God, Man and Blue-Green Algae

Science, not religion, had become my teacher. The Universe took billions of years to create our planet as we know it today NOT Monday through Saturday with a rest on Sunday. Complex life took hundreds of millions of years to evolve from simpler life forms, from primordial single cells to blue-green algae to fish to amphibians to dinosaurs to mammals. Man, with the most complex brain of all, evolved by the same mechanisms as everything else, just another species going forward. To the Universe, we are no more significant than that blue-green algae. That all men and women are descendents not from lower primates but from Adam & Eve, was the Christian explanation before Science had a clue. To believe, at this time in history, that all life began simultaneously and in essentially the same forms that exist today and that the incestuous relationship of Adam & Eve's offspring produced the common ancestry of us all defies common sense and the scientific evidence.
I discussed this issue with a Presbyterian minister recently and he admitted to me (I'm sure not to his parishioners) that he didn't believe in the biblical explanation of creation and instead believed that evolution was God's method of populating the planet. We were interrupted at that moment and unable to continue the exchange so I didn't get to challenge him on that but let's examine his opinion. It's an opinion I've encountered before from those who were educated enough not to try to deny the overwhelming evidence of the fossil record which supports evolutionary theory yet still believed the world was created by a supreme being. If God chose evolution more or less as we know it, he must have been content with just algae for a million years or so, then amoebas for a million more and so on at this inexplicably languid pace until FINALLY, he allows Man to make an appearance. Gee, could we really be that important after such a long wait? As Man evolved, differentiating himself from the lower primates, from ape-like to Neanderthals to Modern Man, God put no demands on him in terms of loyalty or servitude, no threats or warnings about needing to believe in Him or risk third-degree burns in Hell. No, that would come much later in history when presumably, Man's brain was sufficiently advanced to understand the concept with the ability to make an informed decision as to which Master to follow. If he chose God and lived by His commandments then he might enjoy everlasting life in heaven after death, although an exact description of the place and how it all works has never been revealed. But, if he chose the Devil as his Master, he would spend eternity with Mr. D in a state of perpetual combustion. The stark absurdity and utter unbelievability of the biblical explanation of the beginning of life and its system of reward or punishment should be blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever stepped foot outside a church.

Born Again

It was an epiphany. After three and a half decades of seeking the answer, it suddenly became known. I admit that I had been leaning heavily in that direction for a long time, virtually convinced and yet, could never proclaim it with absolute assurance. After that day I could. I don't remember what stimulus triggered the revelation that day, I only remember that one minute, like the millions of minutes that went before, I didn't know the answer and the next minute I did. I KNEW at that moment to my complete satisfaction, that there is no God; no Christian God, no Buddhist God, no Hindu God, no Greek or Roman God(s), no heaven, no hell, no absolute moral authority, no supernatural giver of reward and punishment, no spirits, no ghosts, no reincarnation, no Karma, no life after death.
Did my life change from that moment forward? Not in any obvious ways at first. There were no profound changes in my daily routine, or how I interacted with the rest of the world. I didn't shout it from the rooftops, figuratively speaking, like so many evangelicals do when struck by the opposite answer. But after so many years of searching for the answer, from that moment on, I've been able to live my life according to how I truly believe the way things are. And that is precisely why this quest began so many years ago...