THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

Who do we say God is? Who is this God that many people are turning to"? Why do they love what they can't see"? Are they really normal"? Maybe they have gone mad"? These and many other questions plague our mind as we get to understand or are in the process of knowing God. Who is God? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, God is the Supreme being who alone exists of himself and is infinite in all perfections. Infinite In all perfection? Wow!. In a word, GOD IS PERFECT. God is the Supreme Being and it should be said that each religion in the world has it own defination of God. But why?. It's because God isn't Comprehend Able WITH JUST A PARTICULAR RELIGION AND PLUS HE IS MYSTERIOUS . No one can fully understand God and so each religion has it own special attributes of God. God is so vast that even an ocean can't contain him. Islam has this special name they give to God, Allah-Most Merciful. Judaism also gives to God a special attribute, El-Shaddai, Eloha and Adonai,among the others. Christianity also has it special attributes of God. It comes in various languages and ethnicity. The igbos for example call God Chineke, Chinedumo, Eze omema, among the others. The Hausas call God in their own dialect as Allah, among the others. The Yorubas call God in their own dialect as Oluwa. God is latinized as Dei. And so God is love is latinized as Deus est Amor. Why this examples? It's to clearly point out that God is GOD! He has been there, always and will always be. God is in us. He is in our world. He is not far from us. He dwells in us and knows our daily routines. He is a MYSTERIOUS AND ACTIVE God. Someone will ask, if God is really present in our lives then why do we suffer?. Now let me tell you a brief Ancient Story. The Ancient Greeks believed not in God (though a little had faith in GOD), rather they believed in their Reason(MAJORITY OF THEM WERE STOICS) . They prayed to their gods ; Zeus, Hermes, Eros, Apollo, Athena and many others. Zeus was the strongest of them all. But even this Ancient Greek gods fought battles and life on earth wasn't pleasant. They fought with Sea monsters. The Leviathan I believe being one of them. These sea monsters posed a big threat to the gods and many fled. But Zeus stayed put and after a long bloody battle, he finally won. Now what am I trying to say here?, the Ancient Greek gods HAD THE CAPACITY TO FEAR! . And even then life on earth wasn't easy. (Note that these events were the Greek mythology in relation with other related mythologies). Did the Ancient Greeks complained?. Even if they did, was it that obvious?. Even if it was obvious, did they loose faith?. Note that those Ancient Greeks were people of high knowledge and reason. The Zodiac signs discovery makes it more obvious. So now you can decipher where I'm heading to. Sufferings are part of this world. It's a characteristics of the FALLING World. A WORLD BEGUILED BY SIN, BUT SAVED BY GRACE Do you believe in the Concept of Original Sin? Many has no inclinct what's original Sin is. Many do not care to know. To some it's a story for children, made up by adults. But however you see Original Sin, it's worth knowing more. No knowledge is a Waste. And who knows maybe after going through what i'm about to explain now about concerning Original Sin you might be drawn to fully believe in the doctrine of Original Sin. Not let's cut to the chase. What's the first thing that comes to your mind whenever you hear the word "Original"?. "I guess it's gonna be Perfect", "No, it's gonna be Pure", "No, it's gonna be First" All the above guesses have a partial grip on the main defination, but nonetheless, congrats to all who anticipated the answers!. Now let's define that word "Original". Original according to Wikipedia dictionary is defined as: 1, First in a series or copies/versions 2, Newly created 3, Fresh, different 4,Pioneering 5,Having as its origin Intriguing right?, now let's have a look at the synonyms and antonyms: synonyms ♦ (first in series) initial ♦ autograph ♦ prototype antonyms ♦ copy ♦ derivative ♦ reproduction ♦ simile Now we know the difference. So now what's Sin? Sin, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an offence against God by any thought, word, deed or omission against the Law of God. Joining these two definitions, we can now take a clearer look at the meaning of Original Sin. Original Sin is the Sin of our First Parents ; Adam and Eve to be precise. Islam has Adam as one of it Prophet, but that's a story for another day. When we go through the book of Genesis we will see how God made Adam and Eve and clothed them in Grace. But Satan wasn't happy about the life they enjoyed. So he made plans to dethrone them. He succeeded, but did he actually succeed?. In Man's eyes, Yes. But in God's eyes, No. God had a plan. He already knew that Man would betray him. Someone may ask, why didn't God stop or do something when he saw that Eve was about to eat the fruit?. Let me answer this question with a question : let's say you are a Father, and