be placed at the centre of a perceived human “solar system.” This would only be natural. As planets circle the sun, so we would be encouraged to see other people as circling us and are essentially for our benefit.

Since in this model we perceive that life or power is our inherent possession, then this naturally is the source of our value. We ARE valuable through our divinity or immortality or power. We are valuable through a possession of power. Any desires to increase value will lend themselves naturally to displays of this power. Such a system will naturally lead to a system of value through performance and achievement.

How does this impact on relationships? Since we would perceive that other individuals also possess power, we could either seek out those who appear most powerful (attractive) and engage (manipulate) them in a relationship or seek out those weaker than ourselves to control them, usually we try to do both. Such relationships enhance our own power or life. This would be a natural playing out of an attempt to live life to the full or to pursue happiness. In this way relationships are primarily engaged to enhance and extend self power. We seek out the most attractive, the wealthiest, the most influential or the most useful and through a display of our power, we attract them to ourselves so that we can possess, use and obtain their power. How many times have we witnessed a wealthy old man marrying a beautiful young lady 30 or 40 years his junior? The optimists proclaim this as the breadth of love while the skeptics call it a very expensive form of prostitution. Regardless of what we think, in this system, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and many people will spend a fortune for the beautiful, so these examples are perfectly normal. Conversely how many times have we seen a dictator controlling and forcing others around them to obey their will and submit to their demands and help fulfill their goals? Much of history is littered with such controlling despots who have made the lives of millions a misery. There is ample evidence that many people have embraced the philosophy of a Model 1 life source system. It is all around us.

Another less obvious impact on relationships is that because a person has their own life source, relationships are optional. They are not vital to survive. We can take them or leave them depending on whether they suit us or not. This may have individual benefits but would be quite detrimental to a family nurture system. The concept of the divine human must ultimately drive towards autonomy and from autonomy to isolation and from isolation to loneliness.

How does this system include a concept of God? If we believe that we possess life in ourselves then in essence everyone is a god. Some of us are more powerful, others less powerful. The Greeks use this idea in the pantheon of gods that they admired or worshipped. The Greek gods are in essence magnifications of human abilities and talents woven into a story that gives human beings something to aspire towards and emulate, thus these gods are really the worship of the human as divine.

The reality of the Greek system of gods in daily life meant that if as mere mortals they could secure the support and patronage of a god, their power was enhanced and magnified. This magnified power would enable greater displays of their own power to secure more appreciation, love or worship from others and thus lead to a very fulfilling life. Again, this system would certainly have its advantages for the individual but as we will observe in the next chapter has weaknesses in building a nurture system for families.

ii. Potential Impacts of Believing Man has Gifted Immortality (Model 2)

Let us have a look at the second system, where a person perceives their inherent life source comes from God. Notice the following:

This system forms the basis of all religions that hold to the belief that the soul is immortal or believe that the ability to perform and achieve originates in man. This system does offer some benefits for the individual in that one is guaranteed patronage from a very powerful source. It also allows for the concept of appreciation and thanks for the life that is given. It also can provide for a sense of accountability to someone much more powerful than you.

But there are significant negative impacts on relationships and value systems in this model. Firstly, since it focuses the source of power as being within the individual, it naturally lends itself to a performance based approval system[9] in similar ways to Model 1. Looking at life through the lens of immortality, it would be quite natural to seek access to a relationship with God through His designated standard and to win His approval by displays of “good works” or achievements to obtain a fulfilled life. Gaining approval from God by good works is revealed in part or in whole in all world religions.[10]

This performance system can also form the basis of a competition as to who serves God the best, a kind of battle for who is most worthy of God’s blessing. We see this clearly in the clash between Islam and Christianity to show which religion is superior. We see it in debates between Christian churches as to who is the real defender of the faith; the obsessive desire to show oneself to be orthodox and to prove that others are heretical. This point is one of the greatest weaknesses of religions that hold to a view that man is immortal with God on their side. Because this model of life is seen as given by a greater being to whom you must submit, the overwhelming emphasis is control. Control in organized religion is the greatest complaint of the masses against it. Such systems have demonstrated some of the most violent crimes against humanity in their struggle to control and enforce what they believe to be correct in their efforts to win God’s favour and enforce His laws. Millions of people have lost their lives to the conviction of zealous souls who aim to please and defend their god.

While the issues involved are more complex than I have just described, the point remains that if a person believes they have (or have obtained) life/power in themselves then it is extremely hard to avoid the need to gain worth and value from displays of that life/power. We can tell ourselves that we get our value from God and our relationship to Him but the power within you will determine the nature of that relationship and the quality of the value. In summary, the belief that mankind has a self originated life source or a life source donated or gifted by an external benefactor will ultimately lead to extremely negative impacts on intimate relationships. The seducing “freedoms” of autonomy drive individuals towards isolation and control mechanisms that are in direct conflict with the inherent dependencies of relational intimacy.

iii. Potential Impacts of Believing Man is Mortal (Model 3)

Accepting a belief that man is mortal, meaning one has no life of themselves, creates the immediate need for obtaining a constant stream of life from outside of yourself. Life can only be obtained through a relationship; a continual relationship that can never be broken.

The greatest potential drawback of this system is that you are completely dependent moment by moment on someone else to live. But this potential drawback can in fact be an enormous plus if that someone is very loving, benevolent and patient and the person receiving the life actually has no issues with submitting to that person. If such a system could succeed then the focus of the recipient of life is on maintaining a submissive intimate relationship with the life giver. If a person develops a nature of submissive intimate relationship, this nature can be replicated to others under their influence and care, and a strong intimate relational network can be maintained.

The emphasis of this system is on submission to the person that is passing life to you and maintaining an intimacy with that person and keeping a high level of respect for that person’s authority.

Let’s summarise and compare these three systems in terms of life, relationships and value; and which is the best system for building a strong family network.

Each system has its strengths and weaknesses, but it should be seen that the best system to create loving family relationships is a view where relationships are vital. It contains the highest risk in that everything depends of the benevolence of the life giver, but it has the highest gain in that it is the most relationally focused and not subject to the issues of control and manipulation as found in the other systems. In later chapters we will examine why life system models one and two are so predominant in our world but for now we will explore the relational benefits of model three. We will begin by looking at what the Bible says about life source and how we receive it.

Comments (1)

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written by MosleyHolly30, August 01, 2010

Every one acknowledges that humen's life seems to be very expensive, however we require money for different stuff and not every man gets enough cash. Thus to receive good mortgage loans and commercial loan will be good solution.

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