you heard from a neighbor that your son is a Murderer. Your neighbor kept on advising you to depart from your son or he will one day kill you. You were reluctant and continued to live under the same roof with your son. Despite the fears of getting killed by your own son, you never abandoned him All BECAUSE OF THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR HIM. A month passed, still nothing happened. Years passed, nothing happened. You forget about it only to wake up one morning with the absence of your beloved son. Your Son left home out of his own will. He wasn't coerced. I depicted this scenario in this book for its a reminder of the POWER OF FREE WILL. THAT'S HUMANITY'S POWER;FREE WILL. Our God doesn't want us to become robots and he equally doesn't want to treat us as such. He gave us a high capacity of Reason, and an incredible gift of Intelligence. Why let it go to waste by using it for the wrong purpose? Channel all those senses of yours for the RIGHT COUSRE OF ACTION AND IT'S FRUIT WILL SHOW FORTH. Whats Islam point of view on Original Sin? Before we dive further into exploring Islam's hold on Original Sin, let flip through some "Original Story". Have your ever heard of the story of Lilith?. It's said that she was the first wife of Adam. This story is among the numbers of the Jewish myths. Islam too has a myth concerning Lilith. But what happened to her?. According to myth, she was turned into an airborne disease due to her lack of submission to her husband, Adam. She is often portrayed in literature, movies and art as a wicked being, a seductress. In a movie I watched, she was given the character of a woman who has so many ugly children, and in envy and Pure jealousy taking the children of the Human parent and replacing them with her own ugly children. St. Augustine of Hippo wrote about her in one of his writings as a symbol of evil and rebellion. NOW LET'S GET BACK TO ISLAM'S VIEW ON ORIGINAL SIN: Islam as being one of the Abrahamic religions ( Abrahamic in the sense that they are one of those religions that have Abraham as their ancestor. The most popular and well known among the Abrahamic religion are Judaism, Christianity and Islam), has it own beliefs distinct from that of Christians and that of Jews, though they do have some similarities among them. Islam does not believe in the concept of Original Sin, they have Adam as their prophet, Yes,, but they believe that what happened at the beginning was done OUT OF MISTAKE.In Islam, the concept of Original Sin is different from Christianity. Muslims believe that Children aren't punished for their parent's sins. Here is a passage from the Holy Quran and Hadith: *Islamic Teachings* 1. Quran 17:70: "We have honored the children of Adam." 2. Quran 31:18: "No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another." 3. Hadith: "Every child is born with a natural inclination towards Islam" (Sahih Bukhari). Islam has it own views on different topics, but should these differences of opinions be the reason why we hate and despise one another?. Why the hate if we all have one end;GOD BEING OUR END. These differences are there to help us understand and embrace the power of dialogue. "For united we Stand, Divided we Fall". The Rotation of the Earth around the Sun gives us an example of what peaceful dialogue can bring about. As the earth rotates the Sun, the Sun provides her with Heat and warmth, and light. Why didn't God create Multiple earths, filling the whole universe with the planet Earth?. Tell me what would happen to such "Earth planets" few years later. A dark cold Earth will be the INEVITABLE OUTCOME. AND THEN SHE GOES ROGUE AND DEATH BECOMES THE END OF HER WAY TOO SOON. So we should learn from our Mother Earth and embrace Dialogue for peaceful coexistence and growth. The recently concluded Synod had embraced people of Different religions and thoughts for the promotion of Peace and Sustainability of the Lives of Humans and the Society at large. It was thus Fruitful. It should be known that figures like Matteo Ricci, SJ(a Jesuit Priest) stepped into China not to judge them or go against them but for the purpose of converting them with the light of the GOSPEL. HE BLENDED FAITH WITH SCIENCE,studied Confucian texts and the Chinese Language. He introduced Western Science, Astronomy and Cartography to the Asian Court and formed an unbreakable bond with the Chinese. He was given the name Li-Matou. He won many converts to Christianity, and a young Chinese man even applied to the Jesuit, he got accepted and became a student of Li-Matou. The Jesuits are known for their intellectual persuit and their non-jugmental attitude towards all men. "Li-Matou lived the Chinese live In a New and Different way blending Faith with Science. For failure is definitely certain if Reason Precede Faith. But Success is an understatement if Faith PRECEDE REASON" "WE all came from ONE SOURCE AND WE WILL RETURN TO THAT ONE SOURCE LIFE. THEN WHY THE HATE?, WHERE IS THE LOVE?. FIND THAT GENUINE LOVE AND USE IT, FOR DARKNESS IS ALREADY ENGULFING OUR WORLD